Tag: shuttle

Get Back to Your Sweet Spot

Karen

My feet follow an eight-step sequence on four treadles for this rosepath pattern. Even one step out of sequence makes a glaring error. I start out conscious of the order, repeating the numbers aloud while moving my feet. 3-2-1-4-1-2-3-4. After a while, my feet find a motor memory and I don’t need to concentrate as much. Now I’m in my sweet spot, throwing the shuttle back and forth, making cloth. (This flat cloth will be the back of a cushion with THIS rya weaving on the front.) I would like my attitudes to stay in their sweet spot, too.

Doubled Mora wool in antique Swedish shuttle, weaving rosepath
If I always stop at the same spot in the eight-step sequence, when I do need to stop, I am much less likely to get confused about where I left off. I like to have a filled quill ready so I can keep moving, even when I need to replace an empty quill.

There are normal interruptions in weaving, like stopping to replace the quill in the shuttle. Most of my treadling errors happen after those interruptions. With my attitudes, the disruption that knocks me out of my sweet spot is an encounter with someone who is disagreeable, rude, or unkind.

When we give a blessing, though, even to the undeserving, we come out ahead. If I show empathy, kindness, and humility to someone who does not show it in return, I end up with the blessing. If I return evil for evil or insult for insult, however, I throw that blessing away and my misstep makes a glaring error in my own fabric. Giving a blessing is the best way to get back to that sweet spot.

May you be ready for your next blessing.

As Always,
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

Tools Day: Weaving Rag Rugs

Karen

Handwoven rag rugs hold a fascinating appeal for many people. Does it have to do with the secure feeling of being home? After all, rag rugs are to be walked on at home, are they not? You don’t expect them at work, in the marketplace, or in palaces. A walked-on rag rug says, “Home, sweet home.”

Besides a sturdy floor loom (mine is a Glimakra countermarch loom), only a few good tools are needed to weave a rag rug. There are many different ways to prepare and weave fabric strips to make rugs, but I would like to show you how I do it with the tools that serve me well.

For cutting fabric strips:

  • Olfa Cutting Mat (24 x 36 inch) – Large enough to cut long strips.
  • Olfa Lip Edge Ruler (24 inch) – Essential for consistency and ease of measuring. The lip of the ruler catches the edge of the mat and keeps the ruler from shifting as you cut.
  • Olfa Deluxe Rotary Cutter (60 mm) – The 60 mm blade easily cuts through several layers of fabric (much better than a 45 mm blade). My other brand rotary cutter did not hold up to extensive use.
  • Ansell HyFlex Kevlar Cut Resistant Glove – My woodcarving husband suggested this for me. The cutter blade is dangerously sharp, so the protective glove is a wise idea.
Tools for cutting fabric into strips for rag rugs.
Pre-washed cotton fabric, cut into 3/4-inch (2 cm) strips, to use as weft in rag rugs.

For weaving rag rugs:

  • Temple – This tool stretches the weaving to the width that is consistent with the width of the warp as it comes through the reed. I wouldn’t attempt to weave a rug without this tool.
Temple in use while weaving rag rug.
Sharp teeth at ends of the temple grip the selvedges to keep the weaving at a constant width.
  • Turquoise Cart from Ikea – Not particularly essential (a chair with a box would do), but entirely useful. Why not have a pleasant and organized way to keep the fabric strips, shuttles, and supplies close at hand?
Ikea cart beside the loom while weaving rag rugs.
A place for everything, and everything in its place. This turquoise cart from Ikea is perfect for keeping all the fabric strips in order as I weave.
  • Ski Shuttles – My favorite ski shuttle, of course, is the beautiful cherrywood shuttle that Steve made for me–a delight to see and to touch. This type of shuttle is perfect for the way I weave rag rugs. A five-yard strip of fabric, cut with tapered ends, is easily wound on the shuttle. When the shuttle is empty, I wind on another fabric strip. I overlap the tapered fabric ends in the shed. There is no ripping, sewing, folding, or pressing. Simple, seamless, secure.
Weaving rag rugs with handmade cherry ski shuttle.
Handmade cherrywood ski shuttle glides through the shed with ease.

May you rest in the comfort of your home, sweet home.

Happily Weaving,
Karen

You May Be Looking at the Under Side

Karen

This is not reversible cloth. The colors on the back look pretty, but the design is only on the top. Sometimes we judge our circumstances from the underneath side, not realizing there is a dazzling scene being formed above us.

Bound Rosepath, the pattern is being designed at the loom.
Each row of the design takes four picks, producing a weft-faced cloth. Each shuttle carries a different color; so, at times, there are five shuttles going across for one row. Instead of following a diagram, this time I am designing the pattern as I weave.

The bound rosepath (rosengång) cloth develops slowly. My pace is about 35 millimeters (1.4 inches) per hour. I pay attention to every detail. Five shuttles, many color changes, careful turns at the selvedges. I get up to wind quills, to advance the warp, to repair broken linen warp ends, and to stand back for an overview. You cannot know all of the weaver’s work by looking at the reverse side. It is messy underneath.

We may not have a clear view of what our master weaver is doing, but we can see his consistency. And we have seen his masterful work in the past. Are you in a season that feels confusing? That is precisely when it makes sense to trust someone greater. Be one of the few in our day who sees the goodness of God with the eyes of trust. The finished cloth, the underside of which we see now, will one day be displayed by the maker, and all will be amazed!

May your fears fall away and your trust increase when you face uncertain times.

Believing is seeing,
Karen

The One Thing You Cannot Control

Karen

Pick after pick, the weaving continues. We won’t see the effect of this Swedish lace weave until it is off the loom and gently washed. That is when the lace magic happens. (See Laura Fry’s expert advice, such as this post, about wet finishing.) In the meantime, I keep throwing the shuttle, expecting a good outcome. Life is pick after pick, too. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring, much less, next year. But we optimists do hope for the best.

Handwoven Swedish Lace on the loom
Swedish lace forms where the weft crosses these open spaces in the warp.

The future is unknown and uncertain, even in the best of times. And insecurity is that much greater when facing difficult circumstances. When I try to figure it all out, or attempt to manage everything, I realize how little I am actually able to control.

The great paradox is that when I give up my control to the one who created me, I gain everythng that matters. A few years ago I met James, a wise old stranger (an angel in disguise?) on a flight to Kansas City. James told me his approach to life. His words were a gift I still cherish today. He said, I don’t know what the future holds; but I put my life in the hands of the one who does.

May your pick after pick yield beautiful results.

Still weaving,
Karen