The first of my Christmas promise gifts is now complete. This large throw in vivid colors fills the request from my daughter-in-law Marie. How fitting for a mother of three exuberant little boys to wrap up on the couch in her own fabric hug of exuberant color! This colorful cotton double weave throw is Woven Radiance.
Radiance. Large cotton throw with radiant blocks of color. The warp for the next Christmas promise gift is wound and waiting on the warp beam.
Double weave, with eight shafts and eight treadles, and 2,064 ends, is a challenge. But results like this make all the effort worthwhile. My heart sings as I see these brilliant threads intersect to make sensational cloth! I am filled with amazement and gratitude that I’ve been given the opportunity to play with colorful threads on a weaving loom.
I hope you enjoy the process photos in this little slideshow video I created for you.
I am stepping out of the box with this combination, trusting that what is seen only in my mind’s eye will have an extraordinary impact. This warp will become towels for my daughter Melody. I chose cottolin threads in colors that remind me of the colorfully painted homes we saw on our visit to Chile a few years ago when Melody was living there. Aqua, light poppy, marigold, and orchid.
Mix of colors that remind me of Chile.First of three bouts on the warping reel.Beaming the warp with the help of the warping trapeze.Warp beam with new cottolin warp for towels.
We trust what we can see—a chair to hold us, and an airplane to fly us. But unseen things are also part of our trust—the chair maker’s glue, and the air that aerodynamic engineers depend on. Earth and heaven, seen and unseen. Jesus, seen on earth, made the unseen God visible. Trust the unseen.
In my memories, I always picture Grandma wearing an apron, whether doing housework, gardening, or baking coffee cake in her kitchen. Maybe that is part of the magic I feel when I put on my weaving apron.
Weaving apron is ready for my next session at the Glimåkra Standard loom. Fabric protection board protects the fabric on the loom, but without an apron my clothing suffers from rubbing up against the board.
I sit right up to the breast beam when I weave, which helps my posture and my reach. This makes the fabric on the loom vulnerable, especially to buttons, buckles, or zippers. It also gives my clothes undue wear, even creating small holes in some of my shirts. My Glimåkra Standard loom has the fabric protection board, aka “belly board,” but that is not in place until the knots from the beginning of the warp go under the breast beam. So, the first inches of weaving go unprotected. My other looms don’t have a fabric protection board.
Apron is kept on the loom bench for easy access. There is no fabric protection board on this loom, so without an apron, the tapestry being woven and the clothing I wear are both susceptible to damage from repeated contact.Apron pockets keep things handy.With simple criss-cross straps at the back, this weaving apron fits just about anybody. And there is no bow to tie in the back, like my Grandma’s aprons had.
A weaving apron guards both the fabric on the loom and my clothes. The apron also gives me ample pockets, good for countless things—dropping in a few wound quills to take back to the loom, keeping a tape measure handy, separating one wool butterfly from the rest, and other things you wouldn’t think of if you didn’t have them.
Texas hill country loom has its weaving apron ready for my next visit there.
An apron like this would be easy to make. However, I was fortunate to come across the perfect weaving apron (not labeled as such), pockets and all, at a quaint little shop in Texas hill country. So, now I keep one at each loom. And when you put one of these aprons on to weave, something magical happens…
Now is my chance. I’d like to try one moreweft idea on this double weave warp. I ended the colorful throw, and have about fifty centimeters left for a lap blanket. After the red cutting line, I am testing some black cottolin weft. It isn’t in my original plan, nor in my sample, but I want to see how it looks.
Deep plum alternates with black weft in a small test sample. Pairs of red picks mark the cutting lines between pieces.
The black weft does brighten the warp colors. But that’s not the look I’m after. I would miss the mixed shades that occur as the warp stripe colors are repeated in the weft. So I am weaving the smaller piece with the same weft sequence as the larger throw. When I see the weft choices clearly, it’s not hard for me to decide which weft option to use.
Following the fabric under the breast beam, behind the knee beam, and around the cloth beam. The four warp stripe colors are repeated in the weft, making slight variations of color in the squares.
Wisdom is a treasure. It comes from seeing things through heaven’s perspective. Beware of human ideas masquerading as wisdom, leading us in the wrong direction. The treasure of wisdom that is found in Christ leads to understanding. Looking through heaven’s wisdom, my choices become clear. And it’s not hard for me to decide to stay true to the Grand Weaver’s design.
“Mid” marks the halfway point on every pre-measured tape I make. I like to know when I’m starting the second half of something. It’s a target before I reach it, and a passing milestone after I cross that line.
Pre-measured twill tape has a line at the halfway point, marked “Mid.” Tail from a spliced warpend will be trimmed in the finishing process.
As I’m weaving this throw, my thoughts jump ahead. I will have a few skipped threads to fix, and spliced warpends to clip. I think about how I will hem the piece, and wash and dry it. In what special manner shall I present the finished throw to my beloved daughter-in-law? And, my mind goes to the twelve-shaftdouble weave towels for my daughter that are up next, with the flowery threads beckoning me from the shelves.
Double weave with eight shafts. 8/2 cotton.Do you see the aqua, poppy, marigold, and orchid cottolin threads that are ready to jump off the shelves and be woven into hand towels?
I’d like to know where I am in the span of my life. There is no “Mid” mark, though, is there? I’m not in charge of that measured tape. Faith in Christ, love, and perseverance—these form a foundation. A solid foundation is security for life. In this security, I think about what I need to repair and resolve and finish. And how to leave intangible gifts that outlive me. And I think about the glory that awaits. Imagine fabric of unbridled creativity in colors only heaven knows!
