Weekly Weaving

Since cutting back on my internet time, I've been doing a lot more weaving. With Daisy in the living room, I find that sitting down to weave a motif on the overshot (green) is more like taking a break than being a job in and of itself, even if I've been weaving on the rigid heddle. As for the rigid heddle, the natural-coloured extra-long thrums coupled with pastels turned into an adorable fingertip towel and matching washcloth woven as a 2/1 twill, and I so enjoyed the process that I warped another longer 2/1 twill in autumn shades. I also finished up the most trouble-free band I've ever woven on my Leksand loom, thanks to making some revisions to the way I warped and threaded it. I had no issues with slack in the pattern threads, having run them through the slots in the heddle (rather than through the holes, which was the way I had been instructed to do it). It's been a productive and educational week!

Current Band

Day 108: I'm happy to say that so far, there are no major issues with warp tension on the current band. That said, I wish I had not had to cut the warp where it was tied onto the cloth roller tape because when I knotted the threads again, the knot was rather large and cumbersome. In order to level up the band as it wrapped around the roller, I had to insert a piece of foam under the cardstock ("pool noodles" are a staple in my weaving supplies). Once levelled, the band will stack up on top of itself as it's wound onto the roller. I found that the traditional way of rolling it on a slight diagonal created an undesirable bias in the finished tape. However, stacking it directly on top of itself limits how much band can be made due to the fact that as the diameter increases, it changes the angle of the warp threads and therefore how the shed forms. This is a peculiarty of Leksand loom construction. My Glimakra band loom rollers are beneath the warp beam and cloth beam respectively (i.e., the warp travels over the beams before being wound on), and could accommodate many more yards before filling up.

End Results

Day 107: For an experiment to be considered successful, it has to be repeatable. Can I achieve this twice in succession? I have two motifs left to weave before I take this band off the loom, and I have not had any issues with slack threads. As you can see on the right, where the threads tie onto the warp ribbon, there are no loops of excess. Each time as I have advanced the warp, I've smoothed out the slack and locked it in place behind the bag clips. Over the course of the band, it's evened out. For the record, this band has a narrow border (2 white outer threads and 4 green for a stripe, using 10/2 cotton), and 7 dark blue pattern threads (8/2) on a basket-weave ground (10/2). For the next experiment, I will make the border slightly wider and will add two more pattern threads, but I will probably weave the same length (i.e., on a warp twice the length of the loom and across a card table). Obviously, I don't have a measurement for the finished band yet, but it should be somewhere between 7-9 feet if my calculations are correct, guessing the actual working area.

Try, Try Again

Day 100: "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." Those seem to be the words to live by when warping a Leksand loom. The bag clips rescued my last band in the end, but what I really need to figure out is how to put a warp on with even tension which can be maintained through the weaving process. I decided to experiment with bag clips in place of choke ties, and as I wound on, I used them to move any slack in the warp toward the cloth roller. This is not a long warp by any means, but neither is it the minimum the loom can accommodate. I butted the loom up against a card table with a peg on the far side, effectively doubling the length to give myself roughly 9-10 feet of workable warp using seven pattern threads for the design. The pattern threads are where the slack comes in, so we'll see how it goes.

Rainbow Sheepies

Day 66: I have been diligently pecking away at old projects, and after finally freeing up all three inkle looms, I decided it was time to reward myself with something which had been in the back of my mind for ages: krokbragd sheep on a rainbow background. Part of the problem was motivation, to be sure, but another factor was that I kept hoping WEBS would restock their 10/2 cotton because I wanted to make a lighter band. I had six of the seven colours I needed for the design, but was lacking magenta. A friend passed along a box of yarns and weaving threads she'd been given by a friend, and lo and behold! There was a magenta cone in the lot. However, it was unlabelled. It seemed lighter than 8/2, but perhaps a little heavier than 10/2, a problem which sometimes arises when threads come from different mills. "Eh, close enough for gov'mint work," I said, and set myself the task of finishing the three languishing inkle projects. As for the other items on my list for polishing off are the bands on both of my Scandinavian band looms, one on the floor loom, and of course completing the remainder of the Autumn Oranges quilt (nearly done!). But just because I still have projects to finish, it doesn't follow that I am forbidden to start new ones. As much as I love weaving krokbragd on the inkle loom, the sheep won't take long, and I also started my first "Memory Wreath" quilt block last night.

