Anomaly Con Report - Steamin' Good Time

It was another great year at Anomaly Con! I was lucky enough to be able to give a number of talks and demonstrations, and attended discussions of punkery, art, and social issues. I did two workshops making cuffs, one was with enthusiastic youth for Mini(on) Con. I also talked my brains out about textile history and industrialization. Turns out, I can yammer on about it, basically uninterrupted, for at least an hour...

I also has fun vending art instead of my usual cuffs and bustles! Much like my sewing I was able to work while folks watched, which means there was never really much "dead" time. (Is there ever dead time at cons? Are we ever not surrounded by fun folks? Maybe it's just because I carry a flask...)

And, I made enough money to get some goodies from other artists...

 Prints from Chaz Kemp, singer, drummer, fae extraordinaire, and dang good artist! I was sad to see Pandora Celtica put on their last performance, but it is always a joy to see those faries!

 Wee comics from local folks - A very creepy horror tale from Melanie Gilman (are you reading As the Crow Flies?) , and the first bits of an ongoing comic from Dylan Edwards (Read more, it's good!)

 A larger volume from some very nice local guys, it promises to be part of a much bigger series just as soon as pesky things like "life" stop getting in the way. I had spoken to them last year about the project, and it was inspiring for me moving forward on my comic.

And lastly, I was lucky enough to be next to David Malki, and I felt like it was time to replace the Wondermark strip which has been hanging on my fridge for 6+ years... I come from a book loving family, this is my life!

It was a wonderful weekend (as you can see from the two weeks I spent recovering before making this post!) I'm looking forward to next year, and already hatching ideas for more stitchery workshops. Steam on!

Anu's Farm

 (This is a continuation of a previous post, in which we visited a textile museum with the curator - Textile artist Anu Rand. Her artwork is a permanent gift from Estonia to the UN.)

Not only does Anu live in an idyllic little farm house, it's full of yarn! A traditional wood stove and classic textiles fill the farmhouse with a rustic feel.

And the weaving studio has baskets of yarn stacked in the corner. (I kept reminding Mr. Crafty that my yarn at least fits in a closet!) Anu showed off her looms and a finished piece, this one created during an artist residency in Finland.

Outside she has a herd of sheep. A wide variety of breeds and colors filled the field, munching away in the midsummer sun.

Anu has wool milled occasionally at a local place, but of course the sheep must be sheared no matter what! Fleeces were stored in this overhang of the barn, and we were invited to take home a handful. (I grabbed two!)

The garden was filled with all manner of veggie delights, and the usual greenhouse. Because of the short season and large temperature swings everyone seems to grow tomatoes and cucumbers in greenhouses. In the period after Soviet collapse (and at times during Soviet occupation), when food supply chains were not yet reestablished, many people subsisted almost entirely on tomatoes and cucumbers from their own gardens. We found that a plate of sliced fresh tomatoes and cukes were available at almost every meal, a staple garnish as it were.

And this lovely oak! The farmstead has been in the family a few generations. This tree was planted by Anu's father, from an acorn gathered at his father's gravesite. A fantastic heirloom!

Scene's like this gave us a great temptation to more to Estonia and become farmers, but alas! My city loving ways are at odds with my farmhouse desires. It was wonderful to visit Anu's studio and hear her talk about her artistic process, her vision for Estonian handicraft, and the history of the area.

Looming Project

 At the start of the month I was invited to give a talk at Metro University for Women's History Month, and the theme this year is "Weaving our Stories." Naturally, I was there to speak on textiles, and on literal weaving. And so, I decided to make it interactive and give the attendees a chance to experience weaving.

I made a very simple frame loom, large enough for two people to stand side by side. This type of loom is commonly called a Tapestry Loom, and the warp will not show on the finished weaving.

I made marks every 10cm, then holding the two beams together I sawed a groove. I found that the only way to get good control was to draw the blade slowly towards me. I then screwed the top and bottom beam (with grooves) to the side beams, and used a piece of 2"x4" to make a base.

 I then warped the loom. Literally...

Usually one would turn around each groove and make a surface of warp threads on one face of the loom. I wanted the loom to be accessible from both sides to allow more people to work on it at once, so I wrapped the yarn all the way around the frame, making a continuous warp on both sides.

The pressure from all this tension, however, caused the loom to twist and warp slightly... oops?

I set up a selvedge to get the project going, and packed all my crummy yet brightly colored acrylic yarns into a bag. The loom will spend the month at the Gender Studies office, hopefully people will get a chance to weave on it, and at the end we'll have a crazy colorful woven fabric!