One of the roles of the Journal is to provide technical information to help build skills in weaving, spinning and dyeing. This issue includes a number of articles which will help novices and the more experienced.
Contents
- Page 6 The Experimental Weave Lab, Stacey Harvey-Brown.
- Page 10 In Search of Brown Cotton. An article from a 1980 edition of The Journal about the journey made by Bette Hochberg, author of Handspindles, and her husband into deepest rural Mexico in search of natural brown cotton. Unlike the original, we are able to illustrate the article with wonderful images from Marilyn Murphy, Cloth Roads.
- Page 13 Preparing Longwools for Worsted Spinning Part 1 Flick Carding & Combing. The first part of Amanda Hannaford’s workshop on preparing longwools for worsted spinning is a great introduction to woolcombing, with advice on easily accessible tools to get started.
- Page 17 Bargello Needlework for a Stool Cover. Using handspun for a stitched project involves a great many decisions, and Pene Blogg and her daughter embarked on a particularly complicated task – it’s finally finished, having spanned the difficult years of 2020 and 2021. Pene leads us through the decision-making process necessary for a successful outcome and shows us the impressive completed Bargello stitching.
- Page 23 Rug Weaving: Lever Action Shaft Switching — Why Bother? Mark Cullen provides practical advice on Peter Collingwood’s shaft switching technique for rugs. Mark had the advantage of discussions with Jason Collingwood and has first-hand experience of modifying looms.
- Page 26 Tapestry with a Twist. Heather Seddon shows how she developed a technique to create twists in tapestry.
- Page 28 Dyeing is a Challenge, Linda More. The Online Guild Dyeing Challenge led Elisabeth Viguié-Culshaw to experiment with dyeing with foraged plants and using an iron solution to modify colours.
- Page 34 A Visit to the Gobelin Tapestry Workshop, Moravia. Angela Thompson takes us to the Czech Republic to visit the workshops, founded in the nineteenth century and still creating new textiles and restoring old ones.
- Page 36 Readers’ Showcase: Small Weavings. Sue Willis shows how landscapes inspire her small weavings using beautiful short lengths of yarn.