Woven To Match

Day 290: Two more steps done and dusted! Over the last week, I have been working on stitching together the three panels of this lap throw/tablecloth as well as completing the band I'll be using for trim. Because I ran into a flaw in the warp toward the end of the band, I'm not sure I'll have enough to go around all four sides once both pieces have been washed and dried. Strangely, bandweaving shrinks more in length than cloth. You'd think it would work the other way around, given how firmly bandweaving is beaten, but experience proves otherwise. If I do run short, I'll have two options: leave the selvedges plain, or weave another length of band to apply to them. If I choose to do the latter, I will again have two options: weave an entirely different band to cover both selvedges, or weave another length of the same band since I know I have enough of this one for three sides. Choices! Choices! 

Comparative Anatomy

Day 137: For this exercise, we will be looking at Comparative Anatomy, and yes, size matters. These bands use different weights of thread. On the right, the pattern threads of the blue/green Xs are doubled (i.e., two threads are treated as one), with white and coloured threads all being 8/2 cotton. In the lower left, the lavender hearts are 10/2 cotton on a white ground of 16/2. The uppermost band is made on green sewing thread ground against gold 10/2 cotton, creating a "negative space" pattern of green hearts. The lavender hearts have a wider border than the Xs, and both bands are 1" wide. The green/gold band is slightly over 1/2" in width. All three bands employ the same number of threads in the patterned pickup section: nine. In all cases, the weft thread is identical to that used for the ground.

Trimming The Tablecloth

Day 128: The last few weeks have seen me engaged in doggedly finishing up projects, one of which has been the "Scandianvian Favorite" tablecloth (HPB, green version, p. 200, #1). The tablecloth itself has been finished for some time, but I found that there had been so much takeup during the weaving of the band trim that I was short of having enough to cover both seams and to go around the edge. I had to weave another section of band. Yesterday, I applied the first two lengths, and had to quit there because my little Helper wouldn't stop scratching at the cloth. He'd already been locked up once for trying to steal pins and then nipping me when I pushed him away. I still have plenty of time to finish up before the Nisqually Land Trust's annual auction. The tablecloth will be donated to them. And that brings me to the real point of this post: I am asking you, my friends and readers, to support whatever environmental groups are your favourites. Land trusts and other conservation organizations may be the only hope we have left for our forests and the wildlife/plants they contain.

Jutta's Band

Day 126: Another loom emptied! And I'm having a little problem...a little grey fuzzy problem...with reloading this one because the warp has to be stretched across the length of the living room. Merry thinks suspended threads are a kitty zip-line, so I have to wait until he looks like he's going to stay soundly asleep for an hour or so before I can even think about stringing a new warp. That's one major difference between a Leksand loom like Jutta and a Scandinavian band-loom like Nelda. A warp destined for Nelda can be measured off on a warping board, chained and managed exactly like the warp on a shafted loom. In my experience, tension problems occur when warping a Leksand loom unless it is direct-warped like a rigid heddle. This particular band was woven with 16/2 cotton for the ground (white), 10/2 singles for both the border and pattern threads. It is a little over five yards in length. Jutta was built by Ed Stevens, and was his prototype model. For that reason, she is very precious to me, and I have to figure out a way to foil Small Cat so she can be about her work again.

14-plus Yards

Day 122: I am finally done with weaving the band to trim the crackle-weave tablecloth, 14-plus yards of it. I wove in two pieces because I didn't like the way the panels matched up on the tablecloth and decided in the end that I should cover the seams with a band, and of course I had only measured enough warp to go around the perimeter. The designs vary throughout the length of both pieces, with a repeating "separator" between them. This was often done when weaving Scandinavian bands, maybe to keep the weaver from becoming bored? Just a thought! Even with the constant changes, I was pretty tired of this project by the time I took it off the loom. The finished tablecloth will be donated to my favourite environmental group for their upcoming auction if I get it done in time. I already have another 8-yard warp wound on Nelda (my Glimakra band loom), and I'll be threading it today. A naked loom is something I cannot abide.

Scaling It Down

Day 51: Although I am working on a band on the big inkle (it needs a name, I think), Inky-Dinky Inkle was reluctant to go back on the shelf just yet, and in fact appeared to be asking for a long-term project. Why not? I'd bought two spools of green sewing thread with a band in mind, but hadn't selected a design. I'd intended to weave it on Pippin, my two-shaft "Weave Ahoy" loom (also currently empty), but Inky-Dinky fits better on my lap when Merry is otherwise engaged, so this morning, I warped with nine pattern threads, still unsettled on exactly what I wanted to weave. Browsing through Heather Torgenrud's "Norwegian Pick-up," I found this pattern and liked how the hearts were formed by the green ground threads (standard sewing thread) against the significantly heavier 10/2 gold and white. The idea of negative-space designs is not unusual in band-weaving, although it is more common to place emphasis on thicker (or doubled) pattern threads. With the full 60" of warp on the loom, I'll be here a while.

