Time Lapse: Windmill and Taildragger on the Drawloom
- By Karen
- September 22, 2020
- 19 Comments
Come, look over my shoulder as I weave a windmill and taildragger image on the drawloom. The central design is woven using 103 single-unit draw cords. I have a simple motif for the borders that uses only three pattern shafts. In the video below, watch as the three draw handles for those pattern shafts appear and disappear throughout the weaving.
I recorded my weaving in time-lapse form so you can watch three hours of effort compressed into three-and-a-half minutes. In the video you will see my hand pulling the draw cords, and then touching all the pulled cords from right to left to double check my work. That double checking saved me from dreaded do-overs.
When our good friends, Jerry and Jan, saw my drawloom they brought this picture to my attention. — Forty years ago Jerry discovered the silhouetted windmill and airplane tucked away on a back page in an old issue of Flying magazine. Because of his affinity for airplanes and windmills he cut out the tiny picture and saved it. Years later, Jan found the picture and had it enlarged and framed. — After learning about my loom’s pictorial capability, Jerry and Jan wondered aloud if this special image could be woven on a drawloom…
Enjoy the video, and hold on to your hat!
May you ride the wind.
Happy Weaving,
Karen
19 Comments
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Stained Glass Scarf Surprise!
- By Karen
- October 5, 2018
- 27 Comments
A pleasant surprise arrived in the mail this week—the November/December 2018 issue of Handwoven magazine. Guess what?! My Stained Glass Scarf made it to the front cover!
Four shades of blue are carefully arranged to make a brilliant blue 8/2 cotton warp.
Two scarves. I wove one to keep, and one to send to the Handwoven editorial team.
Swedish lace adapted from a draft by Else Regensteiner in The Art of Weaving. Her draft was for a tablecloth. I made it into a scarf/wrap instead.
Twisting the fringe. This cotton scarf/wrap calls for fringe that is a little bit chunky. I feel like I’m dressed and ready for fun when I wear it!
Credit: Cover Photograph by George Boe from Handwoven November/December 2018 magazine. Copyright © F+W Media 2018. Photograph of magazine by Eddie Fernandez.
May your day be filled with pleasant surprises.
Happy Weaving,
Karen
27 Comments
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Joyce Lowder says:
Lovely scarf! Great to know that my copy is displaying YOUR handwoven scarf! Congratulations! And thank for sharing! God Bless your weaving and your sharing of your faith! 🙂
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Joann says:
Congratulations! I liked the scarf so much that I ended up ordering all the yarn for it.
Joann -
Beth Mullins says:
Your a cover girl! Congratulations! May life continue to bring you pleasant surprises.
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Gah! You’re…. It’s too early for me to be posting. Ha!
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laura says:
Wow, what a surprise, so cool. Congratulations!!!
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Betsy says:
Congratulations! It looks like a beautiful scarf
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Barbara says:
Congratulations! The time and effort you put into developing your skills is worthy of recognition. What a great example you are to all of us, even those who don’t weave.
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Hi Barbara, It’s fun to know that someone who doesn’t weave can enjoy these weaving discussions.
Love you Sis,
Karen
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Wonderful example of complimentary colors on the cover scarf!!!
Congrats,
Nannette
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Nancy says:
Congratulations!! It is very pretty!
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Marjorie Clay says:
I saw your pattern and felt pride that I knew you through Warped for Good! It was a thrill to see your name and read what you wrote. Congratulations!!
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Michelle says:
Just read about it in Handwoven last night! And was so interested in Else’s story, too……I do enjoy your posts sooooo much! Thank you for sharing……
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Annette Marie Lancaster says:
Good morning, Karen!
It was so good to see you yesterday. And the scarf is so beautiful in person! I will be making this following my double weave workshop this month. I can’t wait to wear it!
I have heard Else Regensteiner mentioned in articles from time to time and although the article in Handwoven was interesting, you brought her work to life for me with this scarf. Perhaps, in the future, I will seek out some of her patterns.
