Weaving
SPLICING THE WEFT
No, not another synonym for marriage nor the title of a long forgotten Devonian country dance but rather part of a strange vocabulary that also included sheds, combs, picks and heddles - all good questions for the local pub quiz! The answers came from another excellent DASH course, this one run by Linda Moore.
Five of us rolled up to Linda's farmhouse one very wet Wednesday to be gently indoctrinated into the art of tapestry weaving. It was a taster session that certainly raised the appetite, due in no small part to Linda's enthusiasm, wealth of knowledge and, most of all, patience. She shrewdly divided the course into four sessions.
The first part was in at the deep end, learning some basic techniques with 'hands on' experience of weaving on a small frame loom. We learnt how to attach the warp threads to the loom and then weave the weft threads to create horizontal or vertical stripes. Coffee to calm the nerves and then instruction on how to make patterns using threads of different colours. By this time we had all successfully navigated the basics but were so focussed on trying to master the detail that conversation and general hunger pains were forgotten.
The second part involved lunch, more coffee and consolidation of what we had learnt. There was time to look through the wide range of books that Linda had available and to marvel at the garments and fabrics that weaving could be used to produce. Here be dragons! Aspirations at this point far exceeded capabilities but it was good to get a handle on challenges and opportunities that could result if one ever got hooked (sic!) on this activity
The post-lunch foray might have been suitably sub-titled 'looms ancient and modern' as Linda gave us a guided tour of her comprehensive range of floor, table and card looms. All a bit awe inspiring but we were all encouraged to have a go with various degrees of success and entanglements. It was here that the true complexities of professional weaving became apparent, all of which, as Linda declared, were easily overcome by trial, error and lots of practice.
In the last part of the course we were encouraged to have a go at doing our own thing, correcting some of the morning's mistakes and importantly, learning how to finish off. We were all amazed just how quickly the small 'square' of woven fabric done by our own fair hands had grown, this being matched only by ambitions for possible uses as coasters, yarmulkes, doll's shawl, minute rug or excuse for any or all of the above.
All in all, it was a fun and informative day and we'll eat our respective rugs, shawls etc (you get the message) if anyone attending doesn't come away wanting to have another go and do just another row or two.
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