Basket Weaving, Saori Weaving, and Playing with Yarn

Still catching up on blogging about my parents' visit, and I would be remiss if I did not mention the lovely baskets that my mother I and learned how to make at a workshop at the Iowa Sheep & Wool Festival.  The workshop description said that we would make a "pie or wool basket" so I imagined a small basket and I figured that since it was my first time to try basketry, I would come away with a sort of charming but uneven and wobbly looking piece, sort of like my first handspun yarn!

Instead, I came away with a really lovely and useful basket, as did my mother.

We were both ever so pleased with the results of our labour and I would definitely be interested in making another one.  I made a small mistake in following the instructions, such that I had 2 rows of coloured reed instead of 1, but it really didn't make a difference.  My mother, being the older and wiser one of us, correctly followed the instructions!

The baskets have a solid wood base and would fit a very large pie or a large amount of wool.  The handles are also solid wood and very sturdy.  The weaving is done with a combination of reed and ash.  There is also a small amount of seagrass in the top edge.

That wasn't our only workshop though!  Indeed, we are a crafty pair, and we both enjoyed a second class in something called Saori Weaving.  My mother has done weaving before, and I have a loom in the basement that I haven't used yet, but which I would like to use soon!  Saori weaving is a contemporary weaving style that was founded in Japan in 1970.  It's a freestyle weaving technique without "rules" as such.  It's really more of a way to express one's creativity in a weaving activity.

There were lots of colours of threads to choose from for the weft, but the warp was already done for us.  There was also roving (prepared fleece) for us to add into our designs.  Here you can see the weaving that we did.  The technique is ideally suited to mats, table runners, but also to simple clothing designs.

My mother's is the larger piece on the left,and mine is the narrower one.  We both agreed that this was a great class and we'd do it again.  The class is being offered at the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool festival this September in Jefferson, Wisconsin.  If you are going to attend that show, consider this class!

While we had a great time at the Festival, we also had a great time at home.  Remember all those bottles of dye that I put together before she arrived?  Well, we certainly put them to good use!

We had a great afternoon of dyeing both yarn and fibre.  The yarn we dyed was an East Friesian cross fleece that I had processed and handspun at High Prairie Fibers in Iowa.  It came out beautifully as a 2 ply yarn with a lot of spring and loft.  We also did some overdye on some darker grey-brown handspun.  Using the bright Jacquard dyes on the dark fleece gives a lovely subtle effect.  We also dyed some Rambouillet roving that came out well.  I still need to get some of these things listed on the Etsy site!

I think the looks on our faces show more than any words can say what a delightful time we had!  I do wish she lived just up the road so we could do this all the time!