My (Mostly) Tapestry Highlights of 2025 - part two

Earlier I wrote about the beginning months of 2025 in my annual mostly tapestry highlights. Following that post, I continue here with the remainder of the year.

July began blissfully; I had completed all commitments as planned on June 30th and I began to get back to weaving, first focusing on the warp on the Shannock.

“Once Upon a Time” - August 19th

I finished “Once Upon a Time” somewhere around the middle of August and wrote a blog post about it.

The rest of August and a big part of September were enveloped in sadness and grief. There’s no other way to express it. I watched my beloved cattle dog, Deckard, slowly decline with what was eventually diagnosed as lymphatic cancer.

The only weaving I could manage were small pieces.

My daughter, Hazel (I call her Zel), had planned a visit home for later in September so my husband and I did have that to look forward to. She and my son, Raymond (Ray), arrived less than a week after we said our final goodbyes to Deck. It helped to have them here.

Photo by Shellie Bender; Ray, me, and Zel at the end of a beautiful walk

In October, I completed the other weaving I’d been working on intermittently throughout the year. There’s actually a lot more subtle color than shows here. At this point, as I write this in early January 2026, none of the weavings I cut off the loom have been “finished” and prepared for hanging. This is unusual for me. I normally get a piece ready to hang within a week or two after completing.

“A Walk in the Woods”

Moving on, in November I warped all 3 of my larger looms (and wrote about it here).

close up of rya

The last piece of the year was done all in the rya technique. I’ll be writing more in depth about it later.

Finished… sort of… lots of what I call trimming to do. The bottom and top edges are rolled under for the makeshift photo. Again, my snapshot here doesn’t capture the nuancy of color. Better one coming. It’s roughly 39” by 39” - I stood on a ladder to take the photo. No title yet.

I completed it on New Year’s Eve.

Not a bad way to end the year.