Merry Christmas Eve to you. Looms are quietly waiting to resume their rhythm. Meanwhile, songs of joy and hope fill the air because the Savior of the world is born.
1. The Standard Pictorial tapestry, with only 6 centimeters of the cartoon remaining.2. The Ideal Second rosepath rag rug completed. Two short rugs yet to be woven on this warp.3. The Little Loom First of two scarves is started. I am using the Stardustdraft by Mona Nielsen, published in Happy Weaving, from Vävmagasinet, but with yarn and colors of my choosing.4. The Drawloom Warp is threaded and tied-on. Single-unit draw cords have been prepared. Next step: Attaching draw cords to pattern units. And then, tie uptreadles and start weaving!
May your night be silent and holy, calm and bright.
Inspired by some of Joanne Hall’s exquisite large tapestries, I have been taking steps to learn her techniques. This fascinating style that is unique to Joanne enables her to weave large tapestries at a comfortable pace. My Lizard tapestry last year was a step in this direction. (See Quiet Friday: Lizard Tapestry.) One thing that the lizard taught me is how much more I need to learn. So, you can imagine my delight in having the opportunity to take a Pictorial Tapestry Weaving workshop taught by Joanne Hall last week! (Contemporary Handweavers of Texas Conference in Fort Worth was the setting.)
Texas Wildflowers, tapestry by Joanne Hall. Photo credit: Steve Isenhower 2013Detail of Texas Wildflowers. Threaded in rosepath, with a linen warp. Woven with butterfly bundles of wool yarn. Photo credit: Steve Isenhower 2013
Things to remember: Don’t beat hard. Bubble the weftmore. Color theory is invaluable for adding depth and intensity. Simplify the cartoon. And countless more bits of insight and instruction! I am invigorated in my pursuit to develop these tapestry skills. Expect to see a tapestry on my 120cm Glimåkra Standard in coming days.
My hand-built countermarch loom is perfect for a tapestry workshop. Betsy brought her Glimåkra Julia loom.Workshop sampler gives students various tapestry techniques to practice. We learned techniques of other tapestry weavers, such as Hans Krondahl and Helena Hernmarck, as well as Joanne’s unique approach.Fellow student Cindy created this pear, taking advantage of the rosepath threading to add pattern to the image.Joanne, center, explains the process of creating a cartoon. She spreads out photos of flowers as a starting point for students’ cartoons.Joanne’s tapestry sample demonstrates the outcome of her process. A portion of the photo was enlarged from which she drew the cartoon.Fellow student Deborah creates a flower from her original cartoon.I am choosing to make my cartoon from an enlarged portion of a lily photo.Color studies and technique exercises all come together in the last part of the tapestry sampler. Weaving from a cartoon.Time to take the loom apart and head home. Checking my progress with the photo before packing up.Lily sample is finished at home.
I find myself pondering how experiences fall into place in our lives. There are times when the stepping stones seem to be set out before us, showing the way, when we don’t know exactly where we are going. The Lord knows where I am going. He knows me. And he kindly sets out the next steps. Perhaps he smiles as he sees our delight when we figure out that we are the bundles of yarn in his tapestry.
I need to free up this little loom in order to put on a differentwarp that has a deadline. So, now that I have returned from my travels, my attention is going to these towels. My friend is letting me weave this lovely cottolin warp that she got at Vavstuga.
Simple border stripe in first towel. Straight twill.Cottolin warp and 8/1 tow linen weft.Point twill on four shafts. Three horizontal stripes made with half-bleached tow linen weft.
Straight twill, point twill, broken twill, and now “rick-rack.” And after that, a couple towels in plain weave. Everyone who weaves this Vavstuga towel kit and follows the instructions will end up with the same six towels. True? Not necessarily. I like to step off the expected path. That is why I vary the weft and include some type of simple border design on each towel.
