A Single Thread

This project sat half-warped on my loom since the beginning of school, way back in August.  After blowing off the dust, I was pleased  to get it completely warped on the last day of Thanksgiving break.  I enthusiastically wove in the first thick headers of thick cotton sheeting -- no problem.  I wove in the next, thinner headers of fat green yarn -- no problem.  I wove in the first 3/4" of the fuzzy mohair yarn that makes up this scarf -- still, no problem. 

Then I threaded a needle and began hemstitching the end.  You have to wrap the warp in bundles of three, very exacting work.  I was about halfway across when I saw that a space in my reed was empty -- there was a gap.  I then remembered that there had been a dangling "extra" thread hanging all by itself when I warped up the loom.  I cut it off when couldn't figure out where it was supposed to go.  Now I can.  Hindsight. 

Weaving is not for those who have no patience for detail.  A tiny mistake (like a single missing thread out of 230), if left unattended, will be magnified with every row you weave.  Rather then disappearing into the fabric, its absence stands out in neon blinking lights.  When I discovered this flaw, I gave up for the night and went to bed.  And then, the next afternoon, I pulled myself together and unravelled everything I'd already woven (this is a joy with clingy mohair), carefully unwound the warp, and added that single missing thread.  Miracle of miracles, when everything was once again wound and tightened, the tension was perfect. I've now woven a solid 10 1/2 inches of my first scarf.   Happy sigh.

I'm trying a lace pattern for the first time.  The treadling sequence is so complex that I wrote it out and taped it right up front.  Keeping track takes every bit of concentration I can muster. 

Supposedly, the lace doesn't show while the scarf is stretched on the loom.  It "blooms" after the cloth has been washed.  We'll see...  Right now, it looks like... well, nothing.  I'm looking forward to lots of blooming!

Mulligan, from her vantage point on the bed,  has no worries that the project will turn out fine.




Getting back to weaving is doing wonders for my state of mind.  Untangle the threads.  Put order into chaos.  Focus.  Weave.  Yes!