Memphis Medley

The Color Horoscope Weaving Workshop, presented to the Memphis Guild on January 23-4, brought together a fabulous group for an exciting foray into color exploration.

Hi Bonnie. !!

Fringed, washed and dried the horoscope shawl made in your Memphis class.
It was exquisite until the 2nd round in the dryer !
The wool weft just took over, but it feels wonderful, is much softer than expected and a great color experience. Since we didn't have to decide which colors to warp with, it took away the 'decisions, decisions' problem.
Although, we *did* have to decide what weft to use for the shawl after we wove samples of different wefts. I have enough warp left so that I can play some more with wefts and maybe make little things like pouches and sachets.
You filled our heads with many things to ponder as life progresses. The
*desires* wrappings are next on my list and will tackle before the end of the week. That will be fun as well, since the colors are so beautiful. As you said many times "There is no right or wrong." so they will all turn out as wonderful as our shawls. Thank you for such a fun and positive experience. Hope you will visit us again. !!
Kaaren Reid



Kaaren's shawl picture was waiting for me when I got in from the airport on Monday the 25th. By the time Thursday rolled around, I received 3 more pictures of finished weaving. I felt very inspired (grin).

Here is Bobbie's
Hi Bonnie,

Your Horoscope Workshop was the best workshop I have ever attended in my 10 years of weaving. In addition to providing the opportunity to warp and weave something new and different, I learned a lot from the tips you shared with us, gathered from your 50 years of weaving.

Warping the loom was somewhat of a challenge, because of the many changes in thread colors and the fact that I was doubling the Bambu 12 yarn I used. Your directions were clear and easy to follow, though, so that helped me get through the warping process successfully.

The actual weaving was a breeze. I wove plain weave with a single thread of Bambu 12. After washing the scarf, I trimmed the fringe to 2 inches.

I finished my scarf Tuesday and washed it Wednesday. Even though I planned to twist the fringe, I changed my mind and just trimmed it to 2 inches.

The warp is Bambu 12, doubled and the weft is single threads of Bambu 12. The finished scarf has a wonderful drape and softness.

If your ears are ringing, it is because we are still talking about how much we enjoyed your workshop and that we learned so much. Thanks again for a great experience.

Bobbie

Elizabeth's--still waiting for her words.

And Joloy's
Bonnie,
I enjoyed the workshop. I learned about color and ways to figure out how to put more color in my weaving. It was very inspiring with so many ideas to work with once you get home.
I would say to my friends that this is one workshop that they should take.
My color horoscope scarf is woven in 10/2 cotton warp and weft is 20/2 cotton in black.
It took longer to measurer the warp than I expected. It is worth the extra time to weave this scarf.
Thanks for a great weekend.
Joloy Watlington



Mary Anne's will follow soon, and I hope the rest of the class. This was surely my best workshop to date!

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