Exciting Upcoming Workshop
Mark your calendar for the following workshop with Rosalie
Neilson. We are excited that our guild
was given a grant from WeGO to help bring someone for a workshop and after many
years of talking about it, we are finally able to get one with Rosalie. Rosalie has spent years studying kumihimo,
the wonderful Japanese form of braiding cords.
While many of us do make similar cords on a small disc, the chance to
work on the traditional Japanese Marudai does not come about very often. We are very happy to have this opportunity
and thank Weaving Guilds of Oregon for the grant.
Workshop Information
Kumihimo – Introduction to Braiding on the Marudai
(beginners) with Rosalie Neilson
March 9-10
9:00-5:00
Market of Choice in Corvallis. (922 Northwest Circle Boulevard #110 Corvallis)
Will will be meeting upstairs, above the deli area. There is an elevator.
Cost: $50 plus equipment rental and materials (Corvallis
Handweaver's and Spinner's Guild members get a $10 discount)
Send $30 deposit check to Barbara Wythes, 7685 NE Todd
Drive, Corvallis, OR 97330
Using traditional Japanese equipment – marudai (a round
braiding stand) and tama (weighted spools) -- learn how to make a variety of
braids suitable for decorative cording and jewelry. Using Japanese synthetic fibers which
replicate the feel and luster of silk, participants will learn how to set up
the braiding stand to create a wide variety of interlacements for 8-element
braids -- round, square, flat, and oval in shapes. Two colors will be used for
the braid to show different color and weave effects. The workshop will also
include a history of Japan through the eyes of a braider showing historical and
current trends in Japanese braiding.
Required Equipment: Marudai, 8 weighted spools,
counterweight (use a bit less than 50% of the combined weight of eight spools);
chopstick or other appropriate stick. Participants may bring their own
equipment or rent a marudai and tama from instructor for an additional $10.
(Rosalie has enough stands and bobbins for ten people.)
Prerequisites: None
Materials fee:
Package of synthetic silk =$20-25 (depending on new price list ) plus
handouts (print handouts will run approx $5 to $6).
Participants will have the opportunity to purchase packages
of synthetic silk following the workshop.
Additional equipment:
Bring pillowcase, notebook and kneeling pillow (if you want to
experience braiding in the traditional manner on knees). Otherwise, marudai
will be placed on a table for appropriate braiding height.
