Warped

Day 71: The project currently on my loom has been there since Christmas 2013, and I have no excuse for having largely ignored it for the better part of the last year. I would occasionally sit down at the bench and make a few nominal throws, once even completing six inches in a half-hour marathon of weaving, then again letting the shuttles go idle for another two or three months. I enjoy weaving, and perhaps my flagging energies in that direction were due to the project being a simple over-and-under tabby. I had warped for a birds-eye design, but the weft should have been heavier to do it justice; in lieu of making another trip to Seattle, I reverted to the simpler weave.

Recently, I sent my piano to a new home with the thought of moving the loom into the living room. Although I don't think that's actually going to happen, it was sufficient motivation to set the shuttles flying once again. As I considered the logistics of moving the loom, I realized I'd have to get the project off the beams in order to dismantle it so it would pass through the doorway. In two days' time, I've woven three towels/placemats and only have one to go (I'd warped for seven).

Weaving in and of itself is repetitive work. You raise a shed, pass the shuttle through, then change sheds and pass the shuttle the opposite direction. The pattern is determined beforehand as the threads are sequenced through the heddles. The weaver's art lies in the accurate threading of hundreds of "eyes." Any error will be apparent when the weaving is begun and will require some very tedious undoing to set to rights.