Tag: Myrehed drawloom

Extraordinary Animals on the Drawloom

Karen

Armadillo, fox, porcupine, jackrabbit, and deer are leading the critter parade. The twelve napkins will include the most common, the most interesting, and the most unusual animals that visit our backyard here in Texas Hill Country. The white-tailed deer are the most common, by far.

Feet first. The white-tailed buck is taller than he is wide, so his feet touch the bottom border. Pulled single-unit draw cords are seen on the hook bar pegs above the beater.
Just past the midway mark on this napkin, as seen on the measuring ribbon pinned on the side.
Having a large chart beside the loom helps me keep track of each row as the weaving progresses. One pattern shaft draw handle is pulled, which forms the pattern on the side borders. The single unit draw cords form the center image.

This white-tailed buck is one that Steve photographed on our property. I use Affinity Designer on my computer to turn a photo into a silhouette that I can use for my drawloom chart. It is a thrill to see the image emerge in the threads on the loom. From animal in our yard, to photo, to graphic chart, to threads on the loom! The common is made extraordinary.

The draw handles are pulled for the checkerboard pattern that goes across the bottom and top borders of the napkin.
Antlers of the buck reach nearly to the top border. Hem area is teal blue.
Before the buck, there is the jackrabbit. And before the jackrabbit is the porcupine. And the fox and armadillo before that are in hibernation on the cloth beam.

Even more extraordinary is what our Lord Jesus does with a common human like you or me who puts faith in him. As you look at the threads on his loom, you begin to see that it is his image being woven in you.

May your days be extraordinary.

Happy New Year,
Karen

Who Gets the Jackrabbit Napkin? Drawloom Dilemma

Karen

Jackrabbit. This critter is one I would like to see more often. We call him “Jack,” or if there are two of them together, they are known in our family as “Jack and Jackylina.” The jackrabbit makes me smile because of his tall ears and mischievous-looking face. The nice thing is he doesn’t cause any mischief, like some of the other critters around here. He will sit completely still, without a twitch. I’m sure he wants you will think he’s a rock, and pass on by without noticing him. But if you get a little too close, he hops up and quickly dashes away.

When we have all twelve napkins at the dining room table for a family gathering, how will we decide who gets Jack the Jackrabbit? This one could be everyone’s favorite.

Teal blue linen weft. The jackrabbit is one of my favorite critters in our Texas Hill Country area. I like their humorous profile.
Just reached the halfway point on this jackrabbit image. This is all single-unit draw until I get beyond the area where the nose and feet are in the side borders. After that, the borders will be the simpler pattern-shaft draw.

As with the other critter napkins in this series, the borders at top and bottom, and some of the side borders, use the pattern shaft draw system. The jackrabbit in the center and the “broken borders” use the single unit draw system. I am very happy to weave with this Myrehed Combination Drawloom Attachment. The possibilities are endless…and fun!

Happy Weaving!

Karen

Drawloom Porcupine in Four Hours

Karen

After only four hours at the drawloom I have a porcupine! That’s an hour a day, four days in a row.
I enjoy the design-making process. It is rewarding to work out the details on the computer. The next reward is to see the printed version ready to take to the drawloom. When I first see the feet of the critter woven on the loom, I do a happy dance. And now that the porcupine is moving on around the breast beam, this feeling of accomplishment is the greatest reward. Nine more critter napkins to go, with many more rewards. Jackrabbit is next!

Day 1: Teal hem, gold border, black background, and porcupine feet! Happy Dance!
Day 2: Porcupine snout and tail reach into border areas. I use single units in irregular border areas like these, instead of the simpler pattern shafts that I use for the rest of the border areas.
Day 3: Second half of the porcupine is mostly the quills on its back. This is easy single-unit draw cords in combination with simple pattern shaft draw handles for the side borders. (Only 2 draw handles are needed for the side borders.)
Day 4: Finish up the top of the porcupine, the black background, the gold border, and then a blue hem area (not shown). Now I’m hopping off to design the jackrabbit.

Look for daily rewards. What rewards are you seeing lately?

May you be richly rewarded every day.

Happy weaving,
Karen

Fox on the Drawloom Is Simply Complex

Karen

Gray Fox is showing his stride. That bushy tail is impressive. On the drawloom I get to determine exactly where that tail will swish. Where the tail crosses into the side border, I switch from pulling one pattern shaft draw handle to pulling individual single unit draw cords. That’s where the complexity of the combination drawloom really shines. It gives me extraordinary flexibility for weaving the designs I have in mind.

Hem area is black. Wide gold checked border goes across the bottom and top of the napkin, and up both sides.
Pattern shafts hold the units needed for the horizontal and vertical borders. The vertical border checks are produced with just two pattern shafts. Where the vertical border is interrupted, I am able to choose the single units needed to fill the pattern. (This also means that I use single units directly across on the left border, too.)
Just past midway on this napkin.

In some ways I think of the drawloom as a tool of simplicity. Despite the countless cords and shafts, every piece has a simple purpose. Each single unit draw cord, for example, simply lifts a single unit of 6 threads. That’s all it does. Complexity is a matter of perspective.

May you enjoy the simple things you find in complexity.

All the best,
Karen