Books, Videos and Inspiration

A new book on Angelina!

This book has the best photos we've ever seen of Angelina, which is notoriously hard to photograph. If you're interested in heat-bondable Angelina you must see this book.

$24.95

Inspiring, Powerful and Important - A Wonderful Gift !

In Her Hands: Craftswomen Changing the World is a book of color photographs and intimate text about the courage and spirit of women -all poor, many illiterate-from around the world, who have taken charge of their lives by creating and selling traditional crafts. Women from South Africa to India, Bali to Peru, from twelve countries in all, talk about their diverse lives and surprisingly universal aspirations. They share joy and optimism, plus the determination to provide better nutrition and education for their children. Including an eloquent, provocative Foreword by Alice Walker, In Her Hands celebrates a global women's movement that promises a better life for families and communities, and, over time, our world.

Published by The Monacelli Press-New York; 9" x 12;" 256 pages; 260 color photographs. Hardcover.

Proceeds support six nonprofit organizations whose work helps poor women all over the world enhance their families' futures: Association for Women in Development, Global Fund for Women, Freedom from Hunger, The Crafts Center, Women's Edge and Aid to Artisans.

$48 (List Price $60)

Basho to Spun Steel and Textile Magicians

Two incredible videos on the work of contemporary Japanese Textile artists.

The poetry of thread is the beginning and the end of all textile making. Basho to Spun Steel gives a glimpse into the amazing world of contemporary Japanese textile design. From new textile production in modern factories, invented by leading designers and master technicians in Tochigi, Kiryu and Tokyo to the traditional banana fiber weaving (basho-fu) of Okinawa, the essence of Japanese spirit and culture is a woven dialogue between the past and the future.

Textile Magicians: Japan with the art of Hiroyuki Shindo, Masakazu Kobayashi, Chiyoko Tanaka, Naomi Kobayashi and Jun Tomita. An exceptional and poetic voyage through the worlds of five contemporary Japanese textile artists living and working in harmony with nature in the cedar forests north of Kyoto.

Price: $30 each.

NUNO NUNO Books

At present there are 6 books in the series, interweaving words and images to document the very best from the NUNO collection of fabrics. Each book thematically centers on a particular quality in the fabrics, as suggested by the Japanese onomatopoeic titles. Striking photos of representative textile works, along with essays by a unique range of personalities.

BOROBORO: ragged, tattered.
SUKESUKE: sheer, translucent.
FUWAFUWA: soft, fluffy.
SHIMIJIMI: dyed, stained.
KIRAKIRA: glittering, sparkling, shiny
ZAWAZAWA: lively, busy

Price: $30 each volume.

Contemporary Japanese Bamboo Arts

This book introduces the reader to the world of contemporary Japanese bamboo arts. Twenty of Japan's leading bamboo artists are featured in portraits and through their stunning bamboo baskets and sculptures.

The artists include the two Living National Treasures of Japan, Iizuka Shokansai and Maeda Chikubosai II, as well as artists of traditional and contemporary styles.

The author gives the reader necessary background information to understand how this art form evolved over the last hundred and fifty years and the current challenges the field faces.

Price: $35.00, softcover.

Books and Video by Peggy Osterkamp

A New Instructional Video!

We are thrilled to offer Peggy's new video - Warping the Loom - Back to Front. This comprehensive video thoroughly explores the process of dressing a loom by yourself. After discussing materials and tools that will make the job easier, Peggy divides the warping process into steps:

Measuring the Warp

Loading the Raddle

Beaming the Warp

Threading the Heddles

Sleying the Reed

Tying the Warp to the Cloth Apron Rod Peggy shows you many ways to set up the loom to make warping comfortable. Key words of various steps are superimposed over the video as a reminder of the sequence and will serve as a handy future reference. Close-ups and wide shots show the details. Trouble-shooting and problem-solving examples given. Pause at any time to look closely. Running time 62 minutes (color.)

Price $34.95

Peggy's books are an invaluable resource!

A good warp is the first requirement for pleasurable weaving. In Winding a Warp and Using a Paddle (Book 1 in Peggy's New Guide to Weaving), you will learn tips and techniques that help you make every warp work for you - long or short, sticky or smooth, simple or complex. The techniques Peggy has developed in her career have helped hundreds of weavers. Having her book at your loom is like having a patient, knowledgeable teacher at your side. Warping Your Loom and Tying on New Warps (Book 2 in the series) guides you through every step of beaming your warp and threading your loom.

Both books are spiral bound to lay flat for easy use while warping and threading. These books are among the most referred to in my entire library!

Prices: Book 1 - $39.95, Book 2 - $34.95

Exploring Multishaft Design

We've been anxiously awaiting this book by Bonnie Inouye and are excited to announce that it is hot off the press!

This new book guides you step by step as you make your own drafts for many different kinds of designs. Each chapter is a workshop that you take at home, using your own loom. Not a beginning weaving text, this book assumes you know basic 4-shaft weaving and are interested in using more than 8 shafts. Although most of the examples are for 16 shafts, some are for 12 or 24 shafts, and most of the exercises can be done with 8.q The goal is to understand exactly how structures work, through drafts, to let you create the fabrics of your dreams (and a lot of samples).

Chapters include straight twills, plaited twills, curves, designing in the liftplan, advancing twills and some network drafting, using a straight draw threading to weave many structures, shadow weave, warp rep, and a long chapter on double weave. And more! The drafting exercises are designed for use with graph paper or weaving software. Special instructions are included for table looms, mechanical dobby looms, traditional treadle looms, and computer-assisted looms. This is a thorough introduction to multishaft design, and includes some ideas that will be of interest to more advanced weavers.

10 chapters, 128 pages, 8.5 by 11 inches, soft cover, spiral bound.

Price: $29.95