tapestry – Page 16 – Warped for Good

Keep Advancing the Warp

October 17, 2017October 16, 2017 Karen

This is a series of learning experiences—some easy, and some quite challenging. I am near the end of the first panel of the tapestry/inlay sampler. All along the way, I encounter obstacles. Like a broken warp end. Again. That broken warp end is discouraging. Surely, I should be able to keep that from happening by now.

Tapestry/inlay sampler. All linen weft. — Broken warp end on the right selvedge required taking out several rows of weaving so I could splice the warp.

Meanwhile, a simple line of soumak makes a pleasing border for this curve. It defines the shape with a slightly raised line. Over three, around one…all the way across. This part is nice and easy.

Soumak border on tapestry sampler. — Soumak technique, Step 1.

Soumak border line on tapestry sampler. — Soumak technique, Step 2.

Peaceful setting for the weaving loom! — Despite another broken warp end, the warp is advanced and the weaving continues. It helps to weave in a peaceful setting.

Daily life is not always easy. Put your eyes on God, not on the obstacles you face. And don’t worry about your own inability to navigate the circumstances. Trust God to carry you. He has carried you this far, and will continue to show himself strong on your behalf. Those broken warp ends are spliced, and the weaving continues. The selvedge may show some evidence of having had trouble, but the soumak outlines and other woven features will draw the eye. There is victory in advancing the warp to continue the sampler to the end.

May you advance through the obstacles you face.

With you,
Karen

Simply Weave Back and Forth

September 26, 2017September 25, 2017 Karen

Am I seeing the hint of a ‘cello? No complicated pattern this time, just a relaxed back and forth, meet and separate, with yarn butterflies. The only planned pattern is a curved outline at the start and end of this section, with some simple hatching in between.

Linen tapestry/inlay sampler. — Section seven of the linen tapestry/inlay sampler. Hatching is used to visually blend the two color bundles.

All-linen tapestry/inlay sampler. — Curved line is inked on the warp as an outline to follow for the red and gold section.

The relaxed back-and-forth questions and ponderings that we all have are an indication that we want to know the truth. Search to find answers. The Lord is always calling us to seek him, to search him out, to find out what he’s about. Seeking the Lord means having a heart that wants and yearns to know God and his ways. Having questions is a part of what it means to be human. Peace comes, not in finding all the answers, but in finding the one who holds the answers. He knows what he is weaving.

May you ask good questions.

All the best,
Karen

Tools Day: Paper and Yarn

September 12, 2017September 11, 2017 Karen

A folded piece of paper and a seven-inch tail from a yarn butterfly become an answer to a small technical problem. When using a cartoon, like I am for this transparency, it’s imperative to identify the center warp end so I can align the dotted-line center of the cartoon with that one end. Finding the center warp end is my technical problem. The paper and yarn work together as the tool that helps remove the guesswork.

Weaving a transparency. Bluebonnets. — I check the alignment of the cartoon about every inch, and move up the pins that hold the cartoon in place.

With these bluebonnets, if the cartoon slides to the right or left by even one warp end it distorts the picture. It’s not enough to eyeball it. I need a way to make sure I am finding, and marking, the exact center end every time.

How to Find and Mark the Center Warp End

Supplies:

Pencil
Subscription card from a magazine, folded in half lengthwise
Seven-inch tail from a yarn butterfly, or a strand of yarn

Measure the width of the beater and use a pencil to mark the exact center with a vertical line.
Hold the folded edge of the card against the vertical pencil line on the beater, with the bottom edge of the card almost touching the warp.

3. Slip the yarn tail under the center warp end, as identified by the bottom corner of the card.

4. Check the alignment of the center line of the cartoon with the center warp end.

5. Slide the yarn from the reed to the fell line to check the entire length of the alignment. Reposition the cartoon, if needed.

Bluebonnet woven transparency almost finished! — Ready for one last alignment!

May you find a solution that eliminates guesswork.

All the best,
Karen

Crabba or Not

September 5, 2017September 4, 2017 Karen

Sometimes I really don’t know what I am doing! It’s uncomfortable. I make a guess and hope for the best. I almost skipped this section of the tapestry/inlay sampler because I don’t understand the instructions for crabba in The Big Book of Weaving. I’ve heard of crabba, and have seen pictures, but I have no experience with it.

Tapestry / inlay sampler. All linen. — First two attempts at weaving the diamond-shapes of crabba. 1) Too faint. 2) Too flat.

Consequently, I am attempting to weave something that resembles the crabba motif, with “rhomboid pattern shapes and stairstep contours.” My first little diamond all but disappeared. Pattern weft needs to be thicker. My second attempt flattened into a flying saucer. Aha! I need at least two pattern picks of each row. Finally, I wove three more diamond motifs. Crabba, or not, they are now a part of this inlay sampler.

Color gradation in linen background, with inlay in diamond shapes. — Color gradation continues in the background under the inlay diamond shapes.

Tapestry / inlay sampler. All linen. Morning light! — Visiting the loom in morning light brings a reminder that much of weaving is learning by doing. And much of life is that way, too.

We can’t know everything. But we can keep learning, even when we don’t understand the instructions. Instead of quitting, step up and make an attempt. Raise your hopes. Stir up your faith to hope for the impossible. Your brave steps today set you up for greater progress next time you face a hurdle. Place your faith in the Lord, the instruction-giver. Sometimes He lets you learn by doing.

May you hope for the best.

~~Houston update: After diverting to Texas hill country because of the Hurricane Harvey flooding last week, Steve and I finally returned home to Houston this weekend. We are very thankful to come home to a dry house, untouched by the flooding that has devastated so many in our city. Relief efforts will continue in Houston for some time. Thank you for your prayers.~~

Hopefully,
Karen

Wild Linen Rya

September 1, 2017August 31, 2017 Karen

Rya knots and loops of threads look chaotic at first. These linen rya knots will never be tame, but that’s to be expected. Linen butterflies have created a swath of wild rya “flowers” planted in a smooth linen “lawn.”

Making rya knots with a bundle of linen threads. — Continuous weft bundle forms loops between rya knots.

Each section of rya starts with a butterfly made of several strands of linen in assorted weights and colors. I tie each rya knot on a pair of warp ends, leaving a loop between knots. There are two to three passes of plain weave between each row of knots. When I finish a butterfly, I go back and clip all the loops. After the loops are cut, I trim the tops of the threads to even out the rya “flower garden.”

Linen rya knots on a linen weft-faced background. — Tops of the rya threads are trimmed. I intentionally leave a few shorter and longer threads, for interest.

Linen rya knots on a weft-faced linen background. Tapestry/inlay sampler. — Linen rya knots on a weft-faced linen background. Wild linen “flowers” growing out of a smooth linen “lawn.”

When things around us look a mess and don’t make sense, full of knots and loops, there is one thing we must do. Keep holding on to faith. Fight to keep your faith strong. Faith in Christ Jesus will carry you through uncertainty and will reveal the first ray of hope. The loops will be clipped, the threads will be trimmed. A garden of color will emerge. Faith waits for that.

May your faith be strong.

All the best,
Karen