Sunflower

Sunflower

Sunday, July 22, 2012

This is what I do when I do this thing I do

  I know it's hard to tell how complicated it is, handweaving, if you don't do it yourself.  So I'm going to lay out, step by step, what the process I go through when I am making something. I will try not to be too boring.
  I have a commission for some custom fabric from a lady on Etsy.  She gave me the dimensions, the colors, and that she wanted it to be linen. So I start with having to do math.
  I hate math. Calculators are my friend.
  So I do the math and figure out how long and wide and dense my warp needs to be, and I order the yarn. And wait.
  And wait.
  Finally, my yarn comes!
  Look at those gorgeous colors!  The notebook under the grapes? That's my project book, where I plan things out and make notes about how long it takes, how well it turns out, that kind of stuff.

  This is what I measure all 768 ends of my warp out on. It took me 10 hours yesterday to do this.
  When all the warp is measured out and coiled in a basket, to keep from getting tangled, it's time to move to the loom.
  The loom has what's called a reed, which is like a metal comb, that is the first place the yarn goes through. I did that today for two and a half hours. 
  I also started to thread the heddles with the linen tonight. I should get it mostly done tomorrow after work. So stay tuned for part two.
  G'night!