Saturday, January 9, 2010

A Weaver's Time-Warp

Do you ever start to giggle uncontrollably, or outright laugh hysterically, while throwing the shuttle six, 18 or 36 times to weave an inch of cloth? In the second decade of the 21st Century, we thread one warp at a time through a small hole in the heddle, and a skinny slot in the reed, and we make them go up and down and, well, you know how it works.

Sometimes the silliness gets to me and I wonder what life means, my life, your life, one person's life time, what we're supposed to do, what we think we should be doing, and how much of it we should be doing. And the only conclusion I reach every time I start to giggle is that this silliness is a luxury, one weavers allow ourselves to do. And it's the closest thing to a SciFi/time-warp kind of experience I have.

My mom's blanket is off the loom, as is a second, white one in a thicker merino boucle, which I hope to put on my Etsy store when I get around to it opening it. I'm afraid Mom's may be mended/fringed/washed in Japan, and the white one after I get back, but I will be sure to take pictures. Mom's is much heavier, as Dot described, it will have a "substantial, soft texture", I hope. The white one is airier. In retrospect, I'm glad Mom's weft came in two dye lots; I suspect it's giving the blanket the extra tonal nuance I think it has; at least it's more complicated-looking than the white one. I also wove a tube-shaped cushion cover for Mom, thinking I had much more weft left on the cone than I actually did. It turned out to be a strange-looking tiny thing, so I'm not sure what I'll do with it, but it was fun weaving a tube, a first for me.


Meanwhile, I can come upstairs and show you, wherever you are in the world, what I just took off the loom 20 minutes ago. Imagine that! (Sorry, the pics are blurred; I can't seem to focus my eyes today, nor keep my arms steady.)

7 comments:

  1. Hi Meg; certainly in our technologically savvy society, the art of weaving probably seems a redundant skill to most people.
    But, we have the luxury of turning it into an art form, if we wish; and I think that for a lot of weavers it is an important form of self-expression.
    For this reason, and others, I happen to think it's a very valuable skill that we can't/shouldn't let go of. So, my dictum is, keep warping the yarn, dressing the loom, and throwing the shuttle and rejoice in the fact that we can do it.
    Kind regards.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi, Avid! Well, I certainly enjoy it. But at times it seems to counter-something. Not counter-productive, but almost... a counter-revolution, as in the 60's. As if I'm doing something against the tide.

    I certainly don't intend to give it up, but it feels somewhat... incongruous to my expectation of my life.

    At any rate, with my stash, it's easier to keep going than to try to get rid of it! :-D

    ReplyDelete
  3. People keep telling me there was a revolution some time back ...!
    Could you tube become a neck wrap/scarf?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Pictures of the tube please, please, please! (I'm going to make a similar attempt - although it's a designated sample so it's allowed to come out tiny and ugly.

    The blankets look great!!!

    Weaving is slow, but knitting is even slower....and knitting is huge around here. Seems like every library and knitting store has a knitting group. So we're not alone in our enjoyment of the slow!!

    Sue

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dianne, the labor movement in Japan started with trying to improve young women workers' work conditions at textile mills about 100 years ago.

    Sue, I can try, but it doesn't look that different. Coming up with the correct draft was simpler than double-width.

    ReplyDelete
  6. i do hope I get first debs on anything you put up for sale on etsy! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Yes, here, but not for a while. The complexity of setting up an on-line shop perplexes me!

    ReplyDelete

I love comments. Thank you for taking the time to leave one. But do be sure to leave your real or blog name.