Tag: Jesus

Creative Handweavers Need Persistence

Karen

It’s good for a handweaver to flow in creativity. That’s where designs, colors, and out-of-the-box thinking thrive. Add the virtue of persistence, and those creative ideas become tangible articles of cloth. Making things takes more persistence than it does creativity.

Threading pattern heddles. 22/2 cottolin warp.

Threading pattern heddles is a repetitive task that I enjoy. I find greater joy, though, in the actual weaving phase of the project. That is when I get to sit at this marvelous instrument and challenge my hands and feet to work together to make the glorious sounds of a loom producing patterned cloth. It does take persistence to get to that point. Even when weaving, my focus is on the outcome – creative napkins for our family meals. The end purpose not only drives my persistence to the finish line, it brings enjoyment to each necessary task along the way.

Will be napkins with fun designs. Green, with gold borders, and various linen weft colors.
Near the halfway point of threading pattern heddles. Six ends per unit.

You and I are God’s creative work. He is persistent in the forming of our character, desiring to weave the image of Christ in us. His end purpose brings meaning to all the steps it takes to complete the fabric. Imagine his enjoyment every time we allow his hands to do each necessary task.

May your persistence out pace your creativity.

Blessings,
Karen

Advancing the Warp – Sunset and Sunrise

Karen

The Glimåkra Standard makes this project a weaver’s dream. The time-tested loom operates without a glitch, doing everything I direct it to do. These Swedish looms are magnificently designed.

Start of another rug. Multiple rows of stripes for the hem and border.
Weft fabric strips in green, blue, and red.
Pattern develops on the loom.
Central motif of the pattern.
Red stands out in the pattern.
Advancing the warp makes me think of a setting sun. When the sun sets here, it is rising somewhere else.

The sun rises every day. And it sets. Who designed the magnificent operation of the rising and setting of the sun? It’s like the rhythmic opening of the shed for passage of the shuttle. At the Grand Weaver’s direction, the fabric of life advances with every new day. Trust in him.

May you pay attention to the rising sun.

Weave into the sunset,
Karen

Linen Weft Colors Tell the Story

Karen

Two-block broken twill is a soothing pattern to weave because of its regular rhythm. Even though this is eight shafts, it is not complicated. Simple is good.

Four colors of weft are arranged in a repeated order. Warp is 22/2 cottolin. Weft is 8/1 tow linen. This is the second of twelve placemats on this warp on the Glimåkra Julia.

Instead of assigning a different solid color to each placemat, I am using all four weft colors in each one. The colors are arranged in an order that gives the appearance of gradated color. 8/1 tow linen: blue, then green, then teal, then black; repeat, repeat, repeat. There is no set number of picks for each color. Instead, I am changing from one color to the next in an irregular fashion, letting each color softly flow into the next. Regular two-block pattern; irregular color changes.

Keep it simple. The Lord’s pattern for our lives is not complicated. The Lord goes before us. As we follow him, all those irregular changes that happen in our lives turn into a lovely display of softly flowing gradated color. We can rest in that. From this color to the next…

May you find a soothing rhythm to life.

Keep weaving,
Karen

Let it Snow! Drawloom Treasures

Karen

Let it snow indoors! New Christmas snowflake banners are suspended up high, above our kitchen counter, facing our open living room. The three mostly-blue banners hang in mid-air so they can be viewed from either side. These are lasting treasures from the drawloom that I can bring out year after year. They’ll never get old.

Making loops from a handwoven band for hanging the banners. First, I zigzag to secure ends, and then cut the strips apart.
Handwoven linen band is cut into segments.
Loops are machine-stitched to back of banner hem with two rows of straight basting stitches (easy to remove later).

Christmas is new every year. There are new sights and sounds that add to the season. The message of Christmas is the same as always, though, that God loved us in this way—he sent his Son Jesus to be born into our world so that whoever believes in him may be born into God’s family. The newness is in God’s mercy, new every morning.

Ready for display!

Raise banners of joy to celebrate. Glory to the newborn King.

Merry Christmas!

May you celebrate from the heart.

Glad tidings of Christ’s birth,
Karen

Another Rug Unfurled

Karen

I’ve been working on this spaced rep rag rug for a while. I should know what it looks like. So why does unrolling the cloth beam make me feel like a child on Christmas morning awaiting a surprise? It’s because I see only a small portion of the rug at any one time while I am weaving.

Middle section of rug has red fabric strips for weft.
Rows of stripes between sections of the rug.
Third section of rug has dark green fabric strips as weft.
Gimåkra Standard, 120cm. My favorite.
Do you see the flaw in the warp thread (12/6 cotton)? Fortunately, I have already woven the hem and the 6 picks of the warp-thread header. How’s that for a perfect ending? I am cutting off this rug and will tie back on for the next rug. The flaw in the thread will be cut away.
Ready to tie back on very soon.

Not until I cut it off and see the whole rug unfurled on the floor do I really grasp the story this rug is telling. The surprise is pleasant. Threads and fabric strips, and a weaver’s hands (mine), have turned written plans into a compelling story to beautify our surroundings.

It is easy to untie all the knots on the tie-on bar. That gives me plenty of length for tying warp ends into overhand knots in the finishng process.
Unfurled on the floor. First view is a pleasant surprise.

Our Grand Weaver excels at taking simple threads and odd pieces of cloth to create a lasting story. He weaves his plans into our lives to draw us nearer to himself. We see only short segments at a time. From beginning to end, though, our Lord’s skilled and scarred hands demonstrate his love to us. The finished work is more than we imagine.

Warp ends have been knotted, and hem turned under and hand stitched. This rug is ready to beautify the room.

May you experience the joy of pleasant surprises.

Happy Weaving,
Karen