Slow and deliberate, rya knot tying is a satisfying exercise of patience. This background cloth feels like coarse canvas. You can imagine how robust the fabric is, with a hefty 8/2 linen warp, and the same, doubled, for weft. Threaded in a point twill, the cloth is simple, but texturally vibrant. The yarn pile, called rya, is made with combined threads of thick Åsborya wool, fine Mora wool, and fine 16/1 linen. (You can see my previous rya project in the post, Are You in a Pretty Mess? And if you want to see exactly how to make rya knots, check out this post – Quiet Friday: Making Rya Knots.)
Rya knots are formed one at a time by wrapping around, under, and through each pair of raised warpends. The background is woven between rows of rya knots with doubled linen weft, using a double bobbin shuttle.
I simply step on the “pile” treadle, which raises only shaft four, and tie rya knots around pairs of the raised ends. This process works because the fabric was planned and designed to have rya knots inserted on its surface. In a similar fashion, people are designed to receive God’s helping hand.
God wants to give us the ability to flourish in life. That’s his grace. We are made for that, and it happens when we offer “humble” threads. We must wear the cloth of humility as we interact with each other, revealing our coarse, simple, honest self. This is where God inserts his grace. In this process of his, he patiently makes us his work of art.
What can you do with a pair of flat beveled wood sticks, with a hole at each end? Use them for lease sticks, of course! This is an example of efficient simplicity. By slipping these two sticks through the opening of the lease cross made while winding a warp, and tying the ends of the sticks together, all the warpends stay perfectly in order throughout the process of dressing the loom. After beaming the warp, with the warp still under tension, I tie the back lease stick to the back beam. Then, when threading the heddles, I simply take each thread in order by going to the cross in between the two lease sticks and picking up the next thread. I always weave with the lease sticks in. I don’t remove them until the end of the warp comes over the back beam.
I keep several lengths of lease sticks on hand. Some were purchased from Glimakra, and some were fashioned by my skilled hubby.Striped warpthreaded and ready to weave cotton tea towels. Pair of lease sticks are tied together at the ends with choke ties, and back lease stick is tied to back beam.Linen warp is ready for threading. Lease sticks are tied together at the ends, and secured to the back beam. This warp is for another rya project.Threading the last grouping of threads in this 8/2 linen warp. The lease sticks separate the threads in a way that clearly shows which thread is next.
May you encounter simplicity in your creative process.
Finish the finishing, please. I always have a pile of handwovens that need finishing. Don’t you? The finishing smorgasbord includes repairing skipped threads (unintentional floats), securing ends, fringe treatments, hemming, wet finishing, pressing, adding hanging tabs, embellishments, and more. You know you are finally finished when your handiwork is being used and enjoyed.
1. Twisted fringe on bamboo huck lace small tablecloth. This cloth covered an heirloom table, becoming the altar, at Melody’s wedding. (This short piece was at the end of the warp after weaving two shawls.) You can see the shawls HERE, and twisting the fringe HERE.
Twisted fringe gives an elegant finishing touch to this small huck lace table covering.
2. Added hanging tabs to handtowels. Installed Ikea rod with basket and hooks to hang handwoven handtowels in the powder room. (When you need tabs for towels, it helps to have a collection of inkle and band loombands.) You can see the most recent towels HERE – I kept one of the eight for myself; the rest became gifts.
Ikea basket and hooks hold assortment of handwoven towels for guests to use in the powder room.
3. Untangled the fringe of alpaca/tencel throw. (A wet finishing nightmare I don’t care to repeat.) You can see what it looked like before washing HERE.
Each strand of fringe was carefully separated one-by-one after leaving the alpaca/tencel throw in the washing machine a few minutes too long. Untangling took longer than tying the lattice fringe. Hours and hours.
4. Hand-stitched rolled hem on Swedish lace tablecloth. (I may use this as a curtain for my weaving studio window, hung on rings with clips, on a rod.) HERE are the long curtain panels that hang on windows in my home.
