Touchstone Center for Craft 2009 catalog of classes

I want to share with you about Touchstone Center for Craft, as I thoroughly enjoyed myself there last year. AFter many years of raising kids, and holding our breath to make ends meet, our kids are grown, and I can take myself to art camp! Last year, I taught at Touchstone, and intend to do so again this year. It was so much fun. They have a fantastic, yet fairly intimate facility. There is a Photography studio, a rather amazing blacksmithing facility, beautiful watercolor/painting studio along a little singing brook, a pottery studio along the same. Ther is a paper arts and stained glass(I think, it had a lot of torches) studio, and LOOMS galore! I will be teaching spinning, rigid heddle weaving, and weaving on the floor loom.
No matter what you take, you should take yourself off to art camp this summer. It was quite a gift to give myself last year. It was a beautiful drive from central Virginia to Farmington, PA, where Touchstone is. You might even enjoy the trip, as I did.
Here is a link to the catalog. http://www.touchstonecrafts.com/Graphics2000/catalog.pdf
gotta go. I've got a spinning commission to get finished, and a solo show to work on.
I've got to be ready for the show in JULY!!!Panic!!!!!

More on the local alpacas

Teri got back with me about all the fun things Fireweed Alpacas is involved with in the near future. Here is a list of some of the upcoming fun:

State Fair of Virginia
Saturday, September 27 9 am – 9 pm

National Alpaca OPEN HOUSE
Sunday, September 28, 12 pm – 5 pm
2280 Camelback Road
Maidens, VA 23012
(804) 556-2526
fireweed@boone.net
www.fireweed-alpacas.com

4th Annual Taste of Goochland
Tuesday, October 14
5 – 8 pm
Boy Scouts of America
1723 Maidens Road (this is actually on our property! See you there)

Teri is having the open house in Maidens, and it’s a great opportunity to see the alpacas in their home environment. The “Taste of Goochland” is an opportunity to come out and see what Goochland County has to offer. It’s a large # of Goochland businesses reaching out to the community to introduce themselves. It was great last year. Fireweed Alpacas did participate and drew a great deal of attention with their crias and adult alpacas. There is much more information coming from Fireweed, and an opportunity that my local fiber friends will LOVE! We can participate with shearing day, and earn fiber to boot.

Stay tuned.

Cherri

view other blogs

This blog seems to be picked up by the search engines the most, but I want to make sure that you, whoever is visiting the blog, realize that it is only an archive, and the continuation (newer posts) are at
http://www.rivercityweaves.wordpress.com

So if you are here for information on dog hair yarn, chiengora, weaving, weaving classes, weaving lessons, spinning, spinning classes, or lessons, about commissioning work, Cherri Hankins, her studios in Richmond or the area surrounding it, or felting, hand-felting, hand-made felt, or fiber art, please visit the wordpress site.
Thanks,
Cherri

Learn to Weave in a Weekend Results

As I try to learn Wordpress, I am humbled by my own naivete. I have uploaded the pictures from the Learn to Weave in a Weekend class to my Flickr account (maidensweaver), and have done the administrative stuff for flickr to share them, but am to brain tired to figure out the rest tonight.
I'll upload a few pics here, and my impression at the end of the class....just for you. Then, if you want to see the rest of the pics, you can check out flickr, until I rest, and educate myself.
We began Friday night with 2.5 hours of class. The students received a vocab list, a syllabus and a tour of the building. We talked about each student's expectations for the class, and their goals regarding weaving in general. One lady owns a loom.
Once I knew their needs, I could determine my role in this. We planned their projects, determining epi, warp length, etc and made a guide string. The lady with a loom has a warping board, so she learned on our board, instead of using the warping mills. Then we tied the warp with choke ties, and ties that preserve the cross, inserted lea sticks, and ties the lea sticks to the loom. That ended Friday for most of us. One student began winding on, and she threaded the heddles completely on Friday night.
Saturday, we had 6 hours, so those who weren't threading heddles began. So on Sat, we threaded heddles, and sleyed the reed until about 2 pm, then we began weaving.
The students wove, under my supervision until 4pm, and then the days class was over, and I had to leave. They used the remaining hour that the art center was open for open studio time.
Sunday, they finished weaving off their pieces, and some hem-stitched, others ties fringes, etc.
One student made a 8" change in her weaving right in the center. That meant that as she approached the end of her weaving she came up short. Not wanting to disappoint, I attempted to help her get min. waste by extending the back apron rod so it came to within an inch of the heddles, and we removed her reed from the beater. Well, it worked. We had to have another student lifting and really pushing down certain harnesses, but the student was able to achieve a balance of the symmetery of her piece. I learned there is such a thing as zero-waste weaving!
You will see this in the flickr photos.
Here you will see a tapestry wall hanging in rag and yarn, a tapestry rag rug, and 2 basic, plain weave rag rugs. I enjoyed these students. They were very focused and positive to work with.
Thanks for a fun weekend.
Cherri