You are an inspiration to me on my new weaving journey, Karen.
May life always bring you these well deserved surprises. And don’t stop designing! -
Cindy Bills says:
Congratulations! It is a beautiful scarf!
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Carolyn Penny says:
Congratulations gal! A nice surprise indeed!
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Mary Still says:
Congratulations!!! You are an inspiration to all of us!
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Kris Stark says:
Congratulations, Karen! My copy of Handwoven arrive a couple of days ago, but it wasn’t until this morning when I sat down to look at it that I noticed you made the cover scarf! How exciting! Now I have to go read the article! Blessings to you, your weaving and your faith that you share so generously! You are an inspiration!
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Linda Adamson says:
Congrats Karen! Lovely scarf!
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Congratulations on making the cover! My copy is right in front of me on my coffee table. I hope your scarf inspires a lot of weavers!
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Hi friends!
Your sweet comments mean a lot to me. It’s such a pleasure to have you with me in all of this.Happy weaving,
Karen -
D’Anne says:
Congratulations, Karen! Your scarf is lovely!
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Quiet Friday: Handwoven Handbags
- By Karen
- June 23, 2017
- 10 Comments
Is there such a thing as too many handbags, pocketbooks, tote bags, and purses? Of course not. Naturally, my favorite handbags are made from handwoven fabric. Linings made from remnants, handwoven bands used for shoulder straps, hidden zippers, and, of course pockets–these are the details that other people will seldom notice. Yet these are the details that make me smile every time I use one of these bags.
Nineteen handwoven handbags. Various sizes, fibers, styles, and purposes. And colors. Lots of colors!
…You know that box of handwoven bits and pieces? Those weavings from the end of the warp, and the “scraps” from various projects? Hmm… looks like I might need to make another handbag or two.
Here is my collection of handwoven handbags, divided into a few categories. Plus, a short video just for the fun of it!
Wool, novelty chenille yarn, crochet cotton, and narrow fabric strips are used for weft in these bags. Buttons are from my grandma’s button jar. The small rag-weave pocketbook has a permanent home in my daily handbag. The fabric for these bags was woven on my Beka 32″ rigid heddle loom.
Linings are from remnants of other sewing projects. Bag handles were woven on my inkle loom.
Travel Finds
Trips to The Philippines yielded interesting woven goods by artisans there. The green stripe tote bag is woven from native plant material, and the teal and burgundy purse is a beautiful example of ikat weaving. The colorful weft-faced woven shoulder bag and the purple bag with lovely weft-float patterning came from travel to Chile.
Project Carriers
Large tote bag, woven with 1/4″ fabric strips for weft, carries my “show and tell” when I go to my weaving study group. It’s known as the “Mary Poppins Bag.” Rag-rug bag in the center has straps, woven on the band loom, that were woven into the bag. This bag carries my portable tapestry weaving. The rag rug bag on the right carries my one-and-only crochet project.
Special Use
Linen bag has beads woven into the fabric. It is lined with satin. Rag-weave purse is simply a flat piece folded in half, with lining and pockets added to the inside. The blue bag is wool, woven in a weft-cord technique. The fabric was partially fulled to produce the ribbed texture.
Lining for this bag is made from extra fabric after weaving cotton/linen fabric for cushions, and the pocket is a remnant from a two-block twill tencel scarf.
Daily Use Favorites
Representing some of my “firsts.” The brown and blue small shoulder bag is from one of my first cottolin towel projects. This is what I did when the last piece was too short to use for a towel. The green and turquoise clutch has remnants of my first ever handwoven towel, my first rosepath rag rug, and my first big rep weave project! The blue shoulder bag is the bag I use every day. It’s a remnant from the baby wrap I wove for my daughter’s first baby. It’s lined with a remnant from an Easter dress I made for her when she was a little girl.
May you carry your handiwork with you.
