first the warp, then the weave

Before winter set in, I'd starting gathering everything I would need for my new craft. I'd been wanting to start weaving for some time. Every craft or art skill I've learned, I've taught myself (with the exception of the knitting lessons from my Nana plenty of years ago). Glass torchwork proved to be the most challenging - now the challenge for my glass work comes mainly from time contraints and weather conditions (torching in southern california summers is horrid). So I thought winter and summer would be perfect times for weaving. I found a nice portable loom that can stow away easily and decided early on to use only natural fibers - alpaca, wool, cotton, silk. The warp was tricky with only a manual to rely on but certainly doable. It was getting started on the weaving that had me muttering some words, but once several inches were wound on my front roller I began to feel that familiar sense of accomplishment. That feeling makes everything worthwhile! This first weave (a scarf) will be mine to learn from. It's made with two different alpaca wools and a gorgeous fucshia pink hand-dyed silk eyelash (custom dyed by a local artist, I {of course} had to buy the entire spool because there will never be an exact pink like this again!). The alpaca is a great neutral and the pink adds contrast... but it looks like burlap with a pink stripe, lol! The good news is, I've bounded over the hurdle of starting to weave and now know what I need to do to make the next one (for a friend) come to life. And I need to get a move on with that so Val can wear it before springtime ;).

the old crisco jar

Doesn't everyone look for inspiration and find it in the simplest places? With the weekend over and the house back to myself (and the dogs) it's always a day of cleaning up, putting away and trying to get back on track from the weekend. Sort of like a dog chasing his tail, because every Monday seems to be the same, hehe! In the midst of putting things away, I happened to glance up and noticed something that tends to get ignored. Maybe it's better that way because, when refound, it creates a new sense of inspiration for me. I'd bought this old glass Crisco jar at a local antique market. It came prefilled with golf tees of all colors, and I couldn't bare to leave it there so up to the counter, part with some cash and out the door we went. Not 'needing' inspiration at that time, it went right to a shelf in a relatively busy area of my glass studio, and got lost in the background. Today, I gave it a good rattle to mix up the colors again and will study that jar over lunch. Refound inspiration is a blessing! For today, it's back to my Monday...