Nelda's Tablecloth Band

Day 44: This band was designed to go around the border of a crackle-weave tablecloth. There are over two dozen individual motifs which appear somewhat randomly along its 26-foot length, each spaced by a repeating design. Mixed motifs are found in some Scandinavian trims, and the element of chaos just seemed to appeal to me. I warped Nelda (my Glimakra band loom) with what I thought was plenty of extra length, and partway through the weaving process, I said to myself, "Maybe there will be enough to put over the seams where I've sewed the panels together."** Wouldn't you know it? I'm about a foot short. At this point, I have three choices: leave the seams exposed (not really an option I'm considering), re-warp Nelda with enough to make five more feet of the same trim, or warp her with enough to make 11 feet of a different, narrower band to cover the two seams. I'll have to give this a chunk of think. Right now, I'm pretty tired of working on this particular project.

**That's a painful admission: I did not care for the way the tablecloth panels joined. I should have broken the tablecloth draft at a different point for the selvedges.

A Whole Band Of Bands

Day 43: I love bandweaving. I think that goes without saying. I have a Leksand band loom (Jutta), a Glimakra Swedish-style band loom (Nelda), two inkle looms (Inky-Dinky and his big brother), a lap-sized two-shaft loom (Pippin), card-weaving tablets, a Stoorstalka heddle and a backstrap, all of which are more or less dedicated to the process of making bands. What do I do with them? I've used them as trim on garments, applied them to handmade canvas shopping bags, made hatbands, turned them into guitar straps, tied Christmas gifts up with them, and two of the ones I'm almost done with will be the border of a handwoven tablecloth and the upright portion of a small cushion for making ñandutí (a needlewoven craft also known as "sol lace," akin to Teneriffe). You just never know where you'll want to use a decorative handwoven band! You may notice a preponderance of sheep in this collection (only part of my hoard). That's because I also love sheep, and miss being able to have my own flock. The sheepie bands are all turned krokbragd, woven either on an inkle loom or the Glimakra. I had planned to weave more sheep with a finer thread as soon as Nelda is empty, but I realized last night that I'm almost done with the three tablecloth panels on Max (my Bergman floor loom), and the tablecloth will want a matching band for its border. That means my next flock of sheep will have to go on the larger of the two inkle looms. It's all about prioritizing.

Bandweaving

Day 42: I am at the point where several projects are all going to finish up within a few days of each other, which means that my mind is racing. I am so taken with the 10/2 cotton on Inky-Dinky Inkle (as opposed to the 8/2 I usually use) that I really want to use it to weave krokbragd sheep on Nelda (my Glimakra band loom) when I'm done with the last two feet of tablecloth trim (30' worth!), but I'm waiting for a cone of thread to arrive. I think I will use 10/2 on a ground of 16/2 for Jutta (my Leksand band loom, made by Ed Stevens), which is the same combination as what you see mounted on her here. I intend to make a wider band this time, perhaps with 13 pattern threads (there are 7 in the current band, forming the green diamonds in the middle section). Nelda's tablecloth trim (not shown) is 11 pattern threads, which allows for much more detailed designs. Planning, planning! I'm always thinking at least one project ahead per loom, and usually more than I'll ever have time to weave.

Banding Together

Day 23: I feel like I have been working on these two bands for ages. Rowdy little cats get very curious about moving feet as well as dangling threads and bobbins, and tempting webs of warp entice little paws into all sorts of mischief. That said, I've made enormous progress on both bands over the last few days as I fidget and fuss over situations beyond my control. I don't recall how much warp I put on Jutta (the band on the left) other than that it stretched all the way across my living room. Nelda's is at least thirty feet long, the measure determined by the crackle-weave tablecloth it will eventually adorn. The thread is twice the weight of Jutta's ground thread. As long as I wait until Small Cat is having a nap, I think there's hope that I may finish these up fairly soon.

