Northwoods Art Tour 2014 | SHUTTLE WORKS STUDIO

2014 is nearly over, it was a very busy fall, and unfortunately, blog posts fell by the wayside. It is time for a two-part update, starting with October & November.

October was a busy month with Spinzilla, Oct. 6-12. This was the first time I participated and wouldn’t you know, it was the same week as the fall art tour! Still, I managed to get some spinning done.

While preparing for art tour visitors, I managed to spin 965 yards, two full bobbins plied together, and the remainder as a smaller singles skein, for a total of 0.548 mile. I ended most days with some late night quiet spinning or plying.

In the middle of Spinzilla week came the Northwoods Art Tour – Fall, Oct. 10-12, with approximately 125 visitors over 3 days. Most stayed quite awhile, visiting, asking questions, ordering, and being fascinated by this unique studio and home.

Looms and spinning wheel ready for demonstrations.

Sock machine also ready for demo as was woven shibori on loom at right. — Sock machine also ready for demo and woven shibori being set up on loom at right..

By the end of the art tour I had a lot of sock orders, and more came in via phone calls and emails, In the end around 50 pairs!

Sock colors pulled for an order of 8 pairs.

I began work on the socks and things went fairly well, but then the sock machine developed a problem and I had no idea what it was or how to fix it. I was throwing away more half-to-nearly completed socks than I was keeping to fill orders. Disaster!

Taking he CSM apart, needles and spring out for cleaning.

Needles being cleaned and latches oiled at the little hinges.

The needles and spring were removed, cylinder slots cleaned out, and reassembled, and the problem persisted. Then we took it all apart, removed the crank and cylinder, cleaned it thoroughly, greased and oiled parts and reassembled again, and still the problem persisted. Then Char said if you have another 72 slot cylinder, let’s put that in and see what happens. So again, remove needles and spring, substitute a different cylinder and reassemble.

Let me tell you, changing to a cylinder that had not been used in perhaps 30 years or so, it was STIFF CRANKING!!! After a couple days, it was better, and SUCCESS!!! I was making socks again. I was also a month behind, so now cranked by day, closed toes and washed by night, and managed to get all but two pairs to my customers before Christmas. And she was fine with waiting for those two pair. I still have seven pairs to make this week.

Red Embers, socks made on a 1908 Gearthart sock machine.

December continues in the next post!

Above is a woven shibori scarf, 4 shaft Monk’s Belt. I enjoy creating one-of-a-kind scarves by varying the treadling on each one.

I am hemstitching these scarves on the loom. Normally I would break up the threading to avoid reed marks, but leaving it has been useful when hemstitching 3 threads in each group.

Two recent scarves. — Two recent scarves, variations on a theme..

Both of these scarves are from the same warp, same threading, and were treadled differently for different results.

I’m back at work, getting the Glimakra Regina rug/tapestry loom ready to be warped. Heddles and cords were given the “spa” treatment, heddles were clipped apart, and put on two shafts. The shafts were then fastened to the loom. All that is left is to add the treadles, remove remnants of the old warp, make a new warp, and beam/thread/sley it. And then WEAVE!

It was time to declutter and clean the studio for the summer Northwoods Art Tour.

Northwoods Art Tour banner near the entry.

Studio, with Glimakra Standard.

The studio was decluttered, books shelved, cones of yarn put in order, weaving displayed. The Glimakra Standard had woven shibori in progress, along with a scarf that had been indigo dyed and still gathered and tyed, with only a few knots removed to show the resulting fabric as a demo.

The Glimakra single unit drawloom had demo weaving in progress. It was rather frustrating to weave on as the humidity was so high warp threads were sticking together, making it difficult to get a clear shed. Visitors found the loom fascinating.

The north end of the room was set up for more demos – band loom, spinning, and the 1908 Gearhart sock machine. Many wanted to see everything in action.

Despite the threads sticking due to high humidity, I was very pleased with the “landscape” effect of the variegated yarn I decided to try that first morning, and I’ll be working with that more.

Chatting with art tour visitors, sharing my love of weaving and fiber arts, and answering questions is always a pleasure.

Shuttle Works Studio sign . — Shuttle Works Studio sign.

And now it is time to start preparing for our guild demo/sale event, October 4th, during CranberryFest weekend; the Fall Northwoods Art Tour, Oct. 10-12, and our first annual Northwoods Artisan Women Open Studio/Holiday Art Show, on November 15th. There is a lot of weaving to be done and socks to be made, wonderful hours in Shuttle Works Studio.

Studio Life of a Weaver, Spinner, Dyer