Kate Barber

Since graduating from the textiles program things haven't seemed to slow down what-so-ever.  Among the many things I've been up to is my practicum, I've been priviledged to have the opportunity to spend time with Kate Barber for it, and man have I learned a lot.  Kate has been weaving professionally for over 20 years, so she has a lot to offer.  So far I've learned all the basics that I learned in school but backwards.  Kate warps her loom from the back, were as we learned to warp from the front, so it's been super eye-opening to be doing things her way.  She's very efficient and knows all the short-cuts.  Well, I guess in weaving there is no such thing as a short cut, everything takes time, but since working with Kate I've learned how to avoid mistakes like tangling, threading mistakes and tension issues.  I'm so thankful for her wisdom.  In the first few days we wove two shawls in linen and wool yarns and then devored them using techniques that Kate is developing for her new line.  It's pretty amazing stuff; after weaving each shawl with a mixture of wool and linen for both warp and weft we devored the scarves creating circles, sometimes in a counterchange, and then felted them which creates what Kate called a Wabi-sabi look (I think it's a term she picked up from a Japanese weaver friend which refers to its unevenness in the selvage).  I think they are just beautiful!

Yesterday I learned that all three of the pieces that I submitted to the grad show were chosen to be in it.  We were all told we'd get one piece in it, so I'm super stoked that we all got three.  Mine are the shag dress, my most recent Jacquard weaving (which I haven't shared with you yet) as well as the dress that I made with my chalice fabric.  I'll be spending tomorrow stretching my Jacquard, and then off to the coast for moms day dinner.