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Sunday, November 1, 2009

GCW Weaving Exchange: Results!

Big 'thank you' to Lynnette for sending me this photo of all the runners in the exchange!

This is the one I received!


I've been a member of the Guild of Canadian Weavers for some years now and four years ago, a weaving exchange was re-introduced to the members. The annual exchange has seen tartan tea towels, then card inserts, guest towels and this year, table runners. Lynnette has taken on the role of hosting this event for the past couple of years and does a wonderful job of wrangling weavers into a schedule with firm (?) deadlines! It must be fun to have all those parcels arrive and seeing what everyone has woven up.


This year the plan was to weave a runner, then get a runner back. I dropped mine off in person this past September when we were there visiting. So I have had a bit of a wait to see what was coming. I received a lovely runner in soft greys in summer and winter, woven beautifully by Patricia, of Prince Edward Island. It's in 2/8 cotton and I must say that 2/8 cotton has never looked so good! Thank you Patricia and Lynnette.



The parcel also includes the draft and record notes so that you can reproduce the pattern. Below is the runner I submitted and Patricia received and to refresh, it's 2/16's cotton sett 36 epi with 2/30 linen weft. This past week I attended a demonstration on the features of Fiberworks-PCW weaving program by program designers, Ingrid Boesel and Bob Keates. They recently relocated from Guelph, Ontario to Salt Spring Island so are practically neighbours here. I learned a lot about the program and how to use it more effectively for designing. One nice fringe benefit of the demo was on how to capture the drafts and so I can show you them here at the blog. So below is my first effort! Next up is how to make it large enough for you to read :) I'm working on it!

In the mean time they have a free demo program at their page. Its the full Bronze or Silver program and it will do everything except 'print' or 'save'. If you like it, then you pay and get an authorization code. It can be on up to three computers in your home. I have the 'Silver Plus' and enjoy playing with it very much and must say that my record keeping has improved tremendously since using their record template. ( I recommend getting the discs sent to you later and buy the hard copy manual. Crashes happen!) You can see what your project will look like on the loom, try different colours, check for floats, and even view the back of the cloth. Good bye graph paper and coloured pencils!! I'm a happy customer for sure....

Edit: Thanks to Louisa for telling me that if you click on the draft, it will 'embiggen' the tiny draft!

A note to Mac users: they are working on a program for you but it is being written from scratch. They are establishing which versions of Apple / Mac programming to include as it seems you get a lot of upgrades. When its released it will feature many more items that we PC users will have to wait for in a future upgrade. In short it will be worth the wait!


The 2010 Olympic Torch Relay was through our little town yesterday as it starts it's long, long journey to all parts of Canada and ending up at the Games held in Vancouver and Whistler, this coming February. While I was on my way to another event ( post on this next time) it was wonderful to see kids and parents all excited about the relay. The day was glorious and full sunshine on a fall day. On second thought, maybe the kids were more excited because it was Halloween....

9 comments:

  1. The runners are lovely - and the one you received is beautiful. (Of course, the one you made is also beautiful - which I'm sure I told you back when you finished it!)

    Everyone I know who's seen Ingrid and Bob demo Fiberworks has been amazed at how much they learned from it. I keep meaning to go through the features more so I can get better with the program - but using it I improve by leaps and bounds since I'm so new to it. That's great news about the Mac version. A small group of local weavers just got together this past week to discuss Mac software. I'll pass the word to them.

    It had somehow escaped my notice that the Olympics are this winter. I'm glad to have that to look forward to!! I'm having trouble adjusting to a weekend where we turned back the clocks and most of the leaves suddenly fell off the trees in a storm.

    Sue

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  2. Just a beautiful new towel-interesting that both of you chose a similar colored weave.

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  3. The exchange sounds like a lot of fun. I love the runner you received, in which technique is it woven?

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  4. Thanks for the comments!

    Charlotte: it's woven summer and winter

    Sue: The Olympics is coming to Vancouver and Whistler and its just about all we have been hearing about for years! The buildings and sports facilities will benefit the communities. The transit upgrades, highway windening and general tarting up of the city is nice but one has to wonder how long it will take taxpayers to pay for it all.

    The two week long party will be seen by the whole world starting February 2010!

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  5. I'd love to attend a demo of what you can do with Fibreworks software, I bet it was really interesting. It would be good if they offered a tutor video on CD.

    Having said that, I've got Fibreworks Silver on my wish list anyhow, so maybe this Christmas...

    I do like the idea of a weavers' exchange.

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  6. Dorothy: That's a good idea... so much so that I have sent it to Ingrid Boesel. Will let you know when hear something back.
    Susan

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  7. Love the runner you got in the exchange, Susan! It's very different from your more formally elegant one. BTW on my screen I can click on your draft and get a larger image. Then right-click and save as a JPG. The one in your blog post is just a thumbnail.

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  8. Both the runner you received and the one you made are so pretty!!! What a great idea for an exchange. What are you planning for next year?

    I love using the computer for drawdowns. I can't imagine going back to graph paper and colored pencils. Must have been so much fun meeting the creators of Fireworks.

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  9. So lovely runners you have made and recieved. What a funny idea, like changing secret gifts on christmas parties.

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