Cornerstones In Green

Well, what I said and what I did were two entirely different animals. I was very tired after winding on, threading 399 warp threads through heddles and the reed, tying on the warp bundles, inserting a header and adjusting the tension, so my post to social media read, "The new warp is on Daisy, and I've installed the 'slicky cord' I use to space it. I've even wound some bobbins, but I probably won't start weaving (or seriously, anyway) until tomorrow." With that, I shut the computer down, stood up and walked immediately to the loom and wove the first motif. I find that having Daisy in the living room is a good motivator. I'm far more likely to fill a bored moment ("moment" being defined as 15-20 minutes in this case) with a stint at the loom. Appropriate to the upcoming celebration of St. Patrick's Day (although that wasn't why I chose the colour theme), these "Cornerstones" are actually three shades of green (warp, pattern thread and tabby).

Minimizing Loom Waste

When starting a piece of weaving, most people use spacers of cardboard, yarn, even toilet paper to spread out the warp threads. This takes up several inches of the warp. I don't like having that much wastage, so I use "slicky cord" (my name for it) instead. Simply put, slicky cord is nylon cord of a size close to matching that of the warp. In this case, I used 0.5mm yellow cord because I couldn't find the length of green 1mm I'd ordinarily have paired with 8/2 cotton, but as they say, it was "close enough for gov'mint work." There are numerous advantages to using slicky cord, the first being that it can be pulled to adjust the width. The second is that it is easy to withdraw, so after I have woven the first few inches of my piece, I pull out a few rows and do the hemstitching, then remove the slicky cord entirely. The third advantage is that it allows you to use inches of warp you'd otherwise have consigned to loom waste. I usually weave 6-10 throws of slicky cord before beginning the actual weaving, but as I mentioned, I couldn't find the longer green bit I usually use, so had to make do with three throws with the thinner yellow. Predictably, when I went to put the yellow back in the box, I discovered the green had been right there in front of me the whole time.

Warpsy-Daisy

With all that's been going on lately, this warp has been waiting to be strung for over a week, Daisy standing empty and reproaching my conscience every time I looked up. It's unusual for me to leave my primary loom idle for more than 24 hours, so I hope she'll forgive me. This project will be an experiment in colour or, as I put it to my weaving buddy Ed, "Read, 'I didn't have enough of the light grey for both warp and tabby, so I'll be using a pale blue weft against a dark blue for the pattern threads.'" The draft will be Bertha Gray Hayes' "Cornerstones" which, although she calls it a miniature overshot, that description looks to me like it could be refined to call it a summer-and-winter (technically, summer-and-winter is a type of overshot). I'll be weaving two panels roughly 22" wide and 64" long, to finish as a lap throw 44" x 56". I wound the warp on yesterday and threaded half the 399 heddles before bed. I only have to thread the remaining half of the reed (quick) before I can begin weaving.

Max Goes Home

Day 93: For all of having enjoyed the quiet, smooth operation of a countermarch loom, the time has come for Max to end his stay here, and go home to daddy. When Daisy arrived, I discovered why weaving on Max had been harder for me. Daisy's breast beam is a full two inches lower, and although I've enjoyed having more space in which to work, Max is significantly deeper between the breast beam and the shafts. I am a small person. No, that's an understatement. I am a very small person, and consequently, when I sat at Max, I had to keep my elbows raised to pass the shuttle. Likewise, I found myself stretching too far forward as I tried to squeeze one more motif in before advancing the warp, and that action taxed my back. While I had originally intended to keep Max, working with Daisy convinced me that he needed to be returned to my weaving partner Ed who, at 6' 4" has no problems with either height or reach. I finished the eighth placemat last night (wait...I thought I'd warped for six?), and today worked the little sample for my weaving files. That said, I'll miss you, Max. We had some good weaves in your short tenure here.

Daisy's Primroses

Day 87: I recently discovered an under-appreciated and somewhat obscure collection of miniature overshot patterns in a book called "Weaving Designs" by Bertha Gray Hayes. It is absolutely marvelous! And while the designs may be miniature, they are surprisingly complex. This one is called "Primroses," and the pattern repeats over 34 threads. Likewise, the treadling is a repeat of 34, 68 if you count the green tabby throws between each thread of the purple design. I selected the colours in keeping with the idea of primroses, and if you look very carefully, you will see yellow warp threads interspersed at strategic locations, i.e., at the centers of the design elements. That said, this is the back side of the overshot as it is shown in the book. I don't always read the instructions as carefully as I should, and consequently, I'm treadling it upside-down, having read the tie-up "inside out" (black squares vs. white squares). Nevertheless, it's pretty any way you look at it.

Daisy's First Project

Day 86: Daisy's first project is off the loom! All three towels were made on the same Finnish Twill threading. The two-tone blue towel repeats the pattern throughout. The second has tabby weft stripes separated by white pattern repeats. For the third, I thought I'd experiment with weaving the twill as an overshot, doubling each pattern throw. It's my favourite! And because she performed so nicely on her trial run, Daisy received a reward: brand-new inserted-eye heddles, 174 on each of four shafts. Next up is another overshot, and if you've been following along for any length of time, you may recall that overshot and summer-and-winter are my preferred weave structures. Managing two boat shuttles turned out to be easier than I'd thought.

