Annual Holiday Open House and Studio Sale

I'd just like to announce to everyone that we've decided to hold our Annual Holiday Open House and Studio Sale on the first two Saturdays of December. We will be host to the work of several well-known local artists and fine craftsmen, as well as showcasing the work of the faculty and students of the weaving school. It will be a wonderful opportunity for those interested to visit our wonderful barn studio nestled in the rolling hills north of Plainfield Village, to see live weaving demonstrations on antique barn looms, to find out more about our educational programs, and to meet all of the participating artists in person.

Over the next few weeks I will be giving you sneak previews of some of the beautiful handwoven goods that will be for sale. We have also invited the following artists and craftspeople to participate in our event, so in addition to handwoven textiles, there will also be paintings, pottery, blacksmithing, and blown glass for sale as wonderful holiday gifts.

The local artists are Susan Abbott, Emily Johansen, Susan Osmond, Viiu Niler, Lark Upson, Jan Brough, and Peter Welles.

We'll be holding this event on the first two Saturdays in December:

Saturday, December 3rd from 10am to 2pm
and
Saturday, December 10th from 10m to 2pm.

The Weaving School is located in the barn behind the main house at 589 Eaton Cemetery Road in Marshfield, halfway between the lower end of Hollister Hill Road near Newton Farm and Route 2 at the Marshfield Inn and Motel.

From Montpelier take Route 2 east through the village of Plainfield. Once you pass Tim's Convenience on the left, take your first left onto Hollister Hill Road, at the Wyoming Lodge. Follow this road up a long hill, and at the top of the hill, Hollister Hill Road turns sharply to the left at Newton Farm. Bear slightly to the right in front of the "haunted house" onto Eaton Cemetery Road. There is a sign for the school at the third driveway as you're going down the hill. Drive around back and the barn is right there.

From St. Johnsbury, take Route 2 west through Marshfield Village. Approximately 4 or 5 miles later you will see the Marshfield Inn and Motel on the right. Take a right just past the inn onto Eaton Cemetery Road. Follow the road for a mile or so, past the cemetery on the right, and past Jake Martin Road. Turn into the next driveway on the left just past Jake Martin Road. You'll see the barn out back behind the house.

Or, you can call the school for directions (802.426.3733).

We hope to see you there!

Sylvia's Carpet

Sylvia threading up

weaving with a sword and a ski shuttle

the eggplant accent really was perfect

Sylvia came back for another week of study this year, this time to work on a rep weave carpet in the style of Silas Burton. Her first day was spent designing the warp and planning her project...winding the spools for warping in stripes off a spool rack, and then building her warp. Day Two found her beaming on to her loom, and beginning the threading.

The rest of the week she was busy weaving...learning how to work with the sword and the ski shuttle, to really pack those picks in and make a nice dense rug. She finished up on Saturday.

Don't you think her carpet is stunning? I thought the eggplant accent was the tiny bit that really pulled her whole color scheme together. It's subtle, but it really sets everything off in a way that makes her piece look rich and deep. We all thought it was a rather stunning piece of work.

We look forward to your next visit, Sylvia!

What's Going On In the Studio These Days

the tamaracks are putting on their show

cotton houndstooth dishtowels

Taylore threading up for her summer blanket/winter sheet

Susan W's linen toweling, ready for finishing

Lynnette's silk scarves in a plaited twill treadling variation

Sandra's cotton runner

Susan O is making another run of striped cotton dishtowels

some cotton placemats we're weaving for our annual studio sale

Sandra and Stevie have been working on shadow weave runners

Pat is threading up some cotton twill dishtowels

It's late autumn now,and most days much chillier. The tamaracks have turned golden; they're usually the last little bright burst of color before it really gets dreary outdoors, giving us all the heads-up to finish our last-minute gardening, get the firewood in, and put the storm windows in place for the winter.

Inside we are snug as bugs in a rug. The windows are not often open these days and the heat is on. Everyone has been making such beautiful fabric, either busy making gifts for the holiday season, or getting things made for our first annual studio sale to be held here the first two Saturdays in December.

Of course, the production weavers (i.e., teaching faculty) for Eaton Hill are churning out cotton dishtowels, colorful placemats, and wool/silk and alpaca scarves and throws as fast as they possibly can, in between all their other duties here.

Sandra and Stevie have been working on a shadow weave countermarche set-up...cotton runners in very strong jewel tones. It's a lively pattern that keeps both of them on their toes! It's the shadow weave gamp out of the 2004 Jan/Feb issue of Handwoven.

Sandra has also been working on a sumptuously heavy cotton runner. The latest combination of red warp and tobacco weft is really a stunner. It looks so old-world european. Certainly this will be a visually warming addition to a wintertime interior.

