Edinburgh and Wool

We've just come back from a few days away in the beautiful city of Edinburgh.  My motive for going was to attend the Edinburgh Yarn Festival which I had found out about recently.  I lured my long suffering husband along with promises of lots of photo opportunities.  Actually he didn't take much luring and he even came to the Festival with me to act as pack-horse, but more of that in a bit.

We let the train take the strain and had a very pleasant journey up, enjoying the views of the Northumberland coast.

We caught a glimpse of the Angel of the North as we passed Newcastle and Gateshead.

We'd no sooner arrived at our hotel than we all had to troop out as the fire alarm went off.

Happily it was a false alarm but we still stood around in the cold for about quarter of an hour.

Friday found us at the Edinburgh Yarn Festival, or rather, queueing to get in.  The organisation of the show was excellent and there was a good atmosphere in the queue with everyone being very patient.  I think it took about half an hour for us to get in but the queue moved steadily so it wasn't a chore.  The organisers did a great job all round.

Ironically, I went again on the Saturday, having a weekend ticket, and the queue for ticket holders was longer than the queue for non-ticket holders.  If you click on the photo above you can see the little finger post announcing the Festival.

Hubby, who has little interest in wool, amused himself taking a couple of videos,

Since I had Mr Muscle with me I bought the heaviest items on my list on Friday.  I bought an art flyer for my Louet Victoria spinning wheel and an inklette loom for making straps and narrow weaves on.

The art flyer is a different colour from the original wheel but I'm not bothered.  It is really simple to change over to this larger flyer and I think I'm going to get a lot of use out of it.  I've had a treadle with it this afternoon and it doesn't affect the stability of the wheel.  Happy, happy!

There wasn't a lot of fibre available at the Festival as it's set up with knitters in mind but John Arbon of Devon were doing a roaring trade as ever.

The cafe was extremely busy and I didn't bother fighting my way in.

Hubby very generously suggested that I go back on my own on Saturday so I gave up fairly quickly on Friday as it was very busy.  Saturday I had a lovely few hours browsing the stalls and getting way too tempted with all the beautiful yarns on offer.

Eden Cottage Yarns, Ripples Crafts, Watercolours & Lace and A Yarn Story all tempted me.

The lovely textured pack is by Añañuca and I'll enjoy either weaving or spinning it.  The mohair was a bargain at £2.50 and may get some dye added to some it.

The Threshing Barn not only sold me the Inklette loom but also tempted me with a sumptuous batt and some ribbons that will appear in some art yarns soon, to be spun on my new gadget.  I was delighted to find some Colinette bulky yarns in a shop on the way back to the hotel (as if I hadn't bought enough yarn already!).  Colinette no longer produce their beautiful yarns so once the available stocks have gone that will be it. (sad face here).

Edited to add a YouTube video of the show:


If  you're really interested there are several more on YouTube (you might want to turn the soundtrack off).

Once I'd worn myself out at the Festival on Saturday I headed back into Edinburgh to visit the Dovecot Studio and gallery.  To quote their brochure, they are "a landmark centre for contemporary art, craft and design built around a leading international tapestry studio."  I have an interest in tapestry weaving so I was keen to visit, especially as the viewing balcony was open.  I'll make a separate post of the visit so I don't bore you to death if you're not interested.  More to follow too of meanderings around Edinburgh and a visit to the Rosslyn Chapel.

The Saori Shed

Well, I managed to get there despite the cough and I've had a fabulous two days at the Saori Shed in Diss, Norfolk.  I'd never been to Diss before and was pleasantly surprised to find a really lovely market town with many historical buildings and houses and a beautiful mere (lake) in the middle of the town park.  Unfortunately I didn't have time to be much of a tourist so I don't have photographs except for one of the market on Friday morning.

The church sits on a hill above the market place, higher than it looks in this photo.   The Saori Shed was past the market and up the hill to the left, a bit of a challenge first thing in the morning!

The Saori Shed sits within what used to be a department store in Diss which now houses Designer Makers @21.  The atmosphere is welcoming and friendly and people were popping in all day although I was so busy there wasn't time to chat other than with Kim and the fellow weavers.  Kim was a great teacher and also a great supplier of a constant supply of tea!

My aim in taking the workshop was to discover as much as I could about different techniques as well as getting the feel of using a floor loom. By way of keeping the techniques in my memory I'm going to record them here. ( I'm short on photos so may come back and edit this tomorrow).

