I love a good challenge, but I’m also not so fond of change. An oxymoron, I know. As weavers, this dual nature is built right into our history. I often note that while computer technology was built on loom technology, Luddites were also weavers. I sympathize with both camps.
Since I learn best by doing, I am beyond grateful that over 600 weavers took the plunge to help me test a new platform for the Yarnworker Weave-Alongs. Many of you have been with me from the beginning of this grand adventure, and some, I suspect, are brand new and you may or may not noticed that this past weave-along was a beta test.
It was a minor miracle that Emily, the intern, and I clung to the schedule and all the material was posted on time. (Buster only crashed the set once!) We learned heaps in the process and we hope you did, too.
If you joined in on the next-gen weave-along, please take a few moments to respond to the survey I posted this week in the Celebrate and Chat chapter. It’s just eight simple questions that will help me understand where things worked, where they can be improved, and which parts of the weave-along are most important to you.
What’s Next?
Emily and I are going to start filming the first class for the Yarnworker school in August. This first formal class begins at the beginning. I’ll assume you know nothing about weaving and walk you through loom mechanics, yarn selection, weaving your first project, troubleshooting and fixing mistakes, and finishing. While we are filming, I’ll also review your feedback, and work with Thinkific to refine the learning experience.
Future Weave-Alongs
Patreons at the $7 or higher level get to vote on the projects for future weave-along. (All patrons at any level are very much appreciated!) For planning purposes, I asked all the Patreon Producers back in May to vote for the first two weave-alongs before we launched in the new platform. By popular demand, the Four Looks Towels were selected to go first, followed by the Twill Be Done runner.
In this next weave-along, we will take a deep dive into twill—what it is, and which twills we can weave on a rigid-heddle loom. We’ll tackle how to read and draw drafts, how to pick up patterns in front of the heddle, and touch on the relationships between drafts, shafts, and the rigid heddle.
This weave-along will be appropriate for the intermediate weaver. The weaving is fairly straight-forward, but you may need some seat time at the loom to develop a full appreciation for the theory part. The good news is that you don’t have to understand the theory to weave the project, so feel free to jump in and weave-along even if you feel like your skill level is a bit below the intended audience.
I’ll work on a new survey for future weave-alongs. For at least the next year, we will be weaving projects out of Handwoven Home.
My goal is to launch the first Yarnworker School class in September and the next weave-along in October. I look forward to catching up on some of the other aspects of the Yarnworker experience. I have a few blog posts on swatching, rigid heddle road trip videos, and the Yarnworker’s Guide to Yarn. Look for those coming up in the fall, too. To keep up-to-date with the latest news, subscribe to my newsletter.
Heddles up! There is still a lot more adventuring ahead.
Liz
Looking forward to the fall WAL’s. Enjoyed the dish towels very much
I’m excited about the next weave-along – I’ve been planning on doing twill and this will get me going!
Good morning. Liz I signed up for the weave along unfortunately I was not able to be here at the appropriate day.
My booked arrived in time. I printed out the handout of the towels.
I was ready!
Please tell me if I can still take part and access your weave along?h
I’m leaving the information up for the foreseeable future although the question and answer section won’t be active. Feel free to log in, check out the videos and other information, and read through the questions and answers. https://yarnworker.thinkific.com/courses/weave-along-four-looks-kitchen-towels
Learned so many new things in this weave along. Thank you for the opportunity. Excited for the next venture!
I didn’t have a chance to “weave along” this time, but I signed up, so I already see that the videos will remain available when I am ready later this month. My question is more future focused. Do you have to sign up while the weave along is active, or could I register after it has officially ended?
I got a late start on the 4 towels, but finally, with after some stops and starts and frustrations, have it all warped and the header woven. Time to weave!
I’ve already learned a number of things for future reference. Did you know that different colors of different brands of 8/2 cotton are not all the same in stretch and strength? For future towel projects, I may stick to one brand of 8/2 cotton for warping and not mix them up in my warp, or at least I’ll only tie bundles onto the front apron rod that are all one color, not mixed. I had a thread break while winding on, so had to learn how to deal with it. Winding shuttle bobbins with two threads at once is a new skill as is threading heddle holes and slots at the same time while measuring out your warp using the hybrid warping method.
This is why weave alongs are so great, to learn, advance and share the weaving journey.