VANCOUVER YARN
  • Around Town
    • News
    • Community Highlights
    • Yarn Shops
    • Maps >
      • Yarn map
      • Fibre Libraries
      • Fabric map
    • Etc. Shops
    • Events
    • Workshops
    • Rentals
    • Podcasts
    • Blogs
    • Guilds, Fibresheds etc
    • MORE...
  • Shop Canada
    • Canadian yarn & fabric
    • Commerical yarn online
    • Designers (patterns)
    • Tools & Accessories
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Submit
    • Create Your Community Highlight
    • Submit a designer
    • Submit an indie-dyer
    • Submit a shop
    • Submit other resources to VY
  • About
    • About
    • FAQ
    • Contact
  • Visit Everlea Yarn
  • Around Town
    • News
    • Community Highlights
    • Yarn Shops
    • Maps >
      • Yarn map
      • Fibre Libraries
      • Fabric map
    • Etc. Shops
    • Events
    • Workshops
    • Rentals
    • Podcasts
    • Blogs
    • Guilds, Fibresheds etc
    • MORE...
  • Shop Canada
    • Canadian yarn & fabric
    • Commerical yarn online
    • Designers (patterns)
    • Tools & Accessories
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Submit
    • Create Your Community Highlight
    • Submit a designer
    • Submit an indie-dyer
    • Submit a shop
    • Submit other resources to VY
  • About
    • About
    • FAQ
    • Contact
  • Visit Everlea Yarn
Search by typing & pressing enter

YOUR CART

Picture

// ​ATTENTION SUBSCRIBERS //
​If you were once subscribed to the Vancouver Yarn newsletter, that newsletter no longer exists. To continue to hear from me please subscribe to Everlea Yarn below where you will get the same content and more.
​

* indicates required

8/31/2015 4 Comments

Local Roundups Return!

Picture
left to right:
Origami Lamp made from a map of Paris!
Eve Sand Midcentury Modern Art
Lucy Poskitt's tapestry weaving
This Quilt by Pasha Textiles using 30s repro fabric

More things I think you might like, because I do.
(not all local links)

  • Studio YVR has been offering knitting and weaving workshops
  • Do you naturally dye your own yarn?  Learn how to make your own mordants!
  • Speaking of DIY Maiwa's Symposium starts next week. Wheeeee!
  • Interested in pattern designing and/or tapestry weaving? These ladies say you don't need to know how to draw to do those things! read this and this. 
  • Mirrix Bead and Tapestry Looms are finalists in Martha Stewart's American Made Awards! I'm so proud to be carrying their products here.


As I return to blogging here I've been thinking about what I'd like to write about and what kinds of posts people might like to see.  I used to do roundups here and someone recently said that people like lists of links, and I think they are right (at least I do). So, I'm going to see if at the very least I can commit to a bi-weekly local roundup with extra links about upcoming local events and other fun things from around the web.  Would you want see more of this here on VY?  

Janna
4 Comments

8/29/2015 0 Comments

Tapestry Weaving Resources

Picture
To help make your venture into tapestry weaving a simple one I've begun a series of helpful blog posts and videos.  They make the bulk of our Tapestry Weaving Resource page and are accompanied by some key videos that the ladies at Mirrix made, too.  My videos are not as professional as I'd like, and yes I was wearing the camera around my neck for a portion of the "finishing woven tapestries" video, but they do the trick.  Enjoy them, and be sure to let me know of any other videos or blog posts you're interested in seeing here.

Janna
0 Comments

8/28/2015 0 Comments

Tapestries, and paranoia

Picture
I'll be posting this tapestry in the shop soon. 100% wool, natural dyes 11.5" X 12" 12epi
I'm laying in bed post foot surgery, am all caught up on Big Brother, have watched all Vogue's 73 Questions and just filled up on the best gimbop in New York City that my hubs brought back after picking up our son from preschool. Now said kid is napping beside me and I think I can say that I'm officially awake enough and over the anxiety of having surgery to hunker down and write a wee post. 

