Tag: Jesus

Understanding Linen

Karen

What is your experience with linen? I know weavers who love it, and others who completely avoid it. Linen has remarkable qualities. Strength, durability, natural beauty. It took me several attempts, though, to become comfortable using linen as warp. Linen has indeed given me more than my share of broken warp ends! But truly, those struggles have been part of the learning process. The more I weave with linen, the more I love this natural fiber. I am beginning to understand how to work with it, instead of against it. In fact, weaving these lace-weave scarves with single-ply linen warp and weft has been a joy. And only two broken selvedge ends this time!

Linen lace weave scarves as they wind onto the cloth beam.
Linen lace-weave scarves as seen on the cloth beam. Fringe between the scarves is left unwoven. The separated stripes are caused by the hemstitching at the end of one scarf and at the beginning of the next one.

It takes effort and experience to understand some things. The love of Christ is like that. The love of Christ is extraordinary. It takes inner determination to discover the beauty of this unconditional love. Some things are simply worth the effort.

May your understanding increase.

Happy Weaving,
Karen

Dressed with Colors in Linen

Karen

Are you wondering which color arrangement I chose for the linen lace scarves? It wasn’t an easy decision. After weighing all the opinions and advice, color-wrapped card #7 won. I added a neutral stripe on both sides to frame the color sequence, and I varied the width of the stripes, thanks to Fibonacci. The result is that you can hardly distinguish where each stripe begins and ends. The stripes blend into each other, with the magenta stripes grabbing the most attention. (Visit Tools Day: Color Wrapping and Color Wrapping Take Two to follow the discussion about choosing the color arrangement for this warp.)

Dressing the loom with linen.
Linen on the warp beam. The colors blend from one end to the other, framed by bands of unbleached and golden bleached threads on each side. Lease sticks, tied to the back beam, maintain the order of the threads.

It makes sense to think things through before committing a linen warp to the loom. My excitement builds as the loom is dressed. We will soon see the woven results when I experiment with weft options. I am secretly hoping for iridescence. I can imagine it, but I won’t see it until the weaving happens, and the light catches the airy interlaced threads.

Threading the loom with linen.
Each thread is inserted through the eye of a heddle.

Color choices are inconsequential compared to other choices we make, but commitment is something many decisions have in common. We are invited into a personal walk with Jesus Christ. It is no small thing to consider an agreement with the Master. Like dressing a loom, it is a commitment. The excitement comes when you realize that iridescence and other mysteries may come true before your very eyes.

May you have a life filled with the glow of iridescence.

For good,
Karen

One Treadle Short

Karen

I faced a dead end with this six-shaft weave. The draft requires seven treadles in order to include true plain weave. And I do want plain weave for the hems. That is a problem. This loom has only six treadles. So these double binding twill rag rugs were put on hold while I thought about it.

And then I had an idea. What if… I tie the sixth treadle as if it were the seventh treadle, enabling me to weave the plain weave hem. And then, undo the treadle and re-tie it as the sixth treadle for weaving the body of the rug? It works! Essentially, I created seven treadles out of six. What seemed like a dead end became the point of discovering something new.

Changing treadle tie-up to make six treadles into seven.
With this tie-up, the fifth and sixth treadles (counting right to left) are able to weave an even plain weave. The sixth treadle is actually tied up as the seventh treadle, which is only needed for the plain weave hems at the beginning and end of the rug, paired with treadle five. To change the treadle tie-up, the upper and lower lamms for the first and second shafts (counting back to front) need to be switched. That’s all.
Changing treadle tie-up to make six treadles into seven.
Treadle tie-up now follows the draft as written for the first six treadles to produce the twill weave for the body of the rug.
Underneath view of Vavstuga treadle tie-up system. Makes changing tie-ups a breeze.
Under-the-treadle view of the Vävstuga treadle tie-up system. This tie-up system with beads and pointed dowels (or knitting needles) makes changing the tie-up a breeze.

Can you imagine the dead end the friends and family of Jesus felt when they saw his body go limp on the cross? ……………………………………………………………………………………

Easter is about the excitement of knowing Someone who died and came back to life. In the Easter story, the angel tells the women who arrive at the tomb, “I know you seek Jesus, the Crucified. He is now Jesus, the Risen.” For these women, this moment changed everything. What had seemed like a dreadful dead end became the point of discovering new life. Indeed, even now, a dead end is often the starting point of finding new life in the Risen one.

May you discover something new.

Blessings,
Karen

Which Side Is Up?

Karen

Two shuttles required! With double binding rag rugs, each weft pick is double. The two wefts fall into place above and under each other, creating a two-sided fabric. The solid green that is visible on the top of this rug forms a different shape underneath. On the top side it looks like a cross from this angle. Underneath, it looks like a capital “I.” As in, “Me, myself, and I.”

Double binding twill rag rug on the loom. Karen Isenhower
Rug design is formed two rag picks at a time. Ski shuttles are an efficient way to carry the weft picks across the warp.

One interesting thing about designing double binding rag rugs is that I end up with two rugs in one. Simply turn the rug over for a different look. When the cross is up, the “I” is not seen. Flip the rug over, and the “I” is seen, but the cross remains hidden.

Pride can ruin people. The essence of pride is comparing yourself to others, and putting yourself above. Like most people, I find it hard to deny my own flattery. But being humble means refusing an inflated view of yourself. During this week when the cross of Christ is remembered around the world, I want to make sure my “I” is under the cross. The one who humbled Himself more than we can imagine leads the way. Woven in, behind the cross, my “I” finds its true identity–no more, no less.

May you show your humble side.

Isenhower with an “I,”
Karen

Weaving in the Comfort Zone

Karen

I like the comfortable feeling of weaving familiar things. Especially rag rugs and narrow bands. I also like to push my limits, doing projects that have new things for me to learn. The problem is, sometimes I am afraid of getting in over my head.

Linen singles for a woven band.
Loose warp chain with eight yards (7.3 m) of 16/1 linen for a narrow band.
Threading band loom.
Threading the band loom, with the threading sequence taped to the wall.
Glimakra band loom threaded with 16/1 linen for narrow band.
Linen threads show their personality.

If I’m not careful, I let the fear of failure keep me from trying. Decisions get put on hold. The big loom waits empty. Meanwhile, I stay in my comfortable zone. This new narrow linen band is that comfortable place for me. There is nothing wrong with enjoying this familiarity, letting the band practically weave itself. But at some point, I will have to step out of the boat, so to speak, and attempt the “impossible” things.

Linen band weaving on Glimakra two-treadle band loom.
Is there anything better than linen for band weaving? This is pleasure weaving. Glimåkra two-treadle band loom.

It has been told that Jesus walked on water. As the account goes, when Peter saw Jesus walk on water, he believed that Jesus could enable him to do the impossible, too. It’s not easy to walk on water. Just ask Peter; he faltered after just a few steps. But he tried! When we face insurmountable challenges, after sitting comfortably for a while, we need to try taking a few steps out on the water. Like Peter experienced, the hand of Jesus will be right there when we falter.

May you have courage to step into your next challenge.

Happy weaving,
Karen