Susan O. has been weaving another run of the twill stripe cotton dishtowels that everyone here is fairly mad about this fall. Towels like this will feature heavily at the studio sale. They were super-popular last year. We sold every single one! So this year EVERYONE is making them.

Pat is doing her version of a twill plaid dishtowel that has become a standard around here, in beautiful seagreens and blues.

Susan W. has been experimenting with cotton/linen toweling and is currently setting up for a fine cotton herringbone fabric that she hopes to make a skirt out of. She is on a clothing fabric quest!

Lynnette has been weaving up a few silk scarves in an 8-harness plaited twill. They are so fine and delicate! She changed the treadling for each scarf, so they all have a very different effect.

Taylore is back this fall. She's setting up for a long summer blanket/winter sheet project. Her warp is a dark warm brown 16/2 cotton, and her weft is all ends of hand-dyed wool singles that we scrounged for out in the shed a few weeks ago. This will be a project to watch...as her colors are so beautiful together. So very inspiring.

...................................

And, a little update on Patricia and Netra's projects...in a disciplined and heroic effort they both managed to complete their challenging projects by week's end. It was wonderful having you both here again!

Netra and her 11 yards of blanketing

a detail of Netra's beautiful classic work

Patricia with her rug off the loom

detail of the "underside" of Patricia's rug on the loom

Netra and Patricia's Annual Autumn Visit

Netra working on her blankets

Patricia at the loom

the Krokbragd rug on the loom

the triangles we used to run the three harness set-up

This week we had two longtime students weaving in the barn. They always come together for a week of weaving in October; they choose their projects well in advance and pay the extra fee to have us wind their warps and dress their looms, so they can just arrive (Patricia drives up from Virginia And Netra from north central Pennsylvania) and begin weaving right away.

In this case it's a good thing. Netra's project is a long warp to weave the fabric for two twin bed blankets...a twelve yard warp! So she's been really busy weaving her straight 2/2 twill block in navy and edelweiss 8/3 wool. It's classic Scottish Wedding Blanket stuff and very beautiful.

Patricia decided to weave a krokbragd rug. It's set up with three harnesses (using triangles instead of a rollerbar or pulleys). It has a heavy linen carpet warp, and a weft of New Zealand wool (about 570 yds per pound). It's slow going, because it's beaten in pretty well, and she's carrying two, sometimes three, colors at once on ski shuttles.

This is Patricia's ninth annual week with us and it's Netra's eleventh! We love having them back every year and we always know it's October when we get to spend our week with them...both delightful women with much collective weaving experience and life wisdom.

Overshot and Stripes

Gail's overshot on the loom

Linda's warp - so colorful!

Linda's striped moreen on the loom

Linda weaving with the skarne in the background

Gail and Linda were here last week, both of them working on some pretty intensive projects.

Gail came up from Newburyport, MA to learn about overshot and weave a small piece to get the hang of things so she can try the same thing on her own loom at home. She chose the Mary Ann Ostrander pattern from the Green Book, and it's a beauty! Our method of warping using a skarne (spool rack for multiple spools) was new to her, so she had this to learn as well as overshot threading and weaving. It was a lot of work for five days.

Linda came from Youngstown, OH to learn about warping with multiple spools to weave a length of striped moreen. It's an incredibly challenging thing to learn, as you must manage picking a cross with many different colors coming off the spools. The visual depth perception of this process is tricky, and the fine 2's/20 worsted is somewhat sticky and difficult to work with. At the end of the week her fabric was gorgeous, though, and worth all the effort of the warp-building.

Definitely not work for the faint of heart! These were two very determined students.

2012 Weaving Class Calendar

OK! Autumn is really here and we've been working hard to develop our curriculum. Here's the new schedule for our 2012 Weaving Class Calendar. We're trying something a bit different beginning in January - “Theme Weeks” - so that students can choose from a wider range of topics in any given week. We will offer these theme weeks two weeks out of the month and the beginning and intermediate classes on the other two weeks.

And just know that while we always set a date for each theme, mostly because we've found that it helps people to organize their own schedule and a commitment to attending, we can be flexible about it. For instance, if the course you wanted to take is posted for a certain week, but you can't attend during that week, you can schedule the course you want to take for a week that you can attend. We always try to accommodate your scheduling needs.

I've also installed a link to this schedule in the sidebar so that students can refer to this throughout the year without having to dig through the archives to find it. If you have any questions, please comment, call us, or send us an email.


