Thursday 5 June 2014

Weaving: First Attempt


After two years of owning a loom, I thought it might be time to finally give it a go. I thought I'd just wing it and see what happened (after some not so thorough research into how to start it off with some help from a lady on YouTube and some swift googling of Anni Albers). I've never particularly enjoyed things that can be put under the title of 'crafts' but I wanted to have a go and luckily my inability to knit didn't inhibit me.

Surprisingly, it was really enjoyable. It's very satisfying after you've sorted out the vertical threads (warp, I think) which takes FOREVER, especially when you continually mess it up as I did. It's pretty speedy to get going on a basic weave after that though. I think I'll try it with something a bit heavier next time, maybe some twine or something else that will sit nicely with the extremely vivid red that I bought from Poundland today. I need something that'll take me away from the ultra-twee instruction booklet that came with the loom.

Learning a new skill and a way of working that feels easy is something that doesn't happen all that often so I'm going to make sure that I give this some proper time, despite the inevitable boredom that will set in halfway through my next weave. So often this year I haven't been able to express myself through my work but now I can feel a bit more positive about what lies ahead. 

Trying to take photos in a breezy garden is not the easiest but I do like our ever so slightly peeling mossy concrete wall as a backdrop.