I took all kinds of possibilities down to the lake so that if I had a whim to do beadwork or tapestry, I could do that. I grabbed an art project bag that I had packed for a trip to the beach many moons ago that I hadn’t inspected since my reorganization of the studio, and found an unfinished small tapestry with shells woven in on a pin loom, and lots of little bits of handspun naturally dyed wool that came with the used Baby Wolf floor loom that I bought from a retired weaver. The first afternoon I had fun pulling it all out, untangling it, and re-stashing it with a plan to finish off the little tapestry.

However, I was very content with inkle weaving so that’s what I did all weekend, between swims and books and food and sunsets and Monopoly and conversation with good company.

Friday afternoon I decided to warp up the inkle loom with leftover cotton yarns from past weaving projects. I threw a bunch of bobbins in the bag and my goal was to use any scraps that were long enough to go around my inkle loom at least once. Now I have empty bobbins and a very colorful inkle band, which I am considering folding and sewing together for a little pouch.

For years my weaving has been very symmetrical and patterned, which is understandable when you consider that I’ve been dealing with an upswing in panic disorder during this time. I was looking for comfort and control. I used to weave tapestry and ikat and I want to move into a less rigid direction again, so I decided to consciously make this inkle band asymmetrical with rainbow colors.

Inkle weaving is usually warp-faced, so the order and number of the warp yarns makes the pattern. You’re pretty limited in what you can do with warp-faced inkle weaving (unless you do pick-up), but sometimes I find limits help me focus. I had a general idea of how this band might look when I was winding on the yarn, but I wouldn’t know exactly until I began weaving. That pleasant surprise is part of the fun of this kind of weaving. The rest of the pleasure is in the rhythm, portability, and relaxation.

Day 16 - warping up

Day 17 - Hey, I like it!

Day 18 - My friend Cat took this photo of me weaving outside.