Sunday, July 02, 2017

The Adventure So Far

I have been so busy here at the ANWG conference that I haven't had time to post! Yesterday I spent the whole day with Dianne Totten learning about her method of "crimp cloth". It's very much like woven shibori, in which you weave in the threads that you later pull up and tie off before dyeing. But in this case there is a "thermoplastic" yarn (polyester, orlon etc.) used that will hold the crimped shape after steaming. The polyester and pull threads can be woven in as warp or weft. You can use any yarns in the other direction. So many options! We got pre-woven pieces to pull up and tie and then they were steamed for us. Up there are my samples before pulling up.

And after steaming, mine are the ones on the right (not the orange one sadly). The weft crimp is on the bottom and the warp trip on the top.

Apparently the crimp lasts through washing although Dianne treats her pieces like a sweater, hand wash and block flat to air dry. She rolls them up and packs them in a suitcase. It was very informative and Dianne is a very patient and helpful instructor.

Then after we went to the fashion show which was very good. I will be seeing the pieces from the show on display later this morning so hopefully I'll have a photo or two eventually. I haven't yet seen the other exhibits so that's all on my itinerary for this morning. This afternoon I have a seminar where I knit a Cowichan style hat with Sylvia Olsen and learn how to do the two-colour technique (which I think I knew once and then forgot). Right after that we have to take our guild booth down and pack it up. (Hermie can come home with me!) Then this evening is a banquet and keynote address by Maiwa's Charllotte Kwon. Whew!

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