Tag Archive for: saori weaving

Easter scarfSAORI Salt Spring

Easter Reedless Weaving

In our SAORI Study Group, our most recent prompt was “Reedless Weaving” – weaving without a reed.

In this type of weaving, the warp is still threaded through the heddles, but there is no reed. Because the reed is missing, there is nothing to keep the warp threads straight and in line. This means that the warp can be moved around while you are weaving. This allows you to change the sett of the warp – putting areas closer together and further apart and changing it as you go. So much fun!

colourful warp

This warp was made as a demo warp during a warping retreat, random colours were selected as we were winding it.  A demo of  making stripes gave us a purple stripe and a yellow stripe too.  Wow – a bright warp for me.

So, without the reed, the heddles are clipped (I use quilting clips) on both sides of the opening to keep the space open.  With no reed, hence no beater, you need to use either the shuttle or a comb to beat the weaving.

reedless weaving

Opening and closing different areas.

You’ll notice that the edges end up very loopy, almost like a ruffle.  This is because there is no reed to hold them in.  If you ever want to get over worrying about edges/selvedges – just try reedless weaving!

loopy edges

I used variegated yarn and wound it with a solid colour yarn – changing the solid colour each bobbin to give some variation.

I’m pretty happy with the result.  These photos before washing…

And after washing…

reedless weaving

A nice cotton scarf for Easter.

Happy Weaving,

Terri

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Beginning Weaving Classes Near Me

Are you searching for a colourful afternoon of artistry and craft?

Travelling the islands of coastal BC is an inspiration to your inner artist. The rich colours and whimsical weather patterns are a muse to local artists.Locals love to capture this ever-changing landscape through a variety of mediums. 

Weaving is an enjoyable craft that beginners and artists of any aptitude can venture into easily. With the help of a guide and a ready-set loom, you can create your own hand-made souvenir. 

SAORI Weaving Workshops on Salt Spring Island are a natural vacation activity. Our studio in the woods is a great place to get quiet and hear the inspiration from within. Explore weaving as a meditation or as a fun group social activity. The SAORI tools, yarns, warps, books, equipment are here for you to try and SAORI handwovens to inspire your new or next project.

Contact us today to book a Beginner Weaving Workshop on Salt Spring Island: 

  • Private Lessons: Weave something beautiful to take home with you in a 2-hour class, whether you have woven before or not.  A few simple instructions will get you started. There are endless possibilities to explore. Visit our bookings page.
  • Group Lessons: Designed for families, friends, vacation activity, business/corporate team building, inquire for a custom workshop. 

Words to Weave

Words to Weave – A Virtual Exhibit

 

During the time of COVID, in person classes, exhibits, festivals, etc. have been shut down.

One day when I was out for a walk, an idea came to me to hold a Virtual Exhibit.  So, “Words to Weave” became the theme.  I wondered how many people might be interested in this topic and who would submit items for this exhibit.  When I put out the call, I was so happy to receive a positive response.  In all, 14 artists contributed to this show.

Once I started receiving the entries, I had wished that it was in person.  It is so different to see an image instead of actually seeing and touching the cloth.  However, the words and the weavings that were submitted were so inspiring, moving and touching.  As is the SAORI way, each entry was so unique.

Here was the idea:

Are the words to a poem, quote, story or song inspiring to you?  Or perhaps the words of a child or some words from Misao Jo’s writings?

These are the SAORI weavings of 14 artists who have used words as inspiration. View all the details on each artist’s page  on the website Words to Weave.

 

 

 

I hope you enjoy viewing these explorations!  The exhibit remains posted for now – even beyond the original dates.

A new Artist’s Call will be coming this Fall.  Stay tuned for details.

Happy Weaving,

Terri

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Cowl Neck Top – Clothing Design

My newest cowl neck top in colours of Salt Spring and the Salish Sea in summer.

My favourites.

Mainly cotton.
Based on pattern 8 in the Black Book – Shitate no Hon.

Cowl neck.

This weaving was completed some time ago and I finally made this top, inspired by a different cowl neck top by Lynn (Pattern 7 in Shitate no Hon).

Happy Weaving,

Terri

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Y-shaped vest

The fabric for this vest is quite thick and heavy. The weft is 3-4 strands of wool wound together on a bobbin and I used lots of colour blending.

The warp was 10 thin threads of wool per dent and heddle (yes all put together to be like one thicker thread) and then 2 individual thin grey threads in the next two dents and heddles (more or less) so there are ridges in the warp.

I had this fabric for a while before I decided on it’s final form. I put two panels together sewn at the back and left the front open. Then I sewed the sides, but not at the edges as in the Y vest in the Beginners book. With these seams it makes the vest more form fitting, but loose at the same time if that makes sense.

 

Cozy and warm for a cool day.

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SAORI Weaving and Clothing Design
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Triangle Blouse Variation

When I first looked at this cloth, I thought I would make it into a simple top or vest with the white bands down the front. I cut the cloth in half and pinned it, and didn’t like it after all. Now what?

