Teaching

Oh and I forgot to mention...

I updated my schedule on my website, so if you're interested in classes check it out at www.deborahjarchow.com and go to "class schedule" under "programs and classes"

Holidays

For the first time I'm writing the blog on my ipad instead of my computer so I'm not sure how the format will look. Well, I guess I won't know till I try it and look at it, right?

The past couple of weeks have flown by and I'm not sure where all the time went. I spent a week in Ohio visiting my sister and family. What Fun! It was lovely to hang out and relax, just enjoying time with the family. The week prior to that I was on overload trying to get my weaving projects finished before leaving. I was able to finish 6 scarf orders and 3 garment orders during that last few days before flying east. I met the deadlines, but just barely. (Three hours sleep the night before flying out.) I'm never sure if I delay too long to begin any final push before a deadline or if I schedule too much. No matter what though I always am right up to the deadline....

So now that Christmas is past and I'm getting back to work, I am excited about many of the projects I'm working on.

The Craftsy course is coming out just after the first of the year, so that's in a week or so! I've been reviewing it, and they did a great job! Even the areas where I know I tripped over my words came out looking smooth. What great editors! I got a package of postcards for the course... I'm very excited about being able to reach so many students through Craftsy and am so happy for the opportunity.

Meanwhile, I'm working on several new patterns and some samples using new yarns. I just received a box of wonderful yarns I get to work up swatches for. They'll be used at TNNA for the Great Wall of Yarn. I'm very pleased that weaving swatches are included with all the knitted and crocheted ones. Aren't these luscious?

Busy times

As always right before the holidays, this has been a very full week.  Last week I got busy weaving in preparation for the Studio Holiday Market and got quite a bit done.  One project I worked on was a beautiful white/off white woven shawl.  Since I'd been playing with the hand manipulated techniques for the rigid heddle course, I decided to add some Brooks Bouquet to this piece and was very pleased with the results.  Here's a detail right off the loom, but before wet finishing.

I think the hand manipulated structures are more appealing to me since I've used them frequently on the rigid heddle loom.  Always before, they seemed unnatural in my weaving as I was only used to production style weaving, not taking the time to investigate a more "detailed" process.  But lately I've been enjoying not only the final look, but the process as well.

The Studio Holiday Market was quite a success and many new people discovered the Art Center.  Santa led a parade from the tree lighting at the Chamber of Commerce to the Studios, then kids could have their pictures taken with him on the courtyard outside my studio.  It was great!  We had beautiful stars for sale as well and they were lit up all around the patio, creating such a festive environment.

Yesterday I went to Newtons in Anaheim to teach.  It was the second session in the "make a vest from you stash yarns" using the rigid heddle loom.  What fun!  Everyone's fabrics turned out so well and it was a pleasure to see them.  I'm looking forward to seeing the completed projects.  The group is talking about taking the train up to the studio to visit in early January and all wearing their vests.  That will be a real treat!

Today I finished weaving the fabric for a ruana in black sparkles that has been on the loom for quite a while.  And I wove 5 rayon/silk scarves.  Back to the loom tomorrow....

Back to Weaving!

As I reflect on filming the Craftsy.com course last week, I'm so happy to have that experience completed!  After the first day it was a great time.  Once I got into the groove and got over most of my nerves I enjoyed the filming.  Liz, Jarrod and Nicole, my production team, were all fabulous and so supportive.  I can't say enough good things about them.  I'm looking forward to seeing the final, edited version of the course.  Here we all are on the set.

It seems like I spent most of the fall preparing for this and I'm so glad I did.  I wove all new samples for the techniques in the course and came up with new finished projects using the techniques.  The course is scheduled to come out sometime in December.  It's unbelievable that they can put it together so quickly.  As I found out more about the release date, I'll let you all know.