Happy weaving,
Karen
10 Comments
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Mary Kay Stahley says:
I would love to know where to get patterns to make a bag. Have yardage and really want to turn it into a purse
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Hi Mary Kay, I have found a few good commercial patterns for an assortment of bags.
I used McCall’s 3894 to make the large tote bag. (I did break several sewing machine needles when sewing the very thick corners.)
And I used Simplicity 2201 for the green and teal clutch. Other patterns that I have not used yet are Simplicity 9949 and Simplicity 2274. All of the patterns have multiples sizes and shapes of bags. There are probably some more good patterns out there now. I’ve had these for several years. I enjoy browsing the pattern books at the fabric store.For some of the bags, I folded and played with the fabric to make up a simple design.
For the shoulder bag that I currently use all the time, made from the baby wrap remnant, I purchased a bag at the store that I thought would work well with handwoven fabric. I took it home and ripped out all the seams to deconstruct it. Then I had the basic shapes, which I reconfigured to exactly what I wanted. I made a practice bag first out of denim before using the handwoven cloth to make the final bag.
I hope that gives you some ideas!
Karen
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It was so much fun to see all your beautiful bags, Karen! Nineteen is certainly not enough!! Hope you keep making more and sharing them with us. You have a wonderful sense of color!
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Hi D’Anne, You are so sweet! When I make another bag, you’ll be the first to know!
Love,
Karen
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Hi, Karen,
You had the icon to share to Facebook, so I shared this post with my Rigid Heddle Adventure group. They’ve been talking a lot lately about creating bags. Thanks for the post!-
Hi Cindy, That’s wonderful! The rigid heddle loom is perfect for making fabric for bags because it’s so easy to use a variety of fibers in the warp and in the weft. It’s a fun adventure!
Thanks so much for sharing!
Karen
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Angela Roberts says:
Truly an inspiration, as always
Thank you Karen -
Kantilal Doobal says:
Please quote me a Magazine for which I wish to submit and an article dealing with woolen durrie weaving.
thanks-
Hi Kantilal, Thank you for asking.
I don’t know a magazine that has an article about woolen durrie weaving. “Väv” magazine sometimes has articles about different types of rug weaving, and “Handwoven” magazine sometimes has articles about rag rug weaving. The March/April 2017 issue of “Handwoven” has instructions for a “Swedish Rosepath Rag Rug” that I designed.
Karen
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Quiet Friday: Risky Way to Fix a Threading Error
- By Karen
- February 24, 2017
- 22 Comments
We all have threading errors from time to time. This time I completely transposed the threading on shafts one and two. I saw the error when I started weaving; the pattern in the cloth was not as it should be. After a few days of contemplating, arguing with myself, and studying the error, I decided on an ingenious and risky fix (I hinted at it in My Best Weaving Stunt to Date!). Switch the two mis-threaded shafts. Yikes! One slip up could bring the whole warp down–figuratively and literally. I caught myself holding my breath several times through the process. Gently hopeful, but not 100% sure that my plan would work. Thankfully, it did work.
The threading went from this…
Shafts 1 and 2 (counting from back to front) have been threaded incorrectly. Shaft 1 should be 2, and 2 should be 1.
to this…
Shaft bars 1 and 2, upper and lower, have been switched. The operation was similar to transferring lease sticks in the back-to-front warping process.
Here’s a short video that shows the maneuvers I did to correct the error. No re-threading needed! The kuvikas square within a square wins!
May you be brave enough to take appropriate risks when needed.
Happy Problem Solving,
Karen
22 Comments
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Whoa! That was some ingenious maneuvering!
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Brilliant! Of course in the video it looks completely smooth and safe! The dramatic music helps to relate some of the risk that was involved, however.
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Julia, It makes me smile that you mentioned the music. I was hoping the music would help convey that risk factor.
I did feel quite accomplished when I finished the operation and found it worked!Karen
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Marie says:
A quick thought, if shaft 1 and 2 are in the wrong threading sequence, why not change the tie-up. Risk factor very low.
