grace – Warped for Good

Snow in Springtime at the Drawloom

April 19, 2022April 16, 2022 Karen

This Myrehed combination drawloom continually fascinates me. It’s all about raising and lowering threads in a purposeful way. Pulling pattern-shaft draw handles for the borders is the easy part. The single units in the body of the towel, however, capture my focused attention. Consistent precision—that’s the secret to completion.

Single units of threads are raised by placing draw cords on the hook bar. The black cords and white cords are arranged in groups of ten. I mentally split each group of ten so I am focusing on five single units at a time.w

Side borders use fifteen pattern shafts. Each pattern-shaft draw handle raises units of threads across the warp. That enables me to pull handles for the pattern that shows up on both the right and left borders.

This second towel in the Snowfake series continues the theme of softly falling snow. Meanwhile, Texas bluebonnets, wine cups, varied bright yellow daisy-type flowers, and mealy blue sage are springing up through hard ground all over our backyard. And Thursday morning I spotted the first gaillardia bloom—previewing the next wave of color.

Texas bluebonnets were the first flowers to burst into bloom.

Myrehed Combination drawloom enables me to combine pattern shafts (8 draw handles are pulled here) and single units (several draw cords are pulled in this picture) in a single project. I truly enjoy all the variables!

I am acutely aware that you may be experiencing a lingering cold season, and may even yet have snow on the ground. I’m not just referring to weather and flowers. Real-life struggles. Let me assure you that spring is coming. Have faith in the one who raised Jesus from the dead. Your faith captures the Lord’s attention. He brings new life out of hard ground. And the white of falling snowflakes remains a pleasant reminder of his grace. For all who call on the name of Jesus, the grace of his forgiveness falls over us to make us clean, as white as softly falling snow.

May you see signs of new life.

Happy spring weaving,
Karen

Weaving with Friends

August 3, 2021August 2, 2021 Karen

Welcome back into my studio. I have been weaving, finishing, winding warps, and dressing looms. And spending time with friends. What better way to enjoy friends than to go on a floor-loom-weaving expedition together? Weaving Extravaganza at Homestead Fiber Crafts in Waco, Texas is the getaway. The looms are dressed and ready for us when we arrive. Abilities and experience are irrelevant. Anyone can do this!

From the projects available, I choose to weave a textured shawl. Keleen, a rigid heddle weaver (sitting at a floor loom this time), chooses to make fabric for an apron with a monksbelt border. Jan, who has never touched a loom until now, weaves natural-colored-cotton dish towels. Four hours pass in a flash, with weaving and camaraderie. We each complete our handwoven cloth. After returning home our fabrics are washed and finished, ready for use. My shimmering shawl is just right for a cool evening. Keleen’s fabric is soon to become an heirloom apron. And Jan’s first handwoven towels are drying dishes. Success!

Textured Shawl woven at Homestead Fiber Crafts. — Textured Shawl, mixed fibers, plain weave.

Monksbelt apron fabric woven at Homestead Fiber Crafts. — Monksbelt apron fabric, cotton, plain weave and two-shuttle monksbelt pattern weave.

Natural colored cotton dish towels woven at Homestead Fiber Crafts. — Natural-colored-cotton dish towels, plain weave.

Abilities and experience come in all shapes and sizes. Anyone who wants to learn, can. Your heart goes in the direction you turn it. The Lord sees your heart. He’s not looking for ability or experience. He reaches the heart that is turned toward him. That’s where his grace comes to life.

May you have true friends.

Your friend,
Karen

What Five-Shaft Huckaback Can Do

June 1, 2021May 31, 2021 Karen

It takes only four blocks to weave these lovely summer “flowers.” This five-shaft huckaback uses one tabby treadle and four pattern treadles. My right foot operates the tabby treadle and my left foot manages the pattern treadles. One treadle remains on the floor (not tied up) between the tabby and pattern treadles, putting a helpful space between right foot and left foot.

Skirt fabric! — Flower pattern will be on the second and third tiers of a three-tiered skirt.

Each of the four pattern treadles produces its own block. It couldn’t be simpler. It’s always right foot, left foot. Yet, I can weave the wrong sequence, even while I’m patting myself on the back. For that reason, I stop and examine my work after every few picks. I want to make sure my weaving aligns with the treadling sequence on the draft.

Weaving fabric for 3-tiered skirt! — Summer flowers in huckaback (huck lace).

Have you noticed how easy it is to judge someone else’s motives? And how hard it is to notice our own? I can fool myself. The Lord knows us better than we know ourselves. It’s his mercy that shows us our impure motives. His grace shows us how to walk in his ways. His love keeps us coming back to align our hearts with his.

May your fabric have grace woven in.

Happy Weaving,
Karen

Grace at the Loom

February 2, 2021January 31, 2021 Karen

The blue threads for this project are delightful! Four shades of blue, from pale blue to sapphire, play across the warp, accented with navy blue stripes. Lucious 8/2 cotton is threaded in eight-shaft twill. The hand of the fabric will be well suited for the chair arm- and headrest- covers I have planned. This blue color sequence is the winning combination from the thread wrappings I showed you in October. (See Warp Sequence Planning.)

Threading heddles for 8-shaft twill. — Project notes sit with me on the loom bench.

Beautiful blue Bockens 8/2 cotton! — Beautiful warp beam gives a glimpse of how the blue flows together.

My warp planning had a calculation error. I went on my merry way, winding the warp, beaming the warp, and threading the heddles. Until, …Surprise! I have three extra ends left after all the heddles are threaded. Fortunately, there is grace at the loom. I pull the navy blue border threads and three light blue threads out of their heddles and re-thread the navy blue border stripe. The three light blue ends will hang off the back, unused. All is well.

Warp color sequence - blue, blue, blue, blue! — Three light blue ends sit on top of the lease stick tied to the back beam. These extra warp threads will hang off the back and stay out of the way of the warp being woven.

Grace is like that. We mess up, find and admit our wrong, and the Lord Jesus forgives, granting us a new start. When we are wrong we need grace. What about when others are wrong? When the errors of others affect us, what shall we do? Forgiveness is our only option. There is no good reason to hold those error threads and weave them into our fabric.

May you be a recipient of grace.

Your friend,
Karen

Threads of Grace

December 29, 2020December 25, 2020 Karen

The kneeling wise man in Steve’s hand-carved Nativity reminds me of the heart posture that speaks louder than words. Bowing in humility, we bring our gifts to honor the King of kings. Little did we expect the King to come as an infant, to grow up among his subjects, to give his life for us.

Kneeling wise man is added to hand-carved nativity. — The kneeling wise man is this year’s addition to the hand-carved Nativity. *Carvings in Spanish Cedar by Steve Isenhower*

How shall we end this year, and begin the next? With humble hearts, grateful for each new day—for each thread of grace woven in our lives by the Grand Weaver’s strong and gentle hands.

Hand-carved Nativity. Drawloom-woven runner. — Hand-carved Nativity by Steve Isenhower. I wove the background piece on the shaft drawloom at Homestead Fiber Crafts in Waco, Texas. Warp is black 16/2 cotton; weft is red and blue 16/1 linen.

May you end this year with gratitude.

Warmly,
Karen