Quiet Friday: Lucia Portrait Tapestry

Karen

A little here, a little there, and eventually I finish another small tapestry. This little woven portrait of my granddaughter Lucia was a huge challenge. I knew that from the beginning. In fact, I had about three beginnings with this intimidating project. My aim is not to make a masterpiece, but to keep making. And making, and making. Every time I go beyond what I think I can do, I learn more.

This Lucia Portrait Tapestry is best viewed from a distance. Up close, the details seem abrupt and harsh. But when I look at her from across the room, I see the picture of a child’s face.

I trimmed the weft tails on the back, steamed the piece, and made a half Damascus edging. The edging and the weft tails near the sides are stitched down. The hems are turned under and stitched. I plan to mount this on a linen-covered square, and hang the finished piece where it can be easily viewed from a few steps back.

Ending a small frame loom tapestry.
Small tapestry ends with a short hem, warp thread header, and a scrap header. I overestimated how far I could comfortably weave. This is a less-than-optimal distance from the end of the warp for weaving.
Trimming weft tails on the back of the little tapestry.
Most of my tapestry weaving is done in the evenings as part of my winding-down routine. In this session the back of the tapestry gets a haircut.
Finishing a small tapestry. Cute slideshow video.
Straggler weft tails are reigned in with a little sewing thread.
Small tapestry portrait. Slideshow video of the process!
Finished Lucia Portrait Tapestry is 4 1/4″ x 4 7/8″.

Enjoy this slideshow video. The ending is sure to make you smile!

May you keep making.

Love,
Karen

Dream Weave and Slow Reveal

Karen

This project is a slow reveal. I am showing what I am doing now, but I am waiting to tell what this will become. There is a flurry of preparation behind the scenes. In time, you will see what develops on the loom. You and I both will find out if I am jumping in over my head. Or, if I can, in fact, pull this off.

Warping reel with 16/2 linen for a new warp.
Warping reel with 16/2 line linen for a new warp.
Dressing the Glimakra Ideal loom with linen.
Linen shows itself to be a beautiful mess.

This is a gorgeous linen warp, with three shades of 16/2 linen: sable, northsea blue, and persian blue. I am dressing my Ideal loom to almost full weaving width: 93 centimeters. The sett is 3 ends per centimeter in a 30/10 metric reed (equivalent to 7.6 ends per inch). I am intensely eager and cautiously optimistic regarding this weaving adventure.

Linen. Dressing the loom.
Linen. Sable, northsea blue, and persian blue. Bockens linen comes with color numbers only. It is interesting to see the names given to the colors by different suppliers. These creative color names are from Vävstuga.
Ready to beam this linen warp on my Glimakra Ideal loom.
Pre-sley reed is in the beater. It’s time to grab some warping slats, slide the lease sticks forward, and beam the warp.

Love is like a hidden dream in your heart, awaiting expression. Love goes with you. It is a treasure you get to bestow on others. In some cases, your treasure may be their only hope. The God of love with us weaves the love of God in us, as his faithfulness is revealed over a lifetime. If we could see the end result the Grand Weaver has in mind, most certainly it would make us smile.

May the God of love and the love of God be with you.

Secretly,
Karen

Building Blocks in Double Weave

Karen

Troubles. What troubles? All is forgotten now that the shuttle is ready to soar. After my threading misadventure and correction, I’m ready to weave! But first… The treadle tie-ups need adjustments. And then, after weaving a couple inches, a few more adjustments. Now the shed is nearly perfect on every treadle. Ready, set, wait a minute… Sample. Which shuttle goes where to lock in the weft? How many picks make a square? Is my beat consistent?

Waterfall of colorful threads over the back beam!
Like a spectacular waterfall, warp ends splash with color over the back beam. First adjustments have been made to treadle tie-ups. Ready to start weaving the sample.
Sample first. Double weave throw about to begin.
Sample gives opportunity to practice and experiment. Checking shed clearances, weft color tryouts, synchronizing two shuttles, consistent beating–a few of the reasons why it makes sense to sample first.

