Tag: grand weaver

Two Types of Weaving

Karen

My attention has been on the other loom for a couple weeks, but I have managed to sneak in to the big loom and add a little bit to this monksbelt project. I would like to have more to show, but this is it. What a contrast between the fast plain weave baby wrap (see Quiet Friday: Woven Baby Wrap) and this very slow two-shuttle monksbelt. I enjoy weaving both. There’s a time for fast; and there’s a time for slow.

Monksbelt on the loom.
White on white puts dramatic space between sections of color.

Each type of weaving produces a specific type of cloth. Very different textures. Very different purposes. Each beautiful in its own way. This reminds me of people, fashioned by the Lord. Individuals suited to specific tasks with purpose and meaning. This is our life discovery, to live the way our maker had in mind when he fashioned us with his hands.

May your life be rich with meaning.

Happy weaving,
Karen

Monksbelt Grid

Karen

I think of monksbelt as a grid. The grid, created in the threading, has blocks that I get to fill in with color. The only thing I have to do is follow the treadling draft and keep the two shuttles in their proper order. The rest is play. It is amazing what you can do with nine pattern colors, several background colors, and a simple grid. 

Classic monksbelt with a modern look. Karen Isenhower
Swedish monksbelt has two blocks in the pattern. Ground weave and pattern colors are changed in irregular intervals, giving a modern look to a classic weave structure.

A grid is a framework, a structure, that gives boundaries to the space. We need a grid for coloring our decisions, for outlining our beliefs, and for drawing our convictions. Our hearts can be fooled, so don’t trust your heart to tell you what is right. What seems right may be wrong. We need a higher standard for forming the patterns of our life. It makes sense to stay with the grid that the Grand Weaver, our Maker, planned when he dressed the loom. Then, filling in the blocks with color is pure joy.

May you find colors that delight you.

With joy,
Karen

Storm Troopers in a Rag Rug?

Karen

There are some crazy prints embedded in my rag rugs. I buy cotton fabric in five-yard lengths. When I scan the fabric bolts at the store, I look for specific colors and interesting patterns. More prints make it into my rugs than solid colors.

Fabric for another interesting rag rug!
Drawn to a bolt of fabric with a touch of blue on a mostly-white background, I was surprised to find the popular sci-fi vehicles in the print. Storm Troopers can hide in plain sight on this rug.

Unusual prints can add hidden surprises to a rug. Take Star Wars prints, for example. No one will know that the Millenium Falcon or Storm Troopers are in the finished rug. After all, the fabric has been sliced into strips, and is used only intermittently as weft and inlay. But the weaver… she knows, and smiles about it. Am I a Star Wars fanatic? No, not by a long shot. I selected the fabric for its colors and effect. I wanted to make something new out of these popular movie prints.

Rag rug with rya knots and loops.
Where are the Storm Troopers? There are a few hiding among the rya strips, and some are in the weft rows that stand out as black and white.
Creating loops on a rag rug.
Loops are created on the rug, using a wooden dowel. And a five-yard strip of Millenium Falcon fabric waits on the ski shuttle, ready to be hidden in the weave.

This is what our Savior does for us. Jesus takes us as we are and makes us completely new. We each come marked with unusual prints, and wonder what can be made of us. Jesus is not patching and fixing things, leaving us in our original state. He is making something completely new. Our personality and individual features are still there, for our Grand Weaver finds a way to make them into something good. Perhaps he smiles at the thought.

May your unusual prints bring a smile to your Maker.

With you,
Karen

Caught by Surprise – in a Good Way

Karen

I’ve been published! The new issue of Handwoven magazine (January/February 2016) is out. Have you seen it? Sarah Jackson, the weaving editor, had noticed my blue dice weave pillows on Pinterest. When she contacted me to ask if I would consider submitting a project for the linen issue, I was caught by surprise. Who, me?! I simply enjoy weaving. I never thought about having something published. But here we are! The dice weave linen pillows project is in print. This is a milestone in my weaving journey; and an opportunity for which I am immensely grateful! (See the blue dice weave pillows in Invisible Zipper.)

Linen dice weave pillows. Karen Isenhower
Finished linen dice weave pillows are shipped off to Fort Collins, Colorado to meet the Handwoven editorial team.
Linen dice weave pillow project.
Linen issue of Handwoven has good information and interesting projects, including instructions for linen dice weave pillows.
Project in print!
In print!

We think everything is going according to our plans, and then we run into surprises. Even a good surprise involves challenges, stretching us out of our comfort zones. God is completely faithful. He has certainly been faithful to me. I find relief in knowing the Grand Weaver is overseeing the fabric of my life. What seems like a surprise to me is actually part of his carefully designed plan.

May you be caught in the act of making something good.

With gratitude,
Karen

Look Again

Karen

Black and white and a little red all over. Black and white just became classier. Thin red stripes appear to tunnel under long white ridges. Surely there is a designer kitchen for this towel. Right?

Black and white and a little red all over. Towels.
Fringe at the end of one cut weft thread peeks out, revealing the spot where weft threads overlap.

Since the slender red stripes are made with only two picks, I do not have to start and stop the color at the selvedge. The first pick goes all the way across, and the second pick has cut ends that are overlapped in the shed. If you are looking, you can see where the red threads overlap. If you are not looking, you would never notice it. And after the towels are washed, the join will be virtually invisible…unless you know where to look.

We find what we are looking for. If we want to see where a weaver spliced the weft, we study and examine the fabric as much as needed until we find that detail. When we look for signs of our Creator, we find that, too. His wonders are not hidden from us, they are hidden for us. What a delight when our search leads us to the Grand Weaver, Himself.

May your search lead to hidden treasures.

With you,
Karen