Of course our alphabet has to start with textile artist Anni Albers ,June 12, 1899 – May 9, 1994. Wallhanging (woven by Gunta Stölzl in 1965 to replace Anni’s 1927 original that was destroyed in the 2nd world war) Anni was a printmaker, artist, designer, teacher and author. Born in Germany in 1899, and a member of the radical Bauhaus school. Here she studied weaving, having had her first option barred because of her gender. The rise of fascism saw her move to America in 1933 with her husband Josef, and taught at the new Black Mountain college and subsequently at Yale university. She was the first textile artist to have a solo show at The Museum of Modern Art, New York in 1949. During the 1950’s her first book ‘On Design’ was published, followed by the essential weaving library classic ‘On Weaving’ in 1965. By the late 1960’s Anni had stopped handweaving and focussed on printmaking. Anni continues to be a huge influence for artists and designer today. Read more here

Dyers Alkanet ( Alkanna tinctoria) is a herbaceous plant from the borage family and the root is used to provides a red dye under acidic conditions, in alkaline conditions the dye is blue. You can read more here

Alpaca yarn is a soft, warm, and durable yarn that comes from the undercoat of alpacas. (Alpacas are members of the camel family, domesticated by the people of the Peruvian Andes 6,000 years ago for food, fuel, and fibre. Alpaca yarn is very soft and warmer than wool, also without the itch factor! You can read more here

Viento 2  – 2014 linen,gesso, acrylic, Japanese paper, gold leaf

Olga de Amaral (1932-) is a Colombian visual and textile artist known for large scale abstract works made from fibre, and then covered in gold and/or silver leaf. Louise and I were lucky enough to see this piece of her work at Arnolfini in Bristol during their ‘Threads: Breathing Stories into Materials’ exhibition in 2023. https://olgadeamaral.art/

Angora wool is from the downy coats of Angora rabbits, and like cashmere, mohair, and Alpaca is considered a luxury fibre. It’s known for being soft, thin, and silky, and is warmer and lighter than wool. However, the process of collecting Angora wool from rabbits is considered cruel, and some recommend avoiding angora wool and shopping for animal-free alternatives. The coat of Turkish angora goats produces mohair.

This one is such a great shout. We have a 16 shaft mechanical dobby production AVL in the shed and it is a wonderful loom, we love encouraging weavers to weave a warp on it. The size and dobby mechanism can be a little daunting, but everyone who weaves on ‘the beast’ really does love it! AVL were also the creators of compu dobbies, the first ones running on cassette tapes  You can read the full history of AVL here

Avocado stones and skin are used to create dyes that range from pinks through to browns.  The stones contain tannin so that the yarn or fabric doesn’t need to be mordanted first, but the dye itself is fugitive and ss isn’t guaranteed to last in the same way other pink dyes will.