Tag: grace

Cut It Off and Start Over

Karen

This is what starting over looks like. After weaving a couple inches, I had a bad feeling. Uh oh, there is a fatal mistake in the threading. Not just one or two wandering threads, but I mis-threaded all the way across the warp!

Threading error. Re-threading 866 heddles.
Sample with various weft color options. After cutting off the sample, the process of re-threading the 866 heddles begins.

Cut off the sample. Pull 866 threads back out of the reed and out of the heddles. Re-thread 866 threads. Re-sley. Redo the tie-up. Tie-on again! Breathe. Even so, I am thankful I get to begin again. The mistakes are completely removed and I have a fresh start.

I had to search to find the root of this error. I examined the threads in the fabric; and I compared the woven sample to the draft. Not until I studied my planning sheet did I see that I had written out the draft incorrectly. I had mistakenly exchanged shaft 4 for shaft 2 in the threading draft. Aha! and Ugh! My instructions to myself were faulty!

We cannot fix everything in our lives. Often, we cannot even find the root of the problem. Fortunately, our grand weaver, who searches hearts and minds, is able to reveal the source of our error. And then, in his grace, cuts away what was not working and gives us a brand new start. No old strings attached.

May a fresh start come your way.

Grace to you,
Karen

A Different Kind of Band Music

Karen

The musician in me sees this band loom as another stringed instrument! My left hand passes the shuttle back and forth. My feet change the sheds by stepping on the treadles. My right hand beats in the weft with the band knife. Pass—Tug—Step— whack-Whack. One—Two—Three— and-Four. The two treadles operate with a simple pulley system, so they are always in sync with each other, keeping this instrument moving. Like the treadles, grace and peace are two elements that operate together to create harmony in our lives.

Colorful band woven on two-treadle band loom.
Doubled thick threads make a raised pink dot down the center of the band. Variegated threads combined with solid colors create a gradually changing color palette in the background threads.

We all long for grace and peace, don’t we? Grace, meaning forgiveness when we mess up; and peace, meaning freedom from anxiety. Why, then, do we avoid grace, thinking we should just try harder not to mess up? And we attempt to create peace by filling our longing with things that will not satisfy.

When grace and peace from our creator have their place in our lives, we experience the sweet harmony of the soul. Satisfied, with his grace and peace wrapped around us like an exquisite shawl, we stand ready for the music of the day.

May grace and peace from our creator envelop you.

Making music,
Karen