Meanwhile, back at the studio I've really gotten to work.  Early this morning I delivered an altar cloth to St. Monica's Catholic Church in Santa Monica then drove up the coast highway to the studio.  It was a cloudy morning with a bit of drizzle - there were lots of surfers in the water and the greyed landscape was very beautiful.

While driving I couldn't help thinking about how lucky I am to be on my way to work to do something I love doing.  Then I got to spend the day in the studio just weaving away with the music blaring, getting so much accomplished.  I wove on four of my looms, completing 2 chenille scarves, 4 rayon/silk scarves, worked on a ruana and a shawl, and wound a new warp.  Wow!  And since I'd been thinking about Brooks Bouquet (one of the techniques in the Craftsy.com course) I wove a border of that on the shawl.

Next weekend we have the Holiday Market at the studios and I'm hoping to get some new pieces finished to sell there.  I also have several orders that are late, so I've resolved to get those finished before Christmas.

Craftsy.com

The past two days I've been in Denver with the Craftsy.com team working on a course for Rigid Heddle Weaving - Beyond the Basics.  Tomorrow is the final day of shooting the lessons, then on Thursday I'll head back home.  This has been a real roller coaster ride.  Everyone with Craftsy.com is so nice, helpful, and professional and it is wonderful working with them.  But yesterday I was so nervous it seemed like I hardly got anything out in a coherent fashion.  They assured me I was doing fine and that I was making perfect sense, but I wasn't so sure....  

Today things felt much better and I got in the groove so it seemed almost like my normal teaching routine.  I love teaching weaving and am so happy to share what I've learned with others.  Being in front of a camera is a bit nerve wracking though.  However, it is fabulous to have my hair and makeup done by a professional!  Here I am on the set.

Being able to reach students via the internet is such a great opportunity and I'm thrilled to be doing this.  I'll keep you all posted about the class availability as I find out.

Travel 

Sunday I'm traveling again - on my way to Denver to begin the Craftsy.com experience.  When I travel to teach I must take a lot of stuff.  Samples, yarn, weaving tools, papers, and of course the right clothes.  All of this generally requires a large suitcase. Since the wheels are falling off my current large suitcase I decided to get a new one.  On my way home from the studio I go by a Ross.  And even though it's Black Friday and I would normally avoid any shopping, it didn't look crowded so I stopped in to see what they had.  As I looked at the rows of suitcases, I thought about all the times I'm at baggage claim and envy the folks who have something other than the usual black bag.  They can spot theirs right away and don't need to check the tag to make sure they have the right one.  So when I spotted a magenta bag, I knew it was meant for me!

I certainly don't think I'll have trouble recognizing my bag now.  


Oh!  Check out this article in the Ventura County Star about the exhibit at Fox in Ventura...

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/nov/21/meditations-exhibit-on-display-at-fox-fine-in/

Designing Weavers

This past weekend was the annual Show and Sale for Designing Weavers.  We had a new venue, The Sierra Madre Women's Club, which was a great place to have our event.  It's a lovely old home on a busy street with a parking area and ample additional parking on the street.  The sale is a place to shop for handwoven items as well as browse and see some fabulous woven pieces.  I'm posting a few images....

It was a great day and lots of fun!

Meanwhile, the schedule for the Adult Art Camp at Studio Channel Islands has been set for January 21 - 25, 2013.  I'll be teaching 2 classes.  In the afternoons I'll teach Weaving the Stash Vest on the Rigid Heddle loom.  And in the evenings it will be Beginning Weaving on the Four Harness Loom.  All classes are at the studio site at the art center.  I'll have looms for rent if you don't have your own and you can take either class with little or no experience in weaving.  There are lots more classes available like painting, drawing, ceramics, printmaking and more, so if you're interested you can check it out at www.studiochannelislands.org

   

Home again

Last night I got back to California.  In Ohio it was cold, but clear and bright.  Here at home it's cool, grey and raining.  But I'm glad to be home as this was not a trip for fun, but to take care of some loose ends I'd rather not deal with.  However, I did get to spend some time in a historic building and took a couple of pictures of it.  The ceiling in one area was open to  skylights above. An upper floor with balconies opened to this atrium area as well.  I'm posting two different views as I found it very beautiful.

