Coming Soon, New Tapestry Bobbins and Yarn

As soon as we returned from Midwest Weavers Conference there were some new things to attend to at the Fiber Studio. John Moss had sent me one of his new bobbins to try and I liked it!

I took a comparison picture of the two I have been carrying and the new "Slim" in the center.  The Slim is a little longer then the 5.5 brass tipped bobbin and a it has a slimmer profile. I found it very easy to slip through the warp and to catch after. I think this will be a very user friendly bobbin for those who are beginning to use them. Being slimmer the yarn capacity may not be as large although the extra length to the shaft may equal that out some. I found it ideal for me as I change colors frequently. On the right are the popular mini bobs for comparison.

This picture shows a comparison of the brass tips. On the top is the straight tip. It's design makes it a very efficient beater and good at keeping the threads separated with sufficient weft.

On the bottom is the tapered tip. The tapering makes this one good for beginning and ending threads with pigtails and half hitches. It makes manouvering the threads easier.

In the middle is the new Slims tip. The base of the brass tip stays wider longer than the tapered tip and retains the tapered design at the tip. I have been weaving with mine for a couple of days now and I really like this tip! I love good tools and tend to notice these things.

The good news is that the new Slims are coming soon as well as some new magnetic necklace awls.

Also coming soon, a full color selection of Ymmyarns in 50 gram balls!

Here you see the 20 gram ball in front and two 50 gram balls in the center. I will be having both sizes in stock and available soon. Of course that hefty 100 gram ball in the back can still be special ordered.

If you are interested in ordering Ymmyarns the wool and silk color cards are now four dollars each. It is easy to order by number if you have the cards, just send me an email at jmeetze8@aol.com
There are some new colors that have been added recently also.

We had a great time at the Midwest Weavers Conference. Here is a shot of Jeannine Glaves (keynote speaker for the conference) and Donna Hilton (owner of Weaving at Indian Meridian) having some lunch in the University cafeteria.



The keynote talk that Jeannine delivered that evening was inspiring, encouraging and infused with humor. I wonder how many husbands will find themselves patrons of the arts when all the participants return home?

Earlier that day Lynn and I had set up our booth at the Vendor Hall. We had a nice roomy spot so we could demonstrate and socialize as needed.

It was a great time of meeting new friends and reconnecting with old ones.

The Kansas Guild did a great job of hosting this event. We really appreciated the help with getting our things up to the hall and back down again. It made a huge difference!

I had fun taking some pictures of new Mirrix Loom owners. I can't wait to see what Cindy does with hers.

There is nothing like a Mirrix Loom to bring out some smiles.

One Mini went home as a special gift.

Our next show is Fiber Christmas in July in Kelleyville Oklahoma, July 26 and 27.

Come and say "Hello"

Prairie Winds Midwest Weavers Conference Here We Come

We are getting ready to leave for the Prairie Winds Midwest Weavers Conference at Emporia State University in Emporia, Kansas. The boxes are waiting to be loaded into the car and last minute challenges are almost met.

We will have all the usual items for tapestry weaving, including some demonstrations and a few new things. The beautiful bobbins from John Moss arrived in time and a couple more of my favorite necklace awls as well.

I have been experimenting with doing the leather wrap bracelets on the Mirrix loom. My last update showed this one on the loom with the leather cord used as warp and here it is finished. It has aventurine stones, crystals, tourmaline, sterling silver and size 8 and 11 Myuki beads.

Another view. I have added several colors of leather cord available by the foot...

and some lovely rustic sterling silver buttons to the items for sale.

Here is another one just off the loom with tourmaline and size 8 beads.

The back view with pretty silver button. There will be another one at the show that went to a new home without a picture and I hope to correct that soon. It had dark purple leather and amethysts with size 8 seed beads.

These bracelets are really comfortable and fun to wear and can be used as a necklace or a decorative holder for your snips.











Since Fall is just around the corner, at least when it comes to hand crafted/ woven items I have been thinking about an exhibit coming up for the Tulsa Handweavers Guild at the Dragonmoon Tea House. The items to be shown are Tea Towels and so I have warped a loom with some Summer and Winter towels.

I am hoping to make some progress on these when I return from Kansas. I have some nice colors to work with so it should be fun!

Here is a quick peek at the progress on the Mango Hunters. I am working on the plant now. I have been making quite a few changes to the design as I weave. There was a wooden spoon in the bowl of mangos that has turned into another mango instead. Also there was a beautiful flower on the plant which unfortunately had to go to strengthen the overall design. It will be a leaf instead.

The grande finale, a few pictures from Rendezvous in Edmund, Oklahoma.

There were many spinning wheels singing with their partners at the show and many friendly, spirited fiber folk to catch up with.

Below are a couple of pictures of the  Fiber Studio display.

A final shot of Tom at his loom with a tiny peak of Donna from WIM behind.

We had a great time!

Tapestry, Shows and June

Here is a shot of the completed tapestry for May. The new color was blue green and there are lots of references to the weather. We sure have been having some this Spring! This will be the first month on the new panel of daily practice for 2013. Many of these symbols are not apparent to anyone but me. For example the grey rectangle on May 11 stands for new Apple laptop. Yes!! My little robot head is about how I felt coming down from a very busy month or so, no time to think, just do... the tornado shapes, rain and shine and wishful thinking, it's all here.

June is underway with yellow green as the new color of the month. I imagine I can see the mellowness unfold as I have had more time to work on my tapestry the last couple of weeks. I am feeling optimistic about reaching my goal of having the Mango Hunters off the loom this year!

Next weekend on June 8 I will have a booth at Rendezvous in Edmund, OK. This will be the anniversary of the first show I did last year with the Fiber Studio. So much has happened in a year! Towards the end of the month I will have a booth at the Midwest Weavers Conference. There is more information about both of these shows to the right under scheduled shows. My good friend Jeannine Glaves will be the keynote speaker for  Midwest and I am looking forward to that and being a first time vendor there.

June first was the meeting of the Tulsa Handweavers Guild and we were honoring our 60th anniversary. Here is guild president Margaret Lee and Ruth Morrison, one of our long time members and incredible mentor for all of us taking a picture of...

the cake.

Finally, a photo of a new bracelet on the 16 inch Mirrix loom. It is a wrap bracelet with leather cord as the outer warp. It is quite long, hence the tiny warp on the 16 inch loom with the extenders in place. My plan is to have five wraps with each section being a slightly different design. It has silver beads between each of the five designs and will have a silver button closure. I plan to get another warped on a smaller loom for the show next weekend if I can pull away from the Mango Hunters in time.

Hope to see some of you at Rendezvous next weekend.