Any day now you'll be able to buy some of my handwoven tapestries here on VY. Yesterday I picked up four of my tapestries from the Bronx Tale curator who had had them for the past three months.  As amazing as it feels to have them in my possession again I am excited to be offering them for sale here soon.  As soon as my foot is up and running I'll do a better photo shoot and post them in the shop.  In the meantime if you see one you'd like to snap up before they are officially listed let me know.  On instagram and such I've been tagging my tapestries with EPI tags. EPI stands for ends-per-inch which refers to the number of warps per inch the tapestry is woven with, warps being the yarn that one dresses the loom with.  The more warps per inch the finer the details and denser the weave.  For me it is one of the main things I take into consideration when pricing a tapestry.  The above tapestry is 12 ends per inch and its retail value is $415.  So, since it measures 12" X 11.5" is it easy to calculate that at this moment in time I sell the tapestries which are 12EPI for $3/square inch.

Today for some reason I was more nervous about standard day surgery than I was the spinal surgery I had over thirteen years ago. Albeit, the back surgery was preceded by my spending an agonizing 11 months in a wheelchair, so the prospect of walking again trumped any fears I may have had. I think this time 'round I was most nervous about having surgery in a country that is not my own, and then I have to admit, as paranoid as it may sound, my surgeon insisting that I go under anesthesia despite the fact that all the research that I had done suggested that this particular procedure is special because it doesn't require any, made me uneasy.  Two nights ago I laid awake in bed wondering if my doctor could be one of those perverts who happens to be a doctor (I won't valorize any of them by linking to a related story).  He is not.  But my anxiety about having surgery away from home took me there.  It's not that I think that the medical professionals here are less equip than those in Canada, it's just that when we first moved here I would use the same system that I would use in Vancouver when I needed medical attention - find the nearest clinic or hospital.  It is not that simple here.  With the multitude of private practices that exist here one really needs to do their research, especially when it comes to hygiene, I've found.  The first pediatrician that I brought my son to ended up being in a musty old house used as a clinic. The furniture was old and dirty, and the place smelled bad.  I was shocked.  I even took pictures because I knew my husband wouldn't register the severity of it without them.  Needless to say research must be done before attending a medical facility, and even though I had done some leading up to today's surgery the medical center is quite a commute from my home so I didn't have a chance to actually visit it before today.  It ended up being new and clean and I felt good about it - so I didn't have to walk out, which is something I was totally prepared to do.

I'll be resting up for the next few days so I'm looking forward to making some progress on my #SSKAL15 cardigan.  If only I could find my interchangeable needles!  Before our vacation I reorganized our apartment and I cannot remember where I put them.  Arg!

Janna
0 Comments

8/18/2015

  Weaving Weft-Faced Circles

Picture
When weaving weft-faced circles I, like Claudia over at Mirrix Looms, always draw my circle right on the warp and follow it precisely. This means covering up the drawing completely.  I’m not super picky about my circles being exactly symmetrical so my stepping will not be the exact same on all sides, but I do want to point out a couple of things about stepping (decreasing/increasing) on a circle that might not seem obvious to a beginner tapestry weaver, as well as some other maybe not so obvious tips.

Another Sam's naptime worth of #weaving done mirrixlooms

A photo posted by Janna Maria Vallee (@jannamariavallee) on Sep 22, 2014 at 11:50am PDT

1) Unless you are making tiny circles you do not need to decrease until you run out of warp threads.  If you operate under this assumption you may end up with points.  This entirely depends on your ends-per-inch (epi) and the size of your circle, but if you’re weaving three-inch circles over 6 ends-per-inch the top and bottom of your circle might be something like eight ends each.

2) Similarly my circles above have sides which have no stepping at all – they go straight up for 11 wefts (or picks), mirroring the top and bottom.

