September 2023
Daisy Chain Scarf, coming this month!
Studio Views
Textile links
Halftones Box 2 coming soon!
Weavers who have signed up to my Gist Yarn Weave Quarterly subscription box will start receiving the pattern and yarn for the second project after September 18th.
The Daisy Chain Scarf uses Array wool and Ode Alpaca to create a lightweight and super soft scarf with connected flower-like motifs. Each side looks slightly different! It’s wide enough to rest over your shoulders like a small shawl, or it can be wrapped around your neck and tucked into your coat.
After I finished making it I would often just pick it up to run through my hands — Ode is so soft and sleek, and the project has a lovely weight. When my mum tried it on I think I was lucky to get it back!! This project comes out at the perfect time for those of us in the northern hemisphere and would make a great holiday gift too.
There’s still plenty of time to sign up for Weave Quarterly; click here to find more information about the program. The Daisy Chain Scarf is the second of three projects — you can read more about the first project, the Seed Pod Towels, here.
Studio Views
After a summer of wood dust and the studio in pieces, I finally have a new work space!
I’m not entirely moved in yet, but it’s a work in progress (as you can see…!).
I’ve said before that I love seeing projects that you’ve made from my patterns, and I’m excited to see the Heavy Linen Pillowcase projects that are underway — someone is making a green one! MM emailed me recently with pictures of her Railroad Napkins — she chose colours to coordinate with her Fiestaware dishes, and I think they’re wonderful (see below)! I’m looking forward to weaving some of the projects I’ve had in mind in my new space.
Textiles out and about
A few links and interesting textile things to share:
Upcoming on Saturday October 1st is the Talking Textiles Conference, a virtual (Zoom) event as part of New York Textile Month. This event takes place from 9am-12pm EST; the focus this year is the “knit of togetherness.” Two people who I am especially interested to hear include Amy Twigger Holroyd, who wrote the excellent book Folk Fashion; Understanding Homemade Clothes, and Celia Pym, an artist I have admired for many years.
And speaking of Celia Pym, she’s in an exhibition on at Make Hauser & Wirth in London, England, until September 17th, alongside other long-time favourite weaver Amy Revier and artist Donna Lynch. Connect. Reveal. Conceal presents explorations in material practice, and “is an invitation for visitors to consider the symbolic importance and agency of textiles together with the tacit knowledge that unites hand, eye and mind with the body and lived experience.” Thankfully there are installation shots available online, as well as few close ups on Amy’s instagram.
On my to-visit list: Bury Me, Anne Low’s latest exhibition at Franz Kaka in Toronto. “Described as an “artist-weaver,” Low is known for her handwoven textile works slowly crafted through research into the material doctrines of hand weaving techniques. Compelled by the encyclopedic skill and virtuosity of pre-Industrial cloth weavers, Low consciously takes the long route to arrive at material that is now mass-produced and available with blinding ease. Low describes how learning to spin, weave and dye brought her to an oblique path for making art where she didn’t have to begin with the premise of sculpture, but could rather come to it from the margins of a different discipline.”
Best wishes,
Amanda