Monthly Archives: February 2021

Daily Band Practice: Days 46-59

28 Sunday Feb 2021

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Someone asked if I have learned anything so far in my daily band practice. At the time my answer was not yet, but what I would answer today is, if I get behind by one day of blogging, it is not as easy to catch up as I’d like. Time seems to melt away. But, isn’t that the point of why I am doing a daily band practice. If I do not commit to make time for weaving, I will definitely never find time. That being said, let’s get caught up.

  • Day 46
  • Day 47
  • Day 48

Day 46: Seems very similar to Day 44 to me, but with a more modern feel. Day 47: Do you see honeycomb? Day 48: I was ever so grateful to have my daily band practice on this day. It was stressful day and weaving this meandering chain was just the meditation I needed.

  • Day 49
  • Day 50
  • Day 51

Day 49: We have a lot of creepy crawly things here in Florida. Maybe I have lived here too long, but this motif reminds me of a few of them. Day 50: I made a mistake in this one and didn’t notice until I had taken the picture. Can you spot it? Day 51: I was excited to weave this S motif. In Baltic pick-up it is one of my favorites, so it was fun to weave an S in horizontal strip pick-up.

  • Day 52
  • Day 53
  • Day 54

Day 52: Pick-up on horizontal strips that mixes single and double warp threads creates such interesting motifs. Day 53: This motif creates the illusion of subtle curves by mixing single and double pick-up threads combined with mixing three and five pick floats. Day 54: This one almost didn’t make it into existence, I didn’t make time with intention, but just before bed I did it. It was the perfect way to end the day.

  • Day 55
  • Day 56
  • Day 57

Day 55: We have some beautiful flowers blooming right now, maybe that’s why this motif reminds me of flora and fauna. Day 56: This time, the mixing of single and double pick-up threads created a motif that resembled pulled thread embroidery. Day 57: Wow, did this motif weave differently than what I expected from the pattern in the book. Actually, I almost didn’t weave it because it look to be so similar to Day 49. There are slight bends, not sharp angles each time the ladder turns. Again, this was achieved by mixing single and double pick-up threads.

  • Day 58
  • Day 59

Day 58: More mixing of single and double pick-ups and mixing of three and five pick floats at play. Day 59: What a perfect way to close out the month, with an S motif. I am not sure why I like these so much, but I really do.

My loom is warped up and ready for March. All of these motifs are from The Weaver’s Inkle Pattern Directory: 400 Warp-Faced Weaves by Anne Dixon, pages 36-37. I will be weaving a few motifs from Mary Meigs Atwater’s Byways in Handweaving next month.

Until next time,

warp, weave, be happy! ~ Jennifer

Daily Band Practice: Day 45

14 Sunday Feb 2021

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Happy Valentine’s Day!

In honor of the day, I tried my hand at designing a heart motif. I drew two drafts before attempting to weave it, but the paper and pencil technique was not giving me a true idea of what the heart would look like. So, ultimately, I created the heart as I wove it.

The yellow portion is pick-up only, while the grey center area is a combination of pick-up and drop down. As I was weaving, I realized the only way to create the illusion of the “V” in the middle of the heart was to create background. For every grey thread I picked-up, I dropped its partner yellow thread. It seems to have worked pretty well, but I think the “V” could be a pick or two shallower. I may weave another and see.

Yesterday, I revisited my Valentine’s Day post from February 2013, after Liz Gipson of the Yarnworker blog shared the post on Facebook. It was fun to look back, but also inspiring. In the original post, I wove a heart out of woven inkle bands. Rereading the post reminded me that I pondered then about making the heart smaller and turning it into a pin. Guess who made a pin yesterday? I updated the original post with the details of how I made the pin.

I hope you had a day of kindness and love.

Until next time,

warp, weave, and be happy! ~ Jennifer

Daily Band Practice: Day 44

13 Saturday Feb 2021

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Today’s motif features warp ends picked up in pairs and a mixture of three pick and five pick floats. I was surprised by the final look of the motif. It reminds me a bit of filigree belt buckle I saw once. I’d like to see how it would look with the middle long float in a different color than the rest of the motif.

From The Weaver’s Inkle Pattern Directory: 400 Warp-Faced Weaves by Anne Dixon.

Until next time,

warp, weave, be happy! ~ Jennifer

Daily Band Practice: Days 32-43

12 Friday Feb 2021

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New month new colors, no internet! Our internet was down for a few days, the internet tech laughed at how old our modem was and discovered we had some wiring that was poorly done. We are back up and running.

Welcome to February. I was not sure what colors to use for my band this month. For some weavers, choosing colors is easy peasy. Not so much for me. I suffer from the affliction of color indecision, too many choices and I struggle to settle on what is the “right” combo of colors. I mostly weave with Lunatic Fringe Yarns Tubular Spectrum yarns, 45 colors of cotton goodness, and oh my, talk about color choice! Some years back I wrote that their yarns is like having a 64 box of Crayola Crayons. I might start putting colors in a hat and just selecting at random.

My inspiration for this month came from the Pantone Color of the Year 2021 colors, Ultimate Gray and Illuminating yellow.

Of course Lunatic Fringe had two colors that fit the bill perfectly, 10 Yellow and Dark Gray. For the borders, I chose 5 Red Purple as a nod to Valentine’s Day.

These colors are making me so happy! Thanks Pantone for the inspiration. What do you think? While I might have paired gray and yellow with black or white, you know, pretty, but safe combos, magenta is outside of my normal color aesthetic safety zone, for sure.

