new weavers first scarf

I am so in in love with this scarf. it is Candance's first scarf and i can hardly wait to see finished!

candance loves saori weaving so much she bought a sx60 loom last week.

puppy luv

Candance has a new springer spaniel puppy Hazel and while she was in weaving class hazel fell asleep
 under the SAORI loom and Candance wove on not interrupting puppy's sleep at at all. That is how quiet Saori looms are.
My husband Lee took some wonderful photos of my banners off a bridge next to our home before i shipped them off. And I wound a new warp.

second banner woven

I am weaving 2 banners for a installation on two restored heritage bridges in elm street park in Worcester Mass.the banners are a donation the local business buy one and then saori Worcester weaving studio uses the money as a scholarship for weaving classes for children at risk and in need of financial assistance.
These 2 are all wool so they will not need to be fireproofed.Wool does not burn.... well easily, it self extinguishes. i love wool.
so here are some photos .
Banner 1

      
working with the wool yarns i already had i set to weave a banner with traditional roots and a look to the future. I dyed some wool in two colors of bright yellow greens especially. So those colors of greens are the future, the traditional colors are the past .The green  builds on , much like the history of the ELM ST BRIDGES , spanning historical past with the fresh contemporary present. Interweaving and leading into the beyond leads the green weft . Traditional colors in the warp, browns blues reds are the base to build on. The contemporary  two hues of chartreuse green colors wefts intersect and pick up the viewers eye  to the beyond .

  

 Banner 2 is wool as well.when i saw the wood elm st. park bridge on the installation PHOTOS  I though of Japan and then the Imperial Hotel Frank Lloyd Wight built in japan that no longer is standing. Many interconnecting  corridors like in weaving. When i was a teen ager  I was fortunate enough to live in a wright home for 2 to 3 yrs in Paradise Valley Arizona. So this banner is an tribute to Frank Lloyd Wright and the influence he had on my  color and design sense .  

designing a saori hand woven jacket

Today I was brave and cut into my saori 6 meter by 18" wide woven piece. I wove it in Salt Spring Island  this spring when i was taking a saori teacher training with Terri Bibby. I took advantage of the twisted fringe edges to be on the center front edge. This is a mostly cotton yarn piece. The jacket then may be tied with the long fringes at the center front, or not, either way it looks equally well. I decided on raglan 3/4 sleeves, and a lower in the back curved hemline. I also put some wide pockets on each side, I need my pockets, and these i bagged to give another design element. I used every inch of the woven cloth, just leaving "snippets for mice" as Beatrice Potter wrote in Tailor of Glouster. Using a serger or over lock machine will not work with most saori woven cloth because it is very thick in some areas and loose in others and it cuts off the fabric but the sewn threads just fall off the edges. so regular zig zag on a regular sewing machine works best to keep the yardage together. When I teach weaving classes I also help and provide sewing machines and construction of garments from your hand woven cloth as well.

more photos here

new saori banners woven

I committed to donating 2 saori woven banners I wove for a installation back east Worcester mass. Two restored bridges in elm st. park the banners will be hung for a week. Local business are buying a banner and the money goes for a scholarship fund for local weaving classes for children in financial need. The dead line in August first so i have made it, now to twist fringe , wash and dry pack it and ship it this week. info here

more new weavers

this week end i put the saori looms on the deck and they got quite a lot of attention from a new to weaving interested group.

saori weaving studio open

Welcome to my SAORI weaving studio. WHAT is Saori weaving? go to my web sight and check out classes and everything!
www.saorisantacruz.com
 A dream came true, to have a studio for teaching and weaving. three SAORI looms are warped and the shelves are full of cones and cones of yarn . Candace is a natural at weaving. She sat down and with very few words from me was weaving in a minute or two. She added to a on going woven banner and was joyful with no rules weaving. She is coming back to weave her own scarf next week using colors and techniques she chooses .

Candace weaving on a saori loom  on the deck right out side of the studio