Bighorn sheep and a week of weaving in Taos

Bighorn sheep and a week of weaving in Taos

I taught two retreats in Taos in close succession this fall. It is always good to be in Taos and the retreat I have in November is a group that comes back every year. I’m always so grateful for this group of weavers that have become friends over the years. It is important to find friends who are tapestry weavers if you can whether that be online or people you can actually meet in person.

Getting to Taos in the winter is usually fairly easy, and this day was no exception. Going home there was a snowstorm and I didn’t get to enjoy this view looking toward Chama from Highway 64.

Packing isn't all it is cracked up to be

Packing isn't all it is cracked up to be

I’m off to Taos to teach another retreat soon. I know, I know, I just came back from teaching in Taos. The spinning for tapestry retreat with Jillian Moreno was an added workshop this year because the venue had an opening in October. So though I just made that trek two weeks ago, I’m off for another round.

This retreat is an alumni retreat about design. It is one full of people that come back every year and it has become a wonderful place to share our triumphs or struggles over the year with tapestry and life.

Schacht Arras treadle assembly

Schacht Arras treadle assembly

I have been weaving on the Schacht Arras tapestry loom for several years now. They have released a stand and treadle assembly for the loom which I have been using for most of a year now and I really love it.

The treadles don’t work without the stand so you do have to purchase both the stand and the treadle assembly to make the whole thing work. The treadles are manual meaning that they work with a pulley system and don’t need to be plugged in. They glide easily and are very quiet.

A tapestry show catalog round-up

A tapestry show catalog round-up

I have been unable to get to any tapestry shows in the last few years for various reasons. But I am an avid collector of catalogs because I find it a great source of inspiration for my own work and I love to see what other people are doing in tapestry. The catalogs below are recent acquisitions.

Catalogs are definitely not the perfect representation of a piece of art, but I find them very useful for getting ideas, celebrating artists I do know, and learning about artists I didn’t know about. I have quite a collection and I find that when I’m stuck for ideas for whatever reason, going back through old catalogs is really helpful!

I hope this brief review of these catalogs is inspiring enough for you to get your own copy and perhaps start your own catalog collection!

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Continuous tapestry warp and tight selvedges: This is the knot to use.

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Continuous tapestry warp and tight selvedges: This is the knot to use.

There are only a few things that I’d say regularly frustrate new tapestry weavers and one of them is the final knot on the warping bar of a continuously warped tapestry loom. If that last knot doesn’t hold tightly, then your edge selvedge will be loose which affects your weaving. Using a double half-hitch knot allows you to adjust the tension on that last warp with a knot that will hold.

Continuous warping

What does that mean? A continuous warp is one which wraps around the outside of a tensioned frame loom. Some common examples of this type of loom are the Schacht Arras and most Mirrix looms. These looms use a warping bar. The bar gives you a place to tie the beginning and ending warp securely as well as a rigid structure to help you turn the tapestry around the loom without distorting it. This type of loom can produce a tapestry that is longer than the loom is high.