In the beginning.....

I've been thinking about starting a blog for a while, now, but since I already had a website, wasn't sure a blog was "necessary".

This year, however, has seen some radical changes in my life and after 33 years of being a professional weaver, it is time to make some changes.

While I chose weaving because I wanted a career in which I wouldn't get bored, I have to be honest and say that in reality, weaving chose me.

Weaving has been an intellectual pursuit that quickly became a passion. I can't imagine my life without weaving. But my new health reality means that how I weave has to change. I suppose that this blog is partly intended to be a journal of just how weaving and me will accommodate each other into the future.

Since the beginning of August, when I finally felt able to weave I have completed two warps, and today beamed another. I have a lot of 2/20 mercerized cotton, and have been using it up making tea towels. The last warp was a solid dark blue warp, but I still have lots of that yarn left and wanted to do something a bit different.

Rummaging in my storage area, I found small quantities of 2/20 merc. cotton in purples, greens and blues. I wound those off onto spools and set up the bobbin rack, beginning with the section in the centre of the warp. Working to each side of centre, I wound sections, changing out empty spools with tubes of the dark blue. The warp is 22" wide and 30 yards long.

Tea towels are a great way to use up stash, but I've got lots of tea towels now, so decided to make a few shawls, too. For weft I'll use up some 2/10 Tencel, hand dyed silk boucle, perhaps some bamboo. I'll see how my sampling at the beginning of the warp goes.