Day off!

Hey,
I took a day off today. My girls and I went up to the top of Humpback Rock on the Parkway. The view was lovely, and the hike invigorating. It took a little over an hour going up, and 25 min. coming down. The day was excellent, and it's back to the grindstone Monday. I have a couple of new students starting weaving class in Glen Allen tomorrow. It's always a treat to meet new people with the same interests as mine. Here are some pics of the hike, and later, I'll put some pics of the tencel tallit going on the loom. I love the color of this yarn, and almost envy the recipient of this tallit.
Will write more later.
C.

Pics of NH work

Here are some pics of the fabric for the tallit bag, atarah, and kippot that are part of the NH tallit.
I will post pics of these items as they are completed.
C.

tallitot commissions

These are coming along nicely. The Tallit for the Georgia client is measured out completely, and ready to be spread in the raddle. My husband cut some nice cedar for me, and I made a new raddle for the Lillstina loom. The Georgia tallit will be woven on it. The due date on the Georgia tallit is just over 2 weeks. The plan is to get the warp wound on tonight, and pulled through the heddles by Aug. 1. That will leave me 2 weeks to get it woven, embroidered, and to sew the bag, and attach the atarah.
Simultaneously, I am still finishing up the New Hampshire tallit. I have finished the fabric for the bag, atarah, and kippot. Due to some stupidity problems on my part, I ran out of warp and have dummy warped additional yarn on. I finished winding the new warp on yesterday. Now, I have only to weave it off, as I will be working on the sewing and embroidery during my non-studio hours. It feels good to get these under way. I will post pics as things continue to progress.
Cherri

Having fun weaving

What a great summer this is. My projects are fun. 2 tallitot are on 2 looms, and the deadlines are 'looming'. Ha Ha!
Now that P has a drivers license, maybe I will actually get more work done. Not only do I get to weave, but I am getting to teach a lot of new weavers this summer.
It looks like we will be taking a weaving and spinning retreat to Sandbridge this fall. My students and I will head to the beach for a few days of fellowship, learning, and just completely immersing ourselves in fiber work(fun).
Here are a couple of pics of my current work, and of how lovely the orchids are in the studio right now.
Cherri

RiverWalk

Here is a picture of one of my weavings from nature. It is woven of linen and hemp, rivergrass, horse hair, various items from nature...specifically harvested from the James river are woven into this piece. You will find a fishing lure, a fishing bobber, river grass, anthrocite that has tumbled down the river and become smooth, a couple of blue heron feathers harvested from the banks of the river. It is 'mounted' on a stick that has been cut and stripped by a beaver.
You like it?
It's for sale. $450.00

Tell me what you think.
Cherri

weaving lessons in Mathews, VA

We had a great time at the Bay School of the Arts today. It was our second weaving session. Right now, we are doing monthly workshops for all levels of weaving. Our objective is to build a fiber/weaving community within the Art School. Are you interested in learning to weave? Please join us. This is a fun group of budding fiber artists.

tallitot commissions

The commission that I mentioned having some problems with has to be removed from the loom, and I have to start over.
I am tying a dummy warp on now. I will try to post images of the dummy warp being tied on.
Cherri

current tallit commission

Hi, Life is very busy with 2 tallitot commissions due within the next month. Here are pics of the warps I'm measuring out. The color of this one is Straw. It's tencel. It's just great. The stripes will be olive and merlot, and rose.
Cherri

More weaving in Mathews, Va

Hi folks!
Don't forget that we are weaving again on 7/23 at Bay School. If you are interested in joining us, call Grace, and reserve your spot with you class fee. Everyone who had a loom, had one small enough to bring it to class, so those who were in the last class, will be bringing their looms with them. We will meet once a month, and each person will set up his/her loom, and I will work with him/her to learn to weave the chosen pattern. They will then have a month to weave off that project, and for some, to re-dress their loom, and weave additional projects, until we meet again the next month.
So, if you are interested in joining us, you don't have to have your own loom, but can rent a rigid heddle loom from me for $25.00/month, and you can be an abolute newbie to weaving and still join us.
The date is 7/23/07. The location is Bay School of the Arts, in Matthews, Virginia, and we will meet from 10am-4pm.
Mailing Address:
The Bay School
P.O. Box 1524
Mathews, VA 23109
kimmoore_bsa@verizon.net - director
gracesmall_bsa@verizon.net - registrar

804-725 1278 (1ART)

I'm looking forward to seeing you on the 23rd.

If Mathews, Virginia is not close to you, I do teach workshops on learning to weave wherever you book them. Feel free to contact me about teaching weaving, spinning, felting, or sewing to your group.

Cherri
maidensweaver@earthlink.net

More pics from Bay School weaving class

Here are a few additional photos of the class at Bay School. The pale pink warp is show in disarray. This warp presented the weaver with several challenges, yet she was able to recover the warp, and do a very nice piece. This young lady really impressed me! Great Job, friends.....See you on the 23th.
Cherri

Weaving at Bay School of the Arts

Here are some of the students and projects in the beginning weaving class at Bay School of the Arts.
We met and used rigid heddle looms in this class. As it turns out, 3 of the four students have their own looms.
So, we will be meeting again on a monthly basis. Won't you join us?

