Lion Brand Notebook
News, Ideas and Information for Crafting with Yarn
Lion Brand Notebook
News, Ideas and Information for Crafting with Yarn
This is a guest post from our friend, Travis Meinolf, public textile artist and teacher. Travis’s current project can be seen at the Museum of Craft and Folk Art, in San Francisco, CA, from now until January 24th, 2010. If you’re in the area, we hope you’ll stop by, add your own piece to the weavings and interact with textiles in a new way.
Open Source Embroidery is a group art show; the running theme of the works in the show, curated by Dr. Ele Carpenter, is how current open source programming and high-tech philosophies intersect with contemporary and historical craft production practices. My installation in the show, a continuation of my Social Fabric/Weaving Place projects, is a space with small, simple-to-use looms I have designed, materials generously provided by Lion Brand Yarn, and chalkboards, for people to write notes about what it is they would like to be producing in the space.
Previously I have asked for people to spend their time producing material to be made into blankets for people on the streets and in shelters, but this time, I thought I would let it be completely open to suggestion from the participants. Only time will tell what the outcome will be, but the process will be one of absolute agency of the producers. Anyone who participates is invited to direct their action and suggest direction for the group, based on the simple strips of cloth that they can make. I will update as the project progresses. Hopefully the system I have put in place allows for freedom but is a space for structured, productive play, resulting in a true “dialectical material”.
Thanks go out to Lion Brand, who made me feel like a kid on Christmas opening boxes of skeins and skeins of beautiful yarns to provide a truly sensual and mesmerizing weaving experience for museum-goers, again…
Travis J. Meinolf
action weaver
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Posted in Crafting, Yarniverse | 2 Comments »
Our friend, artist and weaver, Travis Meinolf is back with another Action Weaver video. Click here to watch it. (Recognize the yarn he’s using?)
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Posted in Community, Yarniverse | 3 Comments »
Watch “Social Fabric,” a short film about our friend Travis Meinolf, an artist who uses weaving in public to advocate weaving and the personal production of blankets and cloth goods as an empowering act. Click here to see it on YouTube.
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Posted in Community, Yarniverse | 4 Comments »
A few weeks ago, Claire — one of our fabulous Studio staffers — unpacked the Cricket Weaving Loom, read the directions, and set it up in no time. She picked out a whopping seven different kinds of yarn to play with: Vanna’s Choice, Wool-Ease, Microspun, Homespun, Moonlight Mohair, Vanna’s Glamour and Cupcake. After getting it started, we left the loom on the table and encouraged customers over the next few weeks to try their hand. Some were conservative, doing a row or two of the yarn on the shuttle. Others were more creative freely mixing yarns, while others were down right daring, holding two yarns together creating a stunning effect. The bottom line is: anyone can create a work of art with no training. Just pick out some yarn and start weaving!
Here’s some close ups of all our customer’s work on one magic scarf:
Here’s the final result:
By the way, if the customer scarf ever “goes missing” from the Studio . . . it’s because it’s found it’s way home with our own Will. He has his eye on it!
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Posted in Lion Brand Yarn Studio, Lion Staff | 1 Comment »
This is a guest post by Travis Meinolf, a public textile artist and teacher in San Francisco. He has presented his work at numerous art shows and workshops, as well as taught and published pieces on weaving and fiber arts. His newest project, the Weaving Place, allows visitors to learn weaving and produce loom woven pieces.
The Weaving Place is an installation I was invited to bring to the Vancouver Art Gallery in Canada by my friend, artist Kai Althoff. It is a room with six stations for a sculptural weaving device that I have been working with, which is made from a piece of laser-cut plexiglass. Kai made some instructional drawings, which are enlarged and mounted around the room so that people can learn to weave using the looms, spend some time enjoying that process, and either take home what they’ve made or leave it to be stitched into patchwork wool blankets to be distributed later to people who might need them. Basically, I want to provide this experience of production for its own sake, understood as leisure but also realizing something that will actually function to keep somebody warm.
Sherry Stewart and Kathleen Lemieux at the Vancouver Art Gallery have been really helpful in involving their volunteer and public programs departments. They have recently informed me that participation is so great that they are running out of the yarns that I collected, including a generous donation from Lion Brand! This is just another example of how people coming together can make connections, both physical and social, that enhance our lives.
The show runs until February 15th, and for more information you can visit Vancouver Art Gallery’s website at vanartgallery.bc.ca. To see some pictures of the space see flickr.com/weavingplace, and for more examples of my work go to actionweaver.com. (I will be installing more little looms for 4-10 year-olds at the Children’s Discovery Museum in San Jose on January 17th!)
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Posted in Yarniverse | 3 Comments »
Over at the YarnCraft podcast, we had an episode all about teaching kids to knit and crochet that got great response from our listeners. Sharyn, a 2nd grade teachers, shared with us these pictures of her students’ weavings.
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I listened with interest to your recent podcast regarding kids and yarn. I’m a second grade teacher. Everyday after lunch, while I’m reading to them, my students finger crochet chains and then weave the chains on simple cardboard looms to create wall hangings, doll blankets, etc. Some even sew the weavings together to create small blankets or purses.
Attached are some photos of their current works. We can’t seem to keep yarn in the classroom, so we weave with whatever is available, even plastic shopping bags. As you can tell by the “color scheme,” the students will use whatever yarn is available.
All my students weave, both boys and girls. This is a practical skill, where they make something “real.” They also develop the fine motor skills that they need for writing and keyboarding. Keeping their hands busy means that their hands are not being used for teasing other students!
I remember doing this activity back in elementary school too, and it’s why I still have a soft-spot for weaving and why I’m so happy to share Sharyn’s pictures with you!
Want to weave with your kids too? Grab a piece of cardboard (the piece leftover when you finish a notepad is a good thickness) and cut notches into it at even intervals, both at the top and bottom. Wrap yarn around the board, putting the strand into each notch, and secure the ends with a piece of tape on the back of the board. The kids can weave the yarn back and forth on a bobbin, or you can also just cut pieces of yarn that are the width of the board and let them weave each strand individually (this method leaves a fun fringe around the edges). When they’re done, you cut the strands across the back, and tie every two or three strands together, forming a fringe at the top and bottom.
For more ideas for using yarn with your kids, check out YarnCraft - we’ll be having another episode on the subject in a few weeks. The YarnCraft podcast is a 30 minute bi-weekly audio program that you can listen to online or download - learn how to subscribe here.
Related posts:
5 Tips for Crafting with Kids from YarnCraft #13
Posted in Tips & How To, YarnCraft Podcast | 4 Comments »
