I'm Warped...

Last weekend, I warped the loom. Several projects have been whispering to me, all on very textured yarns that would work better as weft than as warp. I finally carved out enough time Saturday to wind off a warp of fine black merino that could carry each of these yarns, and warped the loom. That would be time-consuming enough for an experienced weaver. I’m not an experienced weaver. I’ve only warped this loom three times, and each time I find new ways to make it more complicated than it has to be. It probably doesn’t help that I wind off long warps, to combine projects. The longer it is, the more likely it will be unevenly tensioned, or tangle. Despite my best efforts, it did both. By the time I had finished, I had run all ten yards through the heddles to help untangle it, and back, to roll it onto the beam at a consistent, even tension. SecondSon, who is sixteen, helped intermittently, and I think he actually enjoyed the process. To look at it now, you would never know I made a mess.


The first project, loosely intended as a stole for a friend if it turns out well, is beautiful. It kind of looks like a mermaid costume. Weaving confines the mohair haze and lets different colors and sparkles show up. Greens and turquoises and deep blues. I loved the yarn in a ball -- I love it even more as a fabric. Yesterday morning I got up before dawn, and watched the sky lighten and the sun rise, as I wove. I didn’t know whether to look up or look down.

Yesterday was a fantastic day. Every once in a while, I just feel privileged to live this life. Anyone else probably thinks I’m bizarre, but I’m being blessed in the commodities that mean the most to me. In the span of a single day, I got to: weave for an hour and a half and watch the sun rise; listen to a gospel read whole; drive to Monterey; agree to write an article explaining stewardship; translate for two Spanish-speaking priests; drive down the Salinas Valley – my idea of heaven; sit over teriyaki chicken and help a mission priest envision new life for a church that was dead; then return home to find that some of my best friends were waiting with cake and gifts for my birthday-to-come. Yesterday will be hard to top.