The Lightning Weaver, yet again, stood in as a tapestry loom as I tried to weave the second sampler from Nancy Harvey’s book, yet again. Because the set is 12 dpi, I need to find the perfect weft size\/type to make this loom actually work well. So far, I’ve chosen knitting yarns and embroidery floss and most are too “spongy” to pack down well. I think the yellowish-brown in this sampler is probably the closest to a good tapestry wool that I have, and I don’t have much of it. I’d love to be able to buy a sampler kit of a variety of rug weaving colors to have on hand.<\/p>\n
What I learned this time: I can weave all the way to the top and the bottom if I don’t mind it being packed loosely and if I have a lot of patience; I have lots of trouble where two colors join if they’re increasing or decreasing (note the warp threads showing); and circles are difficult. Because this circle started leaning toward being hexagonal, I said, “Go for it, circle! Be what you want to be!” So, there’s a hexagon in the center where a moon or sun was supposed to be.<\/p>\n
I’m done with sampling for awhile. I’m considering weaving a thin band to make a cuff bracelet. I’ve also got a sturdy frame at home that will work, I think, as a Navajo-styled rug loom if I can wrap my brain around how to warp it. So far, I’m learning all of this from the great books of the 1970s and 1980s. Nancy Harvey’s tapestry books are really good, and now I’m studying Navajo Techniques for Today’s Weaver<\/em>, by Joanne Mattera (1975).<\/p>\n
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