New Year, New Tapestries

There are so many exciting things happening in the studio right now that it is hard to know where to begin.

The Mango Hunters is woven! I haven't had time to let it sink in but I finished the weaving the day after Christmas. I still have to finish with a hem so it remains on the loom.  The end of the year is time for the Tapestry Diary project to take over. I should be able to follow up soon with a full picture and some finishing information but this is a photo of my current view on the loom.

It will be hugely exciting for me to see the whole tapestry all at once and I am satisfied that my goal of weaving it by the end of the year is met.





The 2013 tapestry diary was also finished on the 31st. here is a view of the last month of the year.

There were many memorable moments and weather to record last month. I did a succession of three little landscapes looking out my back window, the day before the snow, the day it snowed and the day after, that were fun to do. There are a few night weaving days, references to the ice storm and the new Hobbit movie, the animal that Purrlie the cat gifted to us, freshly baked raisin cinnamon bread and on and on.

Here is a picture of 2013 coming off the loom. It was woven in three panels this year. All of the are about 6.75 inches wide and sett at eight threads per inch.

I haven't had much time to study them yet but here they are laid out on the drafting table. It is interesting that each new panel is about 3.5 inched longer than the next.

The first, January through April is about 34.5 inches long, May through August is about 38 inches long and September through December is 41.5 inches long. I think this is mainly due to my expanding the pick and pick that lies between the months. I am still thinking that I may try to stitch them together but haven't made any decisions yet.

This picture was very hastily made and I will have some better ones later but there was no time to waste because I had to warp the Gobelin loom for  2014 and that was an adventure!

The whole process of getting ready for the new Tapestry Diary is becoming part of my New Years celebration.

My idea for the 2014 Tapestry Diary was to warp the loom about 40 inches wide and start with a border that goes across the loom and then weave the months side by side as columns. I will probably use a stitch as you go technique to connect the columns month by month.

Here is a rough sketch. I want the months to be woven as paths and I am not sure yet how much that will change from month to month. The months will be indicated by a number of squares going up the side of the columns but I may change the side they are on from the sketch. I think working with the idea of a path woven through the month should be interesting and offer many visual possibilities.

Warping the loom was the biggest challenge because I had to have the top beam off to move it into the new studio and the 2013 TD off the loom before I could do that. It helped that I had made the warp bouts ahead of time and sleyed them through the reed.

Yesterday we moved the loom into the studio and placed the top bar in with the warp ready to go.

From this picture you might think that the studio is looking pretty finished...

but the other areas in the room show a different story...

There is still painting and finishing to be done so the new studio didn't make the end of the year deadline.

On the bright side it is coming along and we made a spot for the Gobelin so that I wouldn't have to wait till next year to move it to the studio.

My next challenge is preparing for a weaving guild program on Saturday. Finding the things I need should prove interesting with the present state of chaos that is my studio!

Obviously there was no time to waste getting the warp ready for the 2014 TD so I beamed the warp...

redivided the threads in the reed...

and tied to the bottom beam.

I have put a five yard warp on so I should be good now for a few projects. This is a little over 40 inches wide with 8 threads per inch.

Last night I did some twining as the New Year ushered in but I still have a way to go before I am ready to weave the diary.

I really enjoyed working in the new studio. The light is great and the process of warping can be a very good way to slow down when your mind is racing with ideas and to do lists.

Hopefully some weaving will take place today.

I have much to be grateful for and excited about in the New Year. New projects, new studio (almost), finishing Mango Hunters, the 2013 TD and the Sheep Sampler and a new 2014 Tapestry Diary! I can't wait to get started!

Happy New Year to everyone and best wishes for your projects old and new.