Collingwood Workshop

Today's workshop with Jason was much easier and more fun than yesterday's. We started with crossed wefts in contrary motion (the bottom section of the purple & pink weaving), then moved to crossed wefts in parallel motion (the top section). In contrary motion, the 2 wefts (one purple and one pink) start one on each side, met and cross somewhere in the weaving, then continue on to the opposite side. In parallel motion, the wefts start on the same side and can cross more than one time before continuing on. Parallel is much harder to learn; lots of opening and closing of sheds and worrying about selvages.

The afternoon was devoted to clasped wefts, which is also a tapestry weaving technique. Clasped wefts give the most design opportunities and is an easy concept to learn. At least on the basic level. We used only 2 shuttles, but using 3 or 4 shuttles is also a possibility.

Jason's samples are amazing. This one shows various techniques with yesterday's cross stripes, vertical stripes, aligned and staggered dots. I've got all but the staggered dots in my sample rug. It's the most difficult technique; I'm hoping to try it tomorrow afternoon before class ends. This is another example of the same techniques. The brown one shows crossed wefts techniques. I love these two, both the colors and the designs. Jason lives in the UK but teaches workshops in the States; he also does rugs on commission. His teaching schedule is here and examples of his big rugs are here. I really, really want one of his rugs. Hmmmm, maybe a Christmas present . . . .