What's on My Loom?

I had already started a new tapestry last summer, but then I bought a new (used) small Shannock loom and just couldn’t wait to try it. So now I have TWO tapestries in process.

These are both in the Chaotic Fragments series. These will be #3 and #4. The first 2 of the series have been entered in Connections, the ATA Small Tapestry International Exhibit, so I don’t want to share them here yet. If they get in, I’d rather that people see them for the first time at the exhibit. If they don’t get in, then this can be my Salon Des Refusees.

The one I started second is way farther along than the first. This has happened before, and it always ends up confusing me, because in my head I have already named them. If I finish up #4 before #3, then I'll always mix them up. I’ll wait til I start getting bored with it then switch.

I’m hoping that having foot treadles will cause less wear and tear on my upper body (arms, shoulders, neck) in the long run. I am more used to weaving on my Gobelin style looms using leashes, but I think I can get used to the treadles. One thing I love is the little tool shelf where I can leave my fork, scissors, bobbins etc.

These Chaotic Fragments are excerpts from the Chaos tapestry. There are a lot of marks that are not easy to make in tapestry, and lots of eccentric weaving (where the wefts are not horizontal but instead weave at a diagonal angle).

I discovered long ago that too much eccentric weaving makes the tapestry lumpy, so usually what I do is weave a diagonal (eccentric) line, then weave some horizontal rows before the next diagonal. That seems to keep things from buckling.