Weave Fair in Umea: meeting friends

I have just returned from my trip around the Baltic.  I had planned the journey to see band weaving in different countires and to attend the Weave Fair in Umea, Sweden.

Arriving early at the Weave Fair.

At the Fair, I had a really enjoyable time meeting old friends and making new ones, as well as shopping!

The entrance was very welcoming with the bright colours and patterns.  I had made a bag to take with me on my trip and advertise the Fair.  I had not realised that bags would be for sale. They were produced by a company that specialises in hand printing.  Each bag was unique because of the way that it has been made out of the roll of cloth. They were made from printed cloth by Froso Handtryck, who had a stall at the fair.

Weaves based on the bag design.

Here is the designer showing one of the bags.  It is  lovely souvenir to represent the Weave Fair.







The entrance corridor was festooned with the bags and the way to the Fair hall had a wonderful selection of weaving from local weavers.










A connecting corridor had an imaginative display of rugs.

Arriving early was a good idea as it was easy to get around and to have a detailed look at the stands. Here I met Eva who has just moved back to Sweden from the UK.  I met her at the Derbyshire Guild when I took a workshop there in June.  She is working on the Saterglantan stand.  Of course I was tempted and bought some useful band weaving equipment not available at home.

Eva - before the crowds arrived. 

I also met Ruth from the USA.  She has only been weaving a few years but is very enthusiastic.  She brought her file of Sámi bands that she had woven from my first book, Sámi Band Weaving. She had completed all of them - a labour of love and determination! She told me that she was still finishing the final band the day before she was set to travel.  It was such a thrill to be able to see her work.

Ruth from Austin, Texas

Tamaki, Johan and me. 

My friend Tamaki had traveled all the way from Japan to attend the Fair. I had decided to relax with by weaving with Johan from Stoorstalka.

Marie from Vav Kompaniet

I also met Marie from Vav Kompaniet.  Their first book had just been published, written by eight of the group. It is in Swedish. It is a lovely display of different craft projects with beautiful illustrations.
Vav Kompaniet supply the lovely carved heddles with horse heads, birds and hearts that I bought from them at the previous Weave Fair.  These are made by Åke Erlandsson, who is still enjoying making these lovely items at 80 years of age. 

I hope you have enjoyed a taster of the Weave Fair. It is well worth the effort of going such a long way. I will be posting another item about the Fair later. I have only been home for three days and there is so much to catch up with!



Happy Weaving

Susan