County Fair 2024

The County Fair has come and gone with lots of activity from the local fiber artists including Not  Square members. We will give you a glimpse of what our members entered this year.

Mary wove these California Quail towels for the fair.

She says, "The desire to weave cute quail led me down the path of understanding and drafting single two-tie unit weave. It also led me to a 32-shaft compudobby loom! This quail towel was woven with a 10/2 unwaxed cotton warp, 8/2 unmercerized pattern weft and 20/2 cotton ground weft. The sett was 20 end per inch which provides a nice hand in the “summer and winter” structure."

Ingrid & Mary entered a collaborative project - a scarf woven by Ingrid with Mary's handspun merino yarn.  The sett was 15 epi.  For the warp, Ingrid used a 20/2 tussah silk yarn.

Mary & Ingrid's Collaborative Scarf

Ingrid entered several other woven items into the fair this year.  She entered two twill towels woven with 10/2 cotton set at 30 epi on 8 shafts.

Ingrid's Twill Towel

Ingrid's Twill Towel

There was a lap robe woven with cotton for the warp and an acrylic/wool blend for the weft in plain weave.  And a plain weave baby blanket with cotton for warp and acrylic for the weft as well.

Ingrid's Lap Robe

Ingrid's Baby Blanket

She entered three scarves other than the collaboration project.  One was woven in plain weave with merino/silk yarn in the warp and a silk weft.  

Ingrid's Silk/Wool Scarf

The second scarf was 8/2 Tencel for the warp and weft that she dyed.  It was sett at 30 epi and the structure was an extended twill.  The inspiration for the color scheme and scarf structure was the Yuba River.

The third scarf was woven using 10/2 Tencel sett at 36 epi.  The structure was an extended point twill woven on 8 shafts.  The weft was also 10/2 Tencel.

Ingrid's Tencel River Inspired Scarf

Ingrid's Tencel Scarf

We'll continue this on a later post.

More from the County Fair Part 2

 Ingrid wove these two scarves that are intertwined around one another using a technique called gradients.  A couple (or several) colors are gradually changed from one being dominant to being the subdominant color.  These were techniques she learned in an online class and expanded into her own designs.

 The color changes in the scarf below (also woven by Ingrid) move from dark to lighter and the effect when tied around the neck is stunning in its complexity.   It is 10/2 Tencel, sett at 36 epi and woven with an extended point twill on 8 shafts.

This is a shawl that Ingrid entered in the fair this year.  She wove it with Malabrigo Silkpaca lace yarn for both the warp and the weft.  The structure is twill.

More from the 2023 Nevada County Fair - Part 1

 This is Ingrid K. gorgeous scarf.  Woven in double weave, this scarf won the best of show for the Handwoven category.  Truly stupendous color work and design.  Congratulations, Ingrid.

Ingrid collaborated with Jeanne when weaving this scarf.  Jeanne spun the weft yarn and Ingrid used it on a wool warp.  Enlarge photo to see the details.

 The photo to the right is a close up of a scarf woven by Jeanne D.  Her description follows in italics.

Simple Collapse Weave Pucker up Scarf
The puckers in this scarf are created by using Merino wool and Bombyx Silk. This was
a kit that I purchased from Jane Stafford Textiles. It was woven on a 4 shaft loom with
a sett of 15. The warp alternated sections of 18/2 merino wool and 30/2 Bombyx Silk in
two colorways. The weft used the same yarns creating squares. The magic happens
when the scarf is felted. The wool shrinks and the silk does not created the puckers in
the scarf.

Sue R. won a second place on this lovely place mat woven with twill blocks.  Great colors too!

These towels were also woven by Sue. R.  Great designs and a lovely little diamond pattern.  Both woven on a four shaft loom.

 

Nevada County Fair 2023 - Nevada County Inspired

ICE and FIRE

Each year, the Not 2 Square Weavers bring out their very best handwoven items to display in the Wool Show at the Nevada County Fair.  After several years of COVID disruptions, it seems as though the fair and the community are making progress in returning to a more normal life and one that embraces Nevada County and its citizens.  

Quite a few years ago, the Not 2 Square Weavers established a special category in the Wool show called Nevada County Inspired. The group sponsors a monetary award each year for the best entry.    This year's big winner was Ingrid Knox's handwoven scarf. Here is what she wrote about her inspiration.

Snowmageddon II or Snow and Ice Scarf
The inspiration for this shawl is the storms Nevada County endured this past winter.  We had feet of snow and extremely cold temperatures in February and March 2023. 

Jeanne Doty also entered a handwoven piece in this category and what follows is her inspiration message and her woven shawl.

Living in Nevada City, fire is always on our minds. This shawl was woven to remember the danger of fire but also to remind us of the benefits of fire. After a fire, there is always new growth, seeds that have been dormant for years have a chance to grow.

Wrapping up the County Fair 2022

 Two more Not 2 Square members participated in the County Fair this year.  Diana was able to use one warp and create two projects - a shawl and a pillow.  For these projects, she used an inlay technique to create motifs on the cloth surface.

Diana's Shawl

Diana's Pillow

Diana also entered three towels.

Diana's Towel

Diana's Towel

Diana's Towel

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Ingrid entered two towels as well.

Ingrid's Towel

Ingrid's Towel

 

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She also entered three scarves and two shawls.

Ingrid's Scarf

Ingrid's Scarf

Ingrid's Scarf

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Ingrid's Shawl

Ingrid's Shawl

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Ingrid also submitted a set of pot holders - woven using a doubleweave technique and a rag rug woven using t-shirts.

Ingrid Hot Pads

Ingrid's Rug

Another year of fabulous entries from the group.

Textiles at the Fair

Eileen submitted a number of pieces this summer, including several scarves.  The award winner was a variation of overshot.  She used indigo dyed hand spun yarn for the blue and white scarf .  A third scarf was woven with tencel.

  

Eileen's Indigo Dyed Scarf

Eileen's Scarf

Eileen's Tencel Scarf

She entered a shawl.

Eileen's Shawl

She also submitted household items - a huck towel and overshot table runner.  

Eileen's Towel

Eileen's Table Runner

A bag and yardage round out Eileen's entries.

Eileen's Bag

Eileen's Yardage

Betsy entered two rag rugs. 

Betsy's Rag Rug

Betsy's Rag Rug

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She also entered a hand towel woven with twill blocks.

Betsy's Towel

Betsy also entered a doubleweave table cover and a bag.

Betsy's Handwoven Bag

Betsy's Table Cover

There's lots of talent in the group.