Do you have a cluster of books in your collection that are just too precious to part with?
Some of them old as the hills and others more recently acquired treasures?
I think everyone does.
Recently, a friend asked me about weaving books.
If I had just a handful of weaving books in my studio, which ones would they be?
Great question.  A handful… hmmm… five fingers on a hand, so five favorite weaving books…..
I could cheat and list the ones I have written, but I think that she was asking me for five books ~AS WELL AS~ the books I have written
I …read more

A note popped up in my mailbox that said:  I like the tutorial on how to weave a triangle on the potholder loom.
Now, show us something to do with it!
I thought… An Angel!
So I spent the day, designing a convoluted and complicated Angel doll.
Then, I went to tweet about it on Twitter , and as I was writing my tiny tweet…
it struck me…. I can make a SUPER SIMPLE ANGEL that would be
PERFECT FOR  MOTHER’S DAY!
(or any other celebration, or actually, just because….)
What do you need to make this NIFTY LITTLE ANGEL DOLL ?
(Today on the International Freeform list, James …read more

I’ve been thinking about upcycling and recycling projects in honor of  Earth Day.
Green and eco projects are always a good idea.
I wanted to celebrate Earth day by coming up with some fun ‘eco-upcycling’ projects that would be quick, easy and oh so friendly to the Earth.
I’ve made a few notes about a couple of them, and will be sharing them this week.
Today, a very very easy one  popped into my mind.
I was rummaging through a drawer and
I found a bit of  inkle weaving that had been left over from another project.
I thought… hmmm…. this would make a great bookmark!
Bookmarks are …read more

If you are a weaver and you are on Twitter, then please feel free to join the
twitterweave group.
The twitterweave group is open to anyone who weaves, (or used to weave, or hopes to learn how to weave), has a loom of any description, is involved in a weaving guild  or not, or has news and notes about weaving that they would like to share…..
It’s a little baffling, but  I am working on figuring out how it’s supposed to work.
First, you join the group:
twitterweave
and when you tweet  anything about weaving on twitter, and would like the rest of the group to …read more

It looks to me like Schacht looms have created another winner.
They are just about to launch an absolute sweetheart of a small rigid heddle loom.
It’s the Cricket .
Just because a loom is small, doesn’t mean it isn’t mighty! The size of the loom doesn’t necessarily limit the size of the  finished  project. Imagination is the key!
I am a passionate small loom weaver and am looking forward to meeting the Cricket!
By the way….. if you have a rigid heddle loom, then you absolutely HAVE TO HAVE a copy of Betty Davenport’s book: Hands on Rigid Heddle Weaving.  It’s a terrific little …read more

My daughter found this wonderful piece on boingboing. (thanks Luv!)
This is just thrilling…. a co-operative is forming under the aspices of  the  non-profit Architecture for Humanity and Lulan Artisans to train young women in Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and India to create stable incomes through weaving. This is a way of resisting the pressure to succumb to human trafficing.
Here’s the link: Weaving co-op
News like this makes my heart soar!

This website is inspiring, but frustrating….
It’s great to learn that the art of tapestry weaving is alive and well in Australia, but the photographs are tiny and there doesn’t seem to be a gallery of their completed works….
Still worth a look: Tapestry

Salt Spring Island is one of my most favorite places on the whole planet.
My dear friend, Terri Bibby, lives there and has been participating in ARTCRAFT
She did an installation of her Saori Peace Banners that  is magical. Here’s the link to her blog entry about it:
weaving installation 
Be sure to click on
Shannon Wardroper’s link 
as her mixed media pieces are stunningly beautiful.
Oh to be on Salt Spring…. sigh…..

Last summer, my dear friend, Terri went to Japan to participate in some wonderful Saori weaving events.
She brought back this lovely bag:

The butterfly outline was satin stitched with the weaving behind the cotton. Then the black cotton was carefully cut away to reveal the weaving.
This is a variation on Mola or San Blas appliqué technique.
Terry made a lovely T shirt using this technique….. here’s the link: Terri’s dragonfly shirt
and a neat shirt that has a woven appliqué image of the map of Salt Spring Island: Map shirt
I think that this is a great way to use treasured bits of …read more

It’s a very bad idea to read a hysterically funny book when you are in bed, and your exhausted husband is trying to sleep.
Last night, I was reading with my wee tiny light, trying oh so hard to be inconspicuous…. well…. oops!
I am reading the #1 Ladies Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith, and the gentle, but hilarious adventures/misadventures in the agency and garage had me in stitches. Which meant that the bed was shaking like a windswept leaf.  Poor seasick (awake) hubby!
There was one passage that struck me as being totally ‘Winnie the Pooh’. That made me want …read more