A learning curve with weaving.

Tapestry weaving has been a skill I have wanted to learn for some time since receiving a small Good Wood loom.  A friend of my brother's gave it to me in honor of him when he died twenty years ago.  At that time spinning was a relatively newly-acquired skill for me since learning how to spin in 1997.  Upon returning home, I promptly warped the loom with crochet cotton and wove with a bit of white handspun weft.  It is the perfect size for a mug rug and has graced my computer desk for years. The experience of weaving was okay, but not something I felt compelled to pursue at that time...until Jim bought me the Cricket loom for my birthday in 2014.  The scarf I wove with the yarn that came with the loom (enhanced with some yarn from the knitting stash) was instant gratification.  That gift led to being in a small group at Anoka Fiber Works that wove vests on our Cricket looms, which then led to me writing an article for Spin-Off Magazine about the experience.  It became clear early on in my weaving that I enjoyed weaving with wool and particularly loved weaving fabric for garments.  A few months later, I purchased a floor loom from Deb, of Old Man Wool Farm.  Weaving fabric for sewing has been fun and satisfying and as time goes by, there is more to learn and opportunity to grow as a fiber artist.  The next step for me is to paint with the yarn with tapestry weaving.  My experiment is approximately three-inches wide by six-inches long.  The piece for me was a success and I look forward to more tapestry weaving.  My plan is to use some of the handspun from the Snake River Acres Lincoln Longwool for weft (and possibly warp) in a tapestry project.

I borrowed Mary's Harrisville lap loom and warped it for a small project using cotton rug warp and handspun woolly bits for the weft.  The simple landscape is made with simple shapes using contour, slanted, and straight lines.  The tension was not an issue, but I should have addressed the start before diving into the weaving.  

About halfway through the first project, I warped the Good Wood loom with two strands of rug warp per slot.  The advantage to the lap loom is that the yarn ends are easy to move to the back when not in use.  This time I wove with one warp thread per pass.  Next time it should be two strands per pass.  I still like how it looks, even though a bit of the warp peeks through the weaving.  

The varying thickness of yarn was tricky on the edges, but I like the overall texture.

The finishing at the top and bottom were a bit of a challenge.  I did two rows of twining and managed to stitch down the loops at the bottom.  Next time I will do a continuous warp.  

The long threads at the top was nice for tying the piece onto one of sticks I picked up on a hike last year.