 Above, I learned how to make a window in the weave and will be wrapping the groups of warp currently adjacent to the yellow which don't have any yarn on them.  The area to the right above the window has an additional warp added in and you can pull that warp to one side to make a detail.

You add the additional warp from cones placed behind the loom.
 
I liked the effect in the orange area which was achieved by tensioning the warp behind the heddle.  It's either a two man job or you can achieve the effect with a rod.  The pink and blue yarn above this area was made using the bobbin winder.  It's a bit fiddly but fun to make and very random in its result.

Equally this chevron effect was achieved by winding two yarns together on the bobbin winder and then reversing the direction of wind.

Over the course of the two days I managed to produce the piece above which is about 6 feet long.  It is purely a collection of techniques and won't be made into anything.

The Saori Shed is an inspirational space for a new weaver with lots of lovely yarns to tempt you and Kim's work hanging on the walls to inspire.

 I didn't get time to try this effect but know how to go about it and I really like it for a different finish to a scarf or even clothing.

Of course, some of you will probably be wondering whether I've already ordered myself a Saori loom, being the impetuous type.    Weeeeeeeell!  Actually, no, not yet.  That's not to say I won't ,but for once I'm taking my time.  Watch this space!

PS I stayed a short walk way from the centre at Cobwebs Bed and Breakfast on Fair Green. I hadn't realised I was staying in such illustrious company.  If you follow this link you can see the owner of the B&B I stayed at, a valued member of the Diss community  She has the nost beautiful black cat too and a beautiful home, a perfect base for a short break which I hope we night take before too long.  Diss is definitely worth a second visit.

Weaving away

This last year has passed in a bit of a blur and quite a bit of it has missed being captured on my blog.  I will endeavour to do a bit better next year as it's a shame to have gaps in my record of things we've seen and places we've been.  Way back in July my two stitchy friends and I went on an adventure in Yorkshire for the second time in as many years.  The excuse for the getaway was to house and dog-sit for my friend's daughter. As part of that adventure we found ourselves at Wingham Wool Work at Wentworth near Rotherham.  I have been interested in weaving for some time and have played around with peglooms and a simple cardboard loom but I was feeling that the time had come to invest in a 'proper' loom to see if I liked it.  Woolfest had a lot to answer for!

Our visit to Wingham Wool Work found me coming home with an Ashford SampleIt loom. which I couldn't wait to put together.

The SampleIt rigid heddle loom gives a weaving width of 8" (20cm) and is very easy to work with.  Knowing nothing about weaving I bluffed my way through warping the loom and began experimenting with the help of an Ashford video. 



There are lots of videos out there on Youtube and I took inspiration from the Saori weaving that I had seen at Woolfest.  This video will give you a little idea of the style of Saori weaving.  



There are one or two centres for Saori weaving in the UK and the nearest to me is The Saori Shed in Diss in Norfolk.  Saori is as much a philosophy as a craft form.  There are no rules in Saori, which suits me down to the ground, and there are no mistakes.  Even better!  You can please yourself how you weave and use colour and texture in an intuitive and natural way.  What also attracted me to Saori is the ability to make clothing in a very simple way based on a rectangular form with limited cutting and stitching.  Saori clothing is usually loose fitting and very comfortable.

So, how did my first experiments go?

This was on a linen warp and was a bit wibbly wobbly and not very flexible.

I was soon playing with the colours and textures of the sea and shore and produced several lengths of cloth with a cotton and acrylic warp, at least I think they were, it was yarns I had inherited.

I think I went a bit mad with the texture!  As you can see there are plenty of loose yarns and fabrics hanging out of the sides of the weaving and this is quite acceptable in Saori.  The weavings were set to one side for a couple of weeks while I wove some scarves for Christmas presents.  There's nothing like using your friends as guinea pigs for your novice weavings!

This scarf has gone to my friend in Macclesfield and has happily been well received and eyed covetously by her daughter.  I think I may have to make another one!  Three others in different designs went to other friends but I forgot to photograph them! Doh!

Having got Christmas out of the way I have set to this week and made up a waistcoat with my sea themed weavings.  Ta da!

