I am a Bonnie Inspiried Weaver!

Hello Bonnie.... I am so pleased with my shawl and have had lots of compliments. I always credit you...Bonnie Inspiried!

"This was a lovely gift to myself and I am very grateful to Bonnie for

developing this idea. I have never warped anything without knowing how

it was going to turn out. Each new color was eagerly anticipated to see

how it would blend in. Like Bonnie promised, it all worked out."

Information about my shawl.....

I basically followed Bonnie's directions; they were very clear. I used

Bambu 7 for the warp...sett was 20 ends to the inch and I used Bambu 12

for the weft. Weaving with this fibre was a delight and I thought it

was some of my best weaving...I have been weaving for 35 years. Must

have been because I was weaving me!

The hardest part was keeping track of the colors...your instructions

were very helpful. One thing I did was xerox the chart and tick off

each thread as I warped it. I was amazed when I checked things that I

made several errors and had to go over the whole warp 4 times! Maybe

that says something about me though. I also added 3 inches of solid

black to extend the width.

I wanted to make a shawl with a "V" back rather than one length of

fabric.

I ended up with piece of fabric that was 21 x 121" after

washing. I cut one piece 64 inches long and another 43 inches long ( 43

+21= 64) and then hand sewed them in an L shape to get my desired

shape. Hope that makes sense. I am a tall person and wanted ample

fabric to drape over my shoulders.

The fringes were hand plied; they

ended up being about 6" long after being plied.

I have 8 inches of fabric left over and plan to make a little frame and

hang it on the wall.

I am a Bonnie Inspiried weaver!

Happy , healthy and a hearty 2010!

Hugs to you,

Shelley Hamilton

Congratulations to Anne!

In the mid 90's, as a beginning weaver, I saw some of the horoscope weavings. I thought "WOW'...wouldn't that be fun!! Well, in 2004, Bonnie offered the workshop to the Whidbey Weavers and I took that class. Most of us knew almost nothing about horoscopes other than our signs!!!

This workshop consisted of three days of winding a warp....360 threads BUT those 360 threads were made up of THREE threads! i.e. there were over 1000 threads that made up that warp!!! And they were put into three warp groupings. I took all these home along with the instructions and there they sat until 2007.

Note from Bonnie: I have completely changed how I present this workshop and no longer use 20/2 cotton tripled for warp (although I am happy to show anyone who is interested) I also have students wind their warp at home rather during class, and now students come to class all ready to weave. I discovered that 50% of the students who leave a workshop with a warp, never take the time to actually weave it. I am SO impressed that Anne wove her piece after all that time!

In 2007, I had a failed hip replacement, could not walk or stand so thought this might be the perfect time to weave my horoscope material! It was not perfect weaving BUT I did finish it. However, mine felt just too heavy for a shawl sooooo I asked a golfing friend (a seamstress as well) if she could make this material into a vest? She agreed.

I had a paper pattern from an early workshop with Anita Mayer. From this pattern, Judy Wolinski used some software and created a fabulous vest for me. The tassels at the ends of the weaving were used in the back of the vest.

Needless to say, I was thrilled with the end result!

anne brenaman

Note from Bonnie: I was totally blown away when I happened to run into Anne wearing her vest at the Seattle Weavers Guild Sale!!

When A Master Explores Plain Weave

Bonnie,

I have to say, I am glad I took the Exploring Not So Plain workshop. Learned some helpful information and had a really good time. Round robin's are all organized before hand and not much teaching necessary. This one gave lots of ideas for plain weave and very good for beginners. Loved that you had so many "keep 'em busy" projects.

I AM ENCOURAGED BY THE POSSIBILITY OF COMBINING THE SUPPLEMENTARY WARP WITH THE WOVEN WORDS. A FRESH LOOK FOR ME TO EXPERIMENT WITH. I WILL TRY ANOTHER ONE SOON. I WANT TO DO PEACE ON EARTH FOR THE
HOLIDAYS AND START A PEACE SERIES. I HAVE 16 YDS OF THIS ON THE
LOOM. THIS ONE IS PEACE, WORLD PEACE. I SCRAMBLED SOME OF THE
LETTERS AND REVERSED THE S SECOND PEACE.. IS SCRAMBLING LETTERS
PART OF THE THINGS THAT ARE OK?

Barbara Herbster

Bonnie says, "If it weaves up to look like the picture above---well, yes, it's Ok."

A Horoscope Weaving for my Granddaughter

Bonnie,
I finished my shawl the week after you left, but did not see my granddaughter until now. I am working with her to see if she wants me to cut it into sections and incorporate it into a quilt. I will send pictures of the final outcome.
I am working on my niece's name placemats now, and I am very happy with your suggestions. Thanks for the great class. I know I will use the name wraps often both as wraps and weavings and I look forlward to doing another horoscope with Bamboo yarn next.