Then I spied this gorgeous cabinet.

I wondered what was in all the drawers, if anything.  Of course I thought about all the weaving tools, sample pieces, scissors, needles, etc. that would fit perfectly in those little drawers.  If I'd been more bold, I would have checked it out, opening and closing different drawers to see inside.  But I didn't and so now I'll just have to speculate.....

This weekend is the Designing Weavers Show and Sale in Sierra Madre.  I'm looking forward to spending time with my friends, fellow weavers, and supporters.  This is a yearly event that I really enjoy - a time to show off new work, see what my colleagues have made, and enjoy time chatting with everyone that comes by.  What could be a better job than hanging out with other weavers and people that are interested in weaving?

keeping busy

This morning I'm at LAX getting ready for a quick trip to Ohio.  It's always interesting at the airport, especially this early in the morning as most everyone is still a bit asleep and kind of walking around in a daze.   The one good thing about flying this early is that there aren't the usual large crowds everywhere.  And this morning I found my sunglasses which were misplaced and missing for over a week.  Happy day!

The past week was a very busy one.  My last post was a week ago after hanging the exhibit at Fox in Ventura.  The show is beautiful and I especially like my fiber pieces hanging on the brick wall.  When I was making those pieces I knew they'd be on the brick, but didn't realize I'd like them so much better on that than on a white wall.  Interesting.  I think the texture of the brick adds something visually to the texture of the fiber.  Anyway, I'm pleased.  Here's an image of the opening with some of my work in the background.

It was a fun evening and a real pleasure to see so many of my friends, students, and fellow artists.  Thanks to everyone that came!

The next morning, Sunday, I made an early trip to Anaheim to teach at Newtons Yarn Country.  The class was on making the stash vest that was in the September/October issue of Handwoven magazine.  It's always so much fun to go around the room to see what each person brought from their stash, talk about which yarns to put together, then see how they look on the loom.  This is a two part class.  In this session we discussed size, planning the project, yarns to use and everyone got their loom warped.  During the next month, they'll weave the fabric and then in December class, we'll put the pieces together so everyone has their garment.  All the warps were just gorgeous and I can't wait to see the woven fabric next month.  Here's is one warp using lots of ribbon and ladder yarns.

Then on Monday, I spent the day packing up all the looms I'll be using during the shoot for the Craftsy class.  What a production!  The studio looked kind of like a bomb went off as there were looms, samples, yarn, and various tools all over the place.

What a mess it was.  However, thanks to the help of my wonderful studio mate Arlene, I finally got everything into 4 large boxes and my husband will get them shipped off to Colorado today.  The process for developing this Craftsy course has been quite a journey.  Only now that all the samples are finished and everything is packed and sent on its way, can I start to get excited about the actual experience of shooting the course.  The thing that is so awesome is the potential for reaching so many students.  Being able to share my love of weaving by teaching it is always satisfying, so the capability to reach out over the internet via Craftsy is so cool.  This week while I'm in Ohio I'll be able to fine tune some of the written materials that go along with the course.  

Well, the flight will be boarding soon and the airport is waking up a bit - more people bustling about - so I must turn off my computer.

Hanging

This morning I got to help hang several of my large pieces for an exhibit at Fox Fine Jewelry in Ventura.  It's always so fun to see how the big pieces look once they're hung.  It's difficult to see them completely when there's not a spot big enough to let them hang.  And they just don't look how they should when they're spread out on the floor.  Fortunately, Fox has a perfect wall for them!  Since the blog showed the last one on the loom, here's a sneak look at it on the wall at Fox.

I'm so pleased!  If anyone's available, the opening is this Saturday, November 10, 6 - 9 pm.  

