***Originally published on September 10, 2015***Today was the day we got to learn about yarn (calculating yardage, which types of yarn will work best, etc.) which is a part I’d been looking forward to all week.  One of my main motivations for coming up to take this class was because I’ve known for years that I carry the yarns that weavers seek out, but with no knowledge of how to put them to use on a loom.  Now that I know how to use one of these, the fact that I have this array of yarn at my fingertips is dizzying. I got to start the afternoon by weaving this...

***Originally published September 3, 2015***Today we started off class with a slideshow that showed all the different weaving structures that exist. Madelyn has told us on a number of occasions that the number of weave structures that exist is finite, and that while it feels like there are a million different kinds of patterns on all the different looms when we go into the studio side of the building, that that really is all of them. That is reassuring news. To demonstrate this, she passed out a collection of woven samples. When you look closely, you see that they all have the same...

***Originally published on August 27th, 2015***Well, knitting, I think you have a new rival for my time.  Because weaving is really, really incredibly fun.Today the first sample I worked on was this beauty — just simple black and white pattern, but one that I’ve had my eye on since yesterday. The blocks alternated in a treadle pattern that went 1-2-1-2, then 3-4-3-4, then 5-6-5-6, then 7-8-7-8, which made for a really nice rhythm once I got the hang of it. Those blocks themselves then alternated in their own pattern, which after a few rounds, I committed to memory as well (...

***Originally published on August 20, 2015***Today we began collaboratively warping one loom, something we’ll be doing in stages, each of us taking a turn at another part of it, while in the meantime getting to rotate around between more and more of the sample projects on the looms and weaving different types of patterns. Learning how to use a warping board to measure the yardage we’ll need for the warp The fact that it will take us the better part of a week, all 15 of us collaboratively warping a loom together, seems to be a pretty good indication of how time-consuming...

Originally published on August 12th, 2015I feel abundantly fortunate that what I’m about to tell you about is a legit business expense.  I just spent a full work week up on Whidbey Island attending The Weavers School, Weaving I.  My goal for this class was to learn the basics of weaving — to learn enough of the language, the process, and the methodology that I’d be able to converse comfortably with all of our weaving customers.When I opened Yarnia nearly 8 years ago, I soon developed 2 accidental side businesses that I had never even considered: selling empty cardboard cone...