Oh! The Places You'll Go....

I'm in London this morning, having spent the weekend with the very kind and generous Cambridge Guild of Weavers and Spinners. We had a short workshop on knotted pile, and happily everyone at least got to the knot tying stage, but I forgot to go into the whole waving-of-hands-describing-the-construction-of-the-bags, so alas, I will have to come back some day and rectify the lapse :).

Before leaving, I shipped off the shawl to Deb, the soon-to-be Mother of the Bride:



You can click the photo and get a larger picture: the fabric is just lovely, soft and drape-y, and the colors are stunning.

Deb's inspiration for this shawl is some silk paper she made a while ago:



Deb dyed the warp chains, and I think the fabric and colors turned out perfectly! It does remind me of Marimekko fabrics, as someone commented previously, and it will be a perfect wrap for a summer wedding.

It was interesting being the technician, not the designer, on this project. Usually, from conception to execution, I use my own ideas in weaving. I may take inspiration from someone else's work, or use a sett, or yarn or set of colors I've seen somewhere, but the idea, the project is my own. This time I was trying to meet someone else's vision, which requires communication, understanding, luck and good will. I think we met that challenge. The subject of artist vs. technician is a rich one, and one that I'd like to think about further.

For what it's worth: I am now in the class of travelers-who-take-too-few-knitting-projects on board the plane:



The Peanut will be a Pumpkin for Halloween and Fall this year :). Those of you at home who forced me to pick these colors for the hat: you were right Lindsey and Eileen, this looks just like a pumpkin (I wanted a brighter orange....). This hat was knit between SF and Newark, leaving me nothing to knit on the way to the UK. I slept a bit, and then woke to a breakfast snack and an hour to landing. I actually spun in my tiny little window seat cubby, on this the smallest of Goldings with some silk::



My hostess in Cambridge, Tricia, should recognize her bath towel and couch cover on the last two photos, and when she sees this, please pass on a wave from the train to Madeleine and Isaac, whom I missed as the train pulled away to London.