The Affirmation Project: Day 23

My Positive:  I know how to weave.  Serious floor loom weaving.  Not loop potholders (although I do adore making those), but mathematical yarn planning, measuring, calculating weaving.  For such a simple over-under method, there is a lot of set up involved. 

Finding the right pattern and the perfect yarn are the two steps I enjoy most, aside from finishing.  Patterns are set up like this:

A weaver needs to calculate how wide the project will be, how many threads per inch, and how many total threads.  Then, need to figure out how long the piece will be, this is where you try to plan out 2 or 3 projects in one set up.  This is where I get overwhelmed and put my workpapers down to let it stew.  Then, the winding of the warp.  A warping board is one yard wide, making it easier to plan our the measurements.  If the weaver needs 6 yards, the yarn will cross the board six times.

Then, the threading all those ends into the reed, then through the heddles, then wind-her-up.  Some serious tying and tightening to get all the threads of equal tension (good luck necessary on this one).  Then, weave.  Then, finish.  See?  The set up is often more laborious than the actual weaving process.

My favorite part of weaving is the time it affords me to think.  Even if I have the radio on, the rhythm of weaving drowns out the music and opens my mind for thoughts and ideas that were once pushed to the back of my brain.  Press, slide, pull, press, slide, pull, repeat.  Some of the thoughts that come to me while weaving are truly extraordinary. 

What I am embarrassed to say is that I haven't touched my loom in over 2 years.  I  bought this loom from a garage sale for $200 with boxes full of yarn. I don't think my Dad ever thought I'd still have this loom.  I was living at my parents' house when I purchased it.  I kept it in my room.  My room began to look like this:

It was tight, but it was my loom.  My very own loom that has brought me so much joy and confidence.

My Affirmation:  I will put a new warp on my loom in the next year.