Undressed For Christmas

Day 72: Most people put on finery (or at least an ugly sweater) for Christmas. Max got undressed instead. I have been diligently plugging away in the hopes of finishing the "weftovers" (i.e., the remaining warp) following three tablecloth panels, a length of roughly five feet. I wasn't sure I'd make my goal, but with Merry's cooperation, I got it done. I had also thought I might finish up the towels on the table loom in the living room, but discovered I had more warp left than I'd thought. Even so, I will probably be done with that in time to have a "New Year's Weave" on both looms. It's funny how those little personal goals can motivate. The idea is to set them just far enough out that you have to push yourself to achieve them, but not so far that you defeat yourself with something which is impossible to attain (or nearly so). Max already has a new warp in waiting: "Friend Evelyn" (an overshot) in "A Handweaver's Pattern Book" in two shades of green. Schacht (the table loom) is earmarked for an experiment with halvdräll, a Swedish technique which is sometimes described as a simplified overshot. Halvdräll only requires four shafts, two for the pattern and two for plain weave/tabby. I have yet to decide if I just want to weave a sample the first time around, or if I want to warp for a complete project. I'm not really fond of weaving on Schacht because the jacks are operated manually, placing too much strain on my repaired shoulder. That said, Max will be tied up for some time because again, I'll be weaving a coverlet in three panels. In any event, I'm excited by the prospect of new projects, as always.

Ways To Weave

Day 36: A weaving group I participate in on line is celebrating their anniversary today, and we were asked to take pictures of our various looms. This is my collection. From top left, they are Max (Bergman countermarch floor loom), Pippin (a "Weave Ahoy" 2-shaft) ... and Merry helping; Schacht table loom; Jutta (Leksand made by my weaving partner Ed) and Nelda (Glimakra band loom); two rigid heddles and a frame loom; inkle looms big and small; assorted manual looms, including three pin looms, a backstrap, a bandgrind and two types of tablet weaving cards. I usually have at least one of the two rigid heddles loaded, but since I direct-warp them (which is to say I stretch the threads from one end of the living room to the other) and have a Small Helper who loves to play with/eat strings, I haven't set either one up. Inky-Dinky Inkle's band was finished before bedtime last night, and I'll be putting a new warp on it today. Max's project is nearing completion, as are the bands on Jutta and Nelda. Time to reload!

Playing Warp Chicken

Day 149: Sooner or later, anyone who weaves a lot is going to find themselves engaged in a game of warp chicken. I think I came closer this time than ever before, and all because I was determined to squeeze five towels out of a warp I'd measured for four. Having never woven on Max before, I wasn't sure how much loom waste to allow. I knew it would be less than on my old loom for purely mechanical reasons, and Max turned out to be very efficient in that regard. The knots behind the heddles prevented me from advancing the warp another step of the large gear, and on the front, I barely had room to pass a shuttle through the shed, certainly not enough to weave the small sample I usually include in my files. But better a whole towel than a swatch! And as of a few minutes ago, I was almost finished winding on a new warp. At the very least, I will be able to get the heddles and reed threaded today, although I may not have time before bed to start his next piece (well, maybe a few throws).

Max's First Warp

Day 139: First of all, let me explain that I'm working in really tight quarters here. In fact, I was standing INSIDE my old loom to take this photo of Max, who sits at 90 degrees to it with about 12" of space between the two. When the cord for the warp apron finally arrived yesterday and I had mounted it, I discovered why Bergman owners talk about "lowering the jack box." That is the apparatus which holds the harnesses and their myriad heddles. The way Bergman looms are constructed, the jack box has to be lifted off its pegs and dropped to rest on the frame of the loom at normal working height. This clears the pathway for the threads to be wound onto the warp roller which, you may notice is ABOVE the warp as it makes its rounds rather than below. It wasn't long before I figured out how much easier this makes several steps of the warping process. Go Bergman! Once the warp has been beamed onto the roller, the jack box is returned to its working position on the top of the loom (as shown in the photo), and threading the heddles may begin. Another marvelous feature of these looms is that they are foldable even when a project is in progress. Mine folds down to a mere 19" back-to-front. This also means that things which would normally get in your way or be awkward to work around can be removed and set aside. On my old loom, I always felt like I was breaking ribs as I stretched over the breast beam to retrieve threads from the lease sticks. Not with the Bergman! I simply remove the breast beam, put my little stool inside the loom frame and sit there merrily threading. When I'm done, I'll reinstall the breast beam and beater bar, thread the reed, bring the cloth apron (as opposed to the warp apron) up and around the breast beam, and tie the warp ends to its rod. After a few (I hope) adjustments to the tie-up, I should be ready to weave a twill colour gamp for Max's official baptism.

String Heddles

Day 118: One of the things I have to do before Max is fully functional is to make more string heddles. Yesterday, you saw my improvised jig (the cribbage board). So far, I have tied 125 new heddles to supplement those already on the loom. My old loom has roughly 200 per shaft, and on one notable occasion, I ran out while I was threading and had to shift some from a different shaft without losing what threading I had already done (about 3/4 of a large project). I'll spare you the details. Just suffice to say that I had to remove screws from the upper inner sides of some shafts while keeping other shafts elevated, then lower them to remove the corresponding screws at the bottom of the frame, thread on new heddles and then reverse the process to put it all back together again. The job required every single one of my father's tractor-starting words as well as some new ones I made up along the way. The takeaway from the experience was that you should always count first. In any event, my goal is to have 300 heddles on each shaft. Max came equipped with 100 per shaft, therefore for four shafts, I need to tie 800 total. I can do a smaller project for his christening and undoubtedly will do exactly that, but I'll keep pecking away at heddle-tying until I reach the finish line.

Max

Day 115: Say hello to Max, my "new" four-shaft countermarch Bergman loom, est. construction date 1940-50. Max is a hand-me-down from my weaving buddy Ed, who restored the loom but never had the opportunity to weave anything on it before inheriting an eight-shaft loom of the same make. We spent yesterday putting this one together, all but the tie-ups which are rather more complicated on a countermarch. I'm clear on the principle and will be working on that part of the set-up as soon as I'm thoroughly rested. I also need to tie more string heddles, although there are enough on the shafts for a small project already. Why "Max?" Because he MAXimized the available work space in the Loom Room, cramped in between my old floor loom (currently loaded with a project which will take about a month to complete) and craft cupboards, leaving just enough open floor for me to set a bench in front. It won't always be this tight. My old floor loom goes to a new weaver who I will be teaching to use it, and Max will shift into the spot it presently occupies. We're playing "musical looms" here, and from what I've seen, the weaving community works that way. That's why so many of these old guys are still around.

Raggin' It

Day 112: After completing a second rag rug from t-shirt strips, I weighed what was remaining in the bucket and decided that it would be better to save what was left rather than making a 6" shorter rug. I had a pretty good stash of denim strips as well, and am almost done with a third, heavier rug. I'm nearing the end of my usable warp, so after this one is complete, I'll be retiring the table loom temporarily to make way for...sit down, hold onto something...a "new" floor loom! My weaving buddy Ed is handing down his newly refurbished Bergman four-shaft countermarch, and will be delivering it tonight. Once the "Scandinavian Favourite" is off my present loom, it will be moving to a new home, simply because there is not enough room in my house for two floor looms. The Bergman may need more heddles, and I'm not sure my reeds will fit it, so it may be a while before I have it up and running. Of course, it will also be a while before I'm done with the "Scandinavian Favourite" because I'm only halfway on the first of three panels. Slowly but surely, this will all come together.