Swedish lace panel can be used as a tablecloth, or a curtain, or even a light, summery shawl. The hand-stitched rolled hem gives a delicate touch to this elegant piece.Swedish lace is shown to its best advantage when light is allowed to shine through the cloth. The pressed rolled hem adds a classy touch.
5. Hemmed small sample piece to carry around with me when I have a cup of coffee. (I grab this re-usable “scrap” instead of a paper napkin or paper towel. It also doubles as a coaster wherever I happen to sit down.) The original M’s and O’s towels are HERE; and HERE you can see what I mean about carrying my coffee cup around with me.
Scrap of handwoven fabric, from a cottolin warp of handtowels, follows my favorite coffee cup around.
6. Replaced nylon cord on handwoven Roman shades with a cord I wove on my band loom. (The “temporary” nylon cord stayed more than a year. We now enjoy seeing this on our kitchen door every day, finally fully finished.) The only place I have a picture of the original nylon cord, and of the fabric on the loom for the Roman shades is in my Projects on Weavolution HERE. (I’m not sure if you can see it without logging in to the site.)
Linen and cotton threads that match the handwoven Roman shades were used to weave the pull cord. Cord woven on Glimakra two-treadle band loom.Handwoven Roman shades finally have a matching pull cord. When the shades are lowered at night, the two-block twill structure is seen covering the whole kitchen door window. Woven on 8-shaft Glimakra Standard loom.Opening the shades to start the day and welcome you. Please come in!
May you reduce your finishing pile (I know you have one).
I still had patterns I wanted to try in bound rosepath; but, alas, there is no more Brage wool yarn in my hands. I ran out of weft before I ran out of warp! With five colors of this wool weft, it seemed like the variations on this rosepath threading were limitless. Imagine how it would be if you had two or three times that many colors to work with! You might never find an end to all the design options!
Brage wool in five colors covers the surface in this weft-faced weave structure, bound rosepath.
I was not ready to stop playing with this interesting weave structure, exploring the possibilites. Indeed, I had several more ideas lined up. If I had all the yarn in the world, I would need all the time in the world, too, because the discovery process is so intriguing. But eventually, I would run out of ideas.
We have heard that God is worthy of unceasing praise. Perhaps that is because there is no end to his love and goodness; and the riches of his mercy and grace are infinite. Maybe there are so many exquisite facets to learn about our creator that it will take eternity to discover them all. We might as well start now.
May you enjoy the intrigue of exploration and discovery.
Linen makes a strong warp. Known for strength and longevity, linen cloth endures for years and years. It is almost impossible to break a linen thread with your bare hands. Why, oh, why, then, is it so easy to break linen warp ends while weaving?! One reason: Abrasion. Linen is like a gentle heart. It needs to be cared for and nurtured; but don’t underestimate the underlying strength.
Five shuttles with colorful Brage wool yarn, each one waiting its turn as weft in the bound rosepath weave. The 16/3 unbleached linen warp, completely hidden in this weft-faced weave, gives lasting strength and stability to the cloth.
At the start of this bound rosepath project I had several linen warp ends break at the selvedge. The weaving was drawing in; consequently, the ends at the outer edges were receiving abrasion from the reed, causing the ends to fray and break. So, I began using more weft for each pick, by increasing the angle of weft in the shed. By doing this, I stopped the excessive draw-in. This simple correction made all the difference. No more broken warp ends. The reed is not a threat when appropriate weaving practices are in place.
Stay gentle, my friend. Gentleness feels; so be aware of the abrasion, and make corrections. Don’t allow bitterness or disappointment to linger from times of hardship, wearing you to the breaking point. The people in your life need your gentleness. Gentleness is the underlying strength of satisfying relationships.
May your most important relationships gain strength because of your gentleness.
Your friend, Karen
Here are previous posts with views of the bound rosepath on the loom:
