Tag: Texas hill country

End of the Warp – Critter Napkins

Karen

Thank you for following along on this lengthy Critter Napkins project. Twelve critter napkins on the combination drawloom. These are hefty napkins with children in mind. Since showing you the roadrunner a few months ago, I have been busy weaving more critters. I have woven the final five, plus three bonus animals…

Texas Longhorn Steer. Longhorn steer, designed from a photo taken by Steve when the steer was passing through our property. You can see the legs of the humorous wild turkey on the cloth beam below.
Texas Spiny Lizard. This is a common lizard in Texas Hill Country.
Ringtail. Colloquially called “ringtail cat,” the ringtail is a completely nocturnal animal. Because of our game camera we know he has visited our back deck.
Raccoon. Mr. Raccoon tries to go unnoticed, but we have seen him taking figs from the fig tree and bird seed from the bird feeder.
Blackbuck Antelope. The beautiful blackbuck antelope is not native to Texas, but we often see these exotic animals in our area.

I have some warp left. I am pretty sure it is enough to weave one or two more napkins. But can I squeeze out three more? Maybe… I want to try. Luna, Toby, and Comet are the family dogs of our three children’s families. Perfect subjects for finishing out this warp.

Weaving the first two dogs, no problem. But as the back tie-on bar moves closer to the front every time I advance the warp, I begin to wonder if I’ve made a big mistake. The shed is decreasing. The children and grandchildren are all expecting their dogs to be woven. I can’t do two dogs, and not the third. Will I have to tie on warp to finish? Will I have to use a shed stick to open each shed? Or, use a stick shuttle to finish?

It is a true blessing from the Lord to be given a skill to develop, and to be able to use that skill. When I face a challenge in weaving, I know there is a way through it, and I have the skill to work it out. God made a way for each of us to finish well all the way to the end of our life, not through our own skill, but through faith in Jesus Christ. Our warp will be cut from the loom at just the right time. When that time comes, those who are in Jesus Christ will enjoy what we’ve been made for–to be with our Master Weaver forever. I imagine He will handle each woven cloth with delight as it comes off the loom, as a weaver does who has invested everything into the threads that were woven.

Here are the bonus animals–the family dog of each of our three children’s families. I asked the oldest child in the family to write the dog’s name, which I then converted into weaveable letters. I placed the dog’s name frontwards and backwards, so it can be read from either side of the cloth. I was able to reach the end of weaveable warp without using any extreme measures. Joy!

Luna is the fun-loving dog of our daughter Melody’s family. You can see the raccoon wrapping around the cloth beam.
Watch out for Toby’s tail. This happy dog belongs to our son Daniel’s family.
Our son Samuel’s family added cute little Comet to their home just a couple days before Christmas.
Narrow shed at the end, with a view of black dog Toby.

Please watch for my February 1st post. I will give you a complete rundown on all the finished and hemmed critter napkins.

~ February 1st will be the last scheduled blog post for Warped for Good. ~

I am still weaving, so I intend to share what’s going on with my looms here on Warped for Good, but in a spontaneous manner instead of a scheduled post on each first day of the month.

Grateful to have you here,
Karen

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

One Napkin at a Time

Karen

Jack the Jackrabbit is ready to hop on over the breast beam. It is time to design the next napkin. I design one at a time and then weave it. We have the armadillo, the porcupine, the gray fox, and the jackrabbit. Up next is a white-tailed deer. Steve took a photo of a white-tailed buck on our property last week. I will use that photo as the basis for my deer design.

Finished to the top of Jack’s ears.
Chart shows row-by-row pulls for pattern-shaft handles and single-unit cords. One draw handle is pulled for each row of the side border.

I enjoy paying attention to the amazing wildlife around us. Some, like the porcupine, are seldom seen, and others, like the white-tailed deer are in view all the time. These napkins will be a record of the critters we have purposely noticed here on the property around our home in Texas Hill Country.

Black border hem finishes off this jackrabbit napkin. The fox looks us as he turns ’round the cloth beam.

We notice what we want to notice. When we make a point to notice the blessings of the Lord we start seeing his hand in less obvious places. When we turn our heart to understand his ways he starts filling in the gaps of our understanding. It’s good to keep a record of the blessings that we notice. Thank you, Lord!

What blessings have you noticed lately? Let us know in the comments.

May you have too many blessings to count.

Happy Weaving,
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