Teaching Our Daughter-in-law to Weave

It's always enjoyable having our daughter-in-law Rebecca come up with Edwin.  She is always interested in learning something new.  The last few times, we have gone out to the studio and I have shown her some simple weaving.  This time, she is working on the Atwater-Bronson lace pick-up.  After about 4 picks of needing to beat harder, she caught right on.

I showed her how to read the pattern for the pick-up, on the clipboard next to her, and then showed her how the pattern works.  It didn't take her long at all to memorize the treadling.

She has finished over half of the four rows of blocks! 

While Rebecca was weaving, I finished all the hems on the three towels and dishrag.  I like how they turned out.  To me, they have a vintage look to them, especially with the colors, and the one that has the small border.

Here is a close-up of the details of my variations.  Click the picture to make it bigger.  The dishrag was just woven with a straight 2/2 twill.  The colors are pretty true in these photos.

It's nice to have an extra day off tomorrow.  Maybe I will finish hemming one of my lace towels, and work on my fabric.

I would like to start planning some more yardage, wool, to make Teddy bears.  I'm debating using up some ugly yellow colored estate sale yarn in my stash.  I'm debating whether to dye it a better bear color before warping the loom.  I think I will do some calculations for warp length and width and wind the warp first, and then decide whether to dye it.  That way, I'll know for sure I have enought yarn dyed.

Great Outdoor and Indoor Day

I started my projects for the day with starting the sanding job on the loom stand parts for my Leclerc Jano table loom.  It's a little hard on my arthritic hands with all the vibration, so I am doing a little bit at a time.  I set everything up in the garage doorway, so it's great with a bit of sun.

Well, here I am with my annoying noisy cat, Susie.  She desperately needed some foot pets and tummy tickles.  It made for a nice break, while I got my hand moving again, out of the claw position from holding the sander!

Well, now that I have the camera out, I might as well record the beautiful tulips in my garden.  The tulips had babies this year!  I don't have much luck with them, because of the overabundance of deer that think I plant them for gourmet meals (for them).  They didn't bother them much this spring, so I had a good show and a big increase in the number of flowers.

There must have been over twenty tulips in this bunch.  They are so cheerful and look so picturesque against the picket fence!

Now that I am thoroughly side-tracked, I might as well go across the road and see if there are any more morel mushrooms.  Oh, gosh, look at the size of this one--it must be about seven inches tall.  There is a smaller one, only about 5" tall trying to poke it's head into the picture behind this one.

Ok, now back to work.  A few more pieces sanded.

Now to the studio.  I finished the third and last towel on the Fanny warp, so I finished weaving off the remainder of the warp.  It was enough to make a dish rag to go with the set.  Here they are posing for a photo after serging the ends.  Next up is giving them all a good hot sudsy bath.  Hopefully they will end up being absorbant.  This is my first test of this box of estate sale yarn.

Well, back to work!

Why I Use Sticks When Warping My Looms

 Just recently, on one of the weaving forums I follow online, someone asked about using sticks between layers of warp wound on the backbeam.  I didn't see any replies talking about my main reason for using them.  Cords or straps make lumps that show through paper, light cardboard, window shades, etc. that are used to separate layers of warp.  The tie-on rods on my looms are attached to the front or back beam with some type of cord or strap.  Three different set-ups are shown in the following photos.  

They will all make lumps of varying sizes.  Tying the warp bouts to the front rod also make siginificant lumps.   

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If the lumps aren't covered with something sturdy, like sticks, the lumps will distort the warp or cloth, as shown in this photo.  I was working on a lace pick-up, and forgot to add the sticks.  The photo is a little blurry, but I think you can get the idea.

I had to loosen my tension on the loom when I realized what happened, and started to insert sticks and gently work them around the beam to get back to the start.  It's better if you don't forget, since it isn't a good idea to loosen the tension too much.  You can see one of the sticks as I started to insert it.  Moulding used to attach screening to wooden doors works well if it is given a light sanding.  Big box home improvement stores or lumber yards stock it.

This photo shows the cloth after inserting 5-6 sticks.  It doesn't take many.  They don't have to be tight against each other, but only close enough that the warp or cloth can span between two sticks without lumps showing in between them.  I put two sticks over the rod and knots at the start, and then space the others out.

After the back beam is covered once, I use heavy paper or window shades to keep the rest of the layers separate.  It is ok to use just sticks, if you are putting a short warp on, but don't stack them, since they could slip.  It isn't very economical for a long warp, since sticks are more expensive than heavy paper, and they will fill the beam more quickly than paper. 

The separation of layers is very important to prevent individual threads from sinking into previous layers. If that happens, the warp threads are no longer the same length, and will cause the warp tension to be uneven.

My warps are wound under tension.  A trapeze works well when winding a warp without help.  That is another subject and has been discussed in previous posts.

Once the cloth is smooth on the front beam, there isn't any reason to separate the layers.



