Rug weaving class with Nancy Kennedy

Wow! Just got back from a 4 day rug weaving class taught by Nancy Kennedy and my mind is blown!

I made a couple of summer and winter rugs a few months back and was either not bubbling in enough weft or bubbling in too much weft... I also tried a card woven edge on one of them, and it rotated to one side making it a one sided rug. Then I didn't want fringe but my finished edges were awful. The rugs are a lovely color, nice and squishy to step on but they're not pleasing for me to look at and I decided I needed a class.

Less than a month later, I identified a class at the Pacific Textile Arts Center in Fort Bragg that unfortunately was taking place less than a week before we're heading out on a major vacation. I wasn't sure I wanted to spend 5 days in Ft Bragg right before leaving town... DH agreed that I get fussy about these things... but then decided I Don't Want to Be That Kind of Person (fussy) and I booked the class. My dear friend K. came with me; she's a great travelling companion!

One of Nancy's class examples

Nancy does her rug finishing in a way I've never seen before. She weaves a plain weave hem, accented by two color twining, then folds the hem over to create a beautiful, decorative, clean finished edge. The rugs are woven in Summer and Winter polychrome with no tabby, with a card woven edge ala Martha Stanley. The threads from the twining are braided or bound and create playful pigtails on the sides of the rugs.  She weaves her rugs on a loom set up for shaft switching but demoed a horribly fussy way that it would be done on a regular loom; there are other methods and I'm going to be investigating. The key here is that I finally understand shaft switching.

My cute little ruglet

I've got notes in my binder so will not add them here but there are a few deets I didn't capture there.

• The yarn she uses in Vevgarn Frid tynt, made by Norsk Fjord Fiber; it's distributed by Sidsel Mereb (yarns@norskfjordfiber.com) in North Carolina. She prefers this wool because the colors are true.  The color card is outstanding.
• One skein is about 3.5 oz and 328 yards (300m in 100g) which should give me a YPP if I calculate it. It's pretty thin but she uses multiple strands for most parts of the rug. 
• She uses waxed polyester thread to sew the hems together; I'm not sure if she was using the fine or the coarse but I suspect the coarse.

I had some issues with the other color feathering in on the edges... She handles the card woven selvedges by going over on one side and through on the other. I wonder if I did over-over/thru-thru if that would be better?

I did write this down in my binder but I will do so again... when you put down a shuttle, put it down on the outside; then pick up the shuttle on the inside for the next pick. That keeps the edges consistent.

As for the shaft switching, Wendy had taken a class with Peter Collingwood and they'd used cordlocks to move the thread between shafts. I'm still trying to wrap my head around this. There are good examples/methods for shaft switching in Peter C's 2nd book (the thin one), as well as A Rug Weavers Sourcebook. I've also seen stuff in Handwoven.

Nancy does all of her designing on paper (including colors) and has a detailed plan before she starts; she uses cash register tape that she marks with her plan to track it while she's weaving.

Speaking of Handwoven, Michael Rohde has a pattern in Handwoven called the Caribbean Windows Rug which has some fun inlay in it; I want to try this for the next rug. I think I'd like to stay and do something straightforward like this before I try shaft switching.

Some logisitics: We stayed at the Seadog, an AirBnB just south of town; it ended up being cheaper than a hotel plus we had a kitchen, coffee maker, and living room for hanging out in the evening. It was about 10 minutes from the weaving center and a bit rustic but lovely. We had a pleasant meal at Princess Seafood Restaurant on the harbor; a so-so meal at Mayan Fusion, and two great dinner at Cucina Verona, good GF pastas and risotto, plus a great wine list.... On the way home, we stopped at Los Moles in San Rafael. All of these are places I'd like to remember.

UFOS: a list? The beginnings of a plan?

Today I decided to identify my UFOs (UnFinished Objects), and maybe what state they are in. I'd like to pick a few per quarter and work through them, hoping NOT to be the crazy lady with piles of unfinished projects. If I can't figure out what to do with the finished objects, I can always donate them...

