Loved ones are filling my home this week, so why not include them in weaving endeavors? My son Daniel took the challenge to create a Thanksgiving image on graph paper that I could weave in Bound Rosepath. A turkey pilgrim!
Five shuttles carry the colors of Brage wool yarn for this bound rosepath weave on a 16/3 linen warp. Look at the orange to see the turkey pilgrims with black hats.
Give thanks. Pilgrims, turkeys, families, generations of freedom. The American story handed down through the ages.
Give thanks for the food.
Give thanks for the blessings.
Give thanks for your family coming together from near and far.
Give thanks to your family.
Give thanks to your friends.
But above all, oh, give thanks to our creator, for he is good; for his love goes on and on and on without end.
Rosepath (Rosengång) is a motif that shows up frequently in Scandinavian textiles. I love seeing rosepath in any setting, but rosepath is at its best, arguably, when it is used for borders and accents on otherwise ordinary cloth. This four-shaft rosepath is well-suited for rag rugs, giving delightful visual results. Because it uses two ski shuttles and fancy footwork on the treadles, I must be deliberately attentive. (Click HERE to view my other Rosepath projects.) If there is to be a positive motif in the fabric of our lives, we must be deliberate about that, as well.
The characteristic dot in the rosepath motif is clearly visible in the high-contrast red/tan accent. The dot is still visible, but not as obvious in the lower-contrast mottled green/tan accent.
People want to be remembered. Stop for a minute and think about the people you are connected with–family members, friends, co-workers, acquaintances. Think about how thankful you are for them. Thankfulness is an outstanding motif. Not just thankful for what people give you or do for you, but simply thankful that they are here.
One of the best ways to love someone is to remember them when you’re talking with the creator, thanking him for putting them in your life. Thinking thankful thoughts is nice, but deliberately thanking the one who makes it possible is even better. That thankfulness shows up as the defining motif in all our interactions with the people we’ve been given to love.
May your thankful heart be the delightful motif that others see.
A boat shuttle is clearly the best way to send weft thread across a 45-inch (114 cm) warp. The pleasing rhythm of weaving is possible because of this very simple tool. Even so, the shuttle is merely a vehicle for the thread. Music is another kind of vehicle.
Plain weave, with evenly-spaced lace weave squares. The alpaca/Tencel yarn is soft, yet very easy to work with.
I doubt there is a more effective vehicle for carrying a message than music. Surely you have noticed how ideas spread across the culture via songs, and how easily we retain words that are attached to a tune. Boat shuttles were invented because handweavers needed a way to send weft thread across a distance. Maybe music was invented because we needed a way to send messages that matter.
I would like to send a message across time and space. I’ll wrap the words around a quill, and insert it in the boat shuttle. And then, momentarily holding the shuttle just so, I’ll release the song with a flick of my wrist, sending the message to the one who means the most to me. A joyful pronouncement of my creator’s goodness and love, set to musical expression. Brings a smile from heaven, don’t you think? And as that shuttle continues, in the rhythm of the weaving, the thread of the simple song ends up leaving a pattern in the cloth.
This Swedish rosepath is a weft-faced structure, which means the warp is covered by the weft. (To see more of what I wove during my week at Vävstuga Classics, click HERE and HERE.) Yes, you can see this linen warp preceding and following the woven wool weft, but if you look at just the patterned area, the warp is not visible. The treadling is simple (weaving on opposites); and because of many possibilities with pattern and color, designing at the loom is incredibly fun! Do you ever think about the warp that lies under the pattern and color of your life?
Warp is 16/3 Line Linen (Bockens) and weft is Brage Wool Yarn (Borgs). Treadle one is paired with treadle three, and treadle two is paired with treadle four. This simple treadling, combined with color choices, provides endless design possibilities.
At times I find myself so involved in my day-to-day activities that I only think about what needs to get done, forgetting the unseen warp that provides the inner strength I need.
Inspired by New England’s autumn foliage, this piece is an attempt to capture the glory on display in creation.
Our creator’s goodness is so constant we can overlook it, forgetting how much we need his goodness to sustain our lives. And it is his unending love that gives meaning and stability to the overlaying patterns and colors that form our days. You do not have to see the warp with your eyes to know it is hidden within the beautiful rosepath weaving. The scenic autumn New England countryside that I enjoyed last week is the creator’s rosepath on display!
(Next week: You don’t want to miss my exclusive conversation with Becky Ashenden, the delightful master weaver of Vävstuga.)
A closer sett(30 epi instead of 24 epi) would have produced a firmer fabric, more suitable for bag-making. But, as Steve would say,
It is what it is.
I did make one very pretty bag, lined with blue satin. But because of the airy weave, I was not enthused about making three more bags. The fabric itself is stunning; it’s just not bag fabric. When things do not turn out the way we envision, it feels confusing and unsettling.
Two-toned beaded linen wrap and beaded linen bag. The fabric is woven with 16/1 linen, warp and weft, in a traditional Swedish three-treadle weave structure.
I invested much time, attention, and resources into this unique iridescent cloth that has little glass beads woven into it (click HERE to see it on the loom)… Now what? In my unsettled thoughts I struggled to find a good solution.
And then…In a playful moment, I threw the cloth over my shoulders and looked in the mirror. Ahhh, pretty! Then I wrapped it around my neck like a scarf. Ohhh, nice! Being 100% linen, it is a little stiff, but putting it through the gentle cycle of the washer has softened it. Wearing it will soften it even more.
In times of uncertainty, we may think we missed the creator’s plan. Be on the lookout, though, for his nearness. The part of the plan that we do not see until we are smack dab in the middle of it is the part where his nearness is revealed.
May you find solutions to your biggest challenges.
