Weaving the Landscape

Some of you may know that I bought a table-top tapestry loom several months ago, and weaving has become somewhat of an obsession for me.

It’s entirely a new medium for me and has been a very stimulating learning experience. Almost immediately, I wanted to apply my love of landscape to the medium, moving from learning basic patterning (counting…ugh!) to figuring out how to apply various weaving techniques to representational subjects. 

After some experimentation and working on larger weavings, I decided to set up two sections of warp threads on the loom side by side so I could use as much of the warp length as possible. That resulted in eight pieces of approximately 5” x 5” (not counting the fringe, which I added later).

First, I made some sketches and applied one of the ideas to grid paper to work out the color and number of stitches. Well, that was too rigid for this free spirit, so after the first weaving, I just worked freestyle from my sketches.

I completed two of each design, and of course, they are not identical as I tried different techniques with each weaving. If you look closely at the various pieces, some are not strictly horizontal rows of yarn—there curved and angled sections, which added an element of fun and interest to the project.

Once complete, the finish work begins, which can take longer than the actual weaving…I’m still trying to figure out how to be more efficient at that part of the process. Finishing requires tying off the warp threads and weaving them—and all the “tails” of the various colors—into the back of the weaving. I then added fringe, stitched the top edge, and added a hanging pocket.

Stay tuned for the next adventure in weaving…