I often get the question, “How long did it take you to weave one of these?” It doesn’t help that the studio visitors are looking over a whole wall of pieces of varying sizes, techniques, and materials. I never have a good answer, and I’m sure that questioner’s eyes glaze over once I answer with all of the variables. So today, while weaving on a danskbrogd hanging, I decided to measure my morning’s progress. I started at 9:20 am, and quit exactly three hours later. On the 33′ wide piece, in a technique which required a pick-up stick for the large Xs in the pattern, I wove 4 inches. Here was the beginning.
And here was the end.
Not all the portions of the weaving will take quite so much time. But this piece requires design decisions along the way, and since I am using a variety of gray yarn from my stash, it takes time to figure out whether I have enough of a certain shade for a certain section. This piece is wide and requires frequent reloading of yarn on the shuttles. I do them one at a time, as I run out, because it makes me get up and walk a few steps each time. And there are other reasons to stop counting warp threads and put in each shot, like changing podcasts when one ends, or reheating my coffee.
I hadn’t heard of danskbrogd–it’s really beautiful, and related to krokbragd, yes? I like the idea of design decisions being made at the loom but I suspect I’d be paralyzed by the thought of getting it “wrong”!