Meanwhile, I continue to work on the Craftsy course.  I'm busy making samples and writing drafts for them.  Using the wonderful knitting yarns is letting me make some great samples.      

Right now I'm using some Trendsetter cotton, Bali, to make color and weave placemats.  Fun!

Contemporary Crafts Market

Today I was in Santa Monica all day showing and selling my handwoven wearables at the Contemporary Crafts Market.  I really enjoy this show and have been doing it for about 10 years.  But doing any retail show is lots of work.  On Wednesday I spent a good part of the day packing up my things and loading the van.  Yesterday was mostly devoted to driving to Santa Monica and setting up the booth.  And today, Saturday and Sunday I'll be in the booth.  Sunday after the show, it's time to pack everything up and get it back in the van so I can unload it all and put it away in the studio on Monday.  

The good part is that it's a great time to see many people I know, both collectors and students, as well as friends and colleagues.  I love getting feedback on what I've been weaving and have the opportunity to discuss upcoming classes with students that stop by.  Another fun thing at this show is people watching.  Many attendees take the opportunity to wear the fabulous things they've purchased at past shows and it's amazing to see!  Here's an image of my booth, which is half the size of what I've had in years past.  Since I've been teaching more, I haven't been able to weave as many things to sell.

The show is in Santa Monica so I can come home in the evening, which is a treat.  

I got a wonderful email today from a student at Stitches East who told me she'd been without power since Monday (she lives in New York) and had spent the week weaving on  her rigid heddle loom.  She was so happy to have something to do that gave her pleasure during the difficult week and I was very happy she shared that with me.  I hope for everyone there that things get back to normal as soon as possible.

On the Loom

The last couple of days I've gotten lots of weaving in.  Here's the latest piece on the loom.  I love how vibrant the colors are.

Then this evening I finished weaving and cut it off the loom and stretched it out on the floor in the studio.

After I got home I put it in the washer to felt (full) the wool.  I think the dye in the dark purple chenille ran a bit and maybe muted out some of the other colors.  Bummer.  But it's drying now and I won't be able to see the true colors until after it's dry.  It's a large piece of fabric, measuring 155" long on the loom, by 48" wide.  I'm pretty sure it will be at least 1/3 smaller after it shrinks up.

So tomorrow I'll be packing up my things in preparation for the Contemporary Crafts Market in Santa Monica.  I enjoy doing the show, but getting ready is lots of work.

Studio Time

Today was a productive studio day.  I got a new warp tied on the big loom.  It's 48" wide on the loom and 5 1/2 yards long.  It's a mixture of wool stripes and rayon chenille stripes and will be a felted/puckered effect when it's completed.  It was good to get it tied on and all straightened out.  Here it is going on the loom - 

And a little more straightened out...

I was so tired when I left the studio, I forgot to take another picture of it all neatly tied on, waste yarn in to even the threads out, and ready for me to weave on tomorrow.

My plan is to get it woven in the next couple of days so I can take it off, put it in the washer to lightly felt the wool, and have it finished by the middle of the week.  That's the plan anyway.  I want to have it ready for the exhibit at Fox in Ventura that opens on Saturday, November 10.

Later this week I'll be showing at the Contemporary Crafts Market in Santa Monica which is always a really beautiful show with around 250 artists.  It's a great place to start holiday shopping, but frankly it's been way too hot with the Santa Ana winds blowing to think about holidays.  Well, at least here in the west we don't have to worry about torrential rains and flooding.

Guild Activities

Today was a good day.  The Ventura County Handweavers Guild had their annual Harvest Sale at the studio so there were many weavers and possible weavers through my studio.  I love to see the look in someone's eye when they're thinking about learning to weave and they see all my looms and yarn and start to imagine what they can do.  Several people were really interested in taking classes and want to see a schedule for what's coming up.  This is a really good incentive for me work out my schedule for the beginning of the year.  