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Marie, That may be what I should have done. But when I tried changing the tie-up on my weaving software, I got confused and couldn’t get it to work out. I could visualize the results of switching the shafts, so I went with that. On one occasion at Vavstuga, I watched Becky do a masterful switching of heddles from one shaft to another, so I think I was inspired to try something heroic. 🙂
Karen
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Marcia Cooke says:
Having actually dropped shafts (don’t ask), I am not brave enough to do it on purpose! Kudos!!
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Hi Marcia, I have *almost* dropped shafts before, so I know how it can happen! But this was not much different than transferring the lease sticks to the back of the reed. That always makes me nervous, too. Every step, I stopped, looked, and thought it out before making a move.
Karen
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My question was just like Marie’s. Seems like a much easier way to go. Maybe the fact that you were on a countermarche loom made this more complex????
But your fix was impressive!!
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Hi Peg, I don’t think the countermarch made a difference. My problem was I couldn’t quite figure out how to change the tie-up. Seems kind of simple now, but it stumped me at the time…
At least now we know this can be done…
Karen
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ellen santana says:
way over my head, but congratulations. maybe you should work for nasa. es
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Hi Ellen, I’m afraid NASA wouldn’t want me. My math skills are just strong enough to plan a weaving project, and not much more than that. But, if they need someone to move heddles around, they can call me.
Karen
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Karen says:
Now, that made me hold my breath! Well played…..
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Martha says:
Whew, I was holding my breath just watching the process. Well played!
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Martha, These Swedish countermarch looms are so adjustable and flexible, otherwise it wouldn’t be possible at all. I’m glad I have Texsolv heddles!
Karen
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Nanette says:
I don’t think this would work with a jack loom with solid frame shafts, do you? But maybe changing the tie up would be easier on that kind of loom, too. Anyway, I was proud that I thought of changing the tie up even before reading the comments! And, actually, couldn’t figure out even with the video just how you did it. I won’t even ask how you happened to make such an error…just thank you for sharing that you did!
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Hi Nanette, You’re right, this wouldn’t work with a jack loom with solid frame shafts, or with metal heddles. Hopefully, you’ll never make this kind of mistake, but changing the tie-up should work.
I don’t know how I made that mistake, either. My brain was just thinking in reverse for those two shafts. It took me quite a while to even see the error, because my brain kept seeing the two sets of heddles in reverse.
Happy weaving,
Karen
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Joanna says:
I’m totally confused, not unusual. Was what you were doing was moving the heddles from S1 forward to S2’s position and S2’s heddles back to the S1 position by putting the heddles on a temporary stick and dragging them forward or backward and then re-inserting the shaft stick? Don’t the heddles and the temporary stick get hung up on the other heddles or the warp? I’m astounded! Very well done indeed.
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Joanna, You described it perfectly! That’s exactly what I did. I only had to put in a temporary stick (a warping slat) on the first shaft heddles. Then I could move the second shaft to the first shaft place. I then repeated the process under the warp. The only things that got in the way were the shaft bar cords that hold the upper shaft bars. I undid them and reconnected after the transfer. And the shaft-to-lamm cords under the warp had to be released, and then reconnected.
I decided to do it when I surveyed the situation and thought, if only I could just slide those heddles forward on the warp, and slide the others back. That got my wheels turning.
Karen
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Quiet Friday: Woven Baby Wrap Baby
- By Karen
- August 26, 2016
- 14 Comments
A new life in the family is cause for celebration and thanksgiving! I had the privilege of weaving a baby wrap while my daughter carried the new little life inside of her. A wrap being woven to hold Lucia, and a baby being woven in the womb. Beautiful and more beautiful. God’s blessings on Eddie and Melody as they love the gift they have been given.
