Famous spinner, rigid-heddle nano-tech, cherished weaving – fiber arts news
Well, I started out reading about the trend of beating stress with felting (kinda like the adult coloring book craze – only nearer and dearer to our hearts). As happens on the ‘net, I pretty quickly detoured when we came across the wonderful story, and some wonderful felting examples from True Style Lab, the work of Japanese felting artist Terumi Ohata. OK guilty, I got sidetracked with the “wow” factor. The realism, the details, the beauty, well… Therapeutic benefit or not, it’s inspiring and now I’ll be felting this weekend! Christmas is just around the corner, after all. So, perhaps that detour took us full circle, as this time of year a little de-stressing while checking presents off the list is just what the Dr. ordered. Thank you for inspiring us, Terumi-Sensei! Ah, and PS, if you’re looking for a great way to get started needle felting, our kits, including many adorable animals, are in our felting kit section.
Spinning a new nation: Most influential image
Time magazine is about to release their list of the “100 most influential photographs”, and it features a photograph of a Charka spinning wheel! And also, of course, one of the most amazing people, Gandhi, who was instrumental in the wheel’s development. The role of spinning and weaving, and Gandhi, in transforming a nation, and the story of the photograph, are discussed at India Samvad, worth a gander!
Strength, tradition, community, and fun with weaving
If you had to leave your country, would a piece of your loom be one of the only things you bring? According to the TwinCities Poineer Press, for Aye Lwai (left, above), it was. Coping with living in a new country meant giving up weaving for a time. But, “there was something missing in her heart” without weaving, and a new program is helping Karen women like Aye, originally from Burma/Myanmar, take it up again. Now their weaving group is supporting tradition and community with their weaving in Minnesota. We wish we were closer to check out the exhibit of their work that is up now in St. Paul!
Eco-high-tech innovation on a SampleIt rigid heddle? You bet!
As we all know weaving isn’t just about tradition, it’s also about creativity and innovation. Still, we were surprised and delighted to see a fabric that makes and stores it’s own energy coming off of what looks to be a Ashford SapleIt! Jayan Thomas at the University of Central Florida is developing the wonder-fabric as a way to harness energy from the sun in a wearable fabric, without needing a battery. He’s just published results from his fabric, hoping that it eventually could be used to charge phones, tablets, even cars. Who knows what crazy-new-tech will be coming off the crazy-old-tech that is the SampleIt! Now that ‘s tech that we get excited about…