For sure I'll be offering a beginning weaving class for the 4 harness loom.  And a couple of people today mentioned that the rigid heddle log cabin class at Stitches West is sold out, so that might be a good one to offer at the studio as well.  If you have any requests for classes, please let me know so I can try to schedule them.

Redfish Dyeworks had a booth at the Harvest Sale so of course I was admiring their beautiful yarn.  Sandy and Elf talked to me about working with some of their yarn for an upcoming project which is really exciting!

After everyone went home from the Harvest Sale, I got to work on samples for my Craftsy class and was able to finish 3 using pick up sticks.  Then I made plans for a finished project for that lesson, so I felt like I got alot done.  But before I left I wanted to work on a floor loom  piece so spent another couple of hours tying a new warp on to an old one.  Didn't get as far on that as I would have liked, but it will still be there tomorrow.

So a good day - talking with friends and new weavers, planning classes and making samples, and weaving on a project!

Preparations

Today I stayed home from the studio to work on plans and samples for the Craftsy course I'm preparing.  Although I'm used to developing classes, writing handouts, and making samples, this process for the Craftsy course is an adventure.  For me it's a new and different way of thinking about how to present information.  I think the strangest part will be teaching the lessons with no real students to interact with, just the film crew.  But the exciting part is thinking about how many people will have access to the course, and the potential for engaging many new weavers!

I'm very thankful for my wonderful partner at Craftsy, Liz, who is guiding me through the process and helping me focus.  So my next three weeks will be extremely busy weaving the rest of the samples for the classes.  Today I finished a table runner and several samples in the log cabin pattern that will be a part of the course.  It makes me happy to see them now drying after being wet finished.

Meanwhile, Pat S., one of the students from Stitches East sent images of the bag she made in the color and weave class there.  After Pat got home, she lined her bag with some very pretty fabric and added a nice handle.  Thanks, Pat, for sharing!  I love what you did.

Stitches East Wrap up

I haven't posted anything this week because I got sick right after Stitches and have been on the mend this past week. So to catch up...

During the Saturday class at Stitches East last week, the participants wove a small bag using color and weave patterns.  The variety of colors and yarns everyone brings always makes for a beautiful array of finished pieces. I love seeing how they turn out.

I'm so lucky to get to weave and teach weaving!

More from Stitches East

Today I got to teach the Scarf from your Stash class and had some wonderful, talented people in the group.  With absolutely no experience, they made such pretty scarves and I think everyone had a good time.  Here's the class...

And here are some of their scarves...

It's been a good day! But my feet hurt a bit and I'm happy to have them up on a pillow.  I am looking forward to tomorrow and teaching a color and weave technique.

Stitches East!

Yesterday I got to Hartford for the fabulous Stitches East!  This morning we had the teacher a la carte lunch, a fun time where the teachers hop from table to table talking about the classes we'll be teaching.  It's like speed dating with students and is a treat.  Talking about weaving in general and classes I'm offering here in 3 minutes, about 10 times in a row is a challenge. Hope I made sense! 

Just outside is registration where you can feel the anticipation about all the things that are going to happen soon - classes, meeting friends, and looking for great yarn and supplies in the vendor hall!  I love being part of this - especially being around so many fiber lovers.  It's so easy to talk with anyone and comment on the cool thing they're wearing or project they're working on.

And of course, Hartford is beautiful, even looking out the window of the convention center.

Tomorrow morning I get to teach the stashbuster scarf class and I always have a great time with that.

Stitches East!

Tomorrow morning I'm heading to Hartford, CT for Stitches East!!

The Stitches events are so much fun.  I love walking around seeing all the gorgeous things everyone is wearing and checking out all the things they're working on.  And teaching weaving to lots of knitters is wonderful.  It's amazing when people in my classes get excited about weaving and I just know they've discovered something that will give them pleasure for many years to come.

What could be better?

