I always make the mistake of thinking of the annual weaving workshop with Judith as a “retreat”. It’s an honest mistake, I assure myself. After all, Suzanne plies us with delicious food every three hours or so in her lodge-like home in the foothills of the Cascades. One could be forgiven for thinking that it was retreat-like to be treated thusly.

But the reality is that there is a reason the word “work” is included in “workshop”. And, now that I think about it, the word “shop” is also appropriate, for both Suzanne and Judith have lovely fibery bits of things to sell to the one who shops.

This year was definitely the coldest of all the years I have attended. As fate would have it, it is also the first year that my project required some outside work.

It all started with the thought that wouldn’t it be great if I could just weave a rag rug for my uneven pentagon-shaped living room, a rectangle with one 45-degree chamfered edge. On Sunday, before the workshop started on Wednesday, I transported myself to my neighborhood Pacific Fabrics, then to the wonderful Weaving Works, and ended up with 21 pounds of batik fabrics (that’s about 80 yards in case you’re curious) and a few spools of 8/4 carpet warp.

I washed all the fabric and dried it, then commenced to tearing it by hand into 1″ strips.

It takes a very long time to tear 80 yards of fabric into one inch strips.

Especially when it’s cold, and you’re grumpy because, on June 11, it is only 48 degrees Fahrenheit and even colder than Siberia (I read that in the newspaper). I had to tear the fabric outside because of the fibers that can get into your lungs if you do it in an enclosed space and I cared enough about my fellow weavers that I didn’t want them coughing up colorful cotton. However, I took 75% of the fabric home that night and tore it up right there in the kitchen, to hell with cotton-lung. I quickly discovered that I could tear two strips at once, and even more quickly found that 4 strips at once would get it done a lot quicker.

Without really thinking about it, I separated the 21 fabrics that I had into two piles. I didn’t have a plan, I just did it by squinting a lot and using my instincts. Judith came over to inspect and realized right away that I had separated them into a warm group and a cool group. Man, she’s good.

Joe kept an eye on me.

While I was preparing and planning, I was delighted to see old friends and make new ones too!

Andrea…

Katie…

Linda K…

Kathleen…

Suzanne…

Lisa and Betsy…

Robin…

Kathy…

So there I was, with all those rags. I needed a warp!

So I wound it

I threaded it

And I wove it

I did not, however, finish it. Yet.

I love Judith McKenzie. So does everyone else who knows her. And as I left, I informed her that next year my project will be a bookmark, two inches wide and five inches long, at 12 epi and 12 ppi. I should get that one done!

At the workshops, she is often to be found…

Under a loom

Feeding a creature

Consulting with weavers

Caressing freshly woven cloth

In my next post I will show you pictures of other projects and sing the praises of the heroine Kathleen…