Out with the “Old”, and in with the new…..soon.

Three pieces of a lovely fabric inspired by a nature shot of rocks (did you know that rocks can be beautiful? I did, but I hear that not everyone knows to look for beauty at their feet.) went to the post office the other day, off to their new homes.

 

We are moving back to our summer home next week, so I am working on some small projects, testing out some new equipment that I recently added to the studio. 

 

Once we are settled, I will be working on this:

(pssst…..my email list will be getting an exclusive offer next month)

Congratulations Leah!

Leah has accepted the custom spot from the draw on Tuesday!

Congratulations Leah, I look forward to working with you.

 

For all of those who didn’t win, I have an offer coming up in September, and it will be made available to those of you on the email list first!

Drawing a winner, and travel plans.

I have now drawn a name from my email list (by random number generator) as a potential winner of a custom design. That person has been emailed, with the details as posted, and the option to accept or refuse the spot. Should the spot be refused (and let’s face it, sometimes winning is exciting, but the timing is wrong), I will draw another name, and continue to do so until someone accepts the spot.

 

Once this happens, I will announce the winners first name here, and on my facebook page.

 

In addition, I will be travelling for the next two days. Lots of driving and activities planned, but not a lot of time online. I will do my best to keep in touch, but if anyone has any questions, please be patient. I should be back with regular online access by Friday. Thanks so much for your patience!

Draw for Custom Weaving!

On Tuesday August 19, I will be offering a custom design/weave spot to a member of my email list. Let your friends know, as all email list members, new and old will be eligible for this draw.

If you have already received an email about this, you do not have to do anything to enter this draw.

If you are not already on my email list, email me (before midnight EST, August 18) at kathy@rocklakeweaving.com, and ask to be on the email list. You will not only be eligible for this draw, but you will also get an occasional email from me, with special “email list only” offers.

The details of the spot offered:

This is a custom warp, designed to customer specifications, with up to 7 colours in the warp.

Fibers available for warp and weft (one fiber for each, the warp and weft may be the same or different fibers) are cotton, cotolin, and mercerized cotton.

There is no mimimum warp length. The winner may purchase the length they prefer, however, the remainder of the warp will also be sold, should the winner choose to buy less than a full warp.

All of my custom policies are in effect, they can be seen here: https://rocklakeweaving.wordpress.com/policies/

If your name is chosen, I will email you and let you know. You will have 24 hours to submit the $150 deposit, or refuse the spot. Should you refuse the spot, you will continue to be eligible for any and all future spots.

Once the spot has been claimed, I will announce the winner (first name only) on my website and facebook page.

The final cost of the custom fabric will depend on the length requested, and the fibers used. The customer will be informed of all costs before any design work commences.

Design work will commence once the deposit has been received, and weaving will take place once the final design has been approved by the client.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask, via email, or facebook.

Thank you, and good luck!

There be dragons here….

A dragon inspired warp is on the loom here, one weft colour (with stripes at the ends) is now complete, and the next weft is a meter and change into its length. I cannot decide which weft I like best, so I am just not going to pick!

What do you think?

Lavender weft

Black and lavender wefts on bobbins.

Black Weft

Stripes of all the weft choices on the tails of on protion of the fabric.

 

Into the Night

After moving house, and unpacking everything, I packed my weaving things back up for the trip to our summer house.

Weaving is still on the go, as I have all the needed equipment here as well. (It doesn’t look like so much equipment when it is spread out between two houses!)

It has been so nice out, that the kids want to be on the beach all day, which is wonderful, but means that most of my weaving time is at night after they are in bed.

I am currently beaming this custom fabric, and I cannot wait to start weaving it!

The next order up is a really nice mix of grey-blues, oranges and reds, with a touch of yellow, so prepare your sunglasses!

Back to work

Well, the move is officially accomplished, (the definition of that is all our stuff is in the new house) and I am back at the loom.

I am having issues with the warp on the loom right now, but I hope to get it sorted out soon. While I fight with it, (a girl can’t just cut 13 yards off and toss it in the trash without at least TRYING to save some of it), I am measuring the next warp in line. This is the second chunk that I have measured, which brings me to the halfway point. I am looking forward to a better behaved warp!

 

What’s that you say? NOT everyone has a warping board in the dining area and uses the boxes of seasonal use items and a printer to position their spool rack? Weird.

 

Moving

Please note that we are in the midst of a move. All jobs are on hold for another day or two until the housing chaos subsides.

Internet connections are in place, so if anyone has questions, please email. I will be checking email at least once a day, but I can’t promise that it won’t be very late at night!

Thanks everyone for your patience, I am looking forward to getting the next warp on the loom!

What it takes.

When you look at a custom fabric, you see beauty. It doesn’t matter if it is “your” colours or not, it is the product of someone’s time, effort, and artistic talent.  But have you ever wondered “How do they do that?”?

Every weaver and designer has their own methods, and clients come to you with different ideas and expectations. Some people have photos, or know the type of colour pattern (stripes, gradient, rainbow, etc) they want and the colours they love.

Some clients already know very much what they want, and it only takes  a few tries for the weaver to design something that they love. Other clients take a bit more time, but when you finally get to what they want, it is very rewarding.

Then the real work starts! The yarn amounts are calculated, and ordered if needed, then the warp is measured. There are several methods of measuring the warp, and getting it onto the warp beam on the loom. No matter what method the weaver uses, they need to make sure that they have the right number of threads, in the correct order, to match the design that the client approved.

This is how I do it. Every entry on these sheets of paper tells me how many threads of which colour, in which order to measure out. Keep in mind that every entry also means a piece of yarn cut, and a knot made. This takes time. Anywhere from 4 to 10 hours, depending on the complexity of the design, and how many times I am interrupted. 

Now some people might think “There is no chance on earth that I would do that”, but I like it. I like the feel of the yarns gliding through my fingers. I can catch any knots or slubs that might come up, and make sure that they do not make it into the warp. I find the rhythm of measuring, and the dance of my hands soothing. This is the point where you can really start to see that a bunch of time, yarn, and the ideas of two or more people, will become a piece of handmade art.

And the winner is…..

Tiffany Howard!

Congratulations Tiffany, you have an email in your inbox right about now with all the details!

For those of you who don’t know what is happening here, I just offered a custom weaving spot to the people on my email list only. I sometimes send out offers to only my email list, as a thank you to those people who have taken the time to email me expressing interest in my weaving. If you would like to be on this list, please email me (kathy@rocklakeweaving). If you know the details of the custom fabric that you would like, include that, as I sometimes just weave what I feel like weaving.

I don’t do spam. If I email you, it is because I have something that I think you would like. A custom spot. Part of a warp. Something that is already finished, but doesn’t have a home. I do not give out my email list. To anybody. For any reason.