Everything is possible if you are up to the challenge

Woven by Elizabeth Bryan, using Tencel (wood pulp based rayon). Project take from Handwoven.

We are off to an enthusiastic and eager to start to the Fall weaving classes. The enthusiasm makes us feel impatient to get started on our new weaving projects. Alas there is so much consider before embarking on our next weaving venture. A lot of planning is required and this is something that many do not relish, and I suppose, in part, why some of them are here.

There are many approaches one can take to making our weaving ideas become reality. Taking project ideas from Handwoven magazine is a great way to learn about weave structures and get ideas about what we might want to make. The projects in Handwoven magazine have all the details figured out, like the yarn required, and all the technical information you need to realize the project.

Woven cotton lace curtain by Laura Dymock.  Pattern taken from Handwoven Mar/April 2002. Designed by Jean Hutchison.

Sometimes people get ideas from other weavers in the class, like these tea towels by Agota Dolinay, who was inspired by Amy Stein.  Seeing what others are weaving often inspires us.

Sometimes people take ideas from other kinds of magazines and try to interpret into a weaving project.

 

Agota Dolinay created a sample first for a throw she wanted to weave. Below, the doubleweave throw she wove for her sofa at the cottage.

Whatever your approach, it still requires some basic knowledge of reading patterns for weaving, of creating pattern drafts and lastly, getting into the habit of creating a sample of what you want  if the project has not been directly copied from a weaving magazine or book.

Last year I wove an 8 shaft double weave project that I took from Handwoven May/June 1992, designed by Sandra Leinweber, who also wrote an article about her design process. She says "I don't experiment with yarn. I hate to sample, and it occurred to me that if I always used the same kind of yarn, I could avoid sampling and concentrate on design and colour." Personally, this would never work for me, for I love a variety of textures, and fibre content, as well as in my weaving endeavours.

2/18 merino scarf designed and woven by Wendy Szpindel over the summer.

If from project to project you are always using different yarns and fibres, different weave structures, there is no way you can predict what the outcome will be 100%. If you want to change the pattern and create your own, then it's a good idea to learn how to do pattern drafting, and then, explore some of the pattern drafting software for weaving. Its good to weave samples of different yarns, to wash and give them different finishing treatments to see how they respond and how they will look, especially nowadays, when there are so many new fibres on the market to tempt you.

This place of 'not knowing what to do' is often not a comfortable place. For many, it is outside our comfort zone. Sometimes to ge the outcomes we want with our weaving we also have to advance our knowledge. Everything is possible, but in order to obtain what we envision, it may be challenging and demanding. Remembering the joy of the weaving part of the process sustains our motivation when we are wrestling with the design and technical challenges that arise.

Until the next time

Line Dufour