CD Weaving (living out the choices we make)
IN the age of the quick purchase, the impulse to weave seems almost perverse.
After all, you can walk into a Wal-Mart, plunk down $39.99, and walk out five
minutes later with a serviceable bedspread. Better yet, you can order it online and
have it delivered in two business days. So who has time to spend countless hours
tangled in yarn, adjusting tension and counting warp threads?
In weaving, ''you are constantly facing yourself and your choices,'' choices that then have to be lived
with. In the process of living with them -- putting on the warp, weaving it off, finishing the piece, ''you become
closer to your own soul.'' As for those who go for the dial-up-and-order-in option, ''they lose out,'' she said. ''We
buy things, but they're not a part of us.''
In an instant generation “everything right away,'' culture weaving is different, it takes a lot of preparation and
understanding of the process before you can achieve something. I think what weaving does is, it teaches
patience.
It brings out tactile sensitivity, getting back in touch with our hands and the sensitivity to materials. It reattaches
us with life's deepest realities and our souls. Working with materials and textures are really important because
we’re three-dimensional.
Here's what you'll need:(Old CDs, scrap yarn, scissors, and if you want to make the flexible
needles, plastic lids, and a hole punch.)
To make the needles, cut the rim off the lid. Cut the remaining flat circle of plastic into pie
shaped pieces, then round the top edge. Punch a hole in the rounded end to make the eye of
the needle. Trim if needed. (You can use regular yarn needles, but I really like the flexible
needle better- it's easy for the kids to thread, and I could have lots of them available at no
cost. Some weavers preferred to not use a needle at all.) Update: I rounded the pointed end
so it would be less likely to split the yarn.
To Warp the CD: A smooth yarn works best, and I used a thicker yarn for younger weavers.
The warp yarn is between 4 and 6 feet long. Tie it to the CD by putting one end through the
center hole and knotting it to itself on the back. Turn the CD over to the front, pulling the
thread through the center and wrapping around the CD, creating the spokes.update: Make
sure the warp threads are pretty tight!) It's important to have the warp threads be an
uneven number. It's easy to check this by pushing the spokes together in pairs, making sure
your last one is a single...
Knot the end of your center yarn on the back; knot the other end to the needle. Push the
needle up through the center hole to the front side. Weave over under, over under. When
you get near the end of your yarn, attach another yarn with the square knot on the back.
Hold the CD in your hand as you weave, weaving in a counter clock-wise direction. Push the
needle under a warp spoke and then off the edge, repeating over/under for a few spokes
before before pulling the yarn all the way through and then down and tight.
When you add a new yarn, leave the tail long enough to tuck in after you've done a few more
stitches so you can see where the knot needs to tuck in. If the tails are too short, they are
harder to tuck in.