In July of 1999,I took a one-week weaving course at the John C. Campbell Folk School . The School is wonderful and the experience of a week there for any type of course is well worth the time. I took my class through Elderhostel but the costs are not high when taken straight through the Folk School. There is no distinction at the school between the Elderhostel students and the other students.

This is our weaving class at the John C. Campbell School. The instructor was Pam Strawn and the Weaving Assistant was Judi Mulloy. Our class of 11 kept them both busy. We were able to complete a sampler and a project in the week. Projects done by students included from a wool throw, a wedding shawl, a rag rug, a purse, a towel, a scarf and others. The strength of the class was that students were allowed to choose a project they really wanted to do, so motivation to complete was very high. Weaving continued right up to the Friday exhibit for some weavers and all were proud to have completed something meaningful. For other photos from the John C. Campbell School experience, visit my John C. Campbell photo page. Also see the John C. Campbell School Web Site and the Elderhostel Web Site.

This is a photo of the scarf that I wove at the John C. Campbell School. It is in a combination of plain weave and Swedish lace. I fashioned it after some scarves brought in by Judi Mulloy. The Swedish Lace is from Davison's Handweaver's Pattern Book, p. 96. I used 10/2 cotton. For more details, download the Swedish Lace Scarf Project Sheet . [Note: The Project sheet I am using is a modified version of the one we used at the School. Here is the Blank Project Sheet .

My first project on my loom at home was a runner. I patterned it after the Delicate Country Check in Handwoven Design Collection 11, but I used 10/2 thread so had to make significant adjustments. See my Check Runner project sheet to see the adjustments I made and a couple of "help" sheets that I create to help me in threading heddles and treadle correctly. I made a second one in reverse colors - here is the Blue Runner based on the Delicate Country Check as revised for 10/2.

In a course sponsored by the Contemporary Handweavers of Houston Guild and taught by Tracy Kaestner we wove a twill sampler, a color and weave sampler (left photo), and a project of our own choosing. I chose to weave a turned twill structure in two hand towels (right photo). One was done in 8/2 unmercerized cotton in blue and white and one was done with 6/2 natural cotton as weft. I've included a copy of my Turned Twill Project Sheet in pdf format. Warning - I am a beginning weaver - check out the draft yourself before weaving!

I've been apprehensive about working with silk, so I took a warp painting class to get over it! Here are two photos of painted warp from the class - project to follow. For more information on how to do warp painting, see Handwoven, March, 2000, p. 58 for the article by Tracy Kaestner, "Paint a Rainbow".