A Weaver's Checklist

Field Notes 9/7/2016 

. . .But what you didn't know is that when I started weaving (this is a 14" x 90" table runner using three yarns I made from wool raised here on Whidbey) I discovered I had set my warp ever so slightly too wide for my weft yarn. 

Dilemma: I had expected to use two strands of weft per pass. To create a balanced weave it looks like I really need three, but I just don't like the way that looks. Is there a handmade project in all of time that hasn't been altered by the forceful hand of a dilemma? 

Question: What do I do now? 

Experiment under Constraint: I am not going to change the warp. I am committed to the weft yarn as well. I started playing with different patterns of passing the shuttle, and discovered a charming little variation by passing the shuttle in repeating pattern of one single strand, two rows of two, then three rows of three, then two rows of two, and back to one single strand - and repeat. I think I love it. I hadn't thought of designing this piece in this way, but when it's all said and done, I might even like it better than my original plan.

Will it work? I'll let you know. So far so good. 

Field Notes go behind the scenes to peak at the raw, unrefined, and real-time process of making. Through these blog posts I hope to capture the naturally recurring themes that keep a creative lifestyle buzzing, and I invite you to apply the unfiltered energy of creativity to your own work, in your own way.