Category: towels

Tools Day: Handwoven Photography Simplified

Karen

If you take pictures, does that make you a photographer? I enjoy taking pictures at the loom. Besides the creative challenge of finding a good shot, I like the aspect of letting a picture tell a story. The Warped for Good Etsy shop is another avenue to expand my photo skills. My goal is to take photos that showcase finished handwoven articles, while keeping the process as simple as possible. Typically, I take fifteen to twenty pictures of an item, and then choose the best five shots to upload on Etsy. When I have new items to add to Etsy, I do a photo marathon on a good sunshiny day.

Tips for taking photos of handwovens.
Single towel photo from photo marathon.

TOOLS:

iPhone 5
– I take all my photos with my phone. I know that is crazy! I never use my husband’s fancy digital SLR camera. My phone is always in my pocket, and there is nothing for me to figure out.

Tripod
– I do not actually attach the camera (iPhone) to the tripod. By leaning my hand on the tripod, I can get a steady shot; and I change the angle or height simply by moving my hand.

Natural light
– Colors are not true if I use any artificial lighting. Colors will vary on computer monitors and mobile screens, but natural light gives the best chance of capturing the colors as I see them.

Sunshine, not cloudy
– With the iPhone camera, I find it impossible to get true colors if the sky is overcast. Sometimes an overcast sky in the afternoon still seems bright, not dark. Even so, I find the colors are distorted. If the conditions are not favorable, it is worth waiting.

Long roll of white paper
– A white background appeals to me. I think it conveys simplicity and elegance.

Four walking weights
– There is no end to the usefulness of two-pound walking weights. These soft weights are perfect for holding the roll of paper out to size, without creasing. (You’ll find me using walking weights for just about everything …except walking.)

White poster board
– Sometimes a white poster board or two is needed to provide background for a shot from a lower angle.

Tips for simplified photo shoot for handwovens.
Simple set up for photo shoot. Testing lighting with first shot.
Tips for setting up simple textile photo shoot.
First few practice shots show me what adjustments to make with lighting, focus, and white paper and poster board background arrangement.
Three of a kind. Simple photo tips.
Three of a kind. I like to photograph complimentary pieces together.

May your photos show your best moments.

Say cheese,
Karen

Quiet Friday: Unroll the Cloth Beam

Karen

If you are a weaver, you know this thrill. I weave the very last pick, and then I hold my breath as the finished cloth is unrolled from the cloth beam. All ten meters / eleven yards of it! I don’t usually have an audience for the unrolling, but this time I want to share the experience with you, my friends.

If you stay to the end, you will see the cap I made from the sample pieces at the beginning and end of the warp.

And, one more thing, I added a little 3 1/2-minute time-lapse video at the very end. I hope it makes you smile.

Just finished weaving 10 meter warp.
Final pick in place.
Release warp tension before cutting off the warp.
Release ratchets on cloth and warp beams to loosen warp tension.
Cutting off the finished cloth.
Get out the big Gingher shears and start cutting.
Cutting the fabric from the loom.
First good view of the last towel on the warp. The last shall be first…
Unrolling the towels...
The Nine Color Towel.
Unrolling more towels...
Keep unrolling.
More towels...
Still more to come..
Red striped towel coming off the loom.
Each one is different.
Now for the brown towels...
Seeing brown now, so we know we are getting near the end/beginning.
Now we see the beginning of the warp!
Finally, we made it to the tie-on bar!
Slats on the floor after unrolling the cloth beam.
I love the final sound–warping slats falling to the floor as the last round of cloth is pulled from the cloth beam.
Empty cloth beam. Love it!
There it is. Now I want to get something else on the loom so I can do this all over again!
Goose eye towels just off the loom. Karen Isenhower
Ta da!

Cap made from handwoven pieces of goose eye twill.

 

And now I invite you to join me as I weave the Nine Color Towel. Remember that this is time lapse–I really do not weave this fast.

May you be filled with joy.

Very Happy Weaving,
Karen

No Motivation Needed

Karen

You never need to motivate me to sit at the loom, or convince me to make time for weaving. I’m not sure why I am this way, but something in me longs to make fabric. I weave nearly every day, not to be productive, but simply because I love to weave.

