Blanket

Online Holiday Shopping: blankets

/ jlevack / Leave a comment

23004672_903318783155531_1131314229857812730_o-2

Oh, how I love blankets. The wide expanse of handwoven loveliness. The interplay of colours, the beautiful function of them.

This year, I went on a bit of a spree with shetland wool. It’s got a lovely warmth to it, while still being lightweight. It’s got texture, and depth of colour – little flecks that give it dimension.

Here is my inventory, as of mid-November 2017. If you see something you like, there are a number of ways to buy: I take credit cards, Paypal, e-transfer, & cash. Just message me and I’ll be very happy to take your information and send you the piece. If you click on the highlighted price, it will take you to my paypal page, if you wish to pay that way.

 

Sea blue merino with multicoloured Shetland warp. This mixture of fibres makes the blanket feel much more weighty. It’s a great feeling to cozy up underneath this velvety piece.  (69”x 40”) $200

IMG_5646

Shetland wool, in a mysterious woodsmoke green with pretty blue-grey highland wool border trim (78” x 36”) $200

Highland lap blanket: in a tweedy mix of blue/green/chartreuse and one purple end, this is a very pretty little car- or lap-blanket. Just the thing for a night of of Netflix, when there’s a chill…. (52” x 40”) $150

~SOLD~ Highland with one border: Highland wool is slightly thicker than shetland, but just as soft and lightweight. This blanket is another that would be a great car- or lap-blanket. Excellent for a night on the couch with a movie, stored in the boat or cottage, or in the back of your camper. This one has a pretty little twill detail on one end (56” x 38”) $150

Striped Shetland (80” x 36”)  This isa second, but one of my favourites of the bunch. It is not without some slight imperfections so you get a super deal. Happy stripes of gorgeous colour make for a very pretty throw. $150

Green/blue shetland (78” x 35”)  Another second. It’s a great deal, and admit it – if you squint, you’ll never see those “flaws” again… $150

 

Online Holiday Shopping: Shawls

/ jlevack / Leave a comment

As of today, there are 34 days until 25 December. Here is a gallery of available inventory here at Berwick Weaving Co. –  please browse at your leisure.

If you see something you like, there are a number of ways to buy: I take credit cards, Paypal, e-transfer, & cash. Just message me and I’ll be very happy to take your information and send you the piece.  If you click on the highlighted price, it will take you to my paypal page, if you wish to pay that way. 

Click on each photo for closer detail.

Shawls

Red/Pink homespun Shawl, $100

 

red/pink shawl 68″ x 27” $100
red/pink shawl 68″ x 27” $100
red/pink shawl 68″ x 27” $100

 

Sparkly green/frost shawl, cotton and acrylic (80” x 30”) $150

 

 

Sparkly purple and teal green shawl, cotton and acrylic (90 x 21) $150

 

 

Textured turquoise and blue-grey cotton and Blue Faced Leicester shawl $150

 

 

Purple and green merino wool with cotton, with twisted fringe (82” x 28”) $145

 

 

Pink kid mohair/merino/cotton bouclé shawl (80” x 29”) *seriously wonderful drape and depth of colour* $200

 

 

Rainbow shawl 1: red mohair weft, rainbow cotton warp (84” x 29”). Densely woven, could also serve as a car blanket or throw, depending on your tastes). $200

 

 

~ SOLD ~ Rainbow shawl 2: chunky thick/thin beet-coloured merino weft with a rainbow cotton warp and rainbow border at one end (87” x 28”). This, like the mohair one above, could also serve as a blanket or throw, depending on your tastes $200

 

 

Chunky Silver “Thrawl” (Throw Rug Shawl…yes, I just made that up): Arctic silver,  acrylic handwoven textile with fringe. (80” x 26”) $90

 

Flying!

/ jlevack / 5 Comments

A few months ago we were in Ireland, and made a point to revisit a lovely old town with a mill of the same name: Avoca. About 4 years ago we’d first happened upon it, and it was maybe the first time I’d ever really seen a loom in action. Much of what they do now is automated, but they still have a few old looms on the factory floor. The weaver was a lovely man who told me he’d been working there for over 30 years and wasn’t tired of it yet.

Watching the weaver on that loom was, somehow, life-changing for me. On the spot I realized I wanted to do that. Not only wanted, but needed to try it. I don’t know why, and I’m not going to worry about it over much – I think that if you feel that sort of urge, you should go with it.

