Monday, August 27, 2007

Summer weaving experience



Well would you look at that, my scarf is finished. It took me all summer and I am so proud of it! I made just a few errors that I didn't catch and reweave while it was still on the loom. I actually made many errors that I went back and fixed while it was still on the loom, but I missed a few. Now it is washed and the yarn softened up quite a bit, Lou (my teacher) says if I didn't beat it so tight it would be softer yet. I am sad that with my school schedule I will not be able to continue the class , maybe in a couple of years after nursing school is done. I did begin to wind on a warp for some cotton dish towels. I got the 370 ends wound onto the back beam, but I still need to thread the heddles and sley the reed (don't you just love the vocabulary). Weaving at home I will miss the camaraderie of my fellow weavers. There is something to be said for sitting in a room full of looms to transport you back in time to another era when groups of women actually did this. The sound of many treadles, beaters and shuttles clacking made me imagine that I was living in another time when the pace of life was a bit more sane. I imagine I am in an ancient Celtic village weaving tartans and catching up on the village gossip. All around us the children are playing with scraps of thread and the young girls are learning to spin and weave too, we can hear the sheep in the pasture and smell the bread baking in the village oven. Nevermind that we don't have flush toilets and we have to carry our water, let me live in that fantasy world for just a few hours a week.

2 comments:

Yarnhog said...

That scarf looks fabulous! Congratulations on the new craft. I can just imagine my husband's reaction if I brought a loom into the house to keep company with the spinning wheel, the knitting needles, and the lifetime supply of yarn.

knitwitmama said...

It does take over the house. Did I mention that I sew too? My husband does the same thing with tools, all kinds, woodshop,garden,kitchen you name it. :)