Towel From Rachel's Dyed Yarn

I finished the first towel from my daughter Rachel's yarn that she dyed quite a while ago.  Since it is plain weave, with only two borders with color changes, the weaving went fast.

Asymmetric isn't really my style, but sometimes I'm in to trying something different.  I guess it doesn't look too bad.  I wish the wide blue stripe was just a little narrower though.
I should be able to get a couple more towels out of this warp.  I'm not sure what I will do to make the next ones a little different.  I'm out of the blue, so that is one detail they won't have.  Maybe I'll try twill next.

Here is a closer view of the yarns, showing the thick and thin and the narrow border (about 1").  I warped this at 20 epi, 2 per dent in a 10 dent reed.  The thin spots on the yarn are twisted pretty tight, and are thinner than an 8/2 yarn.  I hope it is absorbent once I wash it.

Thanks, fellow weaver Michael from Wisconsin, for the idea to use a drummer's stool.  I borrowed Bob's stool tonight, and it was pretty comfortable.  I know I won't get to keep it, since he needs it for gigs, so I guess I will start checking some out and maybe get my own.  It didn't irritate the backs of my thighs, but the lump between my legs was just a bit too wide, especially for treadling side by side treadles.

Current Loom Projects

I recently finished a looper rug that was on Fanny, but I'm not happy with it.  I had trouble with the stretchiness of the loops and it affected the width of the rug.  Usually weaving tends to get narrower, but this rug grew in width.  Oh, well, live and learn.  I can still wipe dirty feet on it at the back door!  The color isn't the best in the photo.  It should have been taken in daylight instead of at night.  It really isn't this yellow.

Yesterday, I wound a warp of thick and thin yarn that my daughter Rachel dyed a while back when she came to visit.   It is a short warp, only 3 1/2 yards of thick and thin cotton.  I put it on Fanny, and is destined for towels.  A towel from the Handwoven publication, Winning Towels from the 21st century towel contest was the inspiration for the warp stripes.  I tend to like things symetrical, so I'm not sure how I will like these.  I wish I hadn't made the widest blue stripe quite that wide, and put part of it on the left half instead.  I still need to thread the heddles and reed.  I will be weaving it with white in plain weave.  I'm not sure if my weft will be the thick and thin yarn, or a smooth one.  I will decide after I sample.

The fabric with wool warp and rayon weft is on Arti, and is coming along nicely.  I can't sit very long at a time to weave, so it is a bit slow, especially with the color changes.  I've got about 30" done.  I really need to get a bench or chair that doesn't bother the backs of my legs so much, and is padded.

Since this project is just fabric, I'm not worrying about yarn ends hanging out at the selvedges, or being carried up the edges.  I'm not sure what this fabric will become, but it is helping to use up some of my stash. 

Victoria still has a narrow warp from a doubleweave class I took a while ago.  I'm not too motivated to finish this project, since it was just for sampling in the class.  It is only about 10" wide, so not very useful, and I don't care for weaving on table looms.  When I decide I need the 8 harnesses for a project, I will probably finish it, or just pull it off.  I'd really like to add some treadles to the loom stand, but need to get Bob willing to help.

Dorothy has a pretty towel started on her, with Atwater-Bronson lace pickup.  My daughter-in-law Rebecca has been up a couple times, and is interested in learning about weaving.  She did the first row of hemstitching on this towel, and did a beautiful job for her first time.  The patterns that will be woven are on the clipboard in the background.  The bottom three are done.

This is a combination of two projects.  Quite a while ago, I decided to weave a bag with green rug warp and old video tapes.  It was  designed as I wove, so I have some twill in different directions, plus some plain weave, or basket weave.  It didn't have straps, so I never finished the bag. 

While my daughter-in-law was up at Easter, I showed her how to wind a warp and put it on the loom, thinking that it could be the straps, but I didn't like how it looked.  The warp was too narrow  for the heavy Fanny, so I scraped that project.  It did serve a good purpose, though, because Rebecca got a nice bit of experience on the loom with beaming the warp, threading, and weaving twill in two directions, and doing some basketweave.  Wish she could be around more.  I enjoy teaching her weaving.

I had a band of red and black that was done on my inkle loom quite a while ago when I was testing it after making the loom.  It has been hanging around, decorating my wall, but I've decided to use it for one of the bag straps, and I threaded another one.  Whenever I get that one completed, I will have a nifty conversation piece grocery bag.  I'm calling this  bag my Secret Message Bag, since the message is on the video tapes.

Enough projects and enough yacking for now, since I have to be to work early tomorrow.

Looper Rug Started

I actually felt well enough tonight to go warm up the studio and start weaving again.  I found some old wool sock loopers from one of my very first weaving projects out in the studio and it looked like there were enough for one rug.

I have enough warp left on the Fanny to make one more rug, it is green, so the loopers and the warp were a perfect match.  The loopers were a natural color, and I dyed them with orange and green Kool-aide to make a couple rugs about 6 years ago. 

I spent one evening a couple days ago watching Funniest Home Videos and looping short strips together.  It made three pretty good sized piles (stacked on the loom in the background.