Spacers And Chasers

Day 138: This one is going to be fun! Many historic/traditional Scandinavian bands were made with multiple patterns occurring in the same piece, sometimes without repeating at all. I wanted to make a trim for the outer edges of the "Scandinavian Favourite" crackle-weave tablecloth and decided to put my own twist on the principle by using identical spacers in between short motifs. Since my initial plan for a holiday tablecloth turned into the King's Flower coverlet, I also chose to incorporate some green into this band to give it Christmas-y feel. I have warped thirty feet and will be using both traditional and original motifs in as many variations as I can manage with 11 pattern threads. I'm calling it "Spacers and Chasers."

Mind The Multiplier

Day 137: "Let's see," I said to myself as I was planning this band, "the placemats are 20" x 16", so that's one yard (and a smidgen for turning corners) times two to go all the way around. Two yards and about six inches per placemat. That's what I need." And then I went off and did something else requiring keen focus, like retrieving the warping board from the Loom Room. "Four yards," I said as I sat down to wind warp, "Times two for two placemats. And a little bit for the Pope." Anybody see the problem here? Yep, I doubled my doubled measurement in that brief thirty seconds I was gone. When did I realize what I'd done? When I took the band off the loom yesterday and found that I had MILES of it, way more than I needed for two little placemats. No wonder it took me so long to weave. Mind the multiplier, Crow. Mind the multiplier.

At The End Of All Things

Day 280: "I'm glad you are here with me. Here at the end of all things," said Frodo, and while not as cataclysmic, I have reached the end of one thing with far greater success than expected. Achieving even tension has been an issue when I've warped my Leksand loom in the past, with the pattern threads becoming more loose than the background threads every time I advanced the warp. As a rule, I prefer long warps so that I can create pieces which can be cut to size, but I was beginning to think it wasn't possible to warp more than three or four yards on the Leksand. Then I discovered Louise Ström's twisting method, and decided to go out on a limb with a warp stretched twice across my living room (i.e., down and back). I am happy to say that even tension was maintained throughout roughly 25-28' of weaving. I found that as I advanced the warp, I could work any irregularities back into the twisted portion. I expected to have them all piled up when I got to the end, and was pleasantly surprised when they all balanced out instead. I have two more repeats to weave on this band. For my next project, I will remember to double the pattern threads for a more solid look.

Two Looms, Two Bands, Two Methods

Day 180: Obligations kept me away from home most of yesterday and I was unable to give as much attention to my weaving as I would have liked. Frustrating, when you have a new toy and can't find the time to play with it! But my mind was hard at work, and although science might pooh-pooh the idea, I think I was building muscle memory even without performing the physical actions. When I was finally able to sit down with Jutta, my treadle foot and hands seemed to know what they were supposed to do. The blue band is my "skill-building project" for Jutta. The mushrooms are krokbragd, and are being woven on the bonker (Glimakra band loom).

As a sidebar here, I have a little story to tell. Since I was going to be sitting in a waiting room yesterday for a couple of hours, I needed some handwork to occupy the time. I thought it might be a good time to conduct a social experiment, so I packed up the supported spindle, some of my Ice Caves wool blend, and two small skeins of the finished yarn I've made with it so far. I positioned myself in the room at a point where I could be clearly seen by the office staff and milling salespeople and began spinning. It took slightly over an hour before the first curious onlooker dared approach me. "What is that?" she asked. "A supported spindle," I said. "It's a technique for making yarn." There was a pause, during which I drew out another length of wool and set the spindle to turning in its bowl. "You're...making yarn?" she said. I pulled the two finished skeins out of my bag and handed them to her. "Oh, that's LOVELY!" she said. "What will you make with it?" I told her it was destined to become socks, and explained that I'd combined wool with rayon to make them durable. She went back to her desk and I resumed spinning. Over the next hour, several other employees went to her rather than approaching me. "What's she doing, anyway?" and she would explain, "Making yarn!" It was a subtle way to increase awareness of the craft, a "free demo," if you will, which I hope might lead at least one of them toward their own exploration of fiberarts.

Hefty Herd

Day 111: When I took this photo, I still had about half an hour's work left to do. When I finally rolled the band off the bonker loom, I had a functional 10 1/2 yards (31 feet). After a short stint with a pocket calculator, I determined that my herd is comprised of approximately 450 sheep which ain't bad for less than a week's effort. I have made a number of different variations on this pattern, mostly changing up to daisies so that sometimes they have leaves and sometimes not, sometimes with taller or shorter stems, or sometimes omitting them altogether, but the sheep have remained the same. I do have another character waiting for the arrival of a particular colour of thread before I can warp up the new design, so I think I'll mosey over to the north paddock to see if I can muster a few more ewes in the meantime.