After completing the sample, I am now weaving the wide dark plum beginning border of the double weave throw. In a few inches I will be enjoying the colorful blocks that we have all been waiting for. Building blocks. Success, setbacks, adjustments, and practice, all build a foundation of weaving experience.

Beginning dark plum border of a double weave throw.
Here it is. The real thing. The beginning border of the actual double weave throw.

Build. If I’m not careful, my attention goes to the building up of myself. Yet, love focuses on others to build them up. It’s through a process of success, setbacks, adjustments, and practice that love flourishes. When your strong desire is to see the colorful blocks of the weave, you press through until you see it. Love is even stronger than that. Our example is Christ. His love makes the pattern of love possible in us.

May you build on what you learn.

Happy weaving,
Karen

Double Weave Throw – Take Two

Karen

Nothing about the original draft is incorrect, but when I wrote it in pencil on my planning sheet, I transposed one. little. thing. The threading key. “X = plum; black square = other colors.” Exact opposite of what is written in the draft from The Big Book of Weaving, by Laila Lundell. (See When You Misread the Threading Draft, where I discover my dilemma.)

One little mistake. Big consequences.
Blind to my own mistake, even as I double check my handwritten draft.

Thanks to Fiberworks weaving software I am working out a solution. I adjusted the tie-up, so the treadle tie-ups on the first, third, fifth, and seventh shafts trade places with the tie-ups on the second, fourth, sixth, and eighth shafts. It works. And now, the one little threading error that is clearly visible seems like a breeze to correct!

Ready to weave a cotton double weave throw.
Tie-up adjustments bring the correct warp ends to the surface. Solid stripes of color are set to produce the desired design when woven.
One threading error. No big deal at this point.
One blue warp end stands out like a sore thumb. I’m glad to find this one threading error at this stage in the process.

There are times when my whole perspective needs an adjustment. It’s time for love. Love adjusts our view. At the heart level, love brings about changes in us. It re-sets our attention and motivations. Because God loved us, we can love, too. We don’t see, understand, or know everything now, which shows how incomplete we humans are. But the love that heaven knows is something we get to participate in here and now. Our cloth is far from perfected, but our love adjustments give us a glimpse of cloth from another realm.

May you make necessary adjustments.

Love,
Karen

When You Misread the Threading Draft

Karen

What if you finish tying up the loom, eight shafts and eight treadles, having beamed, threaded, and sleyed 2,064 ends, and the first thing you see when you step on the treadles is… that you misunderstood the threading draft? Do you undo everything and re-thread? Not likely, if it took you eleven-and-a-half hours to do the threading in the first place. I am taking a deep breath. Time to walk away and think. Maybe I can adjust the tie-up, or maybe I can use it as is—a serendipitous design. Should I laugh or cry? My idea to serve my loved ones with handwoven gifts (See Weaving a Gift) is getting off to a rough start.

Double weave throw. Warp is tied on.
Warp is tied on. Ready to tie up the treadles.
Tie-up completed for eight shafts and eight treadles.
Lamms are connected. Treadle cords are positioned. Treadles are tied up. Eight shafts and eight treadles.
Double weave throw.
This view should show solid dark plum all the way across.
Double weave throw on the loom.
This view should show stripes of solid colors, not two-color stripes, with solid bands of dark plum in between.

Serve. I want to offer my best, especially when I’m making a gift for someone dear to me. It helps to look beyond the person, though, and realize my true service is to the Lord. Heart, soul, mind, and hands. I bring my misunderstandings and missteps of the heart to my Master Weaver, who has taken it on himself to make things right. And I’m reminded that as I serve someone with my weaving hands, the true gift is love. This double weave throw will be a reminder of that.

May you recover from your mistakes.

Humbly,
Karen

UPDATE: I have had a chance to put the draft on Fiberworks weaving software and work with it to adjust the tie-up. I think I found a solution. Stay tuned!