Summer Challenge

Sorry not to post for a week. I've issued a summer challenge to my students, and will do the same to you. It's for the weavers. It's just to get you planning your projects, and to inspire you to think of ways to use color and the interconnectivity of color and your draft. The challenge is as follows:
Let's get the creative juices flowing with something to stretch your
imagination. Looking at your draft....assuming it's 4 harness, I want
you to choose 4 colors. color 1 is a shade or tint of color 2. Color
2 is a pure color (primary- it doesn't really have to be the primary,
but not mauve, or some other secondary or tertiary color). Color 3 is
the compliment of color 2 on the color wheel, and color 4 is a neutral
(black, white or grey).
Now for the hard part.

The dominant will be whatever color you put on the harness that
appears most in your draft.
So if your draft is 1,2,1,3,1,4,1,3,1,2,1, whatever color you put on
harness #1 would be the dominant color. Whatever you put on 4 will be
the diminutive color. Each color has a specific harness.
So all threads on harness #1 will be the same color, on harness #2
will all be the same, etc. You get to choose your pattern, but no
straight twills!

Are you in?
Cherri

What's in your World?

FINALLY, a few pics. Here are pics of the current work on the Lillstina. It's a twill derivation from Ann Dixon's book. The warp is a brown alpaca/silk sett at 24 epi. The piece is about 15" wide, and the warp is a hand-spun yarn from a hand-painted corriedale roving. I'm not sure it's the right yarn for this warp, so watch for changes. Other pics are my roses.....yes, I love flowers from private gardens, but you can KEEP almost anything out of a shop.
Then there is this wonderful collaborative piece that Sue Seif is weaving. It's an alpaca/silk warp, with a chiengora weft. I spun the weft. It's Sue's dog's fur. I was able to spin a fairly fine yarn from him. He has LOTSA personality! Hope you enjoy the pics.
Sorry not to post more often, but Mom is no longer fighting cancer. She died peacefully at home on Tues. having spent time with each of her children, and Dad. My prayer was that God would be merciful in granting her a gentle 'passing', and I believe he did.
Now, I'm weaving on 3 looms, and spinning finn lamb, shetland lamb, wolf, and lincoln directly from the whole fleece(no carding, cleaning, breaking into locks, just pull the fleece into my lap, and spin from it. Ain't life Grand?
See ya soon.
Cherri

What are the kids classes I'm offering?

This is for those of you who have asked what classes I'm offering for youth this summer.

The Visual Art Center of Richmond got theirs up on the website early, so some of them are already full, but here they are:
July 14-18
9 am - noon Weaving (this is on the floor loom) for ages 9-12
12:45 - 3:45 Tie-dye ages 9-12

July 21 - 25
9 am - noon Felting (making felt from wool; not knit and shrink) ages 9-12
12:45 - 3:45 Weaving (floor loom class) ages 10-13

Aug 4 - 8
9 am - noon Felting (making felt from wool, not knit and shrink) ages
12:45 - 3:45 Weaving (floor loom class) ages 10-13
If you would like to contact the Visual Arts Center about registering for a class, please call 804.353.0094

At the Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen, the classes have just gone onto the web, so you may find openings here. The class offerings and dates are different also.

