Tapestry Diary

Weaving outside: Cows, thunderstorms, and puppies

Weaving outside: Cows, thunderstorms, and puppies

In August I took a couple weeks off and went car camping. My intention was to do some backpacking the second week but the thunderstorms in Colorado have been fierce this year and there is nothing worse than camping at 11,000 feet with lightening hitting all around. In fact, the big piñon tree behind our house got hit a few weeks ago. I thought the strike sounded frighteningly close to my bedroom.

So car camping it was. I had some on-foot adventures and some driving adventures where I pretended my Subaru Crosstrek was a truck and I definitely did some weaving. Between all that, I read quite a few books since I was stuck under the awning or in the tent for quite a lot of time in the rain.

I spent some time weaving Mt. Hesperus.

Weaving the lake: sketch tapestry adventures

Weaving the lake: sketch tapestry adventures

Twin Lakes is a lovely spot on the Colorado Trail in central Colorado. I’ve hiked through there many times on the trail, usually resupplying at the store there. I’ve also done a trail crew based near there working on the Colorado Trail and had some fun times camping and snowshoeing in the area.

Places I return to over and over again often get woven about. This little sketch tapestry is one I did in 2022 and since I didn’t finish it on the trip where it was started, I wove some of it on Change the Shed, the free YouTube program I do a couple times a month.

Your summer adventure kit | Tapestry looms, tools, and materials

Your summer adventure kit | Tapestry looms, tools, and materials

This week on Change the Shed I talked about my travel tapestry kit. I’ve definitely talked about this before on Change the Shed as well as on the blog, but since many of you here are new to my summer shenanigans, here is what I’m currently using for the kit I take with me when I leave the studio.

I do have different items in the kit depending on what I’m doing. If I’m backpacking, I’m bringing a kit that is hopefully less than 8 ounces and includes a Turkish spindle and flick carder. If I’m traveling by car, I might have significantly more gear and larger looms with me depending on how much time I’ll have to weave.

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Summer of Tapestry free mini-course

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Summer of Tapestry free mini-course

Every year I run a class I call Summer of Tapestry. It revolves around a practice I’ve had for many years now of bringing a small loom with me when I’m hiking or traveling and weaving something about what I experienced or saw. I often call the practice sketch tapestry because my goal is to capture something interesting about the experience, not to replicate whatever it was necessarily in any realistic way.

I find that the practice of really looking at something and then weaving about it makes me pay attention instead of just rushing blindly through life. The inspirations I’ve woven something about are things that I remember months and years later.

I’ve linked many of these sorts of tapestries on my blog over the years and you can find some of these stories under the tapestry diary category. The concept is simple. It is a way of paying attention to something in my experience that caught my eye or had some sort of meaning. Making a tiny piece of art about it allows me more time to sink into the experience and I find that I remember the things I wove about clearly in the future.

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It's for the birds!

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It's for the birds!

I have had two bird tapestries on the go for months now. Those of you who took Summer of Tapestry 2023* will recognize them and will also raise your eyebrows at the fact that they are not yet finished even though the live version of the class wrapped last month.

Yesterday on Change the Shed I cut off five four small tapestries from a variety of looms. I had planned on five, but the last one was not done. I wove on it some at the end of the broadcast, and you know what? Then I sat down and finished the thing and cut it off too.

This particular weaving is frenetic and WAY too busy for my taste. But it has been so fun to weave and it does fit well in the sketch tapestry spirit that the Summer of Tapestry class follows. It was woven for the process. I took photos of birds that came to my backyard feeder last spring and then I matched their colors and wove a bit about each bird. I enjoyed the time thinking about each of the birds and attempting to match their colors. The joy is in the process.

Spinning and weaving in the woods

Spinning and weaving in the woods

It has been a busy summer and I haven’t had nearly enough time to backpack. But I did get away for a few days to the Rawah Wilderness this week. This is one of my favorite places to visit but I hadn’t been back since the 2020 Cameron Peak Fire. The fire started perhaps 10 miles from where I camped but went in the other direction. It ended up lasting 5 months and becoming the largest wildfire in Colorado history. From this spot 60 miles from Fort Collins, the fire burned within 5 miles of the city limits.*

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I left the pups at home and hiked in about 7 miles to one of my favorite camps near Twin Crater Lakes. I spent three days sitting in the sunshine, exploring a bit, spinning, drawing, and weaving. It is a good reset to get outside, sleep on the ground, and listen to the quiet, the birds, and a moose chomping willows nearby.