carrying on
what to weave?
that is the question
when you’ve been weaving as much as I do for almost 40 years
the greatest challenge is remaining enthusiastic and motivated
I don’t need anything – believe me, the cupboards and drawers are full
and, with the possible exception of one or two people, I think I’ve worn out the gift giving
and still the NEED to weave persists!
where to start?
yarns/fibre – a new/different weave structure – something practical or arty???
hours/days by the fire with several pots of tea and an abundance of weaving books
the Handwoven magazines go back to 1980
did you notice the price tag – $4.50
a search of the stash
decisions made
tea towels – again!
weave structure chosen – it will use up small amounts of weft yarns
there may come a time when I need to start buying yarn just to have some colour choices
yikes!
two pounds of cotton 2 ply on the large cone needed to be wound into balls
and then wound into a warp
and so the weaving starts again
meanwhile the tapestry for January is growing
using a cartoon
weaving the Christmas tree in December
it was impossible to weave anything that remotely resembled a star
still at 8 epi but a larger image – I’m determined
the stars have traumatized me – I may never weave another
first weave, then un-weave – and repeat
off to weave tea towels!
Yarn and books..sigh!! we all have common weaknesses, haven’t we? I have a bag full of pure wool waiting to be dyed and used in embroidery since 2010…and that’s a for a new embroidery style. Weaving is something I have never tried,I am happy with embroidery right now. Hope the coming months give you better inspiration. Happy new year to you and yours!!
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Deepa – Happy new year to you, too. Perhaps you will get to use that wool. I’ve been embroidering since I was a child but have added several other “weaknesses” over the years, it all adds up.
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oh, i love this! when i was weaving many small tapestries i eschewed difficult imagery (like a five point star) in favor of more organic things (like a rabbit). then i found igolochkoy, and my imagery was much richer, but i lost the lovely “flatness” of tapestry. it was fun to switch back and forth, though.
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Velma – oh, how lovely, I never knew you wove tapestry. Do you have a picture? I did some punch needle work when I was a kid, my Mom liked it, don’t think I need any more new work/techniques right now! Hopefully, by the time I’ve done a year of little tapestries they will be better – or I will have driven myself around the bend!
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most (all?) of those things are long gone…maybe i can find a photo or two and send…
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Velma – it is interesting to see the paths we have taken to get to where we are now.
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When in doubt, weave towels!! Your tapestry star looks very good to me–are you satisfied with it now?
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Kerry – thank the weaving gods for tea towels, and at least they sell. Star is o.k. maybe on the last – 12th tapestry – I’ll try stars again and see if I’ve learned anything.
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Hurrah for tea towels! One cannot have too many…
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Suzanne – I’m going to try for some crazy colours, any ideas?
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Just a little while ago I read that the “big” color this year was going to be violet. I don’t quite know what that is supposed to mean, but this afternoon I found myself mixing up some for a new watercolor picture, and actually I quite liked it. My great-aunt Katy loved violet and lavender, so it has nice associations for me. With a little lemony yellow for balance…hmmm…
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Suzanne – I’ll have to go through my stash and see if there is any violet. My daughter-in-laws gave me lavender soap and hand cream for Christmas, apparently it is “in”!
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