Lustrous Linen Class with Kati Meek

What a great three days spent with author, weaver and teacher, Kati Meek.  Kati has written a couple books that I know of, and I highly recommend them.  I've added a link to her blog. 
Kati Meek's Blog
Any information from a weaver as skilled as she is would be valuable for any weaver's library.  I'm waiting to be able to purchase a copy of her book, Warp With a Trapeze and Dance With Your Loom, which is in the process of being reprinted right now.  It should be available very soon, so contact her or your local weaving store to get on their order list.


Most of the weavers I know live downstate, where the class was held, so I was able to see some of my weaving friends, plus the added bonus of meeting new ones.

If anyone is interested in learning how to put a warp on their loom under tension with the trapeze, make sure you find out where her next class will be.  I know Kati will be teaching a tartan class at the Campbell School in Brasstown, NC later in the year.  She says she always includes how to use the trapeze and how to use live weight tensioning on the loom in all her classes. 

The class was all about weaving with fine linen.  Since my loom was the demo loom, I took it unwarped, with my only preparation being to get the warp measured into two even bouts, choke tied and with a cross.  It was put into two plastic grocery bags tied shut with the cross hanging out.  The whole first day was pretty much taken up with learning the trapeze method of beaming the warp.  If it wasn't for all the photos I took, I doubt if I could have remembered everything.  I really do need to get her book!

Kati's finished linens that she brought with her were beautiful.  She is such an artisan!  They all were beautiful, but my favorite was an Atwater-Bronson lace cloth.  I've shown a couple photos of it with a blue cloth behind it to make the pattern visible.

I wasn't very happy when I realized I didn't bring my camera charger with me, so I had to settle for using my camera phone.  The quality of the photos leaves a little to be desired.


Kati's threading techniques were great, teaching us to be more efficient with our movements.  Using the auto denter was interesting also.  With a bit of practice, it could make sleying the reed very speedy.

I brought a little table loom on a treadle stand that Bob had made.  It is convenient for traveling to workshops, but isn't the greatest for weaving, because I can't weave very much before having to get up to release the brake and wind the cloth forward.

With the live weight tensioning that Kati taught, I didn't have to get up to wind.  It is definitely a technique I will try on all my looms.  I'll have to watch for some weight sets (barbells) at garage sales this spring.  The picture above isn't my loom, but shows how the live weight is attached using water bottles.

Well, Bob just got home from work.  I haven't seen him in a few days, so I'm going to spend a couple hours with him before he has to go to his Up North Big Band gig. Up North Big Band, Walloon Lake, Michigan