May/June 2023

Halftones, a Weave Quarterly subscription box

In this newsletter you’ll find:

• Halftones, a Weave Quarterly subscription box

• Studio Views

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Halftones

I’m really excited to be sharing my Gist Yarn Weave Quarterly subscription box with you — it’s called Halftones, and it explores a favourite weaving structure of mine, floatwork/overshot.

Photo credit: Monique Juliette Baron

I love weaving this two-shuttle technique because it’s relatively simple to create complex graphic patterns with a basic four shaft loom. I think of floatwork as having three pattern areas:

• a white part, where the pattern weft travels on the back of the textile

• a black part, where the weft travels over the top of the textile

• a ‘grey’ part, where the weft travels 50/50 on both sides.

This box is named after the grey part, the halftone, an element of this structure I haven’t always liked but that I’ve embraced and played with in all the projects.

In Halftones, I’ve tried to accomplish two things: design easy, beginner friendly patterns without really complex threadings, and insert a non-traditional element¹ by making use of Gist’s wide palette of weaving materials and colours.

Photo credit: Monique Juliette Baron

If you’re a weaver, I hope you’ll consider signing up for one, two, or all three projects. Project one (which I am told to leave a mystery, but it’s one of the three you see above), is out today! You’ll have immediate access to the pattern, with a shipment of material to follow.

The great part of a subscription box is it’s not just a pattern — there’s bonus content that comes with each box. In the first box you’ll get an article that shares some of my favourite tips and tricks for making overshot weaving easy. It’s all things I haven’t written about or shared in depth before.

If you do plan on signing up for any of my subscription boxes, I hope you’ll consider clicking on this link to do so — it doesn’t cost you any extra, but I do get a small affiliate commission if you do, and I would greatly appreciate that.

And rigid heddle weavers — Gist hasn’t left you out! Jennifer Mao is my WQ colleague, and I’m looking forward to seeing what rigid heddle projects she’s designed. Her affiliate link is here, if you’re signing up for a rigid heddle box.

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Studio Views

Last month I didn’t send out a newsletter for several reasons — the biggest being that we’ve started to renovate our garage to become my studio! I work out of a bedroom in my home, and in our last flat I used the living room (who needs a living room??). While I haven’t outgrown my space, we do need to shuffle things around in our house come September and this is the excuse I’ve been waiting for.

In progress

I’ve never renovated anything before and while I’m not doing much of the physical labour, anyone who has tackled a project like this or knows me personally understands two things: there are lots of decisions to make and I’m terrible at making decisions. So my time and energy has been at one end of the scale or the other, with not much in between. Couple that with lots of other things and there hasn’t been much of a view in the studio, unless you’re counting the cat hair under the loom. (This is not entirely true: I do have a few things in the works, but you’ll just have to wait and see.)

That being said, if you’ve ever wanted to purchase any of my weaving patterns and were looking for a good reason, now is a great time to support me and help me build my studio! If you’re not a weaver, I also have things like this one-of-a-kind cyanotype print or stitched dust rags in my online shop.

This is not my hobby — I’m a professional working artist and your support of any type, whether it’s a friendly email or comment (I love these), a picture of a finished project (love these even more) or even just a single pattern purchase — it all goes a long way in helping me keep doing what I’m doing!

If you’ve ever wondered about hiring me to design a weaving pattern for your store or company, please reach out — I’d love to talk more with you.

Don’t you want to make these??

If I was going anywhere or doing anything non-studio related, I’d be attending the Biennale internaionale du lin du Portneuf in Quebec, which opens June 18. This organization’s goal is to produce an artistic festival every other year that highlights international and multidisciplinary practices that engage technically and conceptually with linen.

While the website is in French, Google Translate does a decent job of highlighting some of the festival activities, and I’m sure there will be more as the opening date comes closer.

Wishing you a wonderful start to June,

Amanda

1. Traditional being a cotton or linen ground and a wool pattern weft.