Tutor Feature: Angela Daish!
Only a few weeks to go till Majacraft Camp! Tutors are getting ready, making up samples, sorting out fibres and yarns to bring, organising equipment.. And I recently had a visit here at Woolwench House from the vibrant Angela Daish!
(No I don’t live in a barn, this is a picture of Angela at a recent farm day!)
On her visit Angela brought some of the samples she has made for her Majacraft camp classes, and I wanted to share them here, they are very inspiring. Angela will be teaching the ancient art of ‘Finger Weaving’. Now this was something I had never heard about before, and on seeing Angela’s sample pieces I could instantly see so many cool uses for this great yarnie craft! This is a technique that goes back at least 3000 years ago (amazing right?!) and although it was used all over the world it was turned into a real art form by Native Americans, who used it to make woven belts and sashes, bag and basket handles and so on. Materials used for finger weaving varied, depending on the use intended, the inner bark of certain trees, Indian Hemp (Dogbane), nettle, milkwood, and other plant fibers, even strips of moose hide could be used.
It was not surprising to me that Angela is so enthusiastic about this weaving technique! And of course, being Angela, she has been busy experimenting with different fibers, thicknesses, colours and textures, take a look at some of the designs she has been working with in preparation for teaching this workshop: (click on each image to get a closer look!)
As you can see, we can learn how to make patterned straps, and Angela has also been designing ways to use wider pieces (the weave does not need to be limited to band size), one of the images above shows a pouch she has made from a wider piece. I would like to learn this technique for making bag straps, a camera strap, some bracelets ( lots of jewellery type ideas come to mind actually), and to play around with mixes of traditional and textured yarns. I would love to use it to make pockets and add those to my loom weavings too. And the best thing is that these can be made without a loom or heddle of any kind, literally with your fingers and some yarn, this has to be the most portable project technique ever!
If you are enrolled in Angela’s Majacraft Camp classes you are in for a treat, and not only for the technique and skill learning but also the fun of spending time with Angela, her enthusiasm for experimenting with what you can do with yarn and fiber means there is never a dull moment, and with Angela it is easy to feel like anything is possible! Not to be missed!