Time to Weave

I keep trying to return to what's important and there
seems to be a shortage of time--

These are not my words. These are the words from an e-mail by a woman who is trying to find her way back to weaving.

My philosophy: Weaving is all about time. Weaving is time made visible. Whenever I sit down at the loom (even after 47 years), I say to myself, "This is going to take the rest of my life!" I am almost overwhelmed by the enormity of the task, but I keep repeating it like a mantra, over and over. Finally there comes a moment when I know it is absolutely OK for this particular weaving to take the rest of my life (a moment of total surrender). It is at that moment I notice I have finished the weaving. It happens every time! It's one of my favorite things about weaving—the ability to make time malleable.

It must be time to weave.

Dressing the loom

Now we come to the Creeping Stage, threading all the little threads through the little metal heddles. Most folks don't have much fondness for this step, but I have come to enjoy it. In fact, I enjoy every step. This is the looking from the front of the loom.
See how adorable the groups of threads look. They seem so excited as if they can't wait to transform into cloth.
Here is a look at the back of the loom. I love seeing all the threads in order.

Bamboo Horoscope Scarf Warp Chains

Embryonic Stage-- When I first count out the 360 lengths, there is a delightful fluidity. Notice how the threads love to pose.

I just spent a fantastic week doing a NIA intensive workshop. NIA is a dance fusion fitness program incorporating dance arts, martial arts, and healing arts. It is loads of fun especially for people like me who spend lots of time sitting and don't like to "exercise".

Check out their website and find a class near you. It is the perfect way for me to thank my body for almost 50 years at the loom and for all the years to come.

The Latest on Gary

JAI SRI RAMA KRISHNA repeated 4 times across the bamboo warp. I guess I should repeat a little about Woven Words. In this technique, a color and number are assigned to each letter of the alphabet. Coded messages of all sorts can be created in this manner. Many examples are featured in my web gallery, which I just updated today. I am taking a break from threading the yarn through the heddles and spending a few minutes to bring you up to the minute.

I can't wait to show you what I do for the weft.

Un-Knitting

I am just back from a week long intensive training. When I arrived home, I found a package containing the yarn pictured above. There is 8.7 oz of cashmere yarn in a man's extra large sweater. I am excited about this wonderful new color to add to the palette.

I do have an extra rush order for Grace, so the next blanket panel will be pushed back, but I will keep you up to date with Grace. It's also time to see what is happening on Gary.

Big Commission--Chapter 1

Five or six years ago I got this crazy notion. I started collecting old cashmere sweaters and un-knitting them with the idea of using the yarn as weft. I un-knitted 6 sweaters and lost my focus. The yarn languished in my cedar chest until recently when I was telling an old friend about my idea of weaving a blanket using recycled cashmere. She got very excited about the concept and commissioned a blanket.

The next step was to find some more sweaters and decide on a warp yarn. My first inclination was to use merino wool, but since I had been playing around with bamboo, I thought I should weave up a test.

This ends chapter 1. In chapter 2, I run a couple of tests

PS. If you have or know of anyone who has an old cashmere sweater or two with moth holes or stains, please consider sending it to me.

PPS. Since I received the commission, I have acquired 6 more sweaters. I probably have enough for this blanket, but who knows how far I will take it.

By the way, it takes me about 8 hours to un-knit a sweater.

Bamboo Off the Loom

I used to say "The best thing about weaving is having woven." Cutting a piece off the loom remains a tremendously exciting task, but I don't know if it is the best thing. I probably should have worn black for this occasion.

I have often thought the hardest part of weaving is untying the last few bits attaching the weaving to the loom. I am so excited, I always create tangles and knots in my haste to see the whole weaving spread out. The woman next to me is the co-owner of the weaving. The other owner is taking the pictures.

Unwashed but happy to pose for a picture anyway