I browsed through the pattern books to get a new idea and saw the Triangle Blouse and so just turned the pieces on an angle – and I liked it so much better. So, I made the triangle blouse (SAORI Beginners Clothing design book – pattern 4).

SAORI Weaving and Clothing Design

My cloth was not the dimensions given in the book, but I just worked around that. The front is a little longer, the back a little shorter, but in truth it can be worn either way. Easy to make – just 4 seams – shoulders and sides, but a whole different look with the cloth at an angle.

SAORI Weaving and Clothing Design

I had a bit of cloth still from this warp and I made it into a simple vest with straps.

SAORI Weaving and Clothing Design

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January 2020 – A new decade

Happy New Year!

I’ve just sent out a newsletter with events happening at the studio and in Victoria in 2020.  You can read it here.

It includes information and registration for SAORI weaving workshops and retreats with SAORI Salt Spring.

Honeysuckle Cottage B&B
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Changes coming to the SAORI Salt Spring Studio!

As of November this year, my teaching studio will be moved into Honeysuckle Cottage! This means there will be more space for weaving, a sewing room, a bathroom and full kitchen. We will still be in the woods, with a beautiful deck to enjoy.

Honeysuckle Cottage B&B

Honeysuckle Cottage – soon to be the SAORI Salt Spring Studio space

The current studio space on the property will be converted into a SAORI “store” where you will find an array of warps, yarns, books, equipment and woven items for sale on display. You’ll also be able to try out the “specialty” looms in the store including the WX90 (a 36” SAORI loom), a 4-harness loom and the Piccolo loom.

For those coming on retreat (which of course I will still be hosting) there is a B&B next door to us at Bloom Organic (at the Blue Horse Gallery) with 2 different suites available. The neighbour on the other side is Bird’s Hill Cottage and their B&B will accommodate up to 5 people. Both are a short walk from the studio, so you’ll still be able to wander over to the studio anytime. As with all my retreats the studio will be open early and late (8 am  to 8 pm) for extra weaving time.

Other accommodations in the area include Angel Cottage, Magnolia Petal, Quarrystone Inn, Soul Reflection B&B and many more. You can also find many listings and availability on the accommodations website at www.saltspringaccommodation.ca.

I’m looking forward to this new adventure and to seeing you here on the island!

 

To book a workshop or retreat, please have a look at my calendar here and information on classes and retreats.

(See my entire Autumn 2018 newsletter here).

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Spaces Between – A Healing Journey

“Spaces Between”  is an installation at the Green Raven Clinic on Salt Spring Island.

Reflections:

Warp – I am the warp. I am black and I am strong and I hold all these pieces together. Without the warp she could not weave. I am dark and in the background so that all the colours of the weft can take centre stage. I am straight, usually. This time, she took out the reed and moved me from side to side at will. Usually the reed keeps everything under control and in straight lines – but the reed was nowhere to be seen. At one point she started pulling some of me out! I felt vulnerable, but I held everything together anyway.

Weft – I am the weft. My colour changes by her will and whimsy. I am often blues and greens, the colour of the island, but now I am grey and soft, red and strong, black and dark. Usually I go across and back, across and back. But now, she stops and starts, changing direction, changing colour, leaving holes and spaces. Leaving spaces between.

Black – I am black and dark. Black and strong. A background colour. A bold colour. No colour. I reach into dark places and call things up for exploration. I am the colour of the west and the storm clouds, but they also bring the cleansing rains. You may see me as solid, but look closely, I am only threads woven together, absorbing the light.

Red – Bold. Strong. Startling. Stop. Look at me. Her Aries colour, seldom expressed by her. I think I am not her true colour as she feels jolted by me. I stand out. I draw your eye. I call to you, to women.

Grey – Soft, woollen grey. Gentle lines, moving, bending, blending in. Making you feel relaxed and soft. Warm and cozy. I rest your eyes from the other strong colours. I withdraw into myself. I balance the other colours, leaving a more peaceful feeling.

Wool – I am little bits of wool. I am scattered here and there like little bright spots. Soft spots. I make you smile when you see me. I am texture and unexpected. Playful.

Spaces Between

Waterfall, 2009
Blue Cashmere Jacket, 2018
Spaces Between: Flow, 2018
Spaces Between: Apart & Together, 2018
Spaces Between: Missing, 2018
Spaces Between: Crossroads, 2018

Artist’s Statement

These 4 pieces were woven as I started yet another year with Chronic Health Issues.

“Spaces Between”  was my search for answers. I wasn’t sure when I started weaving what the spaces were about. Were they the spaces, the moments of good health, the good memories? Or were they the spaces of darkness and ill health? Were they breathing spaces? I wove and I wondered.

When I showed one of my pieces to a friend as I was asking this question she said to me “It really doesn’t matter which they are, as when I see the whole cloth together it is beautiful. If the spaces are the good places or the broken places, they all work together to make the whole tapestry of your life”.

Each piece is different and it was clear when it was finished. I unrolled them and they are all of a similar length, a chapter of the story.

As I was finishing the last piece, just near the end, a piece of blue wool called to be put into the weaving. At that time I knew that this was the last piece of the series as I was being called back from this journey and search.

