More workshops: Master Weaving and velvet weaving

August was my most travel intensive month yet. In addition to spending 2 weeks at Penland for letterpress, I embarked upon a Master Weaving program at the Yadkin Valley Fiber Center and took a velvet weaving class at the Eugene Textile Center. These are my last two “destination” workshops for 2023, and honestly, I’m glad to be home for the rest of the year! Travel is exhausting.

I heard about YVFC’s Master Weaving program from a classmate at Penland last fall. There are several similar programs across the US and Canada – others I’ve found include Olds College in Alberta, the Hill Institute in Massachusetts, the HGA’s Certificate of Excellence, and virtual programs sponsored by guilds. They all aim to give you a thorough and systematic overview of weaving. As someone who wants to know everything about everything, this seemed right up my alley.

YVFC’s program is relatively new, and most similar in structure to the Olds College program. It’s 4-5 levels, depending on your interest. Each level starts with a week of in-person class. Then, you have one year to complete a slew of homework assignments. You send these in for grading, and if you pass, you gain that level’s certification and can enroll in the next level.

I enjoyed my time there and I’m excited (and nervous!) about completing the homework assignments. Some pictures from the session: the cover page of our Apprentice textbook, my first attempt at spinning (lol!), and the day Leslie surprised us with ice pops. That brought back memories of elementary school summers.

A few days after returning home from NC, P and I drove up to Eugene for my velvet weaving workshop. It was taught by Barbara Setsu Pickett, professor emeritus at University of Oregon and velvet weaver/researcher.

Unlike many people in my class, I had not been dreaming of weaving velvet for years. It was an opportunistic learning moment for me – I had never seen another class like it, I’d heard velvet weaving was super complicated, and it’s something I wouldn’t have tried to learn on my own. And I’m so glad I signed up!! What a blast.

The setup took a day. We wound bobbins and arranged them on a PVC cantra (bobbin organizer).

Weaving involved inserting metal velvet wires into the supplementary warp to hold the pile. Once everything was secure, I either pulled the wires out (uncut pile) or used a knife to slice along the top of the wire (cut pile).