Counting down the days. Trying to reign in emotions as memories flood my mind of my little girl growing up. And resisting mild panic as I see loose ends dangling in wedding preparations. When I measure a warp, it is essential to accurately measure how many threads have accumulated around the warping reel. I keep track with a simple counting string. Measuring days is not that straightforward. Days pass by too quickly and too slowly at the same time.
Looking down at the counting string that sections off every twenty threads. The counting string makes it easy to double-check the number of warpends that are wound on the warping reel. This is the 12/6 cotton warp for the new rosepath rag rugs.
May your days be lengthened and/or shortened, as needed.
Do you have a melody? Being a musician at heart, it’s fun to think of my weaving loom as a musical instrument. This is an instrument that produces fabric instead of harmonies. Throwing a shuttle takes practiced precision, as does gliding my bow across the strings of my ‘cello. When I step on treadles to change sheds on the loom, I imagine myself on the bench of a majestic pipe organ, playing the low notes with my feet. Every pass of the shuttle brings the formation of a melody in color and pattern. Rosepath is the prettiest melody of all. And rhythm, of course, is felt and heard as I play the loom instrument.
Rosepath rag rugs on the loom. Doing my favorite thing again.
I make textural melodies on my weaving loom. I am certain my maker takes note of the music I make here. Whatever you do with a thankful heart becomes a song. And that song is your gift to your maker. When you turn what you do into an instrument of praise you experience the smile of God.
I have a melody, and I have a Melody, whose birthday is today, and whose wedding is eleven days away. Maybe she needs a new rug as a housewarming gift…
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.
Each colored wool strand is knotted by hand around doubled warpends. 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.
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
With nine shades of blue, four shades of gold, and mixed strands of white / grey / lavender, in various weights of wool, the rya is a tactile and visual delight. There is a lovely surprise under the shaggy rya tendrils that you will not see unless you spread the strands apart and peer down to the cloth. The wool background weft forms a delicate repeating pattern underneath. And that hidden ground weft is the very thing that secures every tedious row of hand-tied rya knots. Like the background weft, when we choose to build others up, we weave a lasting foundation into our relationships.
Shaggy pillow top. Each row of rya knots is made by slipping individual strands of wool yarn around pairs of warp threads, snugging them into secure knots. There are 47 rya knots across each row.
Sure, more knowledge and experience improves my skills. Skills that I can show off. Knowledge without love is a danger zone, though, that leads to arrogance. I can puff up myself through knowledge, or I can build up others through love. Wouldn’t we rather be the background weft that allows the rya to stand out? Our knowledge, with love as the operating system, has the capability of building up others. What love builds, lasts.
(More thoughts about rya knots, and love as an operating system HERE.)
What is your operating system? I am not referring your computer or mobile device. I am talking about the mindset behind your weaving endeavors. Quality, quantity, visual appeal? Decide what kind of weaver you intend to be, and you will operate out of that.
Tying rya knots is new for me. Each 4 1/2″ / 12 cm cut piece of wool yarn (I have an assortment of Åsborya, Tuna, Jason Collingwood rug wool, Mattgarn, and some novelty knitting yarn) is tied around two pairs of warpends, producing a shaggy pile. Threaded for rosepath, two pattern repeats are to be woven as background between each row of rya knots, using doubled fine wool as weft.
Fine Borgs Mora wool, doubled, on the shuttle forms the background rosepath cloth for rya knots. The knots stay on the front of the cloth, leaving the back of the cloth flat.
Certainly, we do aim for quality in our woven creations. Being intentional, that mindset works like an operating system. Everything from choosing materials to practicing for improvement reflects that foundational mindset. We can decide on an operating system for our lives, too.
You are gifted. Maybe your talent is design, or efficiency of motion, or color expression. You have other gifts, too, that spill into your relationships, such as problem solving, leading, or serving. Choose love as your operating system. When your gifts operate out of love, your gifts are not wasted. The fabric of relationships in your life will reflect the strength and grace of your operating system.
