Every week the world of weaving brings us new books and products to enjoy. Check out these reviews and product announcements about new weaving goodness.
When Alice Schlein and Bhakti Zeik’s book, The Woven Pixel, was published it kindled new fires in the weaving world, teaching weavers how to use powerful graphics software, Adobe Photoshop, to design drafts for jacquard looms. The technical jacquard content and the hefty price tag of $160, however, put it out of the reach of many weavers. Still, dobby weavers yearned to use the technique to design imagery for their looms.
Alice’s latest book, The Liftplan Connection, brings that wonderful design technique down to earth in a less expensive volume aimed specifically at dobby weavers. That and its inclusion of instructions for the consumer-priced Adobe Photoshop Elements make it accessible to a wider audience. Read more >>
If you saw me this summer, I probably had a spindle in my hand. I spindled while walking around, at restaurants, in line at the post office, and even during the calmer moments of teaching rigid-heddle weaving classes.
The reason for this was the inspirational book: Respect the Spindle by Abby Franquemont. I doubt there’s any way to read this book and not feel your fingers itch for a spindle. Read more >>
One of the joys of practicing the fiber arts is sharing knowledge and enthusiasm about the craft with others. And one of the best ways to find like-minded individuals is to join a weaving guild.
But what if there isn’t a guild in your area? What if you want to get one started? Where would you begin? Read more >>
by Isadora M. Safner
Interweave Press, 1985
154 pages The Weaving Roses of Rhode Island is an odd little book. It incorporates a bit of arcane New England colonial history, even-more-arcane Northrup family history and short, cryptic letters from the Roses to a Laura Allen of Rochester, New York. The heart of the book consists of weaving drafts in eccentric formats ranging from modern (i.e. understandable to a present-day weaver) through condensed #1, #2 and #3 to “stacked” and another format called “ones”. In the conclusion, drawdowns of the Rose drafts are presented using custom software written in the days before weaving programs proliferated. Read more >>
is an odd little book. It incorporates a bit of arcane New England colonial history, even-more-arcane Northrup family history and short, cryptic letters from the Roses to a Laura Allen of Rochester, New York. The heart of the book consists of weaving drafts in eccentric formats ranging from modern (i.e. understandable to a present-day weaver) through condensed #1, #2 and #3 to “stacked” and another format called “ones”. In the conclusion, drawdowns of the Rose drafts are presented using custom software written in the days before weaving programs proliferated.