July 28 - Aug 1
9 am - noon Tie-dye ages: 9-12
1 pm - 4 pm Felting (making felt from wool; not knit and shrink) 9-12 years

Aug 11 - 15
9 am - noon Tapestry weaving with a twist ( students will learn tapestry weaving)9-12
1 - 4 pm Gettin’ Stitchy We will sew and embroider projects the kids choose 9-12

If you want to register for classes at The Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen, call 804.261-2782

Glen Allen work and Felting workshop

Here are pics of some of the work going on at Glen Allen. The multi-color, highly textured piece is a set of place mats that I am weaving. The taupe and burgundy is Nancy's. She has done 2 or 3 scarves out of that, and these pics are just to show how pretty the weave and fiber are. She is weaving off the loom waste. The fiber is tencel.
The chenille piece is also taupe, and has beads woven in. This is Julie's work.
She is truly a 'natural' fiber artist.



Tomorrow I have a hatfelting workshop at The Visual Art Center of Richmond. I'll try to remember to take the camera and upload pics afterward. It's a busy weekend, so I may not get it done until sometime during the week.
Take care.

Cherri

Learn to weave in a weekend class

Some of you have been looking for a quick opportunity to try weaving. The Visual Art Center of Richmond is offering that opportunity. On January 25, I will be teaching a weaving intensive at the Visual Art Center of Richmond. You have the opportunity to completely immerse yourself in 3 days of weaving. Friday night, we will work from 6:30 - 9:00 pm measuring out our yarn to put on the loom. On Saturday morning, from 10-12:30, we will wind the yarn onto the loom, and pull the threads through the heddles. In the afternoon, we will finish pulling through heddles, and sley the reed, tie onto the loom and begin weaving these beautiful mohair shawls which we will finish on Sunday afternoon.
I have openings in this class, if you would like to join us. It's a wonderful refresher course for you if you just haven't woven in a while. If you are new to weaving, and want yet another opportunity to set up and weave under the instruction of a teacher before working on your own at home, or you just want to know if weaving is something you might want to pursue deeper, this is a good opportunity for you.
The class is designed for mohair shawls because they weave up quickly. I hope to see you there.
If you are not local, there are many lodging opportunities in the area. We are very close to VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University), and the thriving heart of Richmond, Virginia. Come join the fun and be a part of a vital weaving community.
Cherri

My bizarre tapestry

Ok, here are 2 pics of the odd little tapestry I did this week. I wanted to do some pattern weaving in a tapestry type piece, and wanted some rya knots in it also. So here is the strange little piece I did. Yech!
I'm still working on the new tapestry loom that I hope to have saleable in a few weeks....4-6. After talking to Sue and Stu I'm thinking is should weave at least 24 inches, and maybe should have some sort of reed-like divise. Hmmm, it's still a work in progress.
Please click on the pictures and you can see much more detail.
Cherri

Student work and "What's on your loom"

Hi,
Well, there are several new students at the Glen Allen location. I knew I had 2 new students coming in yesterday, so I brought in a new loom, Had one of the current students bring in her own loom, where she had been using one of mine, and felt that we were set to go. Well, as luck would have it, we had 3 students come in! There was a last minute registration and I am full beyond capacity! The good news is that usually students don't get on the loom the first night of class. They usually plan their project, measure warp, tie the choke ties, and the ties that preserve the cross and insert lea sticks. Week 2, we go to the loom. What a lifesaver that is! Now I have a week to find another loom. Of course, I could just weave madly and get my work off the loom I'm using.....hey, that's a great idea. She can have my loom. How long do you think it will take me to weave 13 yards? Guess we'll find out.

Here are a few pictures of what's in the works. Margaret has the white on dark brown warp. That's at Roseneath. She is making pillows. The orange and pink on dark brown is Kelly's. She is making pillows also. The fiesta colors is Rebecca's linen huck table runner. It's an inspired piece. Rebecca is a very accomplished weaver. Let's see, the grey and black reversing twill is Lisa's. Do all Lisa's make wonderful weavers, and if I change my name, will it make me a better weaver? Hahahaha.
Uhm, let's see, where was I? Oh yes. the beautiful black and blue piece is a scarf that Erika is making. She is working on a sampler, using p.13 of Marguerite Davison's pattern book. This is only Erika's 3rd weaving. Isn't she doing well? I'm so proud of her;0)