Three colors of 8/1 tow linen sit on the little blue table as choices for weft. Half-bleached, Unbleached, and Bronze.Changed the tie-up to broken twill, which allows me to keep a simple straight treadling pattern. Dashed weft pattern for the border stripe is produced by alternating the bronze linen weft with the half-bleached linen weft.Long wavy vertical lines give the appearance of rick-rack. Again, I changed the tie-up to keep the simple straight treadling pattern. I use all three weft colors in this color-blocked towel.Plain weave, with four shafts and two treadles. The main body of the towel uses the unbleached linen weft. Two picks of half-bleached linen are sandwiched between several rows of bronze linen weft.
There is a wide path that is crowded with many people. It’s the common and expected way of life. It’s where you stay if you want to fit in with everyone else. But if you search for it, you’ll find an uncommon path. It’s narrow; and few find it. It’s the path of life that is found in Jesus Christ. Stand in the narrow path. That is where your unique features will show up as border designs that set you apart as a cherished child of God.
All the looms are bare right now. Four empty, quiet looms. But they won’t be quiet for long. I have thread/yarn and plans ready for each loom. I hear a rumbling as the looms begin to wake up. Before long, the weaving rhythm will be fully awakened in this place!
Glimakra 100cm Ideal countermarch loom has moved into the spot vacated by my recently-acquired Glimakra Standard 120cm countermarch loom that we have moved to a new location. 12/6 cotton rug warp in Pear and Brass for Rosepath rag rugs.Glimakra 120cm Standard countermarch loom in its favored position in our home. This loom has not been moved. 6/2 Tuna wool in Lapis Lazuli and Almond for a 12-shaftdouble weave blanket.Handbuilt little 70cm countermarch loom in its perfect little corner by the windows. Pre-wound warp from Vavstuga (Mary’s Towel Kit) that my dear friend Elisabeth is letting me weave. 22/2 Cottolin in Sapphire and Yellow Ochre for towels.Glimakra 120cm Standard countermarch loom…in pieces. We are moving the newest loom in the family to a room that is next to Steve’s carving workshop.Glimakra Standard horizontal countermarch loom is being reassembled in its new Drawloom Studio! The drawloom boxes have been opened and parts sorted and organized. Let the fun begin! The room is undergoing some renovations, too.Draw attachment frame obstructs the jacks in the horizontal countermarch on the 120cm Standard loom. So Steve made all new horizontal jacks for the countermarch. Loom has an extension added at the back. We put it at its fully extended length to make sure it fits in this room. It does!Glimakra Standard with Myrehed Combination Drawloom–Shaft draw system and single unit draw system. Unbleached 16/2 cotton for I-don’t-know-what-yet. But I will soon! Book pictured is Drawloom Weaving, An introduction to warping and weaving on a drawloom by Joanne Hall.
Remember the placemats I started on my Texas hill country loom in Colors on Trial? The pattern in the fabric looks nice and pretty. But it doesn’t display the striking color-and-weave effect that I expected. The problem is not the threading, nor the colors.
Nice and pretty, but lacking the boldness of the planned color-and-weave effect.
Aha! I overlooked an important detail on the treadlingdraft—the weft is supposed to be doubled. That changes everything! Since there is very little excess warp for this project I need to back up and start over.
Backing up. After loosening warp tension, I carefully clip the weft threads down the center of the warp. I go at a snail’s pace to avoid accidentally snipping any warp ends.
Removal, one pick at a time. I press the treadles in reverse order to pull out each row of weft threads.
Back to the start. Sufficient weft has been removed. Now I am ready to start over.
I am losing the nice and pretty fabric. But it is being replaced with something better—fabric with a bold color-and-weave effect.
This is the color-and-weave effect I was looking for! Two double-bobbin shuttles carry the weft threads.
First placemat is a “Joseph’s coat” combination of colors. Bold color-and-weave effect has a striking pattern.
I would like my life to be nice and pretty, easy and comfortable. But if I get closer to the Grand Weaver’s intentions, I see something different—a bold strength of purpose. Not necessarily easy. God’s will is better than mine. When we aim to understand his will, we see details that we’ve overlooked. It affects how we walk through life. We take his doubled weft threads to replace our well-meaning attempts. The result is a beautiful display of striking life-changing effects.
