Weaving for the soul

My first sample

I have taken up tapestry weaving.
Whilst on holiday I visited Woolfest at Cockermouth and re-ignited my love of all things textile. When I studied textie design (many years ago) I did a short course on handweaving at The Handweavers Studio  in Walthamstow and I absolutely loved it. But printmaking dominated my studies and I abandoned constructed textiles in favour of surface decoration.
I am amazed at how much I remember from that short course as I embark on the first of a series of samples I am going to make in order to practice and re-learn the techniques of tapestry weaving.  This first sample shows plain weave, a soumak, blending colours, pick and pick, stripes and curves.  I can already see that the warp is bulking out at the sides (!) because I am not puling the weft firmly around the end warps. (This is because I am trying to avoid pulling the weft too tight and distorting the warp)

I have a very long way to go before I am a confident weaver - I am waiting for the lovely weaver Chrissie Freeth to start teaching so that I can become an improver rather than a beginner - but it is such a therapeutic activity.  I shall be keeping a weaving diary here on my blog so that I can chart my progress. 

Jo X