Weaving Practice

I have an oil painting on the easel, which I am letting dry so that I can do the next layer. I have an oil painting almost ready to be varnished and sent to its new home. So, I decided to dust off the ol’ loom and do a practice piece. What a nightmare. I wanted to use yarn that I didn’t really like and didn’t have any other use for, but I think that was a mistake. It made things very difficult. It is not good weaving yarn: weak, stretchy, and too fluffy, at least for me. So, even though I put on about 12 feet of warp, I cut it off well short of that, because I couldn’t take the fight with the yarn anymore. Of course, I understand that a small part of the fight was my lack of skill, but that yarn is yucky! LOL! It looks nice, though, and is soft.

I have about ten pounds, more or less, of cotton sliver (washed, combed, and carded cotton ready for spinning) that I have had for almost 25 years. I need to learn how to spin cotton on my wheel. When I bought it I also bought a drop spindle to spin it on. I did actually use the drop spindle for a little while, but it is a very slow process. When I spin, I want some significant yardage and quickly. Spinning cotton on the wheel is very different from spinning wool. Wool is easy. Well, I need to learn to do it, so I guess now is as good a time as any. Actually, 20 years ago is better. LOL!

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“Creativity takes courage.”   – Henri Matisse