Class Act

 I traveled to Charlottesville, Virginia on Friday, August 19th.  It was a rainy day but a scenic drive through the mountains.  I checked into the hotel and discovered it was move-in day for UVA.  Lots of anxious moms and dads and excited kids.

Saturday, bright and early I headed to Joan's studio.  One of the elements of this class that enticed me was the opportunity to spend time in Joan's studio.

A wall of yarn for blending and weaving.

Joan's impressively large Shannock loom. 

My working spot.

I loved the emphasis Joan put on design.  This was an intermediate class, we  were presumed to have some basic tapestry skills.  We started by working on our design inspiration, color scheme and the best way to weave our piece.

Joan stressed sampling, tapestry is such a sl-ooooooo-w process you want to ensure your design is worthy and weavable.

Ann's sample in progress.  

This is Deborah's sample based

on a picture of the southwest.

Karen was working on some depth of shades on her sunflowers.

There were four of us in class allowing for group instruction, camaraderie and lots of individual attention too.

It was a wonderful class, spending time in Joan's studio, learning about her design and weaving process and hanging out with Ann, Karen and Deborah was great!

We all had such a good experience, we have already scheduled a return visit to Joan's studio in November.   We plan to show off our completed tapestries based on our samples and to plan our next tapestry.

A New Blog and Class Preparation

I am changing my blog to reflect my new passion for tapestry weaving.  Knit on Regardless was my spot for sharing my fiber adventures with a focus on knitting. For the last several months tapestry weaving has grown to a major passion and I need to reflect that in my blogging.

There will be some spinning, dyeing, knitting and fiber events in the future but my emphasis has changed.  I was fortunate enough to take a class with Joan Griffin in her Charlottesville, Virginia studio.

A little prep was required.  Joan asked us to bring a warped loom, yarn for weft and some design ideas.

I dyed some Ullteppegarn by Gjestal , a fingering weight 100% two ply wool.

I used Greener Shades Dye .  My goal was to obtain multiple shades of teal for a gradient effect.

These dyes are easy to use and I have always been pleased with the results.

Here are the results along with the fabric sample that inspired my color choices.