Friday, August 30, 2013

Saori - A New Adventure


Wow....I've got lots to share this week since my last post was at the beginning of August.  I'll start by sharing a little about my class in Saori weaving at Michigan Fiber Festival from Chiaki O'Brien.  What a fabulous, fabulous day it turned out to be.

I've had a rigid heddle for a few years but felt weaving just wasn't going to be something I would be passionate about.  Boy was I wrong.  Once I started weaving in the Saori class, I found myself thinking of all kinds of weavings I could create.  It was just plain fun and look what came home with me from festival.......a used 4 harness loom....a totally unexpected purchase!
Oops, got a little ahead of myself, back to class.  I thought I'd taken pics of everyone's finished work from class but found I hadn't.  That was a little disappointing since our pieces all turned out so differently.  
 
Some of us brought some of our own yarns/material (yup, one lady actually brought some material she ripped into strips) to weave with and Chiaki had a whole table full of different yarns for us to add into our pieces if we wanted.  Just can't say enough about how inspiring this class was.
 
 
So now I'm on a Saori adventure with Terri and Ms. Wonder Why.  Terri came over on Wednesday afternoon with her warping board to give me guidance on my first warp.  Here it is on her warping board......
and today I'm going to tackle dressing my loom....Yay! 
 
It's probably going to take me quite a while since I really don't know what I'm doing.  I figured I might just as well make this a long warp so I'd have some material to make into a piece of Saori clothing.  I ordered a book from Chiaki and it arrived yesterday.  Spent last night drooling over all the wonderful garments.
 
 
On the knitting front, I've been working away on my Star Lily and just started a mystery KAL using a pattern by KellyJ from her Up North Collection.  It's called Strolling
 
This is the first time I've tried a mystery knit and I must say it's been putting my comprehension skills to the test.  I made an error at the beginning of Clue 1 so I've been very cautious since then.  I didn't realize how much I use the pattern picture to help figure out if I'm on the right track. 
 
We get a clue every 2 weeks and lucky for me Kelly posts a spoiler picture after the first week.  This is how I found I'd made a mistake and had to frog back.  Clue 1 done......
Working on Clue 2 but pictures can't be revealed until next week.  I decided to use some of my sock yarn stash....yup!  Told myself I couldn't buy anymore sock yarn until I'd used up some of that stash.  Now I can see that stash making it's way into a Saori weaving....LOL.
 
In my last post, I mentioned I was working on a photo album for our daughters birthday.  I decided I'd try my hand at making this album totally from scratch.   I used material as the base for all the pictures and sewed all the pictures down instead of using just paper.  You know how it goes.....yarn stash.....material stash....art stash.....stash, stash, stash.  Seems like a recurring theme to me!
 
It was certainly a learning experience.  We went to KY last weekend to celebrate with her so I can finally show all the pics.
Cover and our grandson, of course on the first page
left hand photo; pic of the family in their hockey jersey's, middle; Ben and dad, right; a little book I made to hold more pictures
 
Pic's inside the little book

 

Ben with his dog, Lola and of course a family photo
 
left; the little book of photos and another family photo for the last page

 
Very happy with how it turned out but will definitely be making some changes in my next one.  I got a little carried away with the thickness of my pages which caused a little problem in the binding process.  It all turned out well in the end and I'm glad to say she was very pleased and surprised.
 
The second part of her present was us spending the weekend cleaning and organizing their garage so she can park in it this winter.  They bought a new house several months ago and everything they didn't know what they were going to do with, went into the garage.  It was driving both her and especially my hubby crazy every time we went to visit.  Ta Da......parents to the rescue.....
 
 
It was a long, grueling process in 95 degree weather but we gotter' done!  Nikki is a happy, happy girl.
 
This was my reward....
....a visit to The Woolery.  I didn't realize they are only about 40 miles from her new house.  Hubby was nice enough to take me a few extra mile out of our way.  I bought the warp thread that's on the warping board at the beginning of my post and a raddle to help with the warping process. 
 
Whew.....sorry for the length of this post.  I need to buckle down and post every Friday. 
 
I don't have to work this Saturday so plan on spending the next three days working on my loom.  Hope everyone has a safe and fun Memorial day weekend.
 
Happy Fiber Arts Friday!!


5 comments:

  1. You've been one very busy lady. I can't wait to hear about the new loom and how it's working. It sounds exciting. Have a great weekend.

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  2. I'm so happy that you are giving weaving another go! I already see you incorporating it into your mixed media.

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  3. What a busy time you've been having! The Saori weaving sounds really fun, love your new floor loom. Look forward to seeing more wonderful weaving projects :)

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  4. You're a great Mom! Have fun with the loom this weekend!

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  5. You are an active fiberista for sure. Bet you are excited about your new loom. You will create many lovelies on it, for sure. I was on a tour to Scotland this summer and we saw many looms going back to the late 1700's. did you know weavers worked 18 hr days for just enough money to keep food on their tables?

    Thanks for your visit

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