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A weekend at Pacifica and an upcoming SAORI Kai

For a year now, I’ve been teaching workshops at the beautiful Pacifica Paddle location in Brentwood Bay on Vancouver Island. It is so wonderful to have my looms and supplies there at a ‘satellite studio’ and just come over on the ferry to share SAORI weaving.

pacifica-looms

Here is a sampling from this weekend.

We arrived on Saturday morning and the weather was a bit misty…

misty morning

One of the first weavings was in all whites. Stunning!

White weaving

Then more colour, a lot more colour, crept into the next one.

weaving

Some rugs were woven with local wool and alpaca roving. This one for a lucky kitty!

handwoven cat mat

The following day we had a full workshop including members of the Victoria Weaver’s Guild – they were interested in seeing what SAORI was all about and trying the looms out, learning about the philosophy and letting go…

We tried some ripple weave,

ripple weave

feather plying,

feather plying

And lots of colour and texture.

saori weaving

Marilee was learning to make warps with Kenzo’s new warping tools. It’s kind of like making your own pre-wound warp. Quick and easy to do – and it can all be beamed and threaded right at the table. Or you can use the loom.

blue warp

A wonderful weekend again.

weekend weaving

Thanks to Peter & Sandra for making these workshops possible at their workshop location. And to all who come out. You can always go out for a paddle while you are there – or bring a partner or friend who would like to get out on the water.

You can also enjoy a paddle

Next month there is a workshop on Saturday, March 12 from 10-3 and then a mini-workshop on Sunday, March 13 from 10-12. We will be joined by a special guest – Stacey Piwinski from Boston – who will be the Artist-in-Residence at SAORI Salt Spring that week! Come and meet Stacey and see some of her works from her recent exhibit.

Stacey Piwinski, Artist in Residence

PLUS a SAORI Kai on Sunday, March 13 from 1-3. Please come out, bring your weaving, your questions and share in the joy of SAORI. All are welcome.

Happy Weaving,
Terri

My website: www.saorisaltspring.com, see some updates on my Gallery page here.

Or you can find me more often on Facebook or Instagram.

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Ruffle Vest

When I was in Japan last May I had a chance to try Kenzo Jo’s special stretchy yarn. I had used stretchy yarn in the weft before, but never in the warp. This yarn is stretched and starched so that you can wind it into a warp like any other fibre. Once you wash the piece, the starch comes out and the yarn contracts making for a fabulous effect.

In this piece, I put this yarn every 5 (or so) threads just in the centre section.

 

Here is the result before washing…

 

and after…

 

 

So exciting to see the changes!

Then, it stayed in my studio until a few days before the SAORI Kai this past weekend. I needed something new to wear and so it was time for this piece to become a garment. I wanted to feature the ruffles and so I made it into a vest, using the ruffles as a collar, the back yoke and as a feature at the bottom of the back of the vest.

 

 

This was so simple to make as it is just two pieces. One piece is the entire front – from the bottom at one side, up and around the back becoming the collar and yoke, and then back down the other side. The back is a piece cut off and sewn to the yoke and the two sides. I sewed this all by hand. After I made it, I realized that it is similar in design to the vest in the Beginner’s Clothing Design book called the Rocket Vest (design #9).

 

 

I added a few of “Bob’s Buttons” to finish it off (the morning of the kai!)…

 

The vest is very lightweight, but warm as all the fibre is a very soft wool from SAORI Japan.

Happy Weaving,
Terri

My website: www.saorisaltspring.com

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Artist in Residence Month

February this year is an Artist in Residence month for me. The last time I did this was May 2013 – you can read about my adventures from that year here. I felt it was time to do it again. For those that didn’t read my blog then, it was a time for me to focus on my weaving as an Artist in Residence – in my own residence and studio.

So this year’s residence started with a SAORI Kai over in Victoria at Knotty by Nature. What a great way to start out – sharing our SAORI stories and inspiration. Some new and visiting people were there which added to the Kai. Thanks to all who came!!

 

Lynn showing the back of her vest and it's construction

Lynn showing the back of her vest and it’s construction

As I start on this next Artist in Residence (AiR), I’ve been wondering what my focus will be.

The first day at home, I was unloading my van and organizing the studio after taking 6 looms and material, etc. over to Victoria. As I was doing that I was thinking about my AiR and also thinking back to Loomsday and what warps were still on my looms. One was my ‘Christmas warp’…

 

This was a warp I put on before Christmas thinking that someone might like to weave something in Christmas colours – or that I might. One person did a weaving, but then there was still lots of warp left. I wondered – how can I weave this so that it doesn’t look like ‘Christmas’?

I looked at my bobbin tray – full of partial bobbins from my recent workshops…

 

…and wondered what colours & textures would change the look of the warp? And so I started to weave…

 

 

We’ll see where this goes.

It’s interesting that I have this feeling as I start out that I have to clear all my previous warps before I start on some new things. Making space perhaps for new ideas. I also wound some new warps yesterday – so I’ll just let this process unfold and see if it becomes clear.

During this month I have a workshop in White Rock and another in Victoria at Pacifica Paddle in Brentwood Bay – great chances to share SAORI weaving. I also have people coming to the studio to learn, to share. This is what I love – sharing SAORI!

Other thoughts for the month are to try some new fibres in the studio:

Some great recycled linens from Give a Darn Yarn that arrived last week…

 

Some beautiful rovings from Ashford and of course some of the SAORI Yarn Sets that came just before Christmas.

And some new yarns that I’m hoping arrive soon from New Zealand from Black Hills Yarn which I will be carrying in my shop!

Fun!

I’ll keep posting my explorations….

Happy Weaving,
Terri

My website: www.saorisaltspring.com

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