Well, I'll post pics of my stuff in a few minutes.
Cherri

Spinning and weaving in Richmond,va

I have been advertising my spinning and weaving classes on several online venues, trying to boost enrollment at the Visual Art Center of Richmond. We have pretty good response to the "learn to weave in a weekend", but are still waiting for enrollment to increase for the regular and ongoing weaving class. It meets on Thursday nights, right here in Richmond, VA. We meet from 6:30 - 9:00. I have room for 8 students. I think I'm offering 4 or 5 sessions of it this spring, so you could actually learn a great deal just this spring alone. You don't have to have your own loom. Floor looms are provided by the art center. There is also plenty of open studio time, so you can come in outside of class and do various steps outside of class, so you can maximize your instructional time. No previous experience is necessary. If you can't make it, you can e-mail me, as I frequently have openings at one of my own studios for private lessons, or in one of my studio classes (Wed. nights, or Sunday afternoons).
I sell looms, spinning wheels, fiber for spinning, and yarn for your projects in class. If you are looking for someone to do loom repair, or spinning wheel repair, I do that and sell parts.
The looms I carry are Louet, Leclerc, and whatever used Looms I might have for sale at any given time. Currently, I have a 12 harness mechanical dobby loom by AVL that is for sale. You can e-mail me about that if you are interested. I also have a horizontal warping mill/reel for sale. It's a floor model, but folded up, it fits behind a door.

spaces available in Thurs. night weaving class

We have a weaving class starting Thurs. night at the Visual Art Center of Richmond. We meet from 6:30 - 9:00 pm and there are openings! Please join us for this 4 week session. In that time, you can learn to dress a loom, and weave off a project. We work on 8 harness Leclerc floor looms. There is a mix of new weavers (never woven before) and returning weavers, so no matter what your experience level, you will feel right at home.
Come join us.
804.353.0094
Thanks!

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.

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

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.

kumihimo as jewelery

Tomorrow I have a class called Kumihimo as jewelery. We have openings still. The class meets from 10-4.
We will be making lovely kumihimo braids and turning them into jewelery. I will try to post pics tomorrow.
If you are interested, sign up through the Glen Allen Cultural Arts Center. It would be nice to meet other folks with fiber interests.

Remember also that I have a weaving and spinning "teaching studio" at Glen Allen now. I have 3 openings for new students on the looms, and can take many spinning students. I teach weaving for beginners, intermediate weaving, specialty weaves, spinning yarn from the spinning wheel beginning, intermediate, and advanced, drop spindling, then I teach workshops in felting and workshops on dyeing at my home in Goochland. My next dye workshop is Saturday, May 4, 2007. I have openings still, if you would like to join us, e-mail me maidensweaver@earthlink.net

Current Happenings

Hi, Have you been looking for a new post? Things have been really busy lately. The classes at Bay Schol have been great. I taught one on rug felting, and another felting class on Purses, pouches, and pocketbooks. We have also had several classes at the new studio. It's going well.
I'll try to post pictures, once I get my new camera figured out. I'm having some problems getting my new HP camera to interface with my computer.
I have a dye workshop coming up the first Saturday in May.
We will be dyeing wool and protein yarns from 10 am - noon. At noon, we will be dyeing cotton and other cellulose yarns and at 2 pm, we will be dyeing wool/protein rovings. If you are interested in vat dyeing (all one color), contact me in advance.

Each 2 hour session is $20.00, and you will need to bring your own yarn, or purchase yarn here. You are more likely to get what you want, if you reserve your yarn when you book your space in the workshop.

Also available, are private lessons in spinning yarn with the drop spindle, or spinning wheel, weaving, and felting. You can also book a group lesson for yourself and friends or family. I have great workshops in felting rugs; felting purses, pouches and pocketbooks; and hat felting; Can't wait to hear from you!
Cherri

First class at the new studio in Glen Allen

Well, Sunday was fun. We had a small start for the new class at Glen Allen. One person is weaving double weave. Another is just beginning a rag runner for her bay window, and the third is warping a tapestry loom. We had several folks drop in, and are looking forward to a couple more people joining us in a week or two.
Please let me know if you are interested.
Cherri