This is the start of my designing on the loom.  I don't know if I am going to be very happy with it because the loopers are quite stretchy and is making the rug kind of wavey and a bit wider than the hem.  Usually when I weave, I put a fair amount of angle to the weft before beating, but this seems like I shouldn't put any angle to it.

Some stripes started.  I just have to make sure I save an equal amount of loopers for the other half of the rug so it is balanced.

Well, I've had enough fun for my birthday.  I think I will head for bed and read or watch a movie.

New Canaan Check Sample After Wet-Finishing

Here are the two halves of the sample.  On the left, obviously, is the unwashed half, and on the right, the washed and pressed wet- finished half.  Quite a bit of shrinkage.  I soaked it in hot water with Dawn dish soap to release any spinning oils, or natural oils.  I agitated it just a little after it soaked a bit, then rinsed in warm water, rolled it in a towel and hung it to air dry.

Just a comparison of the pressed sample and the unfinished half.  It passed the properly finished test--I couldn't poke my fingernail between the weave.

I actually like the backside, too.  It looks more plaid than the front.

From this view, it looks sort of three dimensional, almost like waves.  I like it!  Now, to get the rest of the 7 yards woven.  I'm going, I'm going!

Wool/Rayon Sample Done

The cough I have had for almost four weeks is really getting me down.  After a much needed three hour nap after church, I did get out to the studio and wove a sample on my wool warp. 

Here is the warp spread on the loom and ready to go.  It is 28” wide, with 1” stripes.

The weft is a chained rayon that I have had for quite a while, but just couldn’t decide what to use it for.  There are four colors, plum, burgundy, rust, and a rosy tan.  This photo is a pretty good representation of the colors.

I have more plum color than the other three colors, so my plan is to weave the plum after both of the other dark colors, and use the tan as an accent between pattern sections.

Well, here is how the sample turned out on the loom.  I need to work on my beat, to make the stripes end up the same width.  Right now, each color stripe is about three cm. wide.  I'm waiting for some glue to dry, and then I'll go back out and cut the sample off the loom.  I will cut it in half, keeping one half as is, and will wash the other half to see how the wool fulls.  After checking that, I will decide whether to beat harder, softer, or as I was doing.

Here is a close-up.  So far, I am happy with how it is turning out.  I’ll see if I am still happy after the wet finishing.

Wool and Rayon Project Started

My favored yarns are washable, so mainly I weave with cotton, rayon chenille and other types of rayon.  I have had a large quantity of 9/2 wool in my stash (that needs reducing!), so a few days ago, I finished winding a warp of that wool.  My vague goal is to weave some fabric to eventually make into a jacket. 

The warp was wound in 1" stripes at 16 epi.  It is sett at 2 ends per inch in an eight dent reed, measuring 28" wide.

I wound it onto my Leclerc Artisat 36" loom last night, using my trapeze.  It was a nice tight winding, and went on very smoothly, with no glitches.

Here is another view of the trapeze.  It keeps the warp taut with the milk jugs about one fifth full of water and hung on the ends.  The best part of this way to warp, is that I can put a warp on the loom without help is most cases. 

After I got the warp on the backbeam, I took some time to reconsider the twill I was planning to weave.  Looking through Marguerite Davison's Handweaver's Pattern Book, I found New Canaan Check on page 118.  It has a 16 thread repeat, so I played around with it a bit on Fiberworks on my computer.  I ended up choosing version XI, which is showing on my monitor (a bit stretched out for ease of reading while threading).

It was getting late, so I only threaded three of the stripes and then headed for bed.  I will get going on it again this afternoon.

Is our work really work, or is it play?

I ran across this on another weaver's blog, http://laurasloom.blogspot.com/2011/02/working-or-playing.html
I liked it so well, I am borrowing it, as she did, from James Mitchener.

Master in the Art of Living


As a master in the art of living
you draw no distinction between
your work and your play,
your labour and your leisure,
your mind and your body,
your education and your recreation,
your love and your religion.

You hardly know which is which.

You simply pursue your vision of
excellence through whatever you
are doing and leave it to others
to determine if you are working
or playing - to yourself
you are always doing both.

James Michener

I think anyone doing creative work, whether weaving, writing, drawing, painting, quilting, designing, or any other multitude of creative endevors would agree.

I've started on a more intricate pick-up design for lace. I'm still working on it, but you can see what it looks like partially finished.  I'll keep tweeking it, till I'm happy with it. Many of my designs only make it as far as paper.  We'll see if this one ever gets on a loom!
This one requires an odd number of blocks in order to center the design.  I'm figuring on 39 blocks, with 8 warp ends in each block.  I'm thinking of rethreading the loom with the remainder of my warp from my other projects, after a make a couple more towels.

I finished another towel with the pick-up technique.  Here is a close-up of one of the three stripes, the very simple design, and a look at the zig-zag or trellis hemstitching.  There are three stripes of lace, each 10 blocks wide, separated by an inch of plain weave.

Have a creative day!