A SPECIAL GIFT

   My husband Lee surprised me with new licenses plates for my truck monday. Well it was not a total surprise  in that we had to go the dept. of motor vehicles to turn in my old plates and to pick the new ones so i knew what was going on a few weeks before, but the plate frames are so nice too. Thank you Lee .

weaving , and felted hat

Debbie's weaving, beautiful colors

Jill's weaving influenced by Debbie's creativity.

This past week Debbi came to weave. Debbie is an amazing physical therapist . A small bit of her extensive background she shared.............  when she was in school and training she came from one of the last groups of physical therapists who learned weaving skills along with her other training. How wonderful and rare is that.  How sad that weaving and working with ones hand as a recuperating activity both physically and mental to get them back to health has been eliminated !
Even though it had been decades since she wove she did a wonderful piece and she wants to make it into a tube for a wind sock. I took the time and wove along with her on my golden rod and lavenders cotton warp. When she started adding wool fiber to her weaving I started adding pom pom yarn to mind. The Saori philosophy says we all learn from each other and influence each other and that is exactly what happened!
NOW into fall knitting
I have had this knitting pattern for a witches hat for about a year so for the last few weeks i have been franticly  knitting this hat with fair isle color work out of wool and then felted it. It is drying as i  am writing but for now I will post the before and after photos the dried hat photos to follow. I have pumpkins already on the steps to the house so autumn is calling me.

The big knit witches halloween hat I have been knitting before felting

drying in the sun ,stuffed, and shaped and  sculpted weighted down brim with stones after  felting finished felted hat

saori looms and weaving with children

Hope is weaving her new piece on a saori SX60 loom now. The piccolo could have been adjusted higher for her since she is almost too tall for it on the lowest setting but the raised height is almost the same height as the sx60 so we tried her on it and found that it was comfortable for her too. She chose her colors and yarns herself , and wound all her bobbins with the built in bobbin winder, then wove self directed changing colors when she wanted for about a hour straight. She taped her yarn samples in her journal. She wants to weave enough to be able to sew her own vest. so that whats will will do weave the cloth then sew the garment. She learned how to advance the warp by herself and I am impressed with her selvages , even though in saori weaving philosophy that is not a concern she has the ability to sense the tension and holds her thumb over the bobbin as the yarns wind off naturally. She is a natural at weaving.

SECOND DAY AT THE SANTA CRUZ COUNTY FAIR

WOW am I tired but many students got to try weaving today. They begged me for more time but there were thousands of children so i had to pick and choose out the group who would be the" learn to weavers." I had 2 looms a saori sx60 and a piccolo that got a lot of use! I was too busy to take photos but i gave my camera to some one who kindly took theses shots with me and the children weaving. one more day at the fair to go.
more photos here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/heartgallery/SecondDayAtTheSantaCruzCountyFair?pli=1#

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY FAIR MY FIRST DAY

Well this is the first of  of three days that I am demonstrating at the Santa Cruz county fair. i set up my saori loom so that the school aged children can weave on it too. After an hour one of the other people in my group said"did you see what awards you pieces won, I totally forgot about that. I am blown away. my knitted and felted mushroom bag won ........... BEST OF SHOW!!!! and my saori woven and fulled wool hand bag won a special award the Carri Jacbson-May award of excellence. OMG and i got a 1st for my hand spun hand knitted "brownie" doll, and 3 2nd places, for my ruana, dress, and scarf. my saori jacket did not win a thing, so saori has a way to go for the judges to understand but i am very surprised that as  much Saori weavings were accepted  by then as they were!   since the purple mushroom bag is displayed in a glass case it is hard to see so here is the photo I took of it 2 weeks ago in the studio. The mushroom top slides up on the strap exposing the "stem" part that holds ones purse things. {and yes it is botanically correct and there is such a thing as a purple mushroom} some creative license was executed, I can not be totally void of interpretation .

i will report more tomorrow, there are going to be over 4, 000 school children/ teachers etc. in attendance tomorrow will get back with more photos and details stay tuned.

Home schooler learns weaving in the SAORI way

Hope just recently turned 7. She is being home schooled and came for a day of weaving and sewing. She was not sure what weaving was and or if she would like it. She sat down at the SAORI Piccolo loom and I showed her a few basics and she continued to weave for the next 3 or 4 hours! She washed her weaving and hung it up on the line for the sun to dry it. She decided she wanted to sew a bag so next i set her up to making a twisted cord handle. She wanted red yarn for the strap. Then with the weaving dry I sat her down at the  sewing machine I had threaded and she sewed a simple bag with a flap that she loves! When I asked her what she thought of weaving she said " I love weaving". So iI asked "what do like about weaving?" Hope answered," everything". "This is my new favorite thing." stay tuned for more weavings from this talented creative  little person. more photos here http://picasaweb.google.com/heartgallery/BrandNew7YrOldWeavesForThe1stTime?pli=1&gsessionid=VkawtJh8xC3JEBlESWuDjQ#

SAORI 4 harness loom debut

With much anticipation my saori 60 four harness loom arrived last week.It took me about 3 hours to assemble it with only the alan wrench enclosed.  I only had to undo one thing , no biggie. WHAT a sweet loom. The action of the harnesses and treadle movements are  smooth and quite and easy to hook up lamms , treadles and harness. The shed, a very big shed IS SUPERB. Several students have tried it out and really find it fun,  easy, and beautiful. maggie said, "wow this is a perfect size for my small home" "and it is so quite" "sweet".