I don't know what causes these sudden "must do!"'s in life – and they can apply to anything: call a friend, check out a new restaurant, arrange the cupboard under the sink, make a sudden turn down an unexplored street, etc! – but they are like an itch that must be scratched and, they either take priority or, keep 'nudging' while other things are done. Today such was the case with this weaving. Activity ceased on it many weeks ago; normally, once the loom is warped – I weave, consistently, if not continually, until the piece is completed.
I do recall what caused the 'pause' : I had planned to take it to an event and finish it there : did not go to the event. Not sure why it stalled for this long; not sure why the 'itch' today. But there it was. And I 'itched' it.
Getting ready. Main event.
Accessories to the right; yarn and thrums and boat shuttle.
Necessities to the left. Windows open wide; sounds of outdoors – passersby, distant traffic, near by traffic, a singing robin. Wind and tree- bounced sun.
After quite a speedy considering time a yarn was chosen and the bobbin filled.
Gearing up. After such a length of time between weaving there is a period of adjustment, of getting familiar with the yarn and the boat and the sheds and the warp and the weft. Of finding a rhythm. Of leaning into the harness.
Then letting go and allowing the process to lead and admiring what happens. I quite like how the slopes took shape and, for some reason, was reminded of a person skilled with cards fanning them out in their hand. Time for a bit of texture.
Holey knees in a pair of Super hero pyjamas resulted in turning them into shorty pj's by cutting off the parts below the holes. I wanted to weave 'grandson' into the piece so cut a length of cloth strips from the cut off fabric.
The Spider Man strips were introduced by hand; the rest of the bobbin yarn was woven straight with an inclusion of baubles of lengths cut from a stretchy copper-coloured fabric that did not work as yarn for a scarf project; the weft became a bit exuberant after meeting the baubles. Then the bobbin ran out.
Now the rest of the copper was used as weft, hand shuttled into the sheds.
A rather prolonged perusal of the yarn basket resulted in the choice of a soft linen/silk yarn in a lilac colour. It wanted to be more substantial than single strand so a center pull ball was formed by wrapping around thumb.
Now the yarn can be drawn from the outside and the inside of the ball and wound around the bobbin to give a double fibre.
The lilac made a fairly straight run, partly because, coming close to the end of the warp – or at least close enough to feel the change of ease of the sheds – a smooth 'possible' finish seemed a good idea.
But, then again, I felt an observer. But, I did want a break. So I stopped and stepped out from the harness of the backstrap loom.
The weaving got unrolled and hung between the posts on the chesterfield.
Is it finished? My opinion is that a good idea would be another few inches using the same yarn as the warp. But not now. And the loom may have something else in mind.