LouElla Gets Dressed
What to weave next was not so easy. I had to think about it for a while. I busted out my new watercolors and a photo I found in Garden Design magazine of a field of poppies and got to work. I love watercolors! I'm not very good yet, but I do so love the way the color moves and mixes! I had to keep Leo from drinking the water as I worked, but I had a good time.
As I looked at the finished picture, I realized I was going to have to weave it rotated 90 degrees, because of all the flower stems. I put the painting on a music stand next to the loom, then finished tying the warp onto the cloth beam.
The tension seems to be holding fine, and I won't need to advance for a little while, so I can do without the part Allan is making to replace a broken part that is on the brake. I am making a lot of this warping process up as I go along, because the only information I could find on warping a tapestry loom on line is for the Mirrex looms, or for Archie Brennan's copper pipe looms. I see some looms that look like mine, but not enough similar to be able to copy the process. So, I warped it like a floor loom, including spacing the warp threads with fat scraps. I used fleece strips left over from the last shag rug, and it seemed to work fine. I finished the edge with some embroidery floss, just as Tommye McClure Scanlin taught us in that tapestry class in October. |
| first line |
Uncertainty.
Wind bobbins.
Wonder if I have enough colors.
I want a "frame" around the finished picture, so I started easy, with some gray. I wove a few lines of the gray, started up the sides with some more, then plunged in with color. I feel as though I've forgotten everything I learned, and then, bit by bit, it comes back. I'm so worried about making a mistake that my neck and shoulders are really tense. I've decided to stop for the day and think about it some more.
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| Where I stopped for the day |
I've made a nice cup of tea and might sit down to knit for a while, but earlier, when I took another break from the tapestry, I wound a black chenille warp for Jenny, naked loom that she is. I made it 120 threads, about 10 inches wide, and ten yards, so I should be able to get three long scarves out of it. I'm thinking overshot, each scarf a different colorway. What about this dyed carpet warp for weft? Kind of cheerful, no? And I have a green-blue colorway that'll look good, too. And then, maybe all those bobbins of bubble gum-mint left over from the green and purple chenille scarves. Oh, the fun we'll have!
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