IMG_3553

Later in that first trip, that weaver was still in the back of my head; the snick-snick of the shuttle, the clatter of the harnesses, the gorgeous textiles…. We then happened upon Swallow Studios in Annyalla, and lo! More weaving. This time, Liz Christy’s studio with all of her gorgeous colors and textures. It was such a pleasure to see her work (and to buy a shawl to take home), and to realize that it wasn’t only “factories” like Avoca that had looms.

4 years later, almost to the day, I’m sitting in my home weaving studio. The past four years have been a treasure. It has been, essentially, a dedicated self-directed journey into the art and mechanics of weaving. There isn’t much I don’t like about it, and I continue to fine-tune my practice and techniques. It’ll take me the rest of my days to learn all there is to know and that’s just fine with me. I’m putting in my ten thousand hours, and ten thousand more.

This month I treated myself to a flying shuttle beater.  A very interesting contraption that offers the opportunity to weave more quickly, over wider areas. It revolutionized handweaving back in the industrial revolution, and although I’ve only used it to make one blanket so far, it is having the same effect on my weaving.  Faster, and smoother, but still handweaving nonetheless. I’m keeping my other, sans-flying-beater, loom as well, at least for the moment.

IMG_3551

Yesterday I’d finally cleared the decks enough to try out the flying shuttle, and as I stood there, pulling the cord and listening to the snick-snick of the shuttle and the clatter of the harnesses, I realized that I was doing exactly what I’d seen that weaver  doing 4 years ago in Avoca.

There’s something to be said for listening to that little voice that says “I want to do that”.  Go out and do whatever it is that is whispering to you. Weave, write, make toys…. whatever it is, make the time.

 

 

New Additions

/ jlevack / Leave a comment

Berwick Weaving Co. hasn’t been idle of late. Here is some of the work that has come out of the workroom. I’m still in love with plainweave – that most simple of over-under weaving patterns there is. The fibre is allowed to speak, the colors and textures and “hand” all give me such pleasure.  I’ve been working with a new loom – a 32″ rigid heddle from Ashford; a happy loom that is quick to dress, and is portable enough to move around my workroom.

This one, I kept for myself (sometimes you just have to).
This is a stole, 28″x 40″. Bamboo and merino warp, “Slubby mix” (BFL/merino).

image

 

Next there is “The Memento” stole. The colors are moody and mysterious, like the elegantly written book that inspired it. Christy Ann Conlin‘s new book isn’t out until April, but you can pre-order it now. For the moment, you can look at the gorgeous cover art  painted by  Marie Cameron. The book is a haunting Atlantic gothic tale – honest and elegiac, mysterious, funny, and true.  It’s an astonishing work of art.

The book has inspired me (I got to read an advance copy) to explore more of the simple and not-so-simple “art” that goes hand in hand with “craft”.  It has also shown me – anew – the gorgeous and sometimes tough beauty of my chosen home. The Bay of Fundy ain’t for sissies, but it’s rich with history and there is a deep legacy of art, history, loss, and memory attached to it. Go order that book.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Further, I was tasked with making a blanket for wee Renaud. This is his little  wooden stool:

image

And this was my interpretation of said stool:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

And then, during some of the bleakest dull days of January… a request for Spring: this is a shawl, with lots of drape – mulberry silk and cotton.  It was a distinct pleasure to weave this particular piece.  This is a sister shawl to the “Patricia” a red and black number I wove late last year, a sparkly detail of which you can see below.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

As January draws to a close, I have other commissions that I’m working on, and then will be on a bit of a hiatus until mid-March.

 

The “Perry” Blanket

/ jlevack / 1 Comment

A luxe mix of fibres; the client wanted “luxurious” and “yellow”. It is simple plain weave, but gets so much interest and texture from the mix of fibres and color variations.

Warp is a mix of cotton (noho flake, and 8/2), sea wool, and baby alpaca/cashmere. Weft is velvety merino 2ply, noho cotton and silk.
40″x94″ (with fringe).Perry 3

Perry 2

some of the fibre mixes for the Perry

some of the fibre mixes for the Perry

 

 

 

Hugo

/ jlevack / Leave a comment

There will be, I hope, a warm little boy named Hugo snuggled in this blanket very soon. The draft is a nice one, called “Wall of Troy” and can follow little Hugo from baby-hood to adulthood, as a keepsake.

This blanket is 35×43, with tightly knotted 2-inch fringe that won’t catch little baby fingers.  It is machine wash- and dryable. Custom orders welcome.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.