This lovely Iris appeared as the June sheet in a Twelve Moons calendar. I fell in love with all of the images, but this especially struck me. It just so happened that I had all of the colors on hand in wool yarn! Now that seemed auspicious. And, after all, I now have and Iris in my heart and life. I decided that it would make a great tapestry...and I think it will, but I sure embarked upon a long and intricate journey. I started this once, a couple of years ago, drawing the 'cartoon' to place behind the tapestry loom. However, after putting in several hours, I realized it would work better if I wove it in the horizontal direction. This meant I needed a loom that was 30" by 20" instead of 20" by 30". I now have that loom, made by an Amish friend. So I turned the cartoon around, and have embarked upon the journey anew.
Here the cartoon is behind the warp, with the picture, to provide color guide, lying atop. I have a long, long way to go, having just begun the very bottom. The yarn hanks at the bottom are called 'butterflies' and unravel as you use them.
This is the loom with the cartoon pinned behind it. The warp is heavy linen and the yarn is wool.
A close-up of the work, which is entirely done by finger-pick. I also use a common kitchen fork as a beater. One has to take care in picking the fork, it needs to be 'well-weighted' and lay easy in the hand. I use the fork, but often simply use my fingers to beat the yarn down.
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