Best Kind of Music You Have Ever Seen

Karen

Do you have a melody? Being a musician at heart, it’s fun to think of my weaving loom as a musical instrument. This is an instrument that produces fabric instead of harmonies. Throwing a shuttle takes practiced precision, as does gliding my bow across the strings of my ‘cello. When I step on treadles to change sheds on the loom, I imagine myself on the bench of a majestic pipe organ, playing the low notes with my feet. Every pass of the shuttle brings the formation of a melody in color and pattern. Rosepath is the prettiest melody of all. And rhythm, of course, is felt and heard as I play the loom instrument.

Rosepath rag rug on the loom.
Rosepath rag rugs on the loom. Doing my favorite thing again.

I make textural melodies on my weaving loom. I am certain my maker takes note of the music I make here. Whatever you do with a thankful heart becomes a song. And that song is your gift to your maker. When you turn what you do into an instrument of praise you experience the smile of God.

I have a melody, and I have a Melody, whose birthday is today, and whose wedding is eleven days away. Maybe she needs a new rug as a housewarming gift…

May you sing your melody out loud.

With a thankful heart,
Karen

Are You in a Pretty Mess?

Karen

You might think this looks like a mess. Maybe there is a vague sense of pattern and color, but doesn’t it look like the assortment of rya knots are in a random arrangement? Guess again. Let me give you another view.

Rya knots, an assortment of colors in wool yarn.
Each colored wool strand is knotted by hand around doubled warp ends. Mora wool is doubled on the quill in the shuttle for the background weft, woven in a rosepath pattern.

Change the perspective of the camera, and you will see the simple, but distinct, pattern and order that is woven into this design.

Layered rya knots on the Glimakra Standard loom.
A simple stripe arrangement enhances the layered look of rya knots. The row of reds and violets is repeated to give prominence to that color family.

We think we are able to know all there is to know, but that’s just not true. We see from a human perspective. Is it possible that there is more than science, education, and philosophy can explain? God is greater than we think. His view of his creation is from a higher angle. He knows what he made and how he designed things to operate. We study and discover how it all works, but we didn’t make it. Our grand weaver is great. No one knows how great he is. But when things look like a pretty mess, we can trust he has a plan that will weave the assorted threads into a beautiful work of art.

May you see beauty even when things seem to be a mess.

In a pretty mess with wedding plans (only two weeks to go!),
Karen

What the Label Tells You

Karen

I know details about these towels that most casual observers will never see. Every cloth starts with a plan; and, as the weaver, I am intricately involved in every aspect from start to finish. Labels on my handwoven articles identify me as the maker. When you see my label, you know that you can ask me anything about the weaving process for that item.

Finishing touch for handwoven towels.
Stitching the “Handwoven by” label on the towel is the final step in finishing this group of towels. 16/2 cotton, 3-shaft twill with warp floats.

On a grander scale, you and I have a maker. You don’t have to wonder if your maker knows you. He has known you from the beginning, planning the colors in the warp before it was on the loom, so to speak. You also don’t have to wonder if your maker hears you. Your prayers are heard. Even when no one else around you is listening, the Lord hears your prayer. Everything he has made, including you, bears his label. That makes you beautiful.

May you put your maker’s skills on display.

Labeled,
Karen

Quiet Friday: Coral Shawl for a Memorable Occasion

Karen

Have you ever experienced a chain of events, where the dominos start falling, and you just try to keep up? That is the story of this shawl. My daughter got engaged, so I bought a dress to wear at her wedding. The dress is sleeveless, so I wanted a shawl to wear over my shoulders. Not knowing where to find a matching shawl, I decided to weave one. To weave a shawl, I had to finish weaving these towels that were on the loom, plan the draft for a shawl, and order thread.

Thread and yarn record notebook.
New 10/2 bamboo thread samples added to my thread/yarn record book.

The excitement of dressing the loom, trying out weft color options, weaving the delicate huck lace pattern, twisting fringe, wet finishing the cloth, and waiting for the wet cloth to dry, is all intensified because of the meaning of the event where I will wear the shawl. The shawl, itself, is a minor player that will serve best if it is not even noticed. The attention will be on Melody and Eddie as they pledge their love and faithfulness to each other, embracing companionship for a lifetime. Three weeks to go!

Threading heddles with coral bamboo thread for huck lace.
Threading heddles for huck lace.
Sleying the reed on Glimakra Ideal.
Reed is sleyed with two ends per dent in a 12 dent reed, which means the sett is 24 ends per inch.
Every thread is ready. Let the weaving begin!
Every thread stands at attention, each in their proper place. Let the weaving begin!
Weft color auditions on coral bamboo warp. Karen Isenhower
Trying out the weft colors in the late afternoon on the dark coral warp. First, coral weft; and then, hot pink weft.
Coral pink bamboo shawl in huck lace.
Pink coral shawl was woven first. The hot pink huck lace weft floats are on the back side of the cloth, visible as the cloth angles toward the knee beam.
Hemstitching on the loom. Huck lace bamboo shawl.
Hemstitching at the beginning of the coral shawl. Notice the subtle border treatment that starts with plain weave and three closer rows of huck lace before the body of the shawl.
Twisting fringe.
Twisting groups of warp ends together to create twisted fringe that embellishes the ends of the shawl.
Wet finishing begins for coral huck lace shawl.
There is nothing that makes me more nervous than wet finishing. A mistake at this point can ruin the handwoven masterpiece. For this reason, I first wet finished the sample piece, and then the pink coral shawl. Now, I am confident about throwing the coral shawl into the washing machine with a half-capful of no rinse delicate wash concentrate.
Bamboo shawl, laying flat to dry.
After gently rolling the wet cloth in towels to remove excess water, I lay it out smoothly on my longest countertop, and leave it to dry overnight.
Trimming the fringe after washing. Frayed ends removed.
After the cloth is fully dry, knots at the ends of the twisted fringe are trimmed off, removing frayed ends and leaving clean-cut ends.
Finished handwoven coral bamboo huck lace shawl. Karen Isenhower
Ready for a special occasion!

May those you love know how much you love them.

With Anticipation,
Karen

The Pleasant Surprise of Dots

Karen

Honestly, I didn’t know it would come out dotted. If I wanted dotted cloth, I could use surface design, like paint, embroidery, or beading. Instead, I got the pleasant surprise of dots that are woven into the fabric itself!

Wet-finishing differences in huck lace.
Huck lace weft floats, as seen in unwashed cloth (on the left), hand-washed cloth, (center), and machine-washed cloth (on the right).

These shawls have a dark coral warp. The unwashed piece on the left is the one I intend to wear to my daughter’s wedding. You can see the light coral weft in the little weft floats of the huck lace. The other two pieces have a hot pink weft, which gives the cloth a (difficult to photograph) pink-ish coral color. The one in the center was hand washed. Notice that the pink weft floats are barely distinguishable from the rest of the fabric. The piece on the right was washed on the gentle cycle in the washing machine (omitting the spin cycle). Look at the pink dots! They were there all along, but they became subtle, but noticeable, punctuation marks in the cloth through agitation in the washing machine.

Like the dots that are woven into this fabric, truth is woven into our universe. Truth is. And truth is discoverable. It is there all along, but we don’t always understand it or see it. Sometimes, it is when we go through life’s agitations that truth rises to the surface as a pleasant surprise.

May truth be your favorite surprise.

Discovering with you,
Karen