BB's News / Handweaving

Dear Weavers

I hope you all had a wonderful festive season and started the new year with good health & happiness. It is somehow hard to believe we now have the year 2025. Wasn't it only just 2000, 2010, 2015 and 2020? I actually remember writing 2015 for the date and now we simply have another 2 to add. Where does the time go? This sounds so cliché, but it is really like that.... where does the time go??? I really don't know.... there just doesn't seem to be enough of it.

It has been a while since I wrote the last blog post. Every year starts good and I manage to write regular posts. But once we get to the second half of the year, it seems to get busier and busier and my good intentions slip away. This makes me feel bad. Maybe yes I put too much pressure on myself thinking that this blog needs to have new posts all the time. I admire the blog post writers who manage to produce a post every single month, very prompt and regular. Then on the other side I look at this blog as my way to let my immediate thoughts go and maybe even collect new ones? It is a great way to sum up what happened over the last weeks or months. I like that. It is a way to see what has happened and at the same time look forward what is going to happen.

So let's see what has happened since my last post: 

September saw me housesitting for my "adopted mum" in Bundaberg and looking after her two Labradors. I arrived to an awful loud noise in the house and had to work out that the fan at the back of the fridge was in pieces. So no fridge! Thank goodness I had my little camping fridge in the car to plug in and use.... I then spent most of the week trying to fix this fridge. Which I managed! When the house owner came back the fridge was working again like normal. But what I remember most of this time were the many walks with the dogs and having them snoring at my feet while watching tv. 

End of September I was back in Maryborough at the Gatakers Artspace to give the second workshop in conjunction of the Hervey Bay Spinners, Weavers & Fibre artists exhibition. This time it was a more advanced workshop to create a weaving picture. I showed the participants how to have a silhouette picture on paper and turn it into weaving by using the double weave pick up method. It was quite challenging for many of them, but it was amazing to see the penny drop for one after the other. Weaving can have so many faces. One day it can be simple/fast and next day it is complicated/slow. Whatever we create it always opens new doors/ideas. It was fascinating to see what each participant created. Even months after I get messages from someone to show me what has been woven from my workshop. Very satisfying for me to see.

The beginning of November saw me travelling down south to Lismore to give a workshop for the weavers of this area. This time it was all about Shadow weave. The weavers came from all over the area. The workshop was taking place in Wollongbar, which is somewhere in between Lismore and Ballina. What a beautiful part of Australia, lush green and friendly people. The workshop I have prepared was all about on how to design your own shadow weave, how to create the pattern with the help of the many samples I presented. Each participant ended up with a hand towel with several shadow weave blocks designed by themselves. At the end of the two days everybody was happy to go home and finish the weaving. What a lovely group this is! I wish I had a group like this here. Thank you to the Lismore weavers for the hospitality and keep on weaving. 

After the workshop in Wollongbar I spent a couple of days in the area to chill out before the next event. I spent one day with Helen in Ballina, which was amazing. We went for a walk in the morning and I even saw dolphins swimming near the pier! Just magical.

I then moved on back to Brisbane to give another workshop. This time I was met by many known faces, old weaving friends and students. It was so good to see them all again! But thank goodness for the airconditioned room. Brisbane was hot and humid and the noise!!! When we lived there it was just normal to hear the constant noise of cars and trains. But now after living up here in the peaceful quietness for so long, it was really hard to cope with the city noise. Apart from that, I had a really good time there. Thank you Kumi for hosting me and for the lovely, lovely chats (we talked weaving and weaving and more weaving for hours....) and great food.

As soon as I was home we started to get visitors from near and far. At the end of November long time friends from Switzerland arrived to stay with us for a weekend. It made me aware that my swiss isn't as fluid as it used to be. (We've migrated to Australia over 25 years ago, so it makes sense.) But we had a wonderful time catching up on all Swiss, Australia, our families and work. Who knows when we are going to see each other again. Thanks Myriam and PA for dropping by.

Then came Christmas and the New Year. And here we are. So what is 2025 going to bring? I don't know, we'll see... I have some ideas and most of all my fingers are itching of all the things I have in mind to weave. Watch the space. Follow me on Instagram (bbyarnsupply) or Facebook (BB Yarn Supply) to see and hear it first.

Until the next time, happy weaving everyone!

Ursula

Dear Weavers

I hope you all had a wonderful festive season and started the new year relaxed with lots of creative ideas and amazing plans for 2024.

I have used the time between Christmas and New Year to make the move into my new weaving studio complete. We, my husband and I managed to finish two lots of steps/entrances to the doors. One entrance even received a proper porch, little roof and large steps. I already lost track on how many times I have walked up these steps by now. It's wonderful to have this grand entrance!

My office is now also moved into the weaving shed and with it everything regarding BB Yarn Supply, including the correspondence course and 8+. The weaving shed now has everything in one place.

All of BB Yarn Supply with all its yarns and accessories is now here, my three looms are finally all in one room and all the Glui7 materials are here too. By the way this is the first time all three looms are together in one room. I can now jump from one loom to the other quite easily. This is now truly a weaving place only (except for the orchids...). My happy place!

I like to have all the looms occupied with something. I am totally aware, that one can only weave on one loom at a time, but I don't like looking at a "naked" loom. So therefore this was the first thing I worked on, making a warp for each one of them. At the moment the small computerised Mecchia has the t-towels for the shadow weave workshop on it. The large computerised Mecchia has a white warp on it for a fabric to make caps. It is the same kind of fabric like the pullover scarves, but only one layered. The Glimakra is about to have a 10m warp for turned twill t-towels wound on. Whenever a visitor is stepping into the studio, there will be something to see and nobody has to imagined how these looms are suppose to work. I am more than happy to give a quick demo and show someone what these looms can do. Over the festive season I already had two interested visitors in my studio.

My plans for the future, probably not quite this year maybe next, would be to open the studio for weavers to enjoy workshops right here. I have three looms to work on, so I'm thinking to give private workshops for one or two weavers at the time. Not just a day, probably from two day to a week long stay, to have time to concentrate on a topic in great length. A week of weaving in a relaxed and peaceful place for you to enjoy. Weaving from morning until night, no interruptions and chores to do. Only the accommodation has not been solved yet, but this can be sorted in the nearby town of Gin Gin. What do you think? Would you be willing to come here for a weaving retreat?

So what is in my weaving studio apart from the three looms? There is a great large table for designing or cutting fabrics. My newest edition is a brand new vertical warping mill from Toika, 4m circumference for easy and quick warping. Cupboards and shelves full of yarns. Reading corner with lots of magazines. A mannequin for testing a new form of clothing or take perfect photos. A tv for presentations or watching inspiring videos. The studio is airconditioned for hot days. Beautiful view out the windows.

Enough writing, I better go and do some weaving.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Ursula