The past couple of weeks I have been immersed in weaving and drawing. Since moving, it was just hard to get back into the routine of drawing. I always have trouble starting with that even though I love it when I'm doing it. Sometimes I think that I'm so production oriented that it is hard to just do an activity that isn't really making something but that is not logical thinking because my work and quality of life are so improved when I do draw. What really helped me get back to my sketchbook again was the wild flowers. When we hike in the mountains or when I walk around the valley during the week, there are so many different kinds blooming now. Some I know from the Midwest and some I have to look up to see what they are. I've been drawing the ones I see each week and hope to have a nice record of what wildflowers bloom when by the end of the season. Funny though because the last couple weeks I've also been baking a lot so I have a good assortment of baked goodies to bring to my daughter's when we go. I've been drawing at the kitchen table while there is something in the oven baking in the morning and weaving in the afternoon. I do love to bake but can't keep that up everday when it is just the two of us at home.

I should have an updated photo of the tapestry on the loom next week. I've worked on it everyday and I'm still really pleased with how it is coming along. This is a lot larger than I've been working in the last few years and I'm not sure if I will work this large all the time. Sometimes it is just more interesting to work through an idea quickly like I can do with a smaller tapestry. But with this one, the visual impact just didn't seem to be there when it was smaller.

Charleen, the warp I use is the Davidson's Navajo 4 ply. I sett that at 8 epi. I've tried using it at 10 epi but it was too hard to beat down my weft at that sett. I hope your handspun and that warp work well for you.

Tapestry in Progress

Although I have been on vacation for a week while the kids were visiting here, I've gotten a lot done on weaving this latest tapestry the last couple of days. It is a little larger than I have been doing the last several years at 24" x 16" so I have to have a different mindset about the time it is taking to weave it but since I love the cartoon and so far the way it is turning out, it hasn't been that difficult of an adjustment. I am now a little past this point shown in the photo, in the weaving and about 1/3 done. The colors are not what I usually use either but I wanted a misty affect and so the gray seemed just right and it is all working together like I hoped.



I included this photo so that you could see the cartoon better and also the loom which is a Mirrix. The original drawing was in my sketchbook but I thought that it would weave better if it was larger so I made a grid of 2" squares on a big sheet of paper and doubled what the drawing was. It wasn't hard or time consuming to do this and I could make adjustments as I went which I couldn't do if I just used a copier to blow it up. It was enjoyable too.

The weft yarn is all wool handspun and the warp is Davidson's wool warp which is what I have been using the last few years sett at 8 epi. I would like to finish this by the end of the month but I don't know if that is a realistic goal and I'm enjoying the process so much that I don't want to just rush through it. Some tapestries just feel right from the beginning and this one seems to be one of them.