K(nitting) Tog(ether) was the theme this week as Sandy De Master and Mary Germain assisted students with projects that included fair isle and cabled sweaters, an Elizabeth Zimmerman baby surprise jacket, ethnic mittens, scarves, shawls and even a “dog ate my lace-knit scarf” repair. There’s so much inspiration, from Sandy and Mary’s own work to what each person in class is working on and all the exceptional yarns and patterns. Here’s a pattern for a fun week: Cast on 15 knitters. Join for knitting around the studio for four days. Work K and P rows as written. Increase the fun. With yarn on holders, place knitting down for soup, salad and bread supper. Pick up and work once around the room. […]
Beyond Beginner Basketmakers and Weavers
The Independent Study in Basketry class taught by Jeanette Biederman and the Beyond Beginning Weaving class with Nancy Adams had students that went “way beyond”! Intricate patterns and a great amount of weaving accomplished in the week was apparent in both groups. The Sophie Studio weavers made beautiful towels, t-shirt rugs, runners, pillow covers and a liturgical piece. Planning their projects and starting to measure warp on Monday afternoon gave a little extra time for weaving, to enjoy each other’s company and a fresh Danish Mill kringle each morning. From a studio journal dated October 1, 1989, “It’s so good to be back ‘home’…time to spend with friends in a perfect setting.” Jeanette Biederman Then from September 20, 1991, “Another inspiring week at […]
Gathering Update Interlude
Before we go back into the studios to see the basketmakers and weavers, here’s another update on the Gathering, now only two weeks away. New items or information appear printed in this color within the posting. Our eighteenth biennial Gathering is set for September 25 – 27! This is a great way to keep in touch with each other, meet Sievers instructors and it’s also an opportunity to return to the Island and share a sample of what happens at Sievers School with a friend. All visitors are welcome and all events are open to the public. Here’s what’s waiting for you… Workshops – Three workshops are scheduled during the Gathering. For the first time, two of them are one and one-half day […]
Seeing Double
You can look in one direction and still think it’s summer but if you look again, you see autumn peeking into the scene. It could be those few leaves already turning on the maple trees or the butterflies basking on the goldenrod, fliers of a different kind on the airport runway or bright sunshine quickly turning to dark storm clouds. In the same way, the weavers in Judie Yamamoto’s Double Weave class are working on projects that reveal “more than meets the eye”. We’ll double our fun next time with more weaving and basket weaving, too!
Keeping Warm
As fall approaches and there’s a chill in the air, you may tend to pull a quilt over you or put on a sweater or scarf. This past week, that was exactly what we were thinking here at Sievers with Judy Hasheider’s 60-Degree Quilts class and Carol Anderson’s Knitting on Location group. The quilt studio saw not only some of those 60-degree quilts but independent projects as well. No electricity is needed with knitting needles, so here and there on the Island, the knitters took their projects with them “on location”. First at Sunset Resort, then back in the studio, until the next day at the Fragrant Isle Lavender Shop and eventually back at Sievers. (Jackson Harbor and the Red Cup […]
Loom, Book and Skein
We’ve just finished a busy week of Refresher Weaving with Nancy Frantz, overlapped by both Chad Hagen’s Beginning Bookmaking with a Textile Twist class and Deb Jones with Dyeing to Knit. The now-refreshed weavers reacquainted themselves with the workings of the loom, planned and wove projects ranging from towels to scarves to table runners. Students in the book making class used various textiles while creating four different books in their three-day class, some using their own hand-dyed fabrics. First, though, you have to start with white pages. The world’s largest skein-winder (?) was used to wind yarn in preparation of dyeing the washable wool into striped and fair isle designs. Colors and designs are planned and painted… The yarn dries on the clothesline and is […]
Works in Progress
Last week, Jackson Harbor Road was ground into a gravelly base from the corner of Airport Road by Fiddler’s Green, down to where the road curves and changes into Old Camp Road. This morning, the paving machine, trucks with hot asphalt and the roller made it’s way down half of the road. The wider road will allow for paved shoulders and while not as wide as bike paths, they will allow room for bicyclists and those on foot to have some extra space. The Island has waited a number of years for this improvement. It is being done along with other Island roads that had heavy traffic last fall and this spring after over 9,000 dump truck loads of materials were dredged from Detroit Harbor. A portable asphalt […]
Making Their Mark
So many different techniques including silk screen printing, ice dyeing, indigo dyeing, encaustic, direct painting and more are part of Stephanie Robertson’s Making Your Mark class, continuing through today in the Walter Studio. All kinds of fabrics and clothing pieces are taking on brilliant colors. Even the decking on the floor has been part of the “dye process”! There’s something new each time the camera visits the studio. It was Stephanie’s own work, done while she was here for class last year, that became the cover of our 2014 brochure. We haven’t yet determined what our 2015 brochure cover will be. All we know is, there will be plenty of options from all the wonderful fiber arts seen […]
