Fun in Las Cruces

When last I wrote, my friend, Linda, and I were headed to a weavers guild meeting in Las Cruces. Every guild is different, and I have heard many stories about various guilds around the country. Some are friendly and welcoming;  others are a bit snooty, especially if you prefer rigid heddle, backstrap, Saori, or inkle weaving rather than weaving on multi-harness looms. My dear friend, Joan, invited me to a weavers study meeting at Mesilla Valley Weavers Guild this past February, and I immediately felt right at home. So I was really looking forward to going back again with Linda.

These wonderful weavers made us feel so welcomed and I enjoyed seeing the many projects shared. Here are a few of my favorites.

To the left is a lovely lightweight poncho woven by Nancy J, from hand dyed silk. Top right you can see Joan's two tapestries that she wove in the 1970s, and her new "Loom in a Tube." Bottom right you can see Linda's Brooks Bouquet scarf and her möbius scarf. 

Afterward, we went out to lunch at A Bite of Belgium and visited some more. One of the members, Jan T, had just returned from New Zealand where (among other adventures) she spent three weeks traveling in a camper van. I loved hearing all about that.

On Friday, Linda and I had an all-day weaving session. Such fun! At one point we had two Saori warping boards and two Piccolo looms in our motorhome. I kept pulling out cones of yarn in an attempt to find just the right ones for my project, and Bob worked on modifying my Piccolo to make it taller.  It was glorious chaos. 

There's a story behind that loom modification. Not long ago, Linda purchased a Saori Piccolo loom, but found it a bit too low for her to use comfortably. She asked her husband Chuck, who is a retired rocket scientist, to see what he could do to make it taller. She had two stipulations, however. She did not want the modifucation to be permanent in case she ever wanted to sell it, and she did not want any holes drilled into it. So Chuck got to work and figured out a solution, using a chair from Walmart, a couple of dowels, and some hose clamps. I asked Bob to do the same for my loom.

The chair cost $6.66, so it was quite an inexpensive project, made even more so by the fact that Bob already had the pipe cutter and the Dremel tool to make the cuts on the pipe.  I love that my Piccolo can now be taller. 

On Saturday, we visited the local farmers market. It stretches across many city blocks and has booths with craft items and local produce.

This is a very dog friendly market, and we saw Great Danes, an Irish Wolfound, another Corgi (besides Linda and Chuck's dog, Tucker,) Yorkies, poodles, and lots of mixed breeds. Auggie enjoyed the walk very much and had fun meeting new doggy and human friends.

I bought the makings for a delicious ratatouille for dinner, too. 

After the farmers market, Bob and Chuck went back to the campground while Linda and I went to Fiber Arts. I found a cone of cotton boucle that I will weave into a blanket. Later, we visited Très Manos, a local weaving cooperative. They were having a Fiber Festival and I picked up 4 cones of Irish linen yarn for .50 apiece. Linda found enough .50 and $2.00 cones to fill a small box. Whoo hoo! I love a bargain!

When last I was at Très Manos, the manager of the shop admired my handwoven Japanese Knot Bag and took photographs of it. I told her where to find the pattern so that her weavers could make some to sell. I was happy to see several on the shelf of the shop and heard that these bags are a popular item. How cool is that!

We are reall enjoying the weather here. Temperatures range from night time lows in the 40s/50s to highs of 60s/70s. It sure doesn't feel like November to me!