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!

Rising To The Challenge

Day 86: I have to admit that when I warped Pippin with sewing thread, I wasn't quite sure that I hadn't bitten off more than I cared to chew. Fact of the matter is, I am enjoying weaving with fine thread so much that I will warp Jutta with it as soon as I have finished her current band. Sewing thread coupled with 10/2 cotton yields a finished product similar in appearance and feel to commercial trims, a weight and flexibility which would be entirely acceptable to apply to a sweater or other garment such as a nightgown or blouse. Admittedly, the weaving would go faster if I was working on a band loom where the sheds are controlled by my feet. On Pippin, the roller at the top of the castle is turned by hand to change the shed. But then, what's the hurry? Weaving should be an eminently pleasurable and relaxing exercise, not something to rush through.

New Year's Weave

Day 79: Happy New Year's Weave! This demented little project is something I've thought about doing for a long time, i.e., making a band using sewing thread for the ground. The red pattern threads and white border are 10/2 cotton (single), and I chose to hang it on Pippin because I'd just taken a band off her. Jutta, my Leksand loom, would probably have served this exercise better. The distance between the heddles and Pippin's breast beam makes picking up the pattern threads in this method rather awkward since they are suspended between the upper and lower layers. I could have used a different system, specifically threading them through heddles rather than between them, but besides utilizing sewing thread, I also wanted to test the method. Some of you will spot the pitfall in the scientific protocol here: never change more than one variable in an experiment. "Eh," I said as I was pulling threads through heddles, "what's the worst that can happen? So maybe I have to cut it off and try again. It's just sewing thread." Now that I've confessed, I have to say that it's working out okay, not perfectly, but okay. I simply have to be a little more careful that I am picking up the proper threads from the free-floating layer.

Scale - Upping My Game

Day 74: I am always looking to "up my game" with new challenges, particularly in fiberarts, so when I had devised a new and hopefully foolproof way of warping my Leksand loom, I also decided to change the scale of the weaving to one using much finer threads. The band on Pippin (right) uses 8/2 throughout, doubled for the red pattern. Jutta's band (left) is made over a 16/2 white ground with single strands of 10/2 in the border and single 8/2 for the pattern. Obviously, Jutta's delicate band is more suitable for clothing than the 8/2 bands I apply to bags and straps, and is progressing rather more quickly than I'd expected, given the weight of the weft thread (also white 16/2). Many traditional Leksand bands used even finer threads for the ground, something closer to the weight of modern sewing thread which, in fact, present-day Leksand weavers frequently employ. Given the success of this experiment, I may graduate to sewing thread next.

Up, Down Or Both

Day 66: When weaving a Scandinavian-style band, pattern threads must be manipulated with the fingers or a pickup stick to bring the design to the surface. In the simplest form, these threads will either be lifted from the lower layer or pushed down from the upper, but in more complex bands, the pattern requires both "selecting" and "deselecting." In this band, the pattern threads are red. The border design in lavender, green and yellow is entirely loom-controlled, i.e., the threads were brought through the heddles in a manner which places them in the proper position in the two different sheds. They take care of themselves. These are doubled to give more volume to the pattern. Treating each pair as a single thread for simplicity of explanation, they are separated from one another by two dark blue ground threads ("ground" as in "background"). The ground threads must be kept in their natural shed, lifted or lowered as the case may be. We are only concerned with the red threads, of which there are 11 in this design. When Shed 1 is opened, pattern threads 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 are on top. However, in this step, I need to select threads 1 and 11 from the lower layer, and to deselect thread 6 from the upper layer in order to have a shed containing 1, 2, 4, 8, 10 and 11. Threads 3, 5, 7 and 9 are already in the lower layer. Inserting my fingers in the newly created shed, I can then pass the shuttle through the gap. In this manner, intricate patterns and even lettering can be made with the pattern threads, with the caveat that each one must be tied down by the weft every seventh throw (preferably every fifth) to eliminate long floats which might snag if applied to a garment.

Warping With Murphy

Day 63: I finished weaving Pippin's first band this morning (borders), three yards of a simple design using only five doubled pattern threads (the lavender "broken S" running up the center). The borders were loom-generated, i.e., I just had to thread them through the right heddles and the loom did the rest as I changed sheds. It went very quickly. I had already measured a longer warp (four yards this time), and as soon as I took the finished band off, I began winding it on. I had just reached the point where I was going to divide the threads as they passed through the raddle (a spacing device), but I seemed to be one short. Sure enough, I'd missed one when I was measuring. Because I wasn't very far in, this was an easy fix: just pull the warp back through, tie on the necessary thread and begin winding again, and it would have been just that simple if Murphy hadn't been paying a visit. "POP!" Suddenly, I had a slack thread, and it was the one I'd just tied on. I knew exactly what had happened. I'd tied it around one of the lease sticks as well as the warp rod. Fortunately, I'd allowed extra when I cut the thread. Murphy vanquished, I finished winding the warp and am now ready to get serious with the threading.

Pippin Weaves!

Day 58: Pippin weaves! By the time I finished hanging the warp last night, I only had a few minutes to weave a header before it was bedtime. This morning, I settled in shortly after breakfast, and was delighted with how quick it was to make progress on a simple band. The borders are loom-controlled, and the center section only has five doubled pattern threads, so there isn't a lot of pickup to be done. I wish I'd used a darker colour for the broken S, but hey, I only warped six feet for this first run. There was a little trial-and-error as I worked out the best point at which to snug up the weft to keep the selvedges even, since when the new shed was fully open, it made it hard to draw it through. I saw that it was not mandatory to open the new shed to the maximum, and by allowing the warp to be very slightly relaxed (operative word, "very"), it allowed the thread to be gently pulled through without danger of breaking it. I see potential experiments here, possibly even extending to weaving turned krokbragd, one of my favourite techniques. Pippin is a winner!

Introducing Pippin

Day 57: Every year, I buy myself a Christmas prezzie. This year, I splurged a bit more than usual after falling in love with a delightful and beautifully made small band loom of an entirely different style. Although it weaves warp-faced bands like an inkle loom, it functions in much the same way as a regular loom, i.e., the sheds (two) are opened by raising or lowering shafts/heddles. Warp is held on the back beam, finished band wound onto the front. And it holds a phenomenal amount of warp for its compact size! It stands a little over a foot and a half tall, and could in a pinch be rested on a lap. It will make bands up to four inches wide. Many weavers name their looms, and of course I have named my "floor model" band looms Jutta and Nelda respectively. This little darling is Pippin!