Ready Sett Go!

Finally I started to weave on my new tapestry loom!

I love the  symmetry of my tie-up
....view from the floor

One row done...
many more to go

I decided to go with the width of the existing warp - that's forty inches.  Forty inches at 12 epi was just too daunting so I tied-up two additional pedals for 6 epi. While down there on the floor, I did a couple additional permutations of four shafts so all six treadles are set.  I loved the symmetry of the cords so I just had to take a photo.

Now I'm looking at weaving a tapestry which is still quite wide but something I should be able to finish this year.  I must admit it took like forever to weave across that width just one time.  I don't think I ever have woven a tapestry this wide. It should be an intersesting process.  Thank goodness, the loom came with a bench that slides back and forth.

My color choices...
 unless I choose to dye.

I also forgot how long it takes to actually start weaving a large piece.   I have been weaving smaller pieces for at least a year.  Just winding up those initial bobbins seemed to take forever.  

And let's not forget the actual selection of which yarns to use.  To avoid starting to weave I re-organized all my yarn.  We all have our own procrastination processes don't we? I told myself I was actually looking for inspiration for color choices not really procrastinating.   I even got that itch to make all my 'leftover' stash all nice and tidy.  You know, re-ball all the yarn so no more messy balls or small bits...I started with one particularly messy golden brown tangled pile that Tippy had taken on a play date a few months ago.  Messy yet a beautiful golden brown... Fixing that mess took longer than an hour! There were many others.... Fortunately, procrastination disappeared as the ball winder was just warming up. In the end, my stash is not neat and tidy; but it is separated by color.

On this tapestry I decided to play around with wedge weave and created a fun design which will allow me to try all sorts of different permutations of this technique yet have them, hopefully,  come together into a coherent piece.  At least that's my hope.  Initially my design was going to be completely abstract so I would not have to fret much about the final image not depicting reality.  Then I had this vision of an abstract sunset... then a pelican appeared...

I need to get weaving before I have more visions...