I did an odd thing....

I did an odd thing yesterday. I was mulling around what to do next. I always have this feeling of loss when I finish a big piece and it takes me awhile to get going on new pieces. I started to re-organize all my yarn and decided to finish on Friday. I worked up a new pattern in taquete for my sixteen harness and discovered I needed more harnesses so that's on hold pending the mailman. I thought about the two other pieces that need that finishing touch and -


Then, I realized although most of my looms were empty I had one which might be fun to work on. On my antique counterbalance loom, there was a tapestry which I had begun...hmmm..perhaps three no maybe four years ago. I decided, ah why not finish that one up...it's started...the cartoon is done...the yarn selected and dyed and organized.


Well, things have changed over the last 3-4 years. This tapestry was warped in stripes with some type of orange and rust cotton rug warp. And the tension was a mess. I had a few broken warps from moving the loom around at Christmas time to make room for the tree. Did I really want to weave on this warp?


I noticed my technique has also changed over the years. This was woven in singles and I now much prefer using doubles for better blending and richness. The value selection was a bit off - the black a bit jarring for airy sand dunes.


But I did like the concept of the piece...sun rise over Stovetop Wells. And I did like the cartoon. So, with an empty Shannock right behind the antique counter balance loom...I made the sudden decision to forget about the tapestry I had begun on the antique loom and weave the same concept on the big Shannock. With that quick decision I cut off the tapestry which was on the old loom and cleaned up the area. So, no going back!


Here's a picture what was cut off. I hung it on the counterbalance loom with some orange material for background. I like it...eventually I will braid the warp around the piece and use it somehow....


Update: I just realized why the loom was warped with those orange and rust stripes. It was for some jacket material that I was going to weave. I wove about a yard and didn't like the result enough to weave another four yards. So, I stopped on the yardage and decided to use the remaining warp for tapestries. I did my first 'large' tapestry on this loom/warp - a tapestry of Jupiter. This Death Valley piece would have been my second large piece if I had continued. The orange material in the photo is the original yardage that I had woven. Not sure why I didn't like it at the time...I like it now. Oh well...