The Fishing Creel

My cousin's dad (my uncle Lew) was an avid sportsman all his life. One of my favorite photos of him was taken when he was in his 20s. Lew passed away a couple of years ago at age 96, so the photo was taken in the 1930s, probably by either my grandad or my mother. In the photo, he's young, carefree, and happy, as he always was when knee-deep in a trout stream.

Out of weaving order, but in logical order:





By the time I had woven the piece and its top hem, there was just enough warp left for one small sample for a Woven Portrait commission. I wanted to see if the contrast levels were okay; the answer is "no, the image needs more work before it's ready to start weaving."



Then it was time to insert lease sticks into plain weave sheds behind the heddles and cut the woven warp off the loom.



Here's the pile of woven pieces, waiting on the ironing board for me to stay-stitch them, cut them apart, do any needed needle-mending, wet-finish, press, mount, etc.



Tomorrow will be soon enough. Only three of the pieces need to be completed before Saturday, when they'll be decorating the booth at the Atascadero Wine Festival.

The best part of cutting off the warp was finally being able to get rid of the auxiliary warp beam, which has been in place the entire 15-yard warp. I was SO glad to put it back in a drawer, not to be seen again for a long time, I hope!