Peace and joy,
Dale

Color Horoscope Weaving on a Rigid Heddle Loom

Here's a photo of me wearing my shawl! The workshop was excellent. I loved all the little extras we learned in addition to making the color horoscope shawl. As you can see, my shawl turned out beautifully (as everyone's does!). I found the joining of the panels to be very rewarding. I can't wait to make something else that's bigger than my loom! The uses for my rigid heddle loom have now been hugely expanded.

Speaking of my RH loom, I posted photo-based instructions on my blog so you can see how I warped it from front to back. If I had wound my warp with back to front in mind, I would have warped in a more traditional way, but this worked for me too. You can see the instructions at http://www.zinniz.com/, along with a post I made right after the workshop.

My friends all love the shawl too and are fascinated by the fact that it's based on my astrological chart. It's been quite the popular conversation topic when I wear it out.

Thanks again!

Carrie.

It Really is Never Too Late

Hi Bonnie,

Remember me? I am a member of the Blue Ridge Spinner’s & Weavers Guild. I signed up for your horoscope weaving workshop back in 2007 but unable to attend. You sent me a packet with beads for a horoscope necklace and a horoscope threading draft. I ordered a Bambu 7 kit from Cotton Clouds. With the nudging and help of our guild president (Beth) I completed the shawl over the Labor Day weekend. I enjoyed every minute of the weaving! This is my first experience with Bambu. I really like the drape of the finished garment. Thank you.

Enjoy the pictures.

Terri

Hi Bonnie,

Well, I finally strung my horoscope necklace. I really enjoyed working on this project (both weaving the shawl and beading the necklace). It was so much fun. I chose to do my first grandsons horoscope for this project and I will wear both close to my heart.

Thank you.

Terri

From February '08

My husband Rich and I heard Bonnie's "horoscope warp" interview with Syne Mitchell on WeaveCast, and were quite intrigued. Without me knowing, he got my birth information from my birth certificate and a conversation with my Mom, contacted Bonnie, and arranged to have my horoscope warp in time for a surprise Christmas gift. Ohio winters are very gray, and I was delighted to see all the wonderful colors in my own personal warp - colors I would never have thought to combine in one piece. The warp Bonnie sent was Bambu 7; I added a 10/2 cotton border on each side so I could have a wrap-around shawl. I wove the shawl with an 8/2 Tencel weft in plain weave, as Bonnie suggested, and plied the fringe. It was my first experience with Bambu yarn - yummy, especially after I washed and hard pressed the fabric.


The "blanket bandits" are Wolfie and Squirt. They are always willing to tolerate a little interruption to their nap time if they get loveys and treats.

Thanks, Bonnie.

Peggy Bowman
Beavercreek, Ohio

It's Never Too Late

Hi Bonnie,

Remember me? I am a member of the Blue Ridge Spinner’s & Weavers Guild. I signed up for your horoscope weaving workshop back in 2007 but unable to attend. You sent me a packet with beads for a horoscope necklace and a horoscope threading draft. I ordered a Bambu 7 kit from Cotton Clouds. With the nudging and help of our guild president (Beth) I completed the shawl over the Labor Day weekend. I enjoyed every minute of the weaving! This is my first experience with Bambu. I really like the drape of the finished garment. Thank you. Terri

A Blanket for Cash

Hi Bonnie

I have finished the horoscope blanket for my grandson, Cash. Attached are the pictures. I think it is one of the best things I have ever woven. I only listened to Beethoven’s 1^st and 6^th symphonies while I wove so it is full of relaxing and beautiful thoughts and vibes. The weaving part went quite quickly and the bamboo warp was the easiest I have ever wound on. My daughter is very pleased with it. I am pretty sure I will be ordering two more plans for my older grandsons, but first have to finish one for Cash’s brother, Drew.

Thanks so much for your help on this. It really was a pleasure to weave and even winding the warp and the threading the loom were not that bad. Like you said, baby steps, not too much at one time. I hope you enjoy the pictures. I won’t be starting Drew’s until maybe October. Need to do something a little faster.

Thanks again.

Robin Nixon

More From Gloria in Houston

I recently received this email from Gloria and thought it should be included. (I am having trouble getting the size and font adjusted, so I hope this is readable), Bonnie

I had done some sweater recycling in the past - I had (purposely) felted sweaters for various projects and once or twice I unravelled sweaters to get yarn for knitting. But I had never thought of reclaiming cashmere yarn for weaving until I found out about you. In fact, I decided to give a program on thrift store recycling at my weaving and spinning guild. I am so glad you gave such a clear procedure and covered so many points in the May WeaveZine article; I reviewed your description and links before going. The presentation went very well. One long-time weaver commented that she had wanted to do this but didn't know how to deconstruct the sweater; since she didn't knit, she didn't know how to convert it into flat pieces for unraveling. Most of the knitters didn't know about the chain stitch edging, and I especially liked your tip about unraveling in the direction of the v's or "arrows". A few members brought sweaters with them and started the deconstruction process.

