All you need to spin your dreams
We have been waiting (on the edge of our seats!) for the results of our big VOTE to determine the colour of this years Special Edition bobbin! You too? Waiting for me to mention what that result is? 😀 We had an overwhelming response on […]
We have wonderful adventures coming up this year, one of them being the opportunity to be involved in the Majacraft Retreat being held in the UK this October. The lovely Ruth of ‘The Wheel Ewe’ has organised an exciting event that will not only showcase […]
The time is going by so quickly, and its not so many months now till our next marvellous Magic Majacraft Camp! We know many of you are eagerly waiting to find out whats on offer this time around, and I am pleased to share with you the full teacher/workshop list for this great event!
This year we will have a wide variety to tempt you with – from spinning amazing textured yarns and learning how to use them, to felting, spin tech and plying, fibre preparation, and spin to wear. Scroll down to find the links to both the full workshop program and registration form.
Here is an example of work by one of our teachers Laurie Boyer, she will be travelling from the USA to be with us and share her skills and techniques:
And if thats not exciting enough! We have the lovely and talented Janet Day back from Australia, Isla Fabu, Suzy Brown, Lara Nettle, Pat Old, and Pauline Chapman, all bringing their individual creativity to share in our lovely relaxed camp environment.
Majacraft Camp will be held
Friday 10 – Sunday 12 February 2017
at
Keswick Christian Camp and Conference Centre, 5 Cooper Ave, Holdens Bay, Rotorua
To confirm your place at camp please send a deposit of $65 by Thursday 20th October 2016.
If you prefer to pay in instalments please pay $130 by Thursday 15th Dec.2016 and the final $130 by Thursday 12th Jan. 2017
Or full payment ($325 total) by Thursday 12th January 2017.
Payment method details are on the Registration Form
Please contact Glynis – Ph. 07 5433618, or email support@majacraft.co.nz if you have any questions about Camp 2017, we hope to see you there!
Are you one of those lovely creative fiber people who have purchased one of our Dynamic Heddle Looms? Or maybe you are thinking about it or curious about what makes it different from other rigid heddle looms.. So this months blogpost is devoted to the […]
Limited Edition bobbins? Different colours? Yes! We’ve got them! This is just a little heads-up if you didn’t know about these already, because they are proving very popular and just go to show that us spinners love colour! Last year we brought out some super […]
Growth, it’s all about movement, change, and outward expansion. This is what excites me about circular weaving! In my mind, it is an embodiment of these ideas, starting at the centre and working outwards, expanding into the space around it and changing it in a positive way, adding more all the time. When I start a circular weaving it is all about possibility, I have made the warp, or the framework for growth, and then begin to experiment with how to use that framework, using colours, textures, fibers both spun and unspun. When we designed our first circular loom for the Fiberygoodness spinning course (Journey to the Golden Fleece) it was not obvious that this was going to be ‘something’, although there were already a number of people who had been following my own early experiments with this kind of weaving and it seemed there might be a few people would also enjoy this quite retro ’70s idea. I started out with a large gear off a very old Louet drum carder (the teeth were broken). It was the right shape, and the teeth ideal for allowing me to warp it and still be able to lift the weaving off the loom when finished without cutting. Up to this time I had only seem looms that required the warp to be cut off and tied, or that used the loom as a final frame in the work, I wanted something we could reuse and to also remove the need to mess about tying knots (not my forte!) This was my very first circle weaving.
I made some sketches of ideas for the design, we decided that it should have ‘cut outs’ to make it easier to weave into, as the gear I had been using was just flat. You can see I had a few ideas! Some of them turned out to be not very practical in terms of making them, but we finally chose the one you see bottom left, as the unique shape for the Golden Fleece class. A little later Andrew added another design to become the ‘standard’ Majacraft loom that would be available to people not in the course too, it proved very popular!
Our first prototype was closer to the original gear, and while it worked really well and I loved using it, the material it was made of was too heavy, making it slightly harder to handle and also less portable, and this was another goal, to make something people could put in their bag and take with them, much like knitting! This was the first prototype:
After a bit of experimenting and discussion we settled upon using wood for the loom, it is strong and light, it feels nice to use and handle, and the colour of the wood compliments any colour, making it pleasing to use. We came up with these two looms 
and then added the smallest loom: 
There was so much interest in weaving circles on these looms that we set up a Facebook page for people to share their ideas, techniques and tips, and where we could post things we could offer such as the ‘Warp Speed‘ warping methods and the ‘make your own’ Template. You can find the group HERE and are very welcome to join in! It has been exciting to see the growth (yes we are back..ahem.. full circle again.) of this group and see the huge variety of projects people are using circle looms for! If you are starting to feel a little inspired to try your hand at circle weaving, you might enjoy the following videos, a ‘basic’ circle warp, an alternate warp for making earrings, and some ideas for creating textures in your weaving. I hope you enjoy them! Happy Weaving everyone Suzy x
It’s been a few days since we all reluctantly re-packed our bags and returned home from Majacraft Camp. Time to reflect on the wonderful atmosphere and marvellous things learned, as well as the good feeling of having spent time with old friends and new. Firstly […]
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 […]
Majacraft Camp is just around the corner, with just on four weeks to go till we all gather for much fiber fun! Preparations are well under way and I know Glynis has been super busy making up goodie bags, assembling equipment, and arranging important things like food, and coffee. And of course we have such a fantastic range of workshops to look forward to! In a previous blogpost we shared some information about the amazing Pat Old, who will be teaching some flax weaving at Camp, and this week we would like to introduce Michele Peddie, a VERY talented fiber artist, who will be guiding us thorugh the Journal making process that runs alongside the entire weekend. The idea of the journal is that we will be creating our own record of the weekend, this can include class notes, fiber and yarn samples, inspirations and visual journalling.. in fact it can be whatever you want to record of the weekend, all bound together in a specially made set of wooden covers which we will also decorate during the weekend! We will be supported, inspired, and guided by Michele throughout this process.
Michele Peddie is a textile designer, fibre artist and graphic designer by trade. Having returned to university as a mature student to complete a Bachelor of Design – Textiles, she is now keen to impart and share some of that knowledge with fellow fibreholics. Michelle explains her vision for the Majacraft Camp Journal as follows:
“The journal is about how to collect your ideas, notes and experiments and record them in a visual journal, rather than scrapbooking which can be very neat and tidy with photos etc. My visual diaries tend to get stuffed with lots of ‘things’ in the creation process. Instead of looking at an already created yarn and then trying to replicate it, I am hoping, along with Suzy, to show you a fresh way of coming up with ideas for colour and texture for your yarns and how to record these ideas so that they can be used over the weekend and in the future. This will be a fun exercise and I will be there to help throughout the weekend.”
Michele shared this image with us, as an example of how she collects inspiration and ideas to add to her visual journal:
Here are some examples of Michelle’s work to further inspire you!
We are sure you will enjoy Michele’s passion and enthusiasm for the art of fibre, and the creation of your Majacraft Camp 2016 Journal!
This time we would like to share a special place with you, a place called ‘Tarndie’, somewhere all us fiber fanatics would enjoy visiting! Firstly we would like to congratulate them on their 175 years and six generations of the Dennis family, farming in this […]