Nine goose-eye towels, pressed and ready to hem. Karen Isenhower
Nine new towels, with hems pressed. Each towel will have a matching hanging tab stitched into the hem.

Ten meters / eleven yards gave me nine towels and two generous samples (Just wait. Next week I will show you what I am making from the samples!). Now, I am weaving hanging tabs on the band loom to match the towels. Meanwhile, the linen dice weave is progressing nicely on the big loom, as well. I am not just a person with weaving looms. …I am a handweaver.

Band loom weaving, making hanging tabs for handwoven towels.
Short two-yard warp will weave up quickly, giving me plenty of hanging tabs for the towels, plus extra length of woven band to put in my “band stash.”

You do what is in your heart to do. The commitments you make from the heart define you. Fruit in my life reveals what is in my heart. What does good fruit look like? Unselfish generosity, showing integrity in every interaction, and treating others with respect. I want to be the kind of person that lives this way, not because I “should,” but because that is what is in my heart to do.

May your good fruit basket be full.

(These towels will show up in my Etsy Shop soon. If you have your eye on one, let me know, and I will be happy to reserve it for you.)

Have a fruitful day,
Karen

Nine Color Towel

Karen

It may look like there is no rhyme or reason, but there is a thoughtful pattern behind this arrangement of weft colors. …Okay, it is somewhat random; and, truthfully, I am making up the pattern as I go. It is refreshing to have the freedom to use up bobbins of color. I consider it a welcome challenge to create a visually vibrant fabric that is not a cluttered cloth.

Nine quills of 16/2 cotton. Colorful towel up next.
Nine quills of 16/2 cotton. Trying out different arrangements of colors.

Our prayers can be like the assorted quills with varying amounts of thread in an array of colors. These are the needs, small and big, that we bring to the Lord. Can he make anything good out of all of this? What can he do about my concerns? Does he even hear me? Do my needs or hopes make a difference to Him? Am I saying my prayers in the “right” way?

Nine-color towel on the loom. Karen Isenhower
Wide, narrow, dark, light. Nine colors are purposefully arranged in this cotton towel. Treadling variations help complete the multi-color composition.

It takes courage to have faith when you pray. In a world where “seeing is believing,” the eye of faith says, “believing is seeing.” Faith is expecting something to happen when you pray. It’s trusting the grand weaver to know how to arrange this assortment of leftover threads and make something good out of it.

May you take courage.

With you,
Karen

~The Etsy coupon on my About Page is good for two more days. It’s my ThankYou to you.~

Quiet Friday: Going through Phases

Karen

You will not often find a bare loom here. But every loom has its phases. The “Big Loom” (Glimåkra Standard 120cm) is in the empty phase right now. I finished weaving the coarse linen twill with rya knots. Now, I wait for the 16/2 linen that I ordered for the next project. Big Loom, don’t worry; you’ll be dressed again soon.

Rya weaving just completed.
Rya pieces ready to make into interesting shaggy pillows.
Glimakra Standard Countermarch Loom 120 cm
Affectionately known as “The Big Loom.” Seldom seen undressed. Glimåkra Standard Countermarch Loom 120cm / 47 inches weaving width.

 

The “Baby Loom” (Glimåkra Ideal 100cm) is in the weaving phase. It has plenty of warp on it, so I am still happily throwing a shuttle. I should get two more towels from this warp.

Red and brown goose-eye towel on the loom.
Color stripes of brown and gold break up the red in this towel on the goose-eye warp.

 

I want to start weaving a band to match the towels on the “Baby Loom,” for the towels’ hanging tabs. That means I need to put more attention on finishing up the current warp on the “Band Loom“ (Glimåkra two-treadle), so I can start the new warp. This is the hurry-up-and-finish phase.

Two-treadle Glimakra band loom in use.
Band loom is situated for weaving in short bursts. I often stop and weave for a few minutes on the way to the “Big Loom” or the “Baby Loom.” Three sisters look on from the stairway wall. (One of those girls is a younger me. Can you guess which one?)

May you make the most of the phase you are in.

Happy Weaving,
Karen

(The discount coupon on my About Page is good for another week. Thank you!)