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.

Nevada County Inspired Part 2

 A couple more Nevada County Inspired pieces were woven by Not 2 Square weavers.

Mardi Naytons inspiration was a wonderfully designed twill towel.

I took this photo on a morning walk down my road.  The colors were a summer inspiration that led me to weave this towel.

 

 

 Eileen Lee designed and wove this lovely twill block shawl.  We don't have the inspiration for this post, but the shawl speaks for itself.  I believe the photo attached says "Nevada City in the Fall" and the colors certainly reflect that. 

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.

The March Meeting and Its Weaving Surprises

 

Karen W. wove this stunning black and white rug using shaft switching techniques.  She devised the pattern by graphing it on paper first.  Then she employed the shaft switching system she devised for her 4 shaft Gilmore loom.  (see photo at left)

The warp is 8/5 linen sett at 4 epi.  The weft is Collingwood rug yarn using three strands together.  The finished rug is 25" x 40".

 

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Wendy-Marie wove this gorgeous "Spring Flowers Shawl".  The draft and directions were from Handwoven's Design Collection #19.  The advancing twill design is by Hele Bobisud.  Since the original pattern called for a weaving width of 26", Wendy-Marie removed two blocks of burgundy (84 ends) from the warp so that it would fit on her Baby Wolf loom.  The final shawl size is 85"x 20".  Another change that she made was to substitute 8/2 tencel for the Zephyr wool-silk given in the instructions.  The shawl feels soft and drapes nicely, so the substitution worked.

The photo below shows the draft used for the shawl.

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Both this scarf and the one below were woven by Ingrid K. out of JOY 10/2 tencel in both the warp and weft.  The sett is 36epi.  The draft used on the scarf at the left is an extended point twill.  The photo below was threaded on left M's.  Both were woven on an 8 shaft loom and treadled with an advancing point.

The lap robe was also woven by Ingrid in wool/acrylic (50/50) knitting yarn sett at 12 epi.  The structure is an extended point twill with a point treadling on 8 shafts.

Highlights from the County Fair

The Local County Fair has come and gone.  The weaving and spinning entries were amazing as usual.  Many of the Not 2 Square members entered beautiful pieces again this year.  Here are the highlights.

Betsy captured the People's Choice award with a beautiful shawl made from hand-dyed tencel.

Betsy's Shawl

Diana garnered an Honorable Mention with her bright and fun turned taquete towels made with 10/2 and 8/2 cotton.  

Diana's Towel

Ingrid submitted a shawl woven from Madeline Tosh merino yarns.  This was woven in an 8-shaft extended twill pattern.

Ingrid's Shawl

Jeanne won a second place ribbon with this elegant hand towel.  She wove it with 40/2 Normandy linen with Lanis Valley Linen as the pattern.

Jeanne's Towel

Karen won a first place ribbon with a fabulous wool rug.  

Karen's Rug

Marcy's classic dresser scarf, woven in cotton with M's and W's pattern won a second place ribbon.

Marcy's Table Runner

Mardi's show stopping shawl was woven in plain weave with rayon chenille.  It feels as fabulous as it looks.

Mardi's Shawl

Sue R. woven a colorful table runner from the warp left over from last year's demonstration project.  She used bleach to remove color from black yarn for the weft.  This inventive piece was a first place finisher.

Sue R's Table Runner

Sue V.'s yardage entry brought her a second place ribbon.  This cotton piece woven in a twill design used a variety of yarns from Sue's stash.

Sue V's Yardage

We are starting to look ahead to what we will be weaving for next year's fair entries.