I am not a Weaver

A few months ago a member of the Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers was looking for a member or friend to travel with her to Farfield Mill in Sedbergh. She wanted to support the mill by joining a workshop on Weaving a Tartan. As the blurb about the course reassuringly that it was suitable for beginners and as I am a total novice I hoped I qualified as a beginner. So I volunteered to have a go.

Janet organised overnight accommodation at a nearby B&B and booked us both on the course. So on Tuesday 14th May we set off mid-morning. Janet did all the driving and my responsibility was to be a travel companion and stay awake. But we shared stories and got better acquainted as we journeyed up the M6.

We arrived at the mill about 1.30 and hoped for a good lunch so our evening meal could be a sandwich….however the op

Only optiions at the mill’s cafe were sandwiches and/or soup. But we are flexible and enjoyed a soup and sandwich lunch. We wandered about the mill’s four floors discovery a variety of studio spaces and several exhibitions.

So having sussed out the mill we drove down the lane to our accommodation at Low Branthwaites. I was expecting a bedroom possibly with room for a chair and ensuite bathroom. What a pleasant surprised to discovered an upper lounge with kitchenette and dining table with cream tea with large scones. And down stairs were two bedrooms and a toilet and shower room. So we had plenty of space. We opted for dinner of salads and yoghurt from Spar which at least has a car park….in a village of very old narrow roads.

The views of the Yorkshire Dales were amazing.

One of the toys on a window cill was a telescope on a tripod and I decided to see if I could get a photoof the sheep through it

The next morning a scrumptious breakfast was delivered by Anna to our dining table.

So about 9.30 we set off back to the mill for our workshop – Weaving a Tartan with Jan Beadle. Lucky for me Jan had warped the looms and that established the colour pattern. The colour pattern is set as 16 red, 8 wine, 4 grey, 8 wine, 16 red, 2 green, 16 red and repeat that. The weave is 2×2 twill. I found keeping track if the designated heddles were up or down so I had to write “levers down, heddles up” on my one post it note. But I managed to weave 45 inches on the day for a scarf.