Weaving Peace in Arlee--ending week two

No time for words, but you get the drift (grin). The week ended with a bang, and it will take a couple of post to fill in, but now I am racing off to begin week three.

Weaving Peace in Arlee--day 9-- Second Panel Complete

Here is the end result of a very active international day of weaving.

I slowed down the weaving yesterday awaiting the arrival of a new warp (which arrived at 4:30 this afternoon). Well, so much for measuring---since I didn't know how long the warp was to begin with. I just kind of guessed what I hoped was halfway. I was only a yard off. (grin) The new warp is about 20 yds long, so there will not be a problem with too short.


Remember, there are no mistakes.


That is what I reminded these two beautiful weavers. Weaver below has a Brazilian mother who gave me the Portuguese word for peace, PAZ, so now paz is woven in.

And then a crowd of Swedish folks arrived on the scene bringing the Swedish word for peace, FRED.

Each day has brought so many unimagined blessings and surprises. I am brimming with gratitude.

Weaving Peace in Arlee--day 8 (the prequel)

I am in the planning stage to teach on-line classes through Weavolution for those people who really want to know and understand the process of creating TALKING THREADS AND WOVEN WORDS. Stay tuned for more on this. Meanwhile check out the array of classes currently offered at Cyber Fiber: the Weavolution online classroom.

As I awaitr the arrival of a second warp, (to weave panels 3 & 4), I thought I would go back to the arrival of Saori Loom in a Box.

Since I am the sort of person who (when they move into a new place) hangs picture where there are already nails, I enlisted the help of some weaver friends.

It was a bit more complicated that I had hoped or imagined.


Slowly but surely, a loom began to take shape.


The loom comes with a pre-wound warp. The thread are held in relative order by means of a piece of tape.

Once I surrendered to the reality that this loom is a bit different from the looms I am used to, I began to enjoy the idea of actually learning something new. It is so easy to become fixed in "my method"--leaving little room for growth.


And will you look at this---the very first blog post where I have figured out how to upload more than 5 images.
Tomorrow will have banner #2 on display, and will have my fingers crossed I will be recreating the image above threading my second warp.

Weaving Peace in Arlee--day 7 (although it feels like day 8)

Originally I decided to weave the word PEACE in English, Salish, and Tibetan.

Then PEACE in Mandarin, Thai, Japanese, Sanskrit, Hindi, and Hebrew appeared on the scene. Who knows what language will be next. Hebrew pictured below.

The pace slowed down a bit today, which was a good thing because we are almost finished with the second banner AND the warp. Because I don't have any 10/2 black un-mercerized cotton on hand, I rush ordered a pre-wound warp from Saori Santa Cruz in hopes it will arrive by Thursday.


What we didn't have in quantity, was more than made up for in quality with delightful young artists taking to the loom like pros.

What delights will tomorrow bring?
I know some of you may be wondering, "How do these random seeming stripes spell out words?" I know I have explained this somewhere among the blog posts, but if anyone takes the time to ask, I will explain again.

Weaving Peace in Arlee--day 6 (I don't know what happened to 5)

What a day! It seemed like we didn't stop for a minute. There was such a variety of age, gender and nationality. This project is turning out to be so much more than I ever imagined!

Somebody asked me about that wheel on the side of the loom.

Well, here it is in action. Although one doesn't have to get up to wind a bobbin, it is actually easier to do standing up.

Peace Banner Number 1

I cut off the first banner on Saturday!


You can tell I am one happy camper.


I decided 3 yards was long enough.


Now onward to banner #2

Weaving Peace in Arlee--day 4

At long last, Donna sits down at the loom for the first time. She assures me it won't be the last.


The day proceeded with a variety of weavers of all ages.



I made a little video of Grace weaving, but I haven't had much luck getting video onto my blog. I will give it another try later.

And the biggest miracle is that 3 yards of weaving was completed. It is cut off the loom, but I still am only able to put 5 images on a blog post. I know folks insist that I can do more than 5, and I do see that others on blogger do.

Stay tuned for the first view of the first banner. Hey, don't ask me how they are going to hang. I will cross that bridge---well, later.