Handweaving

My first completed weavings of this century!

Well, I got up the courage to weave a couple of inkle belts for Christmas presents for two of my co-workers . They came out pretty well, considering I hadn't touched a loom since the 30th anniversary of the Handweavers Guild three years ago, where I just demonstrated inkle. I haven't actually woven a complete item since the mid-90's.

The designs were dictated by yarn availability. My friends Joyce and Sarah gave me a bagful of assorted DMC embroidery cotton skeins (size 3) with very few duplicates of color. So each color on the warp was limited by the length of the skein. The weft was a 5/2 black perle cotton.

Both belts were done with plain weave - no pickup. The designs were entirely in the threading.

Crane Day, Handweaver

In the late 1960's and early 1970's, Crane Day owned and operated Crane Station on Campbell Avenue in Tucson, Arizona. This shop supplied Tucson's weavers and spinners with wonderful fibers and yarns. In addition to selling his own beautiful woven creations, Crane taught us to weave.

I was one of the lucky people who studied, worked and eventually taught (inkle-weaving) at Crane Station. Crane was our mentor and our friend.

It was Crane's idea to bring a handweaver's guild to Tucson. He was one of the founding members of the Old Pueblo Weavers Guild, which had its first meeting in October 1973. The name was changed in 1974 to the The Tucson Handweavers & Spinners Guild (THSG).

Crane maintains a studio in downtown Tucson. On November 19, I found him in his booth at the Tucson Museum of Art Holiday Arts and Crafts Fair , where he was selling his beautiful stoles and abrazos.

Link

TH&SG booth at TMA Arts & Crafts Fair - 2005

TUCSON HANDWEAVERS & SPINNERS GUILD
BOOTH AT THE
TUCSON MUSEUM OF ARTS
HOLIDAY ARTS AND CRAFTS FAIR
NOVEMBER 2005

Photos taken Saturday morning, 19 November 2005