More on Summer Events and Activities

In addiiton to the June Summer Sewing Class, I have been working on several tallit commissions. One is a handspun, handwoven superwash merino tallit, and the other is a honey colored tencel tallit with very victorian colors. Here is a pic of one of the tallit warps. Our son, the marine, and his buddies have been home many weekends, and I've been teaching at Bay School of the Arts. We are working on expanding their fiber program to include regular weaving classes, and to really promote my fiber classes there. Let's see If I can post a couple of pics of our first weaving class down there. We had a two day 'Beginning Weaving" class this past week, using rigid heddle looms. In that process, I discovered that 75% of the class had their own looms, and they wanted something ongoing. Another 'regular' at the center came in, and said that he is interested in a weaving class also. So it looks like we may be off to a fair start.

Life Buzzes by

Oh my, I haven't written in a month! Things have been busy. Here are some pictures of a sewing class I did in my Roseneath studio. It was a kids summer class, and we will be doing it again.

Learn to Weave in a Week

Monday, a new class begins at the Visual Art Center of Richmond. It is my Learn to Weave in a Week class. We will meet mornings M-F and dress the looms, and weave off a nice project. If you are interested, check out my classes in the list of fiber classes for adults at http://www.visarts.org
I am also teaching kids to embroider, weave, tie-dye, and spin yarn. So you can enjoy the fiber arts, and sign your tween or teen to do the same.
If you are looking for sewing classes, I have a class upcoming June 18 from 1-4 pm at my own studio at Roseneath. This is for students 11-16. Bring your own machine, or use mine. e-mail me for more information.
maidensweaver@earthlink.net
Spots are still available at the Glen Allen studio for weavers. We meet on Sunday afternoons from 1:30 - 4 pm.
I accept spinning students during this time also. It is a group class, so you will also meet other weavers and spinners.
If you don't see what you are looking for, you can e-mail me, or check out my website at
http://cherrihankins.com

silver linings

Just a not on hidden blessings. I accepted a commission months ago for a hand-spun, hand-woven project. I have done thousands of yards of spinning merino yarn, and dressing the loom with thousands of yards of warp, only to discover an error half way into the project. Not a problem, I found a use for the fabric, that would still work toward part of the same commission, cut the error off the loom and proceeded to wet finish. Much to my surprise, after years of dyeing fibers, I finally did one that bled!!! I had indigo bleed into all my lovely handspun, handwoven white weaving, and did everything within my power to restore the work to it's natural state. It never happened. I am stuck with this chambray blue weaving that is no larger than a lap blanket. What to do. I dried the fabric and pressed, as a matter of doing things right. And guess what. I fell in love. It is merino after all. It is sooo soft and I never weave for myself, so here is this amazing little gift. It is wonderful, and I have plenty of time to replace the work that was messed up, and you know what! I learned something in the process! Isn't that what we are supposed to do in life? Learn from our mistakes. No matter how experienced you get, don't forget to take care of the details.
Let me say that again:
"No matter how experienced you get, don't forget to take care of the details"
Take care, and learn something from your mistakes today. Give yourself a gift, and take a bad situation, and turn it into a blessing for someone.
Cherri

More setbacks

Well, there has been another setback on the tallit. I took the hand-spun, handwoven tallit and atarah off the loom today, and wetfinished it. The navy blue dye bled! Throughout the entire tub and ruined everything. I am heart sick.
This sucks!!!!!
Well, good thing I love what I do, so back to the beginning. I learned from my mistake. Althoug I dyed the yarn myself, I rinsed it until the water ran clear. I didn't know the dye would find a way to bleed. I should have used synthrapol, or a color catcher to remove the residual dye before weaving it. Please learn from my mistake. Even if you have been dyeing for years, if you have gotten so that it's 'old hat', don't let stuff slip. Do every thing you can to make it work, even if you are sure you don't need to.
Gotta go, I have got a lot of work to make up.
Cherri

what's on the loom?

Just thought I would post some pics of what's fresh off my loom, and what's on the students' looms in the Roseneath studio.
Here's a nice alpaca/silk warp crossed with a very fine handspun bombyx silk weft scarf:
And here is a beautiful warp going on the loom by my newest student at Roseneath:Your comments and encouragement are always appreciated.
Cherri

Work, errors, and frustsration

Here are pics of a tallit I am weaving. It is not due until Oct. but I am working toward having it done in a couple of weeks.
Somehow, in the process of negotiating this, I misread the design, and after weaving half the tallit, realized I had done so.
Now this wouldn't be a great big deal, the warp is only about 2000 threads. But it is also hand-spun. About 1500 yards of which have already been spun and woven into the tallit.

I love what I do. It is frustrating to know that this mistake has been made, and that if I negotiated these tallitot in person, I might have caught my error. It could drive me insane, as I ordered the fiber from Wales, and it took a month to get it. I handspun the yarn, and dyed it myself. In other words, I am 100% invested in this.

I can use 1/2 of what I have woven to make a tallit bag, but 1/2 of it isn't going to be useful to the client. Someone PITY ME PLEASE!!!!!

Amazing Fun!

Wow! It sure has been fun around here lately. We had a great dye workshop, several wonderful classes, and have finished a number of pieces including chiengora, and handspun silk. My son moved the futon out of the studio at Roseneath, and we have gotten 2 additional students there. There is currently a waiting list for that studio. I have openings for the Glen Allen studio, though.
Last Saturday, I taught a Tie-dye workshop at Bay School in Mathews, Va and this coming Saturday, I have a fiber arts dye workshop at the Cultural Arts center at Glen Allen. If you are interested in joining that, please visit their website.
There is also an upcoming drop spindling workshop the first Sat. in June.
I am also finishing up a tallit, and negotiating a new one. I'm having so much fun. Hopefully, you are too.
Stay in touch.I will post pictures of some of the latest work.