tiny happy

During our holiday in the Nelson region, I fell in love (again) with weaving. My Mum is a weaver, so my siblings and I were surrounded by beautiful woven textiles growing up, but only lately have I been seriously thinking about getting a loom and learning to weave myself. (This suggestion, tentatively raised a few times, has not been embraced by my closer family- I have enough half-finished projects around the place as it is..)

My mother-in-law Clare introduced me to her friend Jane, who runs Jointworks Studio in Tasman with her husband Tony. Together, they make exquisite handwoven goods (scarves, wraps, blankets) and furniture (you can see more on their website here and etsy shop here.) Their work is very beautiful, and I'm looking forward to visiting in the winter to buy one of Jane's possum-merino scarves. Or two. 

On this visit, I bought a handwoven cotton tea towel (shown in both photos above), which is pale green and cream with a square design. Of course, now I can't bear to see it being used in the kitchen, so I might make something from it.

A dear friend of mine, Karuna, has opened her own weaving studio: Twill Textiles. Occupying an historic railway cottage, the studio is sunny and welcoming to anyone interested in learning more about weaving, or checking out the works in progress. She has a selection of looms set up, including a simple one that I played on for a bit. She's running classes and workshops for children and grown-ups alike. For more details, have a look at the Twill FB page.

In the second photo above, you'll see one of Karuna's little circle weaving looms. She gave me one, and that evening Keira and I had a really nice time using it to make a sweet little woven piece. I have an idea to make woven poppy brooches using the circle loom. That's next on the list.

***updated to add*** Karuna has plenty of these little looms for sale- you can buy them from the windmill at Founders Park in Nelson, or visit the Twill Textiles etsy shop.

If you like hand-weaving and you happen to be visiting Nelson, you should go and see Jane and Karuna. You might also like:

Fibre Spectrum (fibre artists' cooperative, est. 1987)

Cruella's (beautiful yarn store with friendly, helpful staff)

Suter Gallery Store (there is some local weaving for sale here)

Unravelling (this is a beautiful blog, written by a local weaver, Meg Nakagawa.)