participAction

having some fun in the studio today

several years ago I joined the local spinners & weavers guild

weaving is something I've been keen to do since I was young and I finally got tired of "wanting" to do it so I paid my dues and wove my first towel within a few a months

since then I've woven a couple more towels, two lap-sized blankets, and a small square tablecloth

my mom and I bought a second-hand counterbalance floor loom a few years later but because of Covid and my step-father's dementia along with a few other life events we have only just got around to getting it set up and for the past week we've been working on winding a warp and sleying it through the reed and heddles

although I've done said weaving the only warp I've wound and loaded was for coasters and that was on a small table loom; this latest weaving adventure has been more than a bit of a challenge but thanks to YouTube and a very good book we're getting there

to give my brain a break from that but still keep in the game I started working on a small woven piece to take to the guild meeting this Monday evening for show & tell

many members bring beautiful, inspiring work to share but as it is with most guilds of any kind it's usually the same people that are doing all the inspiring so I decided it was time for a little "participAction" from me

("participAction" was the name given to a Government of Canada initiative during the 1970s to get Canada active and hopefully more fit - I use to get myself involved in things like this)

since I have a hand in a lot of things these days I thought I would weave something small and nature-inspired on a piece of heavy watercolour paper (I think 600gsm?) that I dribbled plant dye on a few years back

a piece of graph paper glued to the back so I could poke the warp holes through neatly got me started

my inspiration comes from an iris leaf I picked a couple of years ago in the fall when it developed a beautiful variegated colour - gold, brown and dark purple

today I gathered yarns in colours drawn from the leaf as well some daylily leaf twine I had made

I'm hoping to incorporate a leaf from a Yukon flower as well as strips of the iris leaf

(it's rather fragile so it may not work)

I'm also thinking of a band of "drawn-thread" work, perhaps herringbone, or a knot stitch through an open area instead

I've only woven on paper twice before but never on heavy watercolour and already I'm smitten

I'm seeing so many design possibilities with using watercolour paper as a base - I can splash colour here and there to enhance the colours of the weaving adding another layer of colour and interest... feels like I'm teetering on the edge of another rabbit hole full of sparkling and shiny bright ideas

might be time to get out the dark glasses again, and just get through this first piece