I have decided to keep a tapestry diary again, starting January 1, 2012. Some of you may remember that I did this in 2010; you can read about it here. I was inspired by Tommye Scanlin’s tapestry diaries, which you can read about on her blog.
The basic idea is to weave a small section of tapestry every day. It can be a way to mark the passing of time, an opportunity to weave without the pressure or expectation of creating a masterpiece, a chance to play and experiment.
I wanted to try something different for 2011, and chose to do a sketch diary. 
I posted on this blog about the first part, which was Moon Snails.
After that I worked from some photos of trees, mostly dark tree trunks against the snow….we had a LOT of snow last winter.
The sketch diary lasted about 6 months, and then all of my traveling got in the way. I know, you would think I could just do a sketch wherever I found myself, but it didn’t work out that way. 
The sketch diary had morphed into a serious study of certain objects and forms, with each sketch fitting into the ones around it. For example the page shown above contains 15 sketches.
Even though I did not continue for a full year, I feel like I got so much out of the experience.
This tapestry diary will be a bit different from the last one.
I keep looking at the last part of the 2010 tapestry diary, where I played with black and white.
Most of my current tapestries are black and white, and I have been dreaming of adding little bits of color to them, so that will be the subject of my explorations in the 2012 tapestry diary.
I decided to get a head start, so I have warped up the loom, and woven the heading with the year on it. I have always loved the look of a fresh warp, perhaps because it’s all possibility, like a blank canvas.
This warp looks cool because I put black poster board behind it. Otherwise, because it’s a circular warp, I would be seeing 2 sets of warp threads one behind the other, and it makes my eyes go blurry.
(This photo looks a bit crooked, so either I took it from a strange angle, or I need to adjust the spacing at the top of the loom! TIP: take a photo to see imperfections that you may not notice otherwise!)
Nevertheless I was a little peeved when my husband told me he liked the blank warp so much, perhaps I should just leave it that way….hmmmph.
