September 16 – 17, 2023
9 a.m.–4 p.m., Montana City School
Weaving
Cut apart the and distribute the samples woven for the Color-and-Weave workshop last May
Have all 23 samples woven before the September 16 meeting. Each one needs to be marked on tags or tape with the name of the draft and which sample number they are. The separation strip must be secured with stitching, Fray Check, or watered-down Elmer’s School Glue.
Bring scissors and a storage bag with your name on it to collect all of your samples.
Spinning
Silk tasting: Jane Fournier
Confused by all the different forms of silk available for hand spinning? This workshop looks at the most common and some of the lesser-known forms of this luxurious fiber and the spinning techniques that will allow you to handle it with confidence. We will try different drafting techniques for the various forms, create some of our own silk blends, discuss and experiment with yarn design considerations, and cover finishing silk yarns to display the fiber and your spinning to best advantage. As we go, we’ll touch on some of the terminology specific to silk fiber. Once we’re familiar with the fibers and how to handle them we’ll move on to spin yarns for a small project.
For students at all levels who have at least some experience with spinning. You must be able to spin a continuous yarn on the equipment brought to class.
Supply fee: $15.00
Class size: 16
Instructor will supply
- All fibers needed for class with sufficient to continue practicing afterward
- Notes and information handouts
What to bring
- Spinning wheel in good working order. Spindle spinners are also welcome to bring fine- and medium-weight spindles as their primary spinning tool, or in addition to a wheel.
- At least 3 bobbins and a lazy kate or similar arrangement for plying
- Fine or medium hand cards, if available. There are usually plenty in the class to share if you don’t have these yet.
- Notebook, pen or pencil, scissors, small or sample-sized niddy-noddy, and yarn gauge or ruler are all useful but not essential.
- Any silk fibers or yarns that you have questions about or that you might like to try spinning in class (optional)
October 21, 2023
9 a.m.–4 p.m., Montana City School
HSWG group project
Decorative dryer balls: Elaine Beagley
Learn how to needle-felt dryer balls and add a decorative design.
Supply fee: $12
Includes needles and enough color and roving for each person to make 3 dryer balls.
Beginning weavers study group
Joanne Hall will lead a short discussion in the afternoon with the study group members (see January 6, below)
November 18–19, 2023
9 a.m.–3 p.m., Montana City School
Weaving
Rigid heddle weaving using single and double heddle reeds: Joanne Hall
Using two heddle reeds gives you the opportunity to weave with finer yarns. Warping is easy to do, by simply winding twice the number of ends that you would wind for a single heddle reed.
If you have some rigid heddle experience and you feel ready, there will be instructions for several patterns for weaving scarves. You can weave a log cabin pattern, or choose from more simple patterns.
For beginners and those without two heddle reeds, there will be a choice of scarf patterns for one heddle. A two-ply yarn will be provided. After learning to weave a stripe or plaid pattern in this class, you will be able to choose your own yarns—even handspun—for your next scarf to weave at home.
Instructor will bring
All yarns will be provided. Select two or more colors from the wide variety available.
If you do not have a loom, one can be provided if you let Joanne know in advance.
Supply fee: $20
Class size: 18
Spinning
TBD
December 9, 2023
Guild party: Annette Cade’s house
January 6, 2024
9 a.m.–4 p.m., Montana City School
Spinning
ROC day
Beginning weavers study group
HSWG is sponsoring a comprehensive study for beginning weavers this year. The objective of the program is to gain comfort with planning and design, reading drafts, warping the loom, weaving, and finishing projects. There will be 2 easy towel designs that are quick to warp and weave, giving you experience working with different threads and patterns.
Towel #1—towels with colors in the warp and weft: Joanne Hall (January 6 & 20, February 17)
Includes winding a multicolor warp, warping the loom, following a color order, weaving with multiple colors, hemming, and finishing. The thread is 50% cotton/50% linen. Linen is very absorbent and easy to care for and the combination with cotton makes weaving carefree. This thread is spun thick and thin, which is easy to work with and makes a cloth that looks rustic and handmade.
Class size: 12
January 20 – 21, 2024
9 a.m.–4 p.m., Montana City School
Beginning weavers study group
Work on towel #1
Weaving
Weft pile techniques: Dawn Ahlert
This class consists of variations of weft pile techniques such as knotted cut pile; looped pile, including pull-up loops and knotted loops; and combination of textures and pile heights. Warp pile weaves will be another class.
Level: intermediate to advanced weaver
Fee: $5 for handouts
Class size: 24
What to bring
- Rigid heddle, 4 harness table- or floor-loom, dressed and ready to weave
- Warp yarn: 8/4 cotton carpet warp, 5/2 cotton, 8/5 linen, 12/9 cotton, or seine twine
- Warp size: minimum of 8 inches weaving width on the loom and a minimum of 2 yards length. Thread warp for plain weave
- Sett: appropriate to weft-faced dominate
- Weft yarn: Variety of wool weaving yarns, including novelty yarns. No yarns larger than knitting DK or Aran weight.
- Several stick shuttles and/or several bobbins and a boat shuttle
- Straight aluminum or wood knitting needle, any size, minimum of 1 inch longer than weaving warp width
- Scissors
- Tapestry needle
- Pencil and paper to take notes
- Anything else that helps you with your weaving such as reading glasses or a small light
Optional materials
- Bobbin winder if you have one. If not, we should be able to share with other class members
- Pick-up stick or weaving sword
- Extra stick shuttles
- Extra bobbins filled with a variety of yarns, including novelty yarns. No yarns larger than knitting DK or Aran weight.
