Back-strap Loom Weaving

Projects get started and not finished. The inspiration gets lost. It doesn't turn out right. Other things come up. What should one do? If the project is simple like dyeing thread and the colour is not just right it is easy to over dye. But weaving something can take ages. And ages. You could waste weeks weaving away at something that will never be worth it. This goes for cutting stencils. The touch can be wrong. Do you keep on cutting away or just scrap it?

 No. No. No. It isn't working. It could be much better.
A clumsy warp. A stencil that lacks something. It is better to try to salvage the thread or use part of a stencil. I can be ruthless if it seems like it will become a time waster. Out it goes.

I've had this warp on my back strap loom for........um...... over....four years. There were too many other things on the go. A few meters had been woven and it was a rare piece that was coming out exactly as envisioned. But it had been left too long on the loom and had probably atrophied. There was not much to do except cut off the thread and start something new on the loom. A few passes of the shuttle and it was apparent that it wasn't a write-off and the rest of the warp could probably be woven up.  It was originally warped  as an experiment with the color scheme and a thread test.

The inspiration for the weave had come from a January sunset. (The photo reminds me much of the one that Velma has recently posted on her blog.) Madder and tannin and pale indigo sky with dark menacing tree branches warping upwards. It is finally on it's way to being finished. There may be enough for a men's obi or if not there wil be plenty to make various bags for the tea ceremony.

It is great to be weaving again on a back strap loom. Your whole body get's involved in the weave. It weaves up so tightly.