Nature Weaving

Nature Weaving, for me, was the perfect way to bring together two great passions in my life. I love nature and I love weaving. Every year for the past 13 years, our family has traveled to Northern MN to spend a week with Grandparents at a lake resort called, "Daisy Bay" on Lake Vermillion. Sadly, we knew that this year would be our last. I wanted something to take back with me, something  that wasn't store bought, something special from the lake area. I decided that I would learn how to do some nature weaving. It was hard to leave the rigid heddle behind for a whole week but I am so glad did. I made 3 yarn weavings and one with wild flowers that surrounded the lake. I asked my husband and son if they could find me some Y branches that I could string up. I was hoping they would all be birch but I am so glad they brought me a variety. This is my first one.

I learned how to warp it by looking up nature weaving on Pinterest.

There was a step by step tutorial which can be found here.

One thing to keep in mind is that the branch is warped in a figure eight pattern. I used either cotton 

warp or size 5, 10 cotton thread as my warp. I wrapped it around the branch in a figure 8, wrapping each side twice. I tried to keep it taught as I warped. Another thing to be aware of is that the threads have a hard time laying flat when you begin weaving.  This will take some rows of weaving, much like weaving a header. After I was done weaving, I took some chunky yarn and filled in the sides.

This was made for my Mother-in-law

The warp goes from side to side, so you are weaving in a V pattern. I wove free style, adding colors and patterns as I went. It was a lot of fun because I didn't know what the outcome was going to be at first.

This was made for the owner of Daisy Bay Resort as a THANKYOU!

The wildflower weaving was woven on the day before leaving the lake. I was able to preserve the memory that I saw every year. It was great fun because I took a hike all around the area to find all the wild flowers I wanted.  I warped the branch in a figure eight and left all the stems really long so that I could weave the flowers, bark, grass, etc in and out, over and under. It required no needle. It was so fun, much like flower arranging, only better! The only problem is that the wildflowers died. So, take a picture. A friend suggested that I could leave the wildflower nature weavings where I weave them for others to enjoy or to weave 

with plastic real looking flowers. 

My favorite bird is the loon and someday, I plan to weave a loon on some of the branches that we brought home. 

This was a different sort of weaving that my daughter made with daisies!

I hope I have inspired you to do some nature weavings of your own. I apologize for not writing a step by step tutorial but others have already done so. There may be other tutorials out there. I encourage you to google, YouTube or do a Pinterest search.