I'm taking my computer so I can post some pictures while I'm at the conference, so stay tuned.....

Log Cabin

Today I've been weaving some samples for my upcoming Craftsy classes. I'm  using Tahki Stacy Charles wonderful mercerized Cotton Classic for the log cabin pattern. It gives great definition to the pattern. 

This sample is using the same 2 colors for both warp and weft to make even sized blocks.

This sample is on the same warp, but I used 2 different colors for the weft.  It really makes a different pattern.

These samples are helping me decide what pattern and colors to use for a project for the class.  It's such fun to work on things to see how they come out.     It will be nice to see how these look off the loom and washed... perhaps in a couple of days.

Meanwhile, Karen Tyner stopped by the studio this afternoon and shared the scarf she wove from the Stashbuster class I taught at the Ventura County Handweavers Guild a couple of weeks ago.

Karen's happy because she's finally a weaver!

Studio blues......

The last few days have been so busy with other things I haven't had any time to weave.  So I'm sad when I look at my looms just waiting for attention.

Maybe tomorrow....

Meanwhile, here's an image of Barbara's scarf from one of the Stashbuster classes.

Scarves from last week's class

This week attendees from the classes last week sent me some images of their pieces from the class.

Karen's scarf from the Stashbuster scarf session.

Here's Q's scarf from the sock yarn class!

Tomorrow I'll be in Anaheim teaching at Newton's Yarn Country fall seminars and checking out their parking lot sale....

In the studio

The last couple of days in the studio I got things done for several projects.  Finally, I got started weaving some grey chenille scarves.

They are several yummy shades of grey and I'm very pleased with the progress.  The warp was wound and resting on another loom for several months before I finally got around to putting it on the loom, so it's great to be weaving them.


I've also been working on another couple of pieces for exhibition.  I wove a very long warp for a wall panel that's scheduled to be exhibited at Fox Fine Jewelry in Ventura in November and December.  But I cut a section off the same warp to show in the Studio Channel Islands Art Center member's show starting next week.  The piece is a combination of wool and rayon chenille, where the wool is felted to make the chenille pucker.  The wool didn't felt evenly and I didn't like the way the piece hung so I stretched it out on a blocking board, wet it and let it dry.  Here it is on the blocking board.

Another thing I'm working on is developing a course for Craftsy.com on rigid heddle weaving.  Right now I'm planning the projects I'll use to demonstrate the techniques.  Here's how that's looking.....

It's been lots of fun getting new yarns and deciding what projects to match them up with.  More to come as these pieces develop..... 

On Saturday I gave a demonstration on warping a rigid heddle loom at the Ventura County Handweavers Guild.  Then in the afternoon we had a class on using sock yarn to weave scarves that create lovely patterns with almost no effort.  The self striping sock yarns make scarves that look like you spent a lot of time planning out a pattern when actually the yarn does all the work for you.  How fun is that?
Today we spend the day making scarves from everyone's stash yarns. That's always a great time seeing what each person brings and how it can all be put together into beautiful patterns.  Sometime starting with a yarn that isn't a favorite can result in something truly wonderful.  

Having fun in the Stash Scarf class for the Ventura County Handweavers Guild.

Elisa and Mary Ann doing extra long warps.

Yarns for Elisa's next project!

First thoughts

Usually I get so caught up I what I'm doing on a daily basis, that I forget to keep track of what I've gotten done...

So I'm hoping a blog will help me see all the projects I'm working on and getting finished. And if there is any feedback, I'll know better what direction to continue.

Blogging is new for me and I'm not very saavy on the specifics, so this will be a learning curve for me.

This weekend I'll be giving a talk and two classes for the Ventura County Handweavers and Spinners Guild on weaving on rigid heddle looms. I'm looking forward to it!  Sharing weaving with people is one of my favorite things so it will be lots of fun. My only reservation is that I've had the flu and my voice isn't back full strength yet, so that may be a challenge.