Tag: plan

Glimmer of Linen

Karen

There is just enough morning light in the room to see the slight glimmer on the surface of these tubes of 16/2 linen. Line Linen has a sheen that sets it apart from other fibers; but without enough light in the room you could miss it. I am excited to get started with such exquisite thread. My mind’s eye is already trying to picture the finished cloth.

Ready to wind a linen warp!
Two shades of blue will be combined for the 16/2 linen warp. The brown 16/2 linen will be seen as floats in the dice weave fabric that I am planning.

It was late last night before I got a chance to open the box that arrived the day before. You cannot identify colors in the dark. So, in the darkened room I could barely make out the colors of the linen, much less see any brilliance from the sheen that I knew would be there.

Pride is like a blindfold; it wraps over the eyes of your heart. It’s like staying in a darkened room where colors never shine. Pride takes, assumes, expects, demands, and makes itself known. Humility, on the other hand, gives, serves, looks for the betterment of others, and expects nothing in return. Humility is like the morning light that brings out the natural sheen in everyone around you.

May your humility bring light into the room.

Your friend,
Karen

~Thank you, blog-reading friends! There is a discount coupon just for you on my About page, good for a few more days.~

Right Now Is the Best Time

Karen

What do you do with a blank slate? Do you feel empowered or immobilized? It is easy to get stuck in over-planning instead of jumping right in and doing something. I am facing a blank slate now with the rya weaving. I finished the first two rya pieces on this warp (the first one HERE; the second one HERE), and now I have time to think about the color and design for the third piece. I have a good assortment of wool yarns to choose from, about twenty-five different colors.

Rosepath weaving on the loom. Glimpse of rya knots on the way to the cloth beam.
First rya section is seen wrapping around the cloth beam, and the second piece is on its way there, with bits of the red wool strands seen hanging down. Now ready to begin the third set of rya knots.

Sometimes all the options overwhelm me and I freeze, doing nothing instead of doing something. I can think about the next steps all day long, but until I act on the ideas nothing happens.

Opportunities come and go. If we are immobilized because we fear making a mistake, we miss the chance to make a difference in the moment. Your best opportunity is right now! Whatever you have in front of you…whatever you know to do…no matter how small or seemingly insignificant…do it. Do the next thing now. And if you don’t care for how it comes out, …there’s always next time!

May you find yourself moving forward with gusto.

Happy Weaving,
Karen

Are You in a Pretty Mess?

Karen

You might think this looks like a mess. Maybe there is a vague sense of pattern and color, but doesn’t it look like the assortment of rya knots are in a random arrangement? Guess again. Let me give you another view.

Rya knots, an assortment of colors in wool yarn.
Each colored wool strand is knotted by hand around doubled warp ends. Mora wool is doubled on the quill in the shuttle for the background weft, woven in a rosepath pattern.

Change the perspective of the camera, and you will see the simple, but distinct, pattern and order that is woven into this design.

Layered rya knots on the Glimakra Standard loom.
A simple stripe arrangement enhances the layered look of rya knots. The row of reds and violets is repeated to give prominence to that color family.

We think we are able to know all there is to know, but that’s just not true. We see from a human perspective. Is it possible that there is more than science, education, and philosophy can explain? God is greater than we think. His view of his creation is from a higher angle. He knows what he made and how he designed things to operate. We study and discover how it all works, but we didn’t make it. Our grand weaver is great. No one knows how great he is. But when things look like a pretty mess, we can trust he has a plan that will weave the assorted threads into a beautiful work of art.

May you see beauty even when things seem to be a mess.

In a pretty mess with wedding plans (only two weeks to go!),
Karen

Made to Fade?

Karen

You will always come back to what you love. I came back to this arrangement of stripes because I love the harmonious way the colors work together. Now used as a weft sequence, this is one of the color wrappings that I did when planning this towel warp. (You can see the rest of the color wrappings HERE.) But really, it’s just towels, it’s just colors, it’s just things that wear out.

Color wrapping used to inspire weft sequence. Karen Isenhower
Color wrapping for possible warp arrangement is now used as weft sequence. Except, since I ran out of light blue thread (remember THIS?), I am using dark blue in its place.

Everything we can touch and everything we can see is in the process of fading. Physical things deteriorate over time; they just do. The handwoven articles I so carefully make may last a human lifetime, or maybe longer. But eventually they will be no more, and any meaning they have now will be lost. (Even with my grandmother’s quilts and rugs, like THESE, I don’t know what they meant to her, and she’s no longer around to ask.) It doesn’t make sense to love things. Sure, we can touch and see them, and our me-first self wants them. But they are all going away.

It does make sense to investigate the non-physical things that never decay. When we align with the desires of our grand weaver and discover the plans he has had from the beginning of time, we are investing in heavenly pursuits that carry rewards that never fade. Ever.

May the work of your hands outlast you.

101 Thanks! Thank you, dear friend, for coming to my virtual weaving studio again and again. If you are one of the small handful (there are about eight or ten of you) that started with me 101 blog posts ago (HERE is the first post), a BIG thank-you to YOU! If you are one of the more recent guests, helping to grow this space to more than 1,200 guests a month, I am HUGELY grateful to YOU, too! You are welcome here. I am so glad you came!

Gratefully Yours,
Karen

It Is What It Is

Karen

A closer sett (30 epi instead of 24 epi) would have produced a firmer fabric, more suitable for bag-making. But, as Steve would say,

It is what it is.

I did make one very pretty bag, lined with blue satin. But because of the airy weave, I was not enthused about making three more bags. The fabric itself is stunning; it’s just not bag fabric. When things do not turn out the way we envision, it feels confusing and unsettling.

Handwoven linen and beads fancy bag and iridescent wrap.
Two-toned beaded linen wrap and beaded linen bag. The fabric is woven with 16/1 linen, warp and weft, in a traditional Swedish three-treadle weave structure.

I invested much time, attention, and resources into this unique iridescent cloth that has little glass beads woven into it (click HERE to see it on the loom)… Now what? In my unsettled thoughts I struggled to find a good solution.

And then…In a playful moment, I threw the cloth over my shoulders and looked in the mirror. Ahhh, pretty! Then I wrapped it around my neck like a scarf. Ohhh, nice! Being 100% linen, it is a little stiff, but putting it through the gentle cycle of the washer has softened it. Wearing it will soften it even more.

In times of uncertainty, we may think we missed the creator’s plan. Be on the lookout, though, for his nearness. The part of the plan that we do not see until we are smack dab in the middle of it is the part where his nearness is revealed.

May you find solutions to your biggest challenges.

Creatively speaking,
Karen