Long and Winding Warps
I just finished winding and mailing the warps for my NEWS class. I had a ball designing and winding warps for other people to weave. I think I have come to a point in my weaving life at which the actual weaving is somewhat anti-climactic. I really love the idea/design part. I find the winding and dressing meditative and pleasant, and I enjoy the first couple of inches of weaving because I get to see the idea become reality. But weaving off the entire warp is a chore, and I often find myself thinking about the next project (or dinner, or laundry . . .) as I weave.
So, getting to design and wind 10 different warps without having to weave them off was fantastic:))
I also need to sing the praises of weavers in general. I don’t know if the weavers I know are particularly wonderful or if wonderfulness is a characteristic of the breed, but it is a great thing to share an obsession with such great people. Lucky!!!
Virginia Dow
Hi Elizabeth,
Just got my black/gray warp and I am thrilled. It is really lovely and I am very excited. Great you have sent it so early. Just have to hurry up my son, who is weaving on the 8 harness I will bring, so that I can use it next.
I love your color sense!
Virginia
Elisabeth Hill
I am so glad you like the colors you got – I had a ball winding the warps – just hope my enthusiasm didn’t negatively impact my accuracy:? And hurray that you have a weaving son. I tried with my middle son, and he wove a couple of projects, but I think I went too far when I started a campaign to get him to major in textiles at college.
Claire
Ohhh what lucky weavers to receive such a great package in the mail (and to be taking a class from you of course!)
Elisabeth Hill
Oh Claire, I just took a peek at your beautiful new loom. It looks lovely!
I am impressed that you already have a project on and off, and I look forward to see what treats come rolling off as you proceed in your weaving life.
Claire
Awww thanks! I’ve had it for a month now and one project seems like ‘not very much’. Last night at a guild meeting I purchased some cottolin for a straight twill towel warp – pretty wild colours… brown, purple and green lol. I’m hoping that I’ll work out a few issues with this next project. And I’m tossing up whether to also warp back to front for the first time or save that for another project.
Elisabeth Hill
Can’t wait to see! I was mystified by weavers’ love of the dish towel for a long time. I thought – you can get some pretty nice dish towels for a pretty low price in pretty many places. And then I wove some waffle towels . . . and then used some cottolin . . . then hemp . . . now I am a dish towel weavin’ fool. There is something about the size, functionality, and how easy it is to make a functional sample of a color or structure combo one is thinking about. The purple/brown/green combo sounds great to me:))
Debbie
The warps look great! Can’t wait to see what your students produce.
The deadline is approaching to get entries juried into the NEWS shows, so I’ve been doing a lot of NEWS dreaming…
My daughter was completely indifferent to my spinning and weaving. She was into art and fashion design, but not fabrics or fibers. Now through her 3rd year in fashion design, she is edging closer to textile print design and actually enjoys the little weave design she has done. Sometimes it takes a while to kick in.
Elisabeth Hill
Thanks Deb,
Boy, I would love/can’t wait to see what you have been dreaming about NEWS wise. Are you going to attend/submit or just one or the other? I would love to have a cuppa with you if you are going and can find a couple of minutes (so many things to see/do – so little time).
Your daughter’s tale is interesting. My son is on a parallel -ish path too – in art school, doing print-making (like hand weaving in its GREAT – don’t get me wrong – backward-looking, luddite, slightly impractical, obsessiveness), and I am proud that I have restrained myself from crashing his textile department:) He will be a junior next year . . . so there may still be time.
Debbie
Missed your comment earlier. I’ll be there for the whole weekend and would love to sit down with you. You’re probably the one with more time constraints. The instructors at these events always look so busy…
Marlene Toerien
How I wish I lived near you, we think so alike about warps, judging shows etc.
Elisabeth Hill
Me too! I also just checked out your pinterest selections Marlene and wanted to repin all of them! Hope that doesn’t sound too creepy . . .