Designer Makers First year anniversary

Thanks to all who came to celebrate our first year anniversary with us. What an exciting year we've had thats gone by sooo quickly!
The studio has grown from 5 to 12 members, 3 associate members and 3 showcasing crafts people and still growing! The spaces have been re painted and transformed into beautyful places to practise our crafts, teach, create and inspire. Thanks to everyone for all the support over this great year :)

Felt Balls!

 I had been dreaming about spinning some more art yarns with felt balls and have finally done it! I spun a single from hand dyed fleece and mohair in different shades of green then added in felt balls as I went along. Great fun! I really like how as you weave with the yarn its a lucky dip where the balls are going to end up on the cloth. I could have sewn them on afterwards but it was much more enjoyable and free flowing for them to land where they wanted to :)

 After a section with felt balls I started using other handspun yarns, with purple coils like spring flowers.

And ended with some sky blues, after washing I think I will sew it into a sweater from the Saori Self Innovation through Free weaving book. Maybe :)

Weird Weaves new weaves

Ang started Saori weaving a few months ago after coming for a starter weaving session at the Shed. She got a loom, warped a long pre wound warp onto it and she has been producing more and more amazing pieces ever since.

Ang brought a selection of what she has been making into the studio - a beautiful range of colourful, textured bags and some fab waistcoats with gorgeous clasped weft patterns on the back -

If you'd like to buy any of Ang's work she can be contacted at weirdweave@gmail.com, I think a website may be coming soon! Well done Ang these are stunning, can't wait to see what comes next xx

Super chunky yarn on fantastic wheel!

I'm hugely excited as I have been playing on a fantastic new spinning wheel!
It has been made by a talented local engineer/carpenter based around a Louet hatbox wheel. I love these little wheels but find their bobbins too small for spinning my favourite art yarns. So, David built this with the hatbox as a starting point, then adapted it to take chunky bobbins have a HUGE orifice, that can be bypassed-so can fit ANYTHING on and then put it all in a bomb proof box (very needed round here with small children) - that also has a built in lazy kate.

Ahhh! Look how fat these coils are!!

All fleece from East Anglian sheep - Jacobs, Ryeland and wensleydale to be exhibited at WSD national exhibition soon, what fun!

New weaves

Catching up with life here at the Shed.
Here are some new weaves all for collars of a new collection of coats - combing knitting with Saori weaving.

 This is a comination of handspun art yarn, with hand dyed wensledale locks, silk fibres and ryeland fleece from our lovely sheep. I did a clasped weft technique with some British yarns that will make up the body of this coat.

 This one mixes british wool yarn with sari silk yarn and strips of silk kimono that I shredded in the Sakiori Cutter
This is a fantastic gadget made by Saori in Japan that shreds fabric into different widths, without having to spend hours cutting your fabric into strips (I had spent many  nights cutting strips of fabric up for weaving and knitting before I discovered the fantastic cutter!)

Close up Sakiori!

I have been spinning with felt balls!
Something I'd been dreaming about for a while, this is going to be a sweater from the Blue pattern book - Fuku no Katachi ni Suru
combing handspuns and Saori wools. This was soooo much fun to spin and then weave, as it was a surprise where each felt ball was going to end up :)