Knitting: 

• Shiny Sweater- I'm making headway on this 
• Anna Zilboorg Sweater- I need to fish it out and make a plan 
• A Capella- frog and return the yarn to the yarn pool 
• That other vest that's not right- frog and knit it correctly 
• Sunset and Sand- needs a decision frog or finish! 
• The jacket with the embroidery that needs rework. If I recall correctly there's an issue with the collar, and the sleeves, and I'm not sure what else...

Weaving:

• This is super easy, since it's either on the loom or not...  and there are projects on both looms. 
• However, there are two hand towels that need hemming. I can't find them.
• I do have four ikat warps (one I dyed, two from Indonesia, and one from a friend) that need weaving. 

Quilting (Can the list really still be this long?):

• Fan blocks: I've been dithering about what to do with them for 20 years or so.
• The first Judy Niemeyer quilt (straighter pieces): I may need to figure out setting strips but otherwise I think I photoed a layout and I should be ready to finish the top.
• The second Judy Niemeyer class (curved pieces): I stopped while piecing the top together but I did photo the layout; so I need to remember what I was doing and do it.
• Judy Niemeyer place mat kit: it's in the bookshelf, waiting to be made.
• Chili pepper quilt: Ick
• Around the Twist quilt: It's done except I think a couple of the corners need sewing? This'll probably go to donation
• One or two Hawaiians (small) that need quilting
• A cute but fussy quilt that I started in pinks and blues but I'm not sure I'm precise enough to finish

Sewing:

• The shirt I just cut out (aqua camp shirt), just do it
• I have all the pieces ready for a big grocery bag, just do it

Spinning:

• Honestly I have no idea.

Mosaic:

• A table: Unsure of how I want the background to be
• A stepping stone: there's an area I made that needs rework.

Clearly I'm not counting raw materials (quilting fabric, knitting yarn, weaving yarn, tiles, sewing fabric). Let's not go there.

Sheep Shirt is promoted to the closet!!!

Lots of sheeps roaming
this shirt...

I'd put the sheep shirt away for awhile... The lovely soft double gauze was moving around a bit and I was too scared to sew the sleeves in. I finally finished it, and sewed on plain white shirt buttons from my button box. I sewed them on twice, as the first time they were too high. I think the trick with buttons is to test the first one you put on so it's in the right spot... Anyways, here's a photo of it handing in the laundry room door; it fits the same way as the paper shirt I finished last summer.

Which leaves me with a pile of fabric and no plan. I need a plan. Without a plan, I've cut out another Natalie shirt (like the sheep shirt) in a Malaysian batik I bought in Singapore. I also sorted all my fabric and brought out a rayon I bought a few years ago in Santa Cruz; I am planning on the #1 Shirt or Seamwork's Hansie, both fairly modern unstructured type garments.

I'm stalled on weaving for a couple of silly reasons. On the double huck, I finally embraced the class as a buffet (the teacher presented it as such); taste what you want and don't feel obligated to finish any one variation. I think I've seen enough and it's time to start a project (there's enough warp) but I need to fix one error and I may resley the reed. I'm mentally working through some ideas. The warp for testing the Bronson lace is beamed on the other loom and needs threading, put I can't bring myself to count the heddles.

I did try paper marbling again, after the last run that didn't work. The airbrush paint I tried didn't sink but it didn't spread well and was frustrating; so I mixed up some acrylic paint and water, and that floated and spread nicely. Printing was an issue; the paint didn't adhere well and seemed to slide off the page. WTF? Out of 4 papers there's only one I'd consider usable. So I stopped. I'm going to re-alum the paper (and try some other paper as well), maybe next week. It would. be nice to have a working "recipe".  I did have a lot of fun with it and if I can get it working, I'll pick up some additional colors.

We spent the night up in Napa last night to see Garuda Blue at the Blue Note; it was a lot of fun and I enjoyed the trip. We had breakfast this morning at Grace's Table; great food, fun menu, I would definitely go back.

I've been posting more updates lately... I suspect that'll tail off in a bit...