Spaces Between

Then I was at a clinic day at Green Raven and a question came to me “Where am I in all of this?” – it felt like something outside of me. Like I wasn’t present. It was at that time that I realized I had to add to this exhibit some pieces that are me, that reflect who I am.  The two pieces that I chose are blues, of course. One, called “Waterfall” was woven early in my SAORI weaving journey for an exhibit in New York City, before my illness started. The other “Blue Cashmere Jacket” is a piece that I just finished.

saori weaving

I am now weaving with more ease, more breathing room, more spaces to allow things to be how they are.

Happy Weaving,

Terri

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Artist-in-Residence (March 2018)

I had been to Terri’s SAORI studio in the woods on three separate occasions before this trip and I thought this would just be a longer version of those experiences. I didn’t realize that this Artist In Residency was going to be different in so many ways. It turned out to be not only the creative experience I was craving, but also an emotional and spiritual experience as well.

Studio in the woods

I promised myself that I would not have any goals or pre-meditated outcomes and that I would just “go with the flow”. I was committed to just living in the moment, and allowing myself to weave what was inspiring me, which ended up being about weaving the landscape of the island.

Artist in Residence, Salt Spring weaving

Terri and I usually met in the studio in the mornings – and I would ask for guidance with different techniques I was interested in learning as well as feeling more comfortable with Kenzo’s table top warping technique.

Judy Sysak, Kenzo's warping method

Terri is so wonderful at just allowing things to bubble to the surface and she was there to help with whatever I asked. I ended up weaving the landscape of the island, working in colours that I generally am not drawn to in shades of the sky/trees/rocky beaches; greens/blues/steel greys and brown hues.

Salt Spring Landscape

I napped and walked in the afternoon, or I went to town and strolled through the shops and art galleries. In the evenings I wove on a loom Terri had put in my room – that had a a white warp with large gaps in the threading. Some evenings, I would pad over to the studio and weave or I would flip through her pattern books until I was ready for bed. I found myself re-reading the Self Innovation Through Free Weaving (The Purple Book) and specifically the parts about Misao Jo’s journey into SAORI weaving and how she intuitively just let her weaving unfold. It reminded me that SAORI is about weaving to find our true selves and we end up with a unique and personal piece of weaving as a bonus at the end. With the passing of Misao Jo in January – these words felt even more poignant and profound.

Like many women I know, I have struggled with perfectionism and the need to be “striving”. If I’m not working towards a goal, then what is the point? These thoughts still end up being front and centre when I am starting my weaving. I think “what is this going to be?”, “will I ever even wear this colour?”, “what if it’s ugly and I’ve wasted all those materials?”. These thoughts can paralyze my creative spirit. This week was all about accepting that I didn’t need to have any answers to those questions – and that I could just let go and weave what I was feeling without worrying about the end product. This proved to be surprisingly uncomfortable at times, but in the end I was able to find a flow and joy in my weaving and I ended up loving, and feeling connected to the finished cloth.

SAORI Weaving

Another gift of the week was Lynn Jones coming to spend the day with us on Monday. She has been SAORI weaving for almost a decade and she loves the process of sewing her woven pieces into clothing, and helping others “see” their cloth in the light of “what does it want to be”? She brought a suitcase stuffed full of her SAORI woven clothing pieces and I excitedly tried on each one, loving each one even more than the one before. It was so inspirational! We spent the afternoon draping samples of woven cloth I had brought with me in ways I had never thought of or envisioned. Terri & Lynn together are a force! All of a sudden, I just wanted to sew, and for anyone who knows me, I never thought I would ever say those words! I made a short top and two vests while I was there and I love them all. I even wore one to a meeting in downtown Calgary last week which was a huge leap for me! I have a new confidence as well as an exciting and fresh perspective regarding my woven cloth.

copper patina

We closed up my week with a SAORI Kai at Poppet Creative, Terri’s satellite studio in Victoria. I was able to meet all the lovely SAORI weavers that make up this community, and it was such a treat to not only share my work, but to see what other people have been weaving and making with their cloth as well. I loved being a part of such a welcoming group, even if it was just for the day.

clothing design at Poppet Creative, Victoria

In closing, the Artist in Residence experience was about a lot of things. It was about embracing alone time, sipping almond milk chai lattes on the beach,

Fernwood Dock, Salt Spring Island

discovering coconut milk yogurt (so yummy!) and having long uninterrupted naps without laundry, grocery lists or voicemails that needed to be returned. But it also opened up my creative spirit to the question “what if”?. What if I added locks? What if I left a big space on this row? What if I added a completely different colour than I’m currently using? What if I let the edges go loose and create loops?

Lorries Locks

Going into the AIR, I still had so much fear of making a mistake. Then something shifted and I came away with the realization that so many possibilities open up when I just allow myself to ask “what if”? And not just in weaving!

A sincere thank you to Terri, who opens up her studio and her heart to make these retreats possible. I feel so grateful that she and her SAORI teachings have made their way into my life and my heart.

Judy Sysak
Artist in Residence, SAORI Salt Spring
March 3-11, 2018

Fulford Harbour

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