"Woolgatherers Ltd, Fond du Lac, WI"

I drove up to Fond du Lac, WI yesterday, to buy Lilla, my new Swedish Floor Loom. By the way, Lilla means "The Small One" in Swedish. Wouldn't you know it......the weather decided not to cooperate and it began snowing earlier in the morning so by the time I left, around 8 AM, the roads were covered and somewhat slick. That is to say, here in town they were snow covered and slick. It seemed to take me longer to get from our house on the near west side, through downtown, and the east side, than it did to finish the drive to Fond du Lac! Once I got on the other side of I39/90, it was smooth sailing for me.

Woolgatherers is located right on Main Street in downtown Fond du Lac, so it was easy to find, thanks to Goggle maps. ;) As you can see in the reflection on the windows, I was able to get a parking place directly in front of the shop, having the backend of the car right where a path was shoveled to the street, making it perfect for loading the 5 boxes which contained the unassembled loom.

The view from right inside the shop door. Physically, it isn't a large shop, but the variety of fiber materials/equipment offered is huge! Owners, Sara (an avid and VERY knowledgeable weaver) and Hans (engineer and woodworker), both run the shop.

This is a smaller Lilla Floor Loom [Lilla is offered in 24" (60cm), 32" (80 cm), and 40" (100 cm) weaving widths].

This is the Lilla 40" (100cm) which has been converted into a drawloom. For me, it was overwhelming to see all of the cords and weights.....I couldn't imagine weaving on one. Truly amazing!

This loom, a 16 shaft (!!!!) Toika Floor Loom, is computer driven (small box located on the top and controlled by the black step on the floor). Another amazing innovation that is so beyond my comprehension.

A view towards the front of the shop.

I was at the shop for easily 2 hours receiving instruction on how to assemble Lilla. How much I've retained remains to be seen, eh? "Thankfully", Sara and Hans have translated the written Swedish instructions for assembly into English, and also include a CD with step by step photos of how to assemble Lilla. As some of you know, I am a visual learner, so this CD is a good thing. :) Don actually printed out the entire CD for me last night, so I will punch hole the pages for a binder and have the "Loom Assembly Bible" with me as I begin to assemble Lilla today. Wish me luck!!! ;)

"My Harrisville Floor Loom Goes Into Storage......"

Yesterday, I folded up my 36" Harrisville Floor Loom so that it could be put into storage. Does this mean I am through with weaving? No.......it means I am getting a NEW LOOM! YEA!!!!! :)

I am not going to try and sell my Harrisville....at least not at this time. I hope that someday I will have a large enough space that it, too, can be set up and be a part of my studio (maybe to teach my granddaughter, Abigail, to weave?). It is a little small for me, but I've "made do" and have woven many pieces that I have been happy with, so I'm just not ready to part with it.

Here is a photo of the "fiber" room, minus the weaving bench. I'd already taken it downstairs before realizing I hadn't taken a photo of the room "before" the new loom. Yep, I was too lazy to go back down and bring it back for the photo.

When I'd brought the Harrisville home, it had been folded up, but only partway. I wanted it to be as small as it could be since it was going to take up storage space and there is little enough of that as it is. Also shown in the photo is the wooden platform that I built for under the loom, so that it would raise it up enough to allow my legs more comfort. The beater and harnesses had already been taken downstairs, too.

A better view showing the slimness of the folded loom.

The fiber room awaiting my new floor loom.

Pictured below, my new loom will be a 40" weaving width (100 cm), Oxaback Lilla, a Swedish 8 shaft (harness) vertical countermarche floor loom. It has a slightly larger footprint than my Harrisville, about 4 1/2 " wider and 12" deeper, but will probably seem much larger in the space due to its height. A countermarche loom is a totally new experience for me (not that I have a lot of weaving experience to begin with) and I am very excited to have a loom that will challenge me to go beyond what I know. This "old dog" is about to learn some new tricks. ;)

"Bioneers Conference"

Last Friday/Saturday, Don and I, along with friend Barb, attended the 2nd annual Wisconsin Bioneers Conference.

