Nonstop party girl

Those of you who know me personally will know that, in general, I’d rather be in the studio than anywhere else, including and especially parties.  I’m an introvert, and while I handle people interactions with reasonable aplomb, I nonetheless find dealing with people somewhat draining and therefore tend to do as little of it as possible, especially in groups.  (Single people I can deal with.)

So when I tell you that I’ve been the nonstop party girl at Complex Weavers Seminars the last few days, you’ll get an inkling of just how interesting and exciting the folks at Seminars are.  Every time I turn around I meet someone else enthusiastic about weaving – sometimes a person I’ve never met, sometimes someone I’ve met at other conferences, but quite frequently – squeal of delight! – someone I’ve been corresponding with or seen on mailing lists but never actually met in person.  It’s like meeting old friends for the first time.  We share a passion for weaving and textiles, and as a result I’ve spent most of my free time in the lounge or dining hall, chatting with other weavers.  I’ve had trouble sleeping most nights because it’s all so interesting and fun!  I come back to my room full of excitement over someone I’ve met or a new technique from one of the seminars, and then it takes me an hour or two to unwind, after which I get far too little sleep and then get up to do it again.  What fun!

Anyway, I’ve had four seminars so far, mostly covering weaving techniques – collapse weave, Photoshop for double weave, crepes, and turned tied weaves – and have two more today (three-shaft weaves and four-color double weave).  They’ve been wonderful, and I’m totally jazzed with some of the ideas that have come up, particularly in Marcia Kosmerchock’s collapse weave and Bonnie Inouye’s turned tied weaves seminars.  In particular, I’m thinking of a turned tied weave for the lightweight fabric in Phoenix Rising.  The heavy yarn would be 60/2 or 80/2 silk, the lighter yarn a 120 or 140/2 silk.  Painted background in the warp, with some sort of image in the weft.  The beauty of doing it as a turned tied weave is that it’s only one shuttle (faster weave) and I can paint the warp easily to color either pattern or background (or both!).  That will be a lot quicker than trying to paint the weft.

Seminars ends today (much to my regret!); I’ll be flying home on Sunday afternoon.  As lovely a trip as it’s been, it’ll be nice to see B. and The Fuzz again.  Not to mention my studio!