This table runner is the last item on the zebra warp; and I am pausing before I tackle the ending. I like how the woven checkerboard underneath shows when you look through the warp! With the end of the warp just ahead I am wondering, “How many more centimeters can I weave?” (Read about the Zebra Warp.)
Checkerboard above and beneath.I decided to weave the last item as a table runner instead of a handtowel after conferring with Instagram friends. (Join me on Instagram! @celloweaver)
There is a potential hazard at the end of the warp. I want the final border of this table runner to match the border at the beginning. If I start the border too soon, good warp goes to waste, unwoven at the end. But if I start the border too late, I may have trouble finishing it. The shed height begins to diminish as the warp nears the end, until the shed finally becomes too short for a regular boat shuttle to pass through. (I have been known to gingerly “squeeze” and jiggle the shuttle through for the last few picks.)
Starting the final hem. Barely enough height in the shed for the double-bobbin shuttle. The three centimeters I need for the hem seems like a long way to go at this point.Woven all the way! Ten towels and a table runner!
Long before I start weaving the border, I am committed to finish, no matter how tight a shed I face at the end. I made that decision when I dressed the loom with this zebra warp way back when. Following Jesus is like that. It’s more than tagging along. It’s total commitment all the way to the end.
The start of a new warp takes my breath away. It’s magic, isn’t it? It’s at this beginning point that I often feel the wonder of the whole weaving process. Expectation, anticipation, and wonder. A new warp is a fresh start.
Warpends are tied on in 1″|2.5cm sections, with 1/2″|1.3cm going over, and the other 1/2″|1.3cm going under the front tie-on bar. The leveling string then flattens the warp by going over and under the little sections of warp ends, being pulled tight and tied through a hole at each end of the tie-on bar.
The loom is dressed through a series of steps. In the Swedish method of back-to-front warping that I have been taught, the steps are logical and systematic. They make sense. If I simply follow the steps, I can expect to have an evenly-tensioned, ready-to-weave warp. If the warp is good, it means I’m off to a good start.
Side view of new cottolin warp, set up for halvdräll table squares.Halvdräll is a Swedish block weave that has weftfloats. The tabby weft is white 22/2 cottolin, and the pattern weft is doubled 16/1 linen.
Christmas is about God offering us a new start through Jesus. It isn’t about trying to be good enough. Being good is never good enough. Trust in God’s goodness instead. Jesus is God coming to us in all his goodness. I can never repay the Lord for all the good he has done for me. What I can do is receive what he has given–a fresh start. Then, as the beginning weft appears across the warp, I see my hopes coming to life.
Today I am in my little playhouse in the Glimåkra Standard, threadingheddles for halvdräll. This draft requires my strict attention. No multitasking. I have one thing in mind: thread the heddles. Threading errors are rare for me. And I’d like to keep it that way.
Cozy spot for threadingheddles. With the threading draft in plain sight, good lighting, and plenty of time, I’m ready to go!
There are several things I do to prevent threading errors, or at least to catch them early while they are easy to correct.
Tutorial for Preventing Threading Errors – (Watch the accompanying video below)
Count the warpends at the lease sticks into logical groupings, and bundle the grouped ends together with a loose overhand knot. (In this case, the groups are: 4 selvedge, 18 right side, 27 block I, 57 block II, repeat the 2 blocks 5 times, 18 left side, 4 selvedge.) I ended up with 2 extra ends at the left selvedge, so I worked my way back, re-counting each grouping until I found the spot where I had mis-counted, almost all the way back to the right selvedge ends. If that happens, re-count and re-tie each grouping until it all adds up correctly.
Tape or hang your threading draft where it can be easily seen.
Take one bundle of ends at a time, starting on the right-hand side, and thread those ends into their heddles, following the threading draft. It helps me to say the threading order out loud as I do the threading.
Check your work. Hold the just-threaded ends taut with your left hand, and with your right hand check every end, one by one, to see that it is going through the correct heddle. Make threading corrections, if needed, by pulling out errant ends and re-threading them. Tie that completed grouping with a loose slip knot. Again, I say the threading order out loud as I check the threading.
Repeat steps 4 and 5 until threading is complete.
Know when to take a break. Five minutes away from the loom every now and then serves to refresh my ability to concentrate. If I do a nonstop marathon, I’m prone to make errors.
Now, what about a tutorial for living? Grace means that we have been given a free tutorial for purposeful living. Jesus brought the grace of God to us. Christmas reminds us of that. It’s the grace of God that instructs us for living. It’s as if we have an ancient weaving draft; and we’ve been given the grace, the tutorial, that shows how to understand the draft to make meaning in the fabric of our lives.
May you catch all your threading errors while they are easy to fix.
I got off to a bad start with this towel. I ripped out the border and started over at least three times. Each time I fixed an error I made a new mistake. And if that wasn’t enough, all the undoing weakened two warpends, causing them to break. Ugh. Time to walk away and come back later.
Weaving error is revealed when I snap a pic for Instagram. White weftpicks are out of order in the center of the weft border stripes.After removing the first error, and weaving a re-designed border, I discover another mistake. Using ultra caution in good lighting, I clip the wefts between the center warpends back to the error. Then, I carefully pull out each cut weft. And try, try again.
I believe in persistence, but we need to recognize when to give up and stop trying so hard. Could my own insistence on progress get in the way of progress? Yes. Coming back rested, with unclenched hands, I found myself able to complete the task with ease. Where did all the difficulty go?
Success at last!
When I insist on my own way to overcome hardships in life, I don’t get very far. My frustrations blind me to my own errors. Relief comes when I acknowledge the limits of my efforts and put my trust in someone greater. The Lord multiplies what we put in his hands. Jesus once fed a crowd with the bread and fish from one person’s lunch basket. He starts with what we give him; and he increases it. As a result, when we come back to face the hardship, much to our surprise, we find our hands able.
Do people know how much fun it is to weave rag rugs? Next week I’ll be in Arkansas teaching what I love. This ten-yard warp is giving me ample rehearsal time for explaining double binding techniques. Mostly, though, I want to introduce students to the thrill of rag rug weaving!
Double binding uses two ski shuttles, because the structure has two layers woven together. Each side of the rag rug is the reverse of the other side.
I am puzzled by weavers who are not fond of weaving rag rugs. “It’s too slow,” I’ve been told. “It doesn’t interest me.” And what about weavers who have never attempted to weave a rag rug? “What?!” I want to say, “You have a weaving loom, and you’ve never tried weaving a rag rug?” That tells you more about me than it does about them. People are drawn to what they know and love, and they see that thing differently than someone who is not drawn to it.
The goodness of God is like that for me. I’m drawn to it. God is good. One famous saying of Jesus is that the pure in heart will see God. That motivates me to examine my own heart. I can’t think of anything better than seeing the goodness of God.
May you be drawn to good things.
(There is one opening left in my double binding rag rug workshop next week at Red Scottie Fibersin Eureka Springs, Arkansas. It’s not too late to sign up! If you’re interested, let me know.)