Total random thought, how do you spell gray? I have always spelled the word g-r-e-y and find it interesting that both Pantone and Lunatic Fringe Yarns spell it with an A. According to Merriam-Webster.com, “Gray and grey are both common spellings of the color between black and white. Gray is more frequent in American English, whereas grey is more common in British English.” I am originally from the Northeastern United States . . . Not sure why I spell it like the British.

All of the motifs here are from The Weaver’s Inkle Pattern Directory: 400 Warp-Faced Weaves by Anne Dixon, pages 34 & 35.

  • Day 32
  • Day 33
  • Day 34
  • Day 35
  • Day 36
  • Day 37
  • Day 38
  • Day 39
  • Day 40
  • Day 41
  • Day 42
  • Day 43

Until next time,

warp, weave, be happy! ~ Jennifer

Daily Band Practice: Days 30 & 31

05 Friday Feb 2021

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The last two days of January both had such a delicate lacy feel I thought I’d share them together.

  • Day 30
  • Day 31

Most of my early bands were woven in 10/2 perle cotton. When I first started working with 5/2 it seemed so thick. It is now one of my favorite sizes to work with. Here it seems so light and airy. The alternating pick-up reminds me so much of lace.

I played weaving chicken with both of these motifs. They both filled the entire length of the weaving distance between the heddles and the front peg on my little travel inkle loom. I barely had enough room to fit the whole motif to be able to take a picture of it. While I was weaving it, I had to advance the motif past the front bar, finish the motif, then back the band up to the heddles to snap the picture.

Wow, my first month of daily band practice is done. It’s been amazing taking time, with intention, to weave every day, even a few inches. I thought ending the month with a flower was fitting; let it grow.

Both motifs are from Inkle Weaving by Helene Bress, page 124 (194a, e).

Until next time,

warp, weave, be happy! ~ Jennifer

Daily Band Practice: Day 29

05 Friday Feb 2021

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This motif unintentionally ended up being a nod to my mid century modern design aesthetic. The design reminds me of images of mid-century modern wallpapers and fabrics I’ve seen in movies and pictures. The original pattern had the six warp ends all picked up on one side. For some reason I decided to alternate which side had the thick boarder. I would love to weave this as an entire band. What a striking camera strap or belt it would be. I would love to try this with a painted warp so the motif would change colors as it advances up the band. This was a pick-up only band, but I would weave it by dropping threads too. Having it be reversible would be so pretty.

This mid century modern motif is adapted from Inkle Weaving by Helene Bress, page 124 (194f).

Until next time,

warp, weave, be happy! ~ Jennifer

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Daily Band Practice: Day 28

04 Thursday Feb 2021

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Every day I have been glad I chose to do a daily band practice this year, but I was especially so on this day. I wove, in spite of it being one of those days when you have a plan but the universe has a different plan. Nothing, awful, just one of those days. Only because I have committed to make time this year, instead of trying to find time for my passion, was I able to weave at all that day. It brought me the peace and calm I needed.

Oh, and is it just me of does this motif look like a robot? It didn’t resemble a robot in the book. . . This little robot, who aptly represents the energy I needed channel that day, comes from Inkle Weaving by Helene Bress, page 124 (194g).

Until next time,

warp, weave, be happy! ~ Jennifer

Daily Band Practice: Day 27

04 Thursday Feb 2021

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Is it strange that this pattern made me smile? This fun motif looks like two sassy X’s stacked on top of each other. When I told that to a friend she laughed and showed me a picture of her sassy little niece, proudly standing with a hand on her hip, the other raised in the air, and her foot kick out in ta-da pose. She was the personification of this sassy little X.

The motif has an interesting heavy and light feel. By mixing groups of three threads and single threads the pattern creates motion and depth. This could be useful in designing a more pictorial type of designs.

Day 27 comes from Inkle Weaving by Helene Bress, page 124 (194i). Until next time, go be sassy!

Warp, weave, be happy! ~ Jennifer

Daily Band Weaving: Day 26

03 Wednesday Feb 2021

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Do you see a butterfly? The pattern in Inkle Weaving, by Helene Bress, page 124 (194b) looked like a butterfly to me. “Aw, how sweet, I get to weave a butterfly,” I thought. But upon completion, I am not so sure. Ok, maybe an abstract butterfly or a bat? This is one of those designs that looks one way on paper, but doesn’t translate the same once woven. I do like it, nonetheless. It also reads as a crown to me. Maybe I’ll add some glass beads to it at the top…

What do you see?

Until next time,

warp, weave, be happy! ~ Jennifer

Daily Band Practice: Day 25

02 Tuesday Feb 2021

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And today’s design is brought to you by Helene Bress, from the book Inkle Weaving, page 117, published in 1975.

Inkle Weaving is the first book I owned about inkle weaving. The friend who taught me to inkle weave suggested the book, and I am so glad she did. I find myself referencing it often when I am in a design phase.

After working with one author’s designs for a month it was interesting to weave a design from another author. Their unique design sensibilities of the patterns presented by the two authors definitely highlights different aesthetics. With the groupings of right-side up and upside down triangles, the motif has a bit of an Aztec or Southwestern feel. I wonder how the feel of the motif would change if multiple warp ends were picked up in each pick instead. So many options!

Until next time-

warp, weave, be happy! ~ Jennifer