Learning new skills is always fun. Especially when it involves glorious wool and friends, both new and old.
Instagram is great for introducing you to lots of great talent. I’m not sure when I started following House of Woolly Thyme { you can follow her, too HERE and see her website HERE } but her weavings really caught my eye. When I heard she was offering classes along the south shore, where she lives, I asked if she ever travelled and taught elsewhere. Long story short, November 18th was set for the date here in Pictou County. And the class filled up completely in a very short time.
We had another location booked but due to unforeseen circumstances it fell through and we ended up at my favourite community hall ever – ours here in Meadowville where I host the Homegrown Vintage Market!!! Filled with loads of charm and the smell of a very recently cooked Hunters Breakfast, it was the perfect location for our weaving workshop.
Mary Ann of House of Woolly Thyme walked us through the weaving process, step by step and offered advice and suggestions as we weaved. It’s amazing to me that you put the same supplies in front of a group of ten people and everyone creates something so different. Even Darlene and Amanda, a mother-daughter duo, used the same colours and theirs are each very unique, too. It’s fun to watch as people create and build their project to see how it evolves and grows and as techniques are learned and the process is repeated throughout the afternoon. You could see their confidence grew! Everyone was so pleased with what they had created!.
I’ve played around a tiny bit with weaving, it seemed like a good idea since I have a yarn collection that I don’t do anything with except make pom-poms. I don’t knit, nor can I say that I really want to learn. Knitting doesn’t appeal to me but weaving sure does. In fact, I have a Pinterest board dedicated to it. Surprised? No, I didn’t figure you would be. You can see it HERE. I can’t wait to dig into my stash of yarn and wool and make more weavings! Guess what everyone is getting for Christmas!??!?!
As we were setting up for the workshop, we were chatting and Meg and Mary Ann mentioned someone how makes jewellery with antlers and how cool it would be to do a weaving on an antler. Now, Mary Ann had a delightful collection of drift wood to use for the weavings but something struck a chord when the antler was mentioned. I had a single antler that was just sitting on a shelf. It’s from one of the bucks the handsome Mr. Byrne had gotten. I scooted home to grab it and brought it back to the hall and everyone agreed, it would be awesome. I love how it combines two of the things that Michael and I love – his hunting and my creating. Perfect! And guys – look how awesome it turned out!
I wish I had’ve gotten a picture of our whole group together with their completed weavings. But as some people finished up, they left while everyone else continued to work away. But here are a few of the completed weavings.
I highly recommend taking a class to learn something new. Creative skills are so awesome. And with a great teacher, like Mary Ann, you can’t go wrong! Maybe you’ll never do anything with it again, but maybe you will. And maybe you’ll connect with a great group of people who love to make, too. So, get out of your comfort zone, sign up for a class and MAKE SOMETHING!
To be continued,
Lori
