For the first time, I went to the Portland Handweavers Guild retreat. About 16 people gathered at the Cedar Ridge Center in Vernonia, which is a basketball camp for kids. It suited us perfectly–lots and lots of bunk rooms, a huge dining hall with plenty of space for us to spread out all our stuff, good food and a beautiful setting. It was amazing to see what people brought. Looms of all sizes and types, a sock machine, some amazing antique spinning wheels, sewing machines, and lots and lots of projects. I took my table loom and a spinning wheel. I was determined to get a small project on the loom and tossed a bag of yarn into the car with absolutely no plan. It was wonderful getting to know the people, getting help and ideas from such creative, experienced and knowledgeable folks.
I established myself in this corner next to the window.
Here is the long view of the dining hall–you can see it is cavernous! The hosts provided extra lights which we directed up to the ceiling. Several people brought their own task lighting as well.
With help from Stephanie I decided on a red and white warp. Now, what to weave as weft? That was a big challenge. I decided to use multi-colored yarn I had made several years ago. But when I began weaving, it looked awful. Red on red and white, no sense of pattern. So I un-wove the three inches I had done and started over. This time I created color bands. Much better!