Please email Dawn at dmahlert@hotmail.com if you have questions.
February 17 – 18, 2024
Montana City School, 9 a.m.–4 p.m.
HSWG Group project
MAWS 2024 goody bags: finish
Beginning weavers study group
Finish towel #1
Knitting
1-day class (February 17)
Scandinavian mittens: Mika Koponen
You will learn how to knit a pair of Scandinavian mittens, women’s size M. Mika’s knitting style is continental. Mika will supply the patterns, which include one for both hands, two for the palms, two for thumbs, and a single one for the back of the thumb, for a total of 6 patterns. Four of the patterns mirror each other. The pattern will also include written instructions for different techniques within the mittens. You will need to take notes for this class.
There will be prep work for this class. The cuffs need to be done ahead of time so that we can start on the hand section in class. Mika will give instructions for the Scandinavian cast-on so that the cuffs can be done at home beforehand.
Level: intermediate to advanced
Cost of pattern: $13.00
What to bring
200 yards each of 1 light color and 1 dark color yarn. Your gauge will be 9-1/4 stitches per inch.
March 16 – 17, 2024
Montana City School, 9 a.m.–4 p.m.
Weaving
Transparency weaving: Joanne Hall
Märta Måås Fjetterström created hangings in the technique we now call “transparencies.” She developed the technique more than 100 years ago, to make colorful wall hangings more quickly than when woven in tapestry.
Similar techniques for upholstery and pillows were developed by the textile school in Stockholm, where it is called the HV technique, after the name of the school, Handarbetets Vänner. Transparencies have also been popular in Finland.
Sometimes called simplified tapestry, transparencies are woven with a tabby to create a stable structure using laid-in colors that create images and patterns. They are usually woven with a linen warp and tabby to create a crisp texture. The laid-in colors can be woven in either linen or wool. Since we are using small looms, we will use a plied linen warp.
We will begin by weaving a sample to become familiar with the weaving sequence and with handling the laid-in linen. We will make a cartoon in class; choose a pattern or plan your own. We will begin weaving the design in class and you can complete it at home.
Materials fee: $35 (includes pre-wound warp and weft yarn)
Class size: 18
Instructor will supply
Warp: 20/2 or 28/2 linen, unbleached
Weft: 16/1 linen, unbleached (tabby); 4/1 linen (pattern)
What to bring
- Pre-warped 4-shaft loom, tied up for plain weave, plus 1&2, 3&4
- Reed: 15-dent preferred
- Threading: 1, 2, 3, 4
- Ideas for designs, paper, scissors, masking tape
- 2 T-pins if you have them
- 4–6 sheets plain paper
- Colored pencils or markers
- Thick felt-tipped marker (dark color)
- Thin, smooth stick, 10–20 inches long, to hold the cartoon
- Slender boat shuttle or stick shuttle for the tabby weft
April 20 – 21, 2024
Montana City School, 9 a.m.–4 p.m.
Spinning
Spinning cotton (Yes, you can!): Jane Fournier
Soft, silky, durable, and absorbent, cotton has been a textile staple for different cultures around the world for millennia. We will study some of the various types and breeds of cotton available for handspinning along with their physical properties and spinning characteristics. Learn preparation methods and efficient drafting techniques that will allow you to tackle cotton and any short-stapled fiber with ease. We’ll also cover blending, yarn structure, and plying so that you can spin cotton yarns suitable for a variety of textile techniques. And finally, we’ll put all that to work to spin yarns for a small project.
This class is for students at all levels who have at least some experience of spinning. You must be able to spin a continuous yarn on the equipment brought to class.
Supply fee: $10
Class size: 16
Instructor will supply
- All fibers needed for class with enough to continue practicing afterward
- Notes and information handouts
What to bring
- Spinning wheel in good working order. If you have a choice of wheels, one with high ratios will be most efficient. You are also welcome to bring lightweight spindles or a charka if you would like to use them. If you have any questions about wheels or equipment, contact Jane Fournier at jfourniernz@gmail.com before the workshop.
- At least 3 bobbins and a lazy kate or similar arrangement for plying
- Fine handcards, if available. There are usually plenty in the class for sharing if you don’t have these yet.
- Small ruler (a 6-inch ruler is easiest to handle but the length isn’t critical) or yarn gauge
- Notebook, pen or pencil, scissors, and small niddy-noddy (for making sample skeins) are all useful but not essential
- Any cotton fiber that you have questions about or would like to try spinning in class (optional)
Beginning weavers study group
Towel #2—Towels with a pattern and some history: Joanne Hall (April 20–21 and May 18)
Weave long-lasting towels with colored weft stripes and an easy pattern to make a textured weave from VÄV Magazine in 2020.
This project will include winding a warp with a thinner warp thread, which will be doubled, so you will learn to wind with 2 pairs of threads. We will draft and thread a pattern with doubled threads, weave with doubled threads, and include choices of finishing techniques on four towels.
VÄV Magazine author Anna Zetterlund writes that for many decades, these towels were woven at the Hamsta Home, a nursing facility where mentally ill men lived and wove towels and made wooden furniture that were sold at the local craft market. Anna’s family had used these towels for ages. No longer being woven, and having heard from residents that they were “the world’s best hand towel,” Anna began purchasing them at secondhand stores. She finally decided to weave some herself when she was taking a weaving draft analysis class at Sätergläntan.
May 18, 2024
Montana City School, 9 a.m.–4 p.m.
Beginning weavers study group
Finish towel #2
Knitting
Scandinavian mittens: Mika Koponen
Knitters will finish their mittens