Jan. 9 - 13
Clothing Fabrics Week: Scottish Tweed; Herringbone, Checks & Houndstooth

Jan. 23 - 27
Linen Week: Singles Linen, Spot Weaves, Checked Linen

Feb. 6 - 10
Warp Faced Carpet Week: 4 Block Rep Weaves, Venetian Carpet, Ikat Dyed Jaspe Rugs

Feb. 20 - 24
Household Textile Week:
Fancy Bedcover, Shaker Towels, Fabrics for the Kitchen and Pantry

March 12 - 16
Clothing Fabrics Week: Singles Linen, Striped Linen, Cotton Checks

March 26 - 30
Weft Faced Carpet Week: Krokbragd, Khilim Tapestry, Rag Rugs

April 9 - 13
Rio Grande Weaving: Rio Grande Blanket, Rio Grande Rugs

April 23 - 27
L’Amour de Maman - French Canadian Dowry Textiles:
Couverture d’Mariage, Ikat Dyed Jaspe Rugs

May 7 - 11
Upholstery Fabric Week: Harateens & Moreen, Plain & Striped Rep Weave

May 21 - 25
18th C. Clothing Fabric Week:
Calimanco & Camlet, Siamoise, Cherryderry, Irish Stuff, Bombazine, Ducapes, Gros de Tours

June 11 - 15
Clothing Fabric in 2/1 & 3/1 Twill Week:
Bombazine, Tickings, Dimity, and Denim Cloth

June 23 & 24
Natural Dyeing with Wool & Silk

June 25 - 29
Weaving From Historic Draft Books Week: Venetian Carpets by Silas Burton, Dimities & Diapers from John Hargrove, Point Twills from German Draft Books

July 9 - 13
Silk Week: Ikat Dyed Scarves, Irish Stuff & Bombazine, Cherry Derry & Ducape

July 21 & 22
Natural Dyeing with Cotton & Linen

July 23 - 27
Linen Week: Singles Linen, Spot Weave, Checked Linen

August 4 & 5
Indigo Dye Intensive: Block Printing, Paste Resists, & Shibori

August 6 - 10
Stripes: Calimanco, Siamoises, Striped Moreens

August 20 - 24
MultiHarness Week:
Point Twills from German Draft Books, Satin Weaves, Luxury Fiber Throws

September 1 & 2
Dyeing with Local Plants

Sept. 3 - 7
Rio Grande Weaving Week: Rio Grande Blanket, Rio Grande Rugs

Sept. 17 - 21
L’Amour de Maman - French Canadian Dowry Textiles:
Couverture d’Mariage, Ikat Dyed Jaspe Rugs

Oct. 1 - 5
Household Textiles Week - Bedding:
Fancy Bedcovers, Overshot Coverlet, Scottish Wedding Blanket

Oct. 15 - 19
Clothing Fabric Week: Scottish Tweed, Herringbone, Checks & Houndstooth

Nov. 5 - 9
Household Textile Week - Towels: Shaker Towels, Hucks & M’s & O’s, Dimities & Diapers

Nov. 26 - 30
Warp Faced Carpet Week: Khilim Tapestry, 4 Block Rep, Rag Rugs

Dec. 3 - 7
Weaving Dishtowels & Scarves for Christmas

Student Update

Mel contemplating her work

It's such a wonderful and curious thing to see what someone will come up with when they choose the colors of yarn for their project. I am always intruiged and surprised to realize (yet again) that we all see color differently, and we all gravitate to our own unique combinations of color and effect when we plan our work.

Mel Donovan came to weave with us for a week after having been away from working on a loom for quite a number of years. I proposed she do a short cotton dishtowel warp, 5 yards long, enough to have a good experience of weaving and to make four towels, but not so long as to be difficult to set up and weave off in a week for someone who's been away from weaving for a while.

The weave structure was fairly straightforward, a simple 2/2 twill, but the challenge in the threading was to learn the technique of changing the twill direction on each color change in the warp sequence. She then chose different wefts and combinations of weft stripes for each towel, yet further experimentation with her color palette.

Her towels were beautiful, and not like anything that I've ever seen anyone else weave so far! She picked a few colors which we had hand-dyed here at the barn, and so her work has this lovely abrash and depth to it, as you can see in the photographs above.

We hope you had a good week, re-learning some weaving techniques, Mel, and look forward to seeing you back someday!

In other news, Taylore is back for a month of weaving, and we have two new longer-term weekly students, Rose Diamond and Susan Witham. Rose is the recipient of a Vermont Folklife Apprenticeship Grant and will be studying here for four months, and Susan got a VSAC grant and will be here for six months! These grants are a great resource for Vermont residents who wish to study with Vermont artisans. We are happy to have both Rose and Susan here as they both add to the general bustle and liveliness at the barn.

I've included links to both of these organizations in the right-hand sidebar of this blog (under"Financial Aid"). The Marshfield School of Weaving is now an approved teaching entity for both of them.