3) For weft-faced weaving consistent beating and tension are key!  If you have even and tight tension you will be more successful at beating well and evenly and therefore your shapes will be keep their shape and stay proportional to each other.  If you're weave two circles with different beating habits they will not have the same amount of picks and therefore may change shape as the tapestry progresses and/or after it comes off the loom.  Remember that you should not be able to see your warp through the weft (This rule applies to every pick below the last one you wove; the last weft that was passed will sometimes show warp even though it has been beat hard enough.)  In general you want to make sure you are beating hard enough to cover your warp, and then be consistent.  But, you never want to be beating so hard that it becomes a workout.  If If you are not able to cover your warp easily it's likely that you are using weft that is too thick, or conversely have your EPI set too close together for the weft you are wanting to use.

4) If you're like me and you enjoy the kilim-esque look of stepping and slits you needn’t read on, but if you require a nicely rounded circle you could try outlining your circle using the sumac stitch.  I recently asked Kathe Todd Hooker (who writes these tapestry weaving books) and she put it like this 


“You can outline in sumac in the colour of the base or the colour of the circle as you go. Weave the circle and when you reach the top sumac in either the circle colour or the fill in colour around the circle. It’s done while you are weaving. Also pay attention to whether you are moving up on a hill or a valley thread. The trick is to remember if you go up on a valley thread the weft sinks and the turn is lower. If you rise on a hill thread the weft pass stays higher. So you can jump up and pull the corner off of a stairstep and hold it in place by weaving lower then the stairstep" Kathe Todd Hooker

TIP:  When drawing on your warp use ONLY fabric markers or sharpies you have tested for wash-fastness. Test them by drawing on fabric and then washing it to see if it stays.  If the mark stays you are good to go.  You do not want to risk your marker seeping through your weft when you block it or on a humid day.


Glossary:

Weft-Faced: a woven fabric where the warp remains completely covered by the weft.  Only the weft will be visible.


Read More

    The Everlea Guide to Vancouver Yarn is
    ​lovingly maintained by Janna Maria at Everlea Yarn

    Picture
    SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER


    ​​Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    February 2014
    June 2013
    May 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009
    May 2009
    April 2009
    February 2009
    December 2008
    October 2008
    September 2008
    August 2008
    July 2008


    Blog ​​Categories

    Highlights
    Events
    Local Artists
    Local Designers
    Local Yarn

    Picture







    About the Everlea Guide to Vancouver Yarn

    Hi, I'm Janna. I'm the proprietor and natural dyer at Everlea Yarn, and the tapestry instructor at The School of SweetGeorgia. I am a tapestry weaver, longtime knitter and 2013 graduate of Concordia University's Fibres and Material Practices program.

    ​I created Vancouver Yarn in 2008 as a space to hold as much of the textile awesomeness that I could find in and around Vancouver. Here on the VY blog I mostly share about local events, pattern releases as well as share Community Highlights.

    Do you have an event, KAL, yarn or pattern release, launch or other thing you want us to post? Just fill out the form above or send your press release to me at
     janna (at) vancouveryarn.com 

    ​Thank you,
    ​Janna




    RSS Feed

Picture
Subscribe to the Guide to Vancouver Yarn newsletter!

In our quarterly Vancouver Yarn newsletter you get the inside scoop on upcoming events, new locally designed patterns, locally produced articles, content and more. Your first email comes with three discount codes.
​About Us 
​Contact Us
Join our mailing list
Terms & Conditions
Inclusivity Policy
​
Vancouver Yarn is a free resource which links you to local DIY textile shops and designers as well as artists and makers which are local to greater Vancouver BC, unceded Coast Salish territory, and throughout so-called British Columbia. I also list online shops and designers from around the country.

Many of my links come from your submissions - Thank you! If you tell me about a dyer, designer, shop etc I will add it.
Add or update a link on VY



​​Vancouver Yarn is lovingly maintained by Janna Maria of Everlea Yarn.
Picture

© Everlea Yarn 2022