For those of you not familiar with Bioneers, rather than my trying to explain, I will instead, copy/paste the "About Bioneers 2011" from their website:

"The Badger Bionners event is so much more than a conference. It is a two-day event, filled with ideas and inspiration, and with speakers and friends. It is a time to learn about leading ideas and innovators, and a ripe opportunity to generate projects for schools, businesses and cities. Although the event occurs over 48 hours in January, it is hardly fair to call it a “two day event,” as we follow up with workshops and participants are inspired to modify their lifestyles, business models and school’s curriculum.

Badger Bioneers is inspired by a national event which has been held for the past twenty years in California. A hybrid between “biology” and “pioneers,” the original idea was to examine how individuals and institutions could foster more resilience by adopting successful models from the natural world. Each year, the Bioneers event brings together dozens of innovative and inspirational thinkers to talk about what it means for cities, businesses and individuals to live and work sustainably; and, over the years, Bioneers has become a critical touchstone in the national dialogue about sustainability. Sustain Dane was pleased to bring an associated event to Wisconsin for the first time last November. We are excited this year to expand the scope and impact of the event."

Don and I Friday morning, patiently waiting for things to begin. Time set aside for arrival, registration, and "breakfast" allowed us to peruse the agenda to decide which "break out sessions" we wanted to attend.

Don took another photo during that time to prove Barb actually was with us. :)

"Raging Grannies", one of the "entertainment breaks" between live or recorded speakers. They sang "activist" songs (I think that is how I would describe them) that had been written to old, familiar tunes.

All of us enjoyed the conference overall. It is a great way for local people and organizations to connect, plus strengthen ones faith, hope, and resolve to help positive environmental changes take place.

"What I'm Working On....."

About a week and a half ago, I told Don our iMac made a strange noise when I woke it up one morning. The next morning, I made sure Don was there to "listen" when it was time to wake up the computer. All he said was "uh oh.....the hard drive is about to die".

Thankfully, he ordered a new computer that same day, because our computer began struggling more and more to "wake up". So much so, that we finally stopped putting it to sleep at all. This past weekend, Don completed the shift from the old computer, to our new 27" iMac. After moving the old one to his office, he tried to restart it. The first try....nothing. It took 2 tries before it turned on. Yesterday, he tried once again, numerous times, and nothing. He did order some parts and is going to see if he can fix it. If so, he will then be able to use it for his piano computer.

Here are a couple of photos of our new computer.

It is taking a little to get used to........but I'm coping. ;)

"Fiber and Light....."

I wasn't aware of these photos until I looked in the photo folder that Don had added to the computer. I was expecting to see only photos from our 2 day Bioneers conference (soon to be posted), but found these among them.

Don had liked how the morning sunlight coming through our front windows created the sharp contrast between dark shadows, colors of fiber, and the fiber equipment. He couldn't resist taking these photos.

Since these photos were taken, I have knitted socks from 2 of the cones, and have them boxed/packed and ready to ship to their recipients. Not only that, but I have dyed more skeins of yarn, wound it on cones, and am ready to knit more.........I LOVE being retired!

"Special Weaving Information Post"

I once again registered to attend a weaving workshop, with well known rug weaver, Jason Collingwood, as instructor. The workshop will take place this coming May at Vavning Studio, in Shopiere, WI. I thought I would pass along this information, in hopes that some of you "might" be interested in attending, too.

:)

http://sites.google.com/site/vavningstudio/classes-1

I went back in my blog's archives to find photos of the workshop that I attended in 2008 (that seems so long ago!). Here are 2.......

Juanita Hofstrom's Vavning Studio. The studio is in the lowest level of the old church. Upstairs, the pews are still intact and are used for lecture seating. Behind that are former offices that now hold Juanita's abundant yarn stash. :)

Class photo........

"A Quickie....."

No photos today. Unfortunately, I had planned on posting some about yesterday's dyeing demo with a couple of friends, but I totally forgot to take any.

Renice, Pat, and Barb came over so that I could show them how I dyed sock yarn using the dye technique I posted about earlier this week. I had dyed a ball of yarn on Wednesday night, so that I could have it ready for one of the later steps in the process, then dyed a ball yesterday morning, so that would be done for the re-skeining process, plus I had one ball ready to be dyed when they got here. I had Renice choose 3 colors for us to work with and we went on from there.

I will post photos of the finished skeins when I take them.