Handwoven baby wrap with baby Lucia. Photo credit: Eddie Fernandez (Lucia’s daddy)
In her mother’s arms… Photo Credit: Eddie Fernandez (Lucia’s daddy)
May you love and be loved.
Affectionately,
Lola (Grandma)
14 Comments
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Shirley says:
Just BEAUTIFUL .
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you are all, truly blessed
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God’s smiling!
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Bev says:
What a beautiful and precious blessing…Lucia in your handwoven wrap! Rejoicing with you over this new life,
Bec
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Anonymous says:
Beautiful baby, beautiful wrap!
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Congratulations on this new addition to your family.
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Julie says:
Oh, Karen that is beautiful!!
Baby, mom, Lola and wrap -
Dear friends, All your sweet comments mean so much to me! Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Karen
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Betty A Van Horn says:
Wonderful!!
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Tobie says:
How beautiful! Thank you for sharing.
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Beautiful, all around!
Copyright © 2020
What I loved most was your DH appearing and disappearing at speed!
Hi Ruth, I like that part, too. He didn’t realize I was filming at the time.
Have a great day,
Karen
Very, very beautiful! And yes, the time lapse is great, but leaves out all the time and tedious work of creating such a work of art! Thanks for sharing! Happy Weaving! 🙂
Hi Joyce, I know what you mean. The time lapse doesn’t show all the effort. Hopefully, it gives a snapshot of how much fun it is to weave on a drawloom.
Thank you,
Karen
That is stunning!
Hi Anneloes, I’m glad you enjoyed it. Thank you!
All the best,
Karen
Wow! That was so interesting to watch.Thanks for filming it. Your drawloom adventures are amazing!
Hi Cindy, The drawloom is a fascinating contraption. In some ways it is very complex, but all the parts are actually pretty simple. It’s a fun learning journey. Thanks for joining in!
Happy weaving,
Karen
It just amazes me how you do this. Have you ever thought about weaving Navajo style?
Hi Cynthia, I admire Navajo-style weaving, and have done a tiny bit of that type of weft-faced weaving. My main focus is on Swedish-style weaving and Swedish techniques. There are so many intriguing forms of weaving!
Thanks,
Karen
Amazing!!
Hi Marian, It’s great to hear from you!
Thank you!
Karen
I am gobsmacked!Airplanes and windmills are also my favorite things, as well as my husband’s. When we bought our home in the panhandle, we specifically looked for land with a windmill. Greg flies remote control planes and I joined the Air Force due to my fascination.
If you are up to making a second one of these weavings, I would love to purchase it from you.
As always, I cannot express enough my admiration for your creativity and talent.
Hi Annie, I am thrilled to learn that airplanes and windmills are your favorite things! How fun to see how this woven image suits you and Greg.
I will send you an email to answer your question about weaving another one.
Hugs and well wishes, and THANK YOU for your service to our nation in the Air Force!
Karen
Amazing! I am curious as to your decision to weave the image sideways instead of vertically. How did you choose to do that?
Hi Kim, I like your question! To tell the truth, I wasn’t sure which direction would give best results. I wove this one from the side only because the width of the picture is shorter than the length. I plan to weave another one straight on, so I can see if one way is better than the other. That fits the purpose of this warp – experimental and sampling.
Thanks,
Karen
Hi Karen,
Watching you weave at the draw down loom brought back memories of my Aunt practicing for Sunday service at the church organ. Both artists.
Thanks for the long forgotten memory in the format of your 20th century subject..
Nannette
Hi Nannette, I have church organists in my extended family, too. I have often thought of my loom bench as an organ bench, and with the drawloom, even more so, as if I’m pulling stops, playing the keys, and working the pedals with my feet.
How sweet that my weaving at the drawloom related to you in that way.
Hold the memories,
Karen
[…] change the direction of the design? I wove the first Windmill and Taildragger from the side. (See Time Lapse: Windmill and Taildragger on the Drawloom.) This second one, I am weaving from bottom to top. For one thing, I know I can enlarge the image […]