Same Threading As Overshot

Day 80: When I put this initial warp on Daisy, I was planning to make two identical towels in a Finnish Twill, using a darker blue for the weft (inset, top right). I liked the way it turned out, but as I was doing the hemstitching on the nether end, my mind was working on possible variations. For the next towel, I alternated with bands of plain weave in blue changing to white for a twill section (inset, top left). When I finished that towel, I saw that I had quite a bit of warp left, and a thought was growing in the back of my mind. What if I wove it as an overshot, repeating each pattern throw twice? What's the worst that can happen? I'd have to pick it back, and that's easy enough to do. After weaving about a third of a repeat, I knew I was going to like it. What you see here is the same treadling as the narrow white band, except that each pattern throw is repeated, with tabby between...the "extended version," if you will. As experiments go, this one was a smashing success.

Two Shuttle Adventure

Day 77: A couple of days ago, I told Ed, "It feels like I've known Daisy all my life, and we've just got back together again." I think this is due in part to the fact that she's smaller...a "me-sized" loom...not just in width but in height. And although she seems dainty in ways, she's strong and reliable when it comes down to it. I am comfortable with her in the manner shared by old friends, and I found myself weaving on her without a thought of this being our introduction to one another. I finished up the first towel yesterday, 30 inches of a fairly simple twill pattern, and as I put in the last throws and finished the hemstitching, it seemed to me that we...or rather, I was ready for a new challenge. To that end, I decided to work with two boat shuttles to get the hang of changing colours before leaping into an overshot project. This means carrying the idle colour up the selvedge, a process which has always required much arm-waving and shoulder stress when working with stick shuttles. I wasn't sure how much of a learning curve there might be when using boat shuttles instead, but as it worked out, it's a lot easier, as well as being kinder to a rebuilt shoulder. Overshot should be the proverbial "piece of cake."

Boat-Shuttle Capable

Day 75: While it is theoretically possible to use a boat shuttle on a loom without a race on the front of the beater bar, my experience with trying it did not end on a positive note. I've owned five (?) large looms in my life, and Daisy is the first one to have that "ledge." The threads in the lower portion of the shed should rest on it so that the shuttle can glide smoothly over them when thrown along the race. It takes a bit of practice, and as I learned quickly, Daisy is a very sensitive lady. If I rest a foot on the next treadle to be used as I have gotten in the habit of doing over the years, it may bring threads from a different shed into play. I'm developing a technique of sliding my inactive foot back as the active foot depresses the desired treadle, but sometimes my timing gets a little off and I throw the shuttle before the shed is "clean." Picking out an erroneous throw is not as easy with a boat shuttle as it is with a stick shuttle, believe me! That said, a boat shuttle is faster. I already have a foot woven on the first towel in this trial run. Like people, every loom has its own character which may be why so many of us name them. I'm learning Daisy's peculiarities and personality quickly, and I expect to spend many happy years with her.

Dressing Daisy for Christmas

Day 73: Daisy is almost dressed for Christmas! For this first trial run, I'll be weaving a Finnish twill (p. 37, Handweaver's Pattern Book, green version), and will only be making two towels roughly 30" in length before shrinking. Because I have to leave the raddle in place to compensate for a bow in the back beam (it will be replaced soon), I had to allow a little extra yardage as loom waste, so I measured the warp at 12'. That should give me plenty of space to weave a sample or perhaps even a placemat, and any thrums will be used either on a rigid heddle loom if they're long enough, or to make bands. Daisy was an absolute dream to warp, but for one small "operator error." I've become so used to winding warp on Max's overhead beam that I got the stick on the wrong side of the back beam, and when I started to wind on, it took me a minute to realize why it wouldn't work. D'uh! The warp goes OVER the back beam, not under it! See? Fifty-plus years of weaving and I can still make beginner mistakes with the best of 'em. In any event, threading is next, and I'll be weaving on Christmas unless the storm carries me away.

Daisy

Day 71: Let me introduce you to Daisy, who has occupied the better portion of today. She came to me as a Christmas gift, at least in part, thanks to a generous gift certificate to Eugene Textile Center. She's an older lady, a 36" LeClerc Artisat, and although she appeared to have a few minor emotional problems, they were nothing we couldn't solve on the spot. I still have to tidy her up a bit, install bumpers for the beater, add additional heddles and we'll be ready to weave! She replaces my Schacht table loom, by virtue of having more working space between the breast beam and the shafts. She has a "ledge" for guiding a boat shuttle, two of which were also part of the gift, along with a bobbin winder. Finding her brings to a close a two year long search for a loom this size.

Fill-in Motif

Day 37: As a general rule, when I stitch the layers of a quilt together, I do so 1/8" inside each seam line rather than working an overall design like clamshells or waves. There have been exceptions to that, of course, and occasionally I add embellishments to open areas of solid-colour fabric (a daisy in the center of a circle, for example). In this way, the pieced pattern is reflected on the back, and is more obvious by virtue of not being overwhelmed by prints. Quilting came about as a way to prevent batting from clumping or bunching up, and now many batts are rated by the maximum number of inches between lines of stitching which the quilter must not exceed. Where the chrysanthemum/Dresden plate blocks join in "Autumn Oranges," I had large open spaces of brown which really needed tacking down. As I worked on the plates, my mind was running over possibilities. Circles? Small inside large? Yeah, that would do, especially since I already had ready-made templates. But I wasn't satisfied with the idea. Yesterday, it hit me: add scallops around the outer edge to make a big daisy! A quick sit-down with the templates, a sheet of plastic and a pair of scissors to cut it with, and ten minutes later, I had a 12-petal "sunflower" I could outline in chalk.