Actually, this program gave our guild the best publicity we've had in a while. We always send our program info to the neighborhood papers, and one saw the trendy recycling vibe and wrote up a nice piece on the guild. There was some unintended humor; for some reason it mentioned that I "regularly go to thrift stores!" Not true, but I do admit it's been fun hunting for cashmere! Gloria

Gloria in Houston

Hi Bonnie -

Here's the pic of my horoscope shawl. Cotton warp, purple silk weft - although it is not nearly as purple in person! I admit to some trepidation while I was weaving it on the loom - I had many sets of complementary colors, and they were all bright, saturated colors. I thought it might look like a line-up of sports fans in their teams uniforms. But the finished product is great! Everything you said was oh so true - all sets of colors work; pick a weft you like and all will be well. I am very pleased with this!

By the way, I have 10 more cashmere sweaters for you! Do you want me to mail them to you or should I send them directly to Baltimore? Whatever you wish..,.

Gloria in

Houston

Sacramento Show & Tell

Good morning, Bonnie - Yes, we really all have been busy busy busy. Our Horoscope weaving experience was wonderful!

Tuesday was our last Guild meeting until fall and we traditionally have a "show and tell" at the meeting. So we all got together on the stage for a group showing of our beautiful Horoscope shawls/scarves. I gave my camera to a friend and she took lots of photos!!! Here is the one that shows the weavings very well for all of us.

Thank you again for a fantastic workshop and weaving experience. We hope to see you back in Sacramento soon. Carol

Carol's Second Horoscope Weaving

Hi Bonnie - Once again, I can't thank you enough for such a fantastic workshop. It was enlightening, inspiring and so much fun!! This scarf is my second Horoscope weaving and there will be many more. The piece I did in the workshop is hanging from a knarled branch on a wall in my studio. This scarf was woven with 8/2 tencel sett at 27 epi, with a fine black silk yarn used as weft. It is extremely soft and drapey. I will be weaving my daughter's Horoscope scarf from the same fibers and colors. Then I will do a scarf for my son-in-law in neutral colors, probably using 10/2 perle cotton. Thank you again for being such a fun teacher. We all hope to see you back in Sacramento soon. Carol Graves

The First Color Horoscope Rigid Heddler

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be the first Color Horoscope Rigid Heddler! I first learned about your kits when I was listening to Syne Mitchell’s Weavecast as a new weaver in November (yep, that’s just this past November). I jumped in with both feet and had a ball. Anyone with a rigid heddle loom can do one of your shawls. While I have the advantage of a 32” wide loom, anyone who isn’t afraid of seaming could do the shawl on a narrower loom and then piece it together. While weaving, I learned a great deal about myself…I realized this was the first craft that I have to remain monogamous to a project, and I was okay with that. I loved the interplay of the colors, although I initially felt they were a bit too ‘Caribbean’ for me. And I planned future projects…many, many future projects based on this one warp design. All in all, it took me about 2 months of weaving to finish, as I had a full-time job to work around (and unfortunately a bout of pneumonia, as well). In fact. My little write up has taken longer than the weaving due, in combination, to my antipathy for technology and the later irretrievable crash of my computer.

Karen Meuler

My shawl was woven on an Ashford 32" RH using a 12 dent heddle. I used 5/2 cotton in the warp and 20/2 doubled for the weft.

Karen From Sacramento

I finished the shawl on my birthday March 19Th. I lit a candle and reflected upon the wonderful workshop. I was surprised at what happened with the weft that I used. I used a black&white rayon that had white flicks that where a bit thicker randomly spaced in the yarn. As I wove and changed to the next bobbin in some areas shapes and circles started to show up in the fabric. I was not able to keep "control" over the shapes as I just wound a bobbin and wove. I had so much fun that I have sent in my registration for the Golden Gate Fiber Institute in July.

Susan from Sacramento

After your workshop, I came home and worked in a fury to complete the scarf. I had not intended to finish weaving until after the SoCal experience, BUT the scarf was "sizzling" on my loom!!!! I could not leave it alone! So the weaving is done with the fringing process started. I decided to put little faceted clear seed beads here and there--it looks like the stars. The whole experience was very cathartic. I will send a pic when I have completed it. Thank you so much for your insight and wisdom, I couldn't have asked for more.

"Inspired by Bonnie"

Dancing before me

A universe of colors

Thread by thread by thread.

Thanks for everything!

Susan von Sosten

With gratitude and a hug!

Welcome

I had one of those ideas that come in the form of a dream. Why not set up a second blog "Inspired by Bonnie"?

So welcome!

This colorful gallery is dedicated to the celebration of color and deep appreciation for handwoven cloth.

If you have ever read an article by me, attended a lecture, taken a workshop or bought a kit, I invite you to send me a jpg picture or two and a little paragraph about your process.