Almost halfway

As of this week, I am almost halfway done with my portrait of my daughter.  It has been a busy week, and not much time for weaving, but I thought I would post this photograph to show the progress.  You can see the image beginning to take form.  One thing that Helena Hernmarck said in her class was that she never unwove  anything on the loom.  After cutting off she would sometimes tweak a piece, but she just carried on.  I see things in this piece I would like to correct, but I keep telling myself to keep going and trust the process.  I think the overall effect is good, but I see some details that need some work.  I will keep on with the process and see how it goes.  This is the first full piece I have made using the Hernmarck technique.  Overall I really like it.  The weaving goes a bit quicker, and I love the decisions and effect of the image once completed.

The Power of Introverts

I don't know about other weavers, but I am an introvert.  As I sat in my studio today enjoying the quiet of my house and listening to the radio, I heard a talk by an interesting woman, Susan Cain.  In her talk she is quoted as saying, "Solitude matters, and for some people it is the air that they breathe."

If you are an introvert, and want to feel better about it, just listen to Susan Cain's talk.

Finally, I am weaving again!

After a several month hiatus I am weaving again.  The past four months has been filled with parenting, riding my horse, teaching engineering and science at a local school, and sewing.  If you are interested in seeing why my time got so filled with sewing you can go to With Needle and Stick, which is my sewing and knitting blog.  If you are interested to see what I do at a local school one or two days a week then you can go to EaSiEE as Pi.  However, if you only what to see what I have been weaving, well here it is.

It took me quite a while to get the Macomber warped.  I have never warped a horizontal loom before, but thanks to the wonders of the internet and youtube, I got it done.  It wasn't pretty, and took three times of unrolling and rolling and the adding of warps, but there it is.  It took me a bit of time to realize that this tapestry wanted to be woven on its side and not from bottom to top.  I am weaving an image of my nine year old daughter whom I photographed wearing her new beret.  After going through several images, I selected the one you see below.  I am using Helena Hernmarck's method of weaving.

As of today, I am 1/4 of the way through the weaving.  It has been my fastest weaving so far.  I really enjoy the technique.  Next, I will try it with a color tapestry.