Tag: Glimakra Standard

Copying Springtime Colors

Karen

Does fear of making a mistake keep you from experimenting with color? To be on the safe side, repeat something that you have done before. Or at least copy someone else. Isn’t that why we love Pinterest? You don’t have to think something up; just do what somebody else has done.

Color combination for a cotton scarf.
8/2 cotton, with the self-imposed challenge of using seven different colors of weft on the light green warp.

I have woven some wild color combinations. Including some that I regret. You know, the what-was-I-thinking kind of experiments. Those pieces get hidden away; or, I keep them only for personal use, but never for show. But here I go again, trying to make a handful of colors work together. We won’t see the overall results until the scarf is off the loom, when it is too late to undo it.

Cotton puckered scarf on the loom. Springtime colors!
Final scarf on this cotton warp. Three different shades of green are separated by narrow stripes of springtime colors, with slightly longer floats in the narrow stripes. Will it work? We will see…

All of us have done things we regret. There’s no chance for a do-over, so we just hide it. We have to be careful not to be shaped by our regrets. Fear of making a mistake can keep us frozen in indecision. Yet, when I come to Jesus, he is able to keep me from stumbling, from repeating my missteps. Yes, I learn from my mistakes; but even better than that, the Master Weaver gives me an example to “copy.” His example is tried and true.

May your regrets be few.

Always learning,
Karen

Practice Weaving Like a Musician

Karen

As a classically trained musician, I tend to approach my time at the loom as practice. This means being mentally alert–for every little gesture, the synchronization of movements, and the quality being produced. Little by little, with this mindfulness, I see improvement in releasing and catching the shuttle, treading my feet on the treadles, and efficiency of movement overall. I still struggle with getting an even beat and with keeping my place in the treadling pattern. My pace of weaving is increasing, though.

Hemstitching at the beginning of another cotton scarf.
Hemstitching begins another cotton lace scarf. The ease of weaving with only one shuttle allows ample opportunity to focus on improvement of weaving technique.

Will I ever reach perfection in these skills? I don’t think so. I have come a long way, but have you noticed that learning never ends? My practice won’t make me perfect, but it does provide a way for me to grow as a weaver.

Faith is more than a belief, it is a practice. Faith in Jesus is always the entrance door into the Kingdom of heaven. And don’t think of heaven simply as a destination. Think of heaven as a Kingdom where everything is right. The day will come when that Kingdom is no longer a mystery. In the meantime, let’s practice weaving worthwhile cloth.

May you practice what you believe.

With you,
Karen

Weave What You Wish For

Karen

I am looking forward to the end product–soft and squishy scarves! I have finished weaving the first scarf, and hemstitched both ends at the loom. The long warp floats don’t worry me, because I know that wet finishing will give me what I wish for–soft, puckered cloth. (You can see how the sample turned out in Puckered Sample.)

Cotton lace weave scarf as it rolls onto the cloth beam below the weaving surface.
Warping slats on the cloth beam, the first time around, give the fabric a smooth surface to roll onto. Hemstitching separates the fringe area from the woven cloth that will become a scarf.

Some things you wish for are simply out of your control. That is how I felt two weeks ago when my mother went to the hospital with life-threatening illness. Wishful thinking is nice, but it doesn’t actually change anything. Prayer does change things. I’m not saying that prayer will necessarily keep someone alive if their body has worn out. I am saying that prayer makes a difference in how things play out in any circumstance.

Things happen when you pray. In this case, my mother beat the odds and left the hospital. Alive! You and I need each other. When we humble ourselves and ask for help, help comes. When we pray and ask God for help, sometimes sick people get better, and weak people get stronger. Our prayers for each other are heard and answered. This is better than wishes come true.

May you have the benefit of someone else’s prayers.

Love,
Karen

Invisible Zipper

Karen

 

Remember this linen dice weave fabric? The brown checks are sets of weft floats over the deep blue warp. I created two throw pillows with this striking linen fabric, and filled them with down and feather inserts. An invisible zipper makes a classy closure for a pillow like this. If you do it just right the little zipper pull is the only clue that there is a zipper in the seam. Fabric this special deserves a classy closure.

All linen dice weave pillows being made. Handwoven cloth.
Three different weft colors–deep blue (same as warp), royal blue, and teal blue– produce three similar, yet slightly different colors of cloth. The brown linen floats create an interesting checked texture.

If you know the zipper is there, it is not hard to find. But if you are not looking for it, you could miss the invisible zipper, especially if it is inserted by an expert seamstress. Have you thought about noticing other things that are not immediately visible?

Handwoven linen dice weave pillows.
Invisible zipper placed in bottom seam of linen pillow cover.
Handwoven linen dice weave down-filled pillows. Karen Isenhower
Linen dice weave pillows take their place on the sofa.

Faith is seeing the invisible. Faith is assurance that our hope is sound, and conviction that the unseen is true reality. As with the zipper, when you know the invisible is there, it is not hard to find.

May you notice details that are easily overlooked.

Hopeful,
Karen

Wool Double-Width Blankets Finished

Karen

The wool double-width blankets came out even better than I had hoped. It still seems magical to simply weave, and end up with cloth two times the woven width. What did I enjoy most about this project? First of all, the colors. It is so much fun to mess with colors. Secondly, the fringe. I love how the fringe turned out. Those chubby twists are my favorite part of the finished blankets. Knotted, or not. The first blanket has knotted fringe. Watch the Wool Blanket Final Finishing video below to see what happens with the fringe on the second blanket.

Finishing fringe on wool blanket. Video with more info.
Fringes on the first blanket are finished with knots before the excess is cut away.
Detail of fold of double-width blanket.
Detail of opened and finished fold on double-width blanket.
Finished wool double-width blanket. Karen Isenhower
Finished wool double-width blanket. Final finishing complete.

In this final episode in the Wool Blanket Finishing series, I show you how I brush the blanket and finish the fringe.

In case you missed any of the previous videos in this series:

1. Colorful Cozy Blanket and a Video

2. Quiet Friday: Wool Blanket Finishing

3. Wool Blanket Gets Wet

May your work come back to you as rewards.

Love,
Karen