As it's Saori weaving it doesn't matter that one side is longer than the other.  I designed it that way. Cough!  The brooch that is holding it closed was a Christmas gift from one of my lovely stitching friends.  I am delighted with the vest but it's probably a bit more exotic than I would normally wear as it is strictly a sampler, so I am going to learn more about weights of yarn and warps when I go to the Saori Shed soon.  My little SampleIt loom is lots of fun but I am hankering after a Saori floor loom.  I am still quilting alongside the weaving and have thoughts of combining the two in some way but the weaving is very calming and relaxing and is good to do in the evening.  If you've ever fancied trying your hand at weaving have a go.  You can even weave with a piece of cardboard and yarn wound round it. Be warned though, it's addictive!

 

Patchings

Thank you for all your good wishes that I enjoy my day out. They worked because I had a lovely day at the Art Festival. :o) I was a little later than intended setting off and for the first time ever had to queue to get in! Fortunately it wasn't a long wait and I was pleased to see that the ground was fairly dry after all the rain.

This was the busy Painter's marquee. I think I must have caught it in a gap in the crowds. It was stifling hot in here!

The exhibition marquees are arranged around the refreshment marquee and every year a jazz band entertain us at lunchtime.

I took this photo of the beautiful sky from my vantage point on the ground (sitting on a plastic bag!) while having my lunch. The getting down wasn't too bad but the getting up made my joints complain!

Back in the textiles marquee I spotted this little dragon among the bears on Mo-bear's stand. (I don't think she has a website).

On the subject of bears, this guy was taking his ease outside one of the resident studios at Patchings.

His pals were keeping an eye on him from the window. The ladies in this little shop were keeping an eye on a nest of bluetits with a camera in the nestbox. The box was on the side of the building away from the public so the birds weren't being disturbed by all the comings and goings.

I suppose I have to own up to a little indulgence of the shopping variety!

The beautiful mohair fibres came from Mo-bear (the colours are actually richer in real life) and the ribbon is lightly wired.

Look at all the beautiful colours in this mohair!

I have to confess, I treated myself to this lovely seahorse made by Kim Rogers. The artist uses new and recycled beads to make her wonderful wire sculptures. I was spoilt for choice with all the lovely figures on her stand but I love seahorses and decided to move out of my usual colour comfort zone and chose these beautiful colours which reminded me of stones and rocks.

~

My bargain of the day was several bottles of fabric paint at £1 (2$) each, oh, and 5 packs of various textures of Daler Rowney printer paper (watercolour, canvas and photo) for £5 (10$).

~

There was lots of opportunity to watch artists at work, chat with them and to try out materials, and the time went too quickly. There are still 3 days left if you fancy a lovely day out.

Post and Presents

The post lady brought me the latest set of ATCs from MixedMediaATC_UK this morning. The theme of the swap was to use seeding stitch somewhere on the ATC. We are having a stitch swap each month to enable us to learn or improve on our knowledge of embroidery stitches. (I think we've nearly exhausted the ones I know already!!! lol)

This lovely delicate card is from Amanda. This is a variety of hand made papers (and maybe nappy liner or similar) on a watercolour, or maybe ink, painted background paper. I love the colours and the tiny stitches Amanda has used, it is really pretty.

Isn't this a lovely card? This is by Pat and has an appliqued flower with a beaded centre over a printed design. Details of the design have been embellished with stitch and seeding stitch in a lovely yellow sets the whole thing off.

Lastly, but certainly by no means least, is this quilted ATC from Jean. I am guessing that the material here is hand-dyed and I love the way the seeding stitches have been used across the surface. Gorgeous colours too! Thank you ladies!

I also haven't got round to posting the lovely gifts I have had from my Mum and my friend Grace over the last couple of weeks. Grace has done some more sorting out and found me some more lace and a nifty gadget. If anyone knows how to work the Daisy Wheel I'd be really grateful if you could point me in the right direction!

My Mum brought me up some embellishments

and also a bag of fluffy yarn that will be great for using with the embellisher

My Mum leaves here tomorrow and goes to stay with my brother who lives near Lincoln. I wonder why the time always seems to have flown past when you look back? It feels as though Mum has only been here 5 minutes. It will be good though, to get back to some semblance of normality, well as far as anything in my house is ever normal! I am looking forward to putting the Christmas things away and...........getting my embellisher out!!!!!!!!! Yay!!! (Sorry Mum! :) )