Color Magic for Rigid Heddle Weavers

An in person class with Yoriko Oki

Mar 5, 9:00am-12:00pm & 2:00-5:00pm

Join weaver, dyer, and colorist Yoriko Oki and focus on the special challenge (and opportunity) that combining colors in warp and weft yarns provides.

Have you ever had a warp you loved but were disappointed when you finished weaving it?

Weavers have a unique challenge when it comes to colors. Because of the optical blending caused by the warp and weft, you have to consider how the warp and weft colours interact with each other when you are planning a project or deciding on the weft color(s).

In this class, you will learn basic color theory with a slide presentation, and have a chance to try out various color combinations on your loom. Come to play with colors!

Special skills or knowledge needed to take this class
Must know how to warp a rigid heddle loom and weave plain weave. The knowledge of how to use a pick-up stick is recommended, but not required.

A $20 kit fee will be collected by your instructor during class. Correct change is appreciated. 
Kit includes: a collection of yarn for students so that they have wide range of colors to try.

Warp your loom before the class according to the instructions below. Please use good warp separator (I prefer wallpaper) for even tension.

Select 3-5 colours of yarn in fingering weight for warp, include at least one each of light colour, medium colour, and dark colour. They could be from the same hue (colour family), such as blue. In that case, you could use baby blue, royal blue, and navy for your warp.
The goal of the workshop is to weave your warp with various colours to understand how colours interact with each other in weaving.

So, you are not aiming to design a beautiful warp, but use those colours in wide stripes. Yoriko recommends using your favourite colours for warp. Using the colours of your choice in wide stripes (one stripe per colour), warp your loom using 10-dpi or 12-dpi reed, depending on the thickness of your yarn (there are thinner and thicker fingering-weight yarn). Each stripe should be about 2 inch wide. Recommended warp length is 1 to 2 yards, depending how fast you weave, and how much more sampling you are willing to do after the class.

There will be assorted colors of weft yarn provided. If you have fingering-weight yarn you want to use as weft, please bring it to class.
If you have question, please email me at [email protected] I check email once a day. And will get back to you within 48 hours. See you in the class!

Supply List
• Pre-warped Rigid heddle loom
• Pick-up stick or thick knitting needle
• Usual weaving supplies
• Scissors
• Tapestry needle, T-pins, or sewing pins
• Cloth separators
• At least one shuttle (boat shuttle or stick shuttle)
• Pen and paper or notebook

Optional:
• Bring 3-4 weights to use if you need to repair broken warp ends (this is optional because I know some of you are flying in)