April 2025
Studio views & more workshops!
In this newsletter you’ll find:
Studio views
House of Wool
Upcoming workshops
Studio Views
Colour! Texture! Residue from making check paintings in which I was thinking about and through colour and line.
I recently spoke to the Huronia Handweavers Guild (thank you so much for the invite!), and one thing they asked me to speak about was my design process. At first, I didn’t think I had a formal process (or at least the type that could be distilled into an easy equation), but I did have several things to share re: strategies or steps I do take, including the one seen above, drawing.
One thing I shared is that I buy pencil crayons to match yarn — then I can sketch away in close-enough shades and have a more accurate drawing that satisfies my visual mind. One of those drawings has become a pattern that I will publish next month.
Through thinking about design I also ended up thinking about colour, which lead me to examining the colours of cottolin I have in the studio. Judging colour is challenging from a short length hanging next to dozens of other shades, so when I get a new one, I wrap an 1”/2.5cm of this new hue around a small piece of card (a rescued batch of misprinted business cards). I write the company, yarn, and colour number on the top left corner. This gives me a decent area of colour to compare and consider, and because each is separate from the other, I can move them around independently to compare and contrast. I recently pulled them all out to see what my preferences lie: I was not surprised to discover I have never purchased true orange or violet yarn!
I would have liked to have shared a picture or two from last month’s Landmade, but I didn’t take any! Click through the image above to see a few images from the weekend. I had so many great conversations with all sorts of people curious about and interested in local textiles, though I’m sorry for the many flying hellos where I didn’t get to come back.
One memorable conversation was with an engineering student who was curious about wool and its properties because fibrous materials are used in the production of aerospace panelling — this is the kind of connection I was happy to see, wool can be so much more beyond textiles! It was a delight to have my friend Mel from Lickety Spit Fibre Farm demonstrating skirting (cleaning fleeces) in the normally clean and minimal Image Arts building. I walked away without a fleece, but oooo did I want one.
And lastly, I’m very pleased to share that I’ll be heading to Denmark this summer to attend an artist residency. I’m looking for any suggestions, recommendations, and highlights from Copenhagen and beyond (Malmö, Sweden, in particular!). If you are local, let’s meet! Send me an email or leave a comment here to connect.
House of Wool - Closing Sale
My weaving colleague Emily C. Gillies is closing her Halifax-based online shop House of Wool. They stock several excellent materials for weavers as well as spinning fibre and yarn hand-dyed by Emily.
As you can see from this image, House of Wool has beautiful materials for weaving, knitting, and spinning. Everything is 20% off with an additional 10% off spinning fibres. Materials I have used and would highly recommend are Holst Supersoft (which makes wonderful scarves), Venne Eco Jeans, and, of course, Gist Yarn.
Again, I don’t usually like to advertise things on my newsletter, but I also feel like weaving yarn is expensive! And of course it’s also nice to order from and support Canadian small businesses (no duties!) ☺ You can see what Emily has at House of Wool.ca.
Workshops
I’ve got a few workshops planned before I head to Europe this summer. The newest two are in Toronto and Montreal, where I’ll be teaching my Stripe Lab design workshop in May. I’m still working on the Stripe Lab ebook, but in the interim you’re welcome to come and play with stripes through the creative exercises I’ve developed that explore colour, repeating lines, rhythm and scale. Join me at:
The Textile Studio Coop in Toronto, on Saturday, May 17th from 10am-4pm. Registration is here.
Irene Textiles in Montréal, Québec, on Saturday May 24th and Sunday May 25th, from 10-4 (each day is a separate class!). Instruction will be in English, but the Irene Textiles folks will be there to help with translation if you are more comfortable in French.
Registration is here.
There is also still space in my Weave a Scarf workshop at the Art Gallery of Burlington in late April.
Weave a Scarf, three sessions on Saturday April 26, May 3, and May 10, 1-4pm. Registration is here.
It’s the end of term and I am looking forward to to finishing my marking and unwinding a bit from the pace of the winter semester.
Weaving colleague and all around gem Mackenzie Kelly-Frère is starting a weaving newsletter! It is called The Fell, and will share his own weaving and textile-based research as well as the work of others and, I’m sure, plenty of interesting craft related stories and makers. The first edition is coming in May 2025 and I look forward to reading it.
See you next month,
Amanda