His Lordship Malarkey presented me with a Craft Course voucher as part of my birthday present so I was straight onto the CraftCourses website to find something on which to spend it. And what do you know, but around 15 minutes drive away from Damson Cottage is textile artist, Fiona, who has a lovely studio from which she teaches tapestry weaving, loom weaving, spinning, knitting, crocheting, fabric dyeing and working with silk!
Well, I was booked onto the ‘Introduction to Tapestry Weaving’ day faster than you could say ‘warp and weft!’ And yesterday, I went a-weaving!
And it soon became very evident that keeping track of your ‘overs and unders’ is a bit more tricky than you’d credit. Seriously, weaving is full on brain exercise! There were two of us in the class, which was lovely as we received lots of attention as we wrangled with our butterflies (small wool skeins for feeding through the warps) and counted our picks. (A pick is a single line of weaving.) I chose to work on a small tapestry frame because you rest half of it on your knees and the other half against the edge of a table, and the large tapestry frame looked like a disaster waiting to happen. You know people who get tangled in clothes airers when they set them up? That’d be me and a large tapestry frame. Start small, I thought. Go with something that you’ll have a chance of handling and won’t result in a comedy moment worthy of YouTube.
Fiona’s studio is brick built, contains a large wood burning stove and is about three times the size of our studio. I batted off a moment of studio envy, because I realise how lucky I am to have ANY dedicated craft space at all. And she runs a business from hers and needs teaching space. It suits her purpose as ours suits mine. For the moment. Ahem.
I learnt several basic techniques. At some point just before lunch (a lovely veggie lasagne followed by stewed apples and ice cream) I stopped muttering ‘under, over, under, over’ beneath my breath and managed to find some semblance of a rhythm. I tried out various types of wool, colours and basic pattern constructions. How to manage the tension so the warp threads stayed straight. Something about the vast array of equipment weavers have at their disposal. Fiona showed us useful books, told us about craft festivals and exhibitions. She peppered the day with handy hints and tips, suggestions and advice. We had lots of laughs and probably too many cheese scones. It was a good day.
I came home with a small tapestry loom, a copy of the wool crafter magazine ‘The Wheel’, a new notebook, a bag of various wools to finish my first project, and a catalogue from Ashford Wheels and Looms, just in case, you know, someone might ask me what I’d like for Christmas. You know. Just in case. ‘Come back, or phone, if you get stuck or need any help,’ said Fiona. Then, randomly, ‘Would you like a red currant bush? I’ve got a rogue one I want to dig up.’
So I came home with a large red currant bush, too!
The whole experience has given me food for thought. Research to do. Another leap of faith to work towards. But for today, I’ve done the housework and shopping and now have an afternoon by the fire finishing my inaugural piece of weaving and delving into ‘The Wheel.’
Well, I was booked onto the ‘Introduction to Tapestry Weaving’ day faster than you could say ‘warp and weft!’ And yesterday, I went a-weaving!
And it soon became very evident that keeping track of your ‘overs and unders’ is a bit more tricky than you’d credit. Seriously, weaving is full on brain exercise! There were two of us in the class, which was lovely as we received lots of attention as we wrangled with our butterflies (small wool skeins for feeding through the warps) and counted our picks. (A pick is a single line of weaving.) I chose to work on a small tapestry frame because you rest half of it on your knees and the other half against the edge of a table, and the large tapestry frame looked like a disaster waiting to happen. You know people who get tangled in clothes airers when they set them up? That’d be me and a large tapestry frame. Start small, I thought. Go with something that you’ll have a chance of handling and won’t result in a comedy moment worthy of YouTube.
Fiona’s studio is brick built, contains a large wood burning stove and is about three times the size of our studio. I batted off a moment of studio envy, because I realise how lucky I am to have ANY dedicated craft space at all. And she runs a business from hers and needs teaching space. It suits her purpose as ours suits mine. For the moment. Ahem.
I learnt several basic techniques. At some point just before lunch (a lovely veggie lasagne followed by stewed apples and ice cream) I stopped muttering ‘under, over, under, over’ beneath my breath and managed to find some semblance of a rhythm. I tried out various types of wool, colours and basic pattern constructions. How to manage the tension so the warp threads stayed straight. Something about the vast array of equipment weavers have at their disposal. Fiona showed us useful books, told us about craft festivals and exhibitions. She peppered the day with handy hints and tips, suggestions and advice. We had lots of laughs and probably too many cheese scones. It was a good day.
I came home with a small tapestry loom, a copy of the wool crafter magazine ‘The Wheel’, a new notebook, a bag of various wools to finish my first project, and a catalogue from Ashford Wheels and Looms, just in case, you know, someone might ask me what I’d like for Christmas. You know. Just in case. ‘Come back, or phone, if you get stuck or need any help,’ said Fiona. Then, randomly, ‘Would you like a red currant bush? I’ve got a rogue one I want to dig up.’
So I came home with a large red currant bush, too!
The whole experience has given me food for thought. Research to do. Another leap of faith to work towards. But for today, I’ve done the housework and shopping and now have an afternoon by the fire finishing my inaugural piece of weaving and delving into ‘The Wheel.’
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