Log Cabin Gone Mad

Day 68: I'd bet good money that at least 90% of all veteran rigid-heddle users have at some point in their weaving careers woven Log Cabin. It is certainly one of the most well-known patterns for rigid heddle loom, to such an extent that it could be called "traditional." The mysterious stacking of the "logs," vertical and horizontal, is purely an effect of colour. The weaving itself is simple over-and-under tabby. That said, the creator of this design set it on a much larger scale than is most often employed, and used a warping system which was unlike anything I'd seen before. Her instructions confused me. The math for the doubled threads didn't tally, no matter how I tried to add them up. I kept saying, "Two times any digit is an even number. How the bloody hell did she figure this at 213 ends?" The problem was that she was considering some doubled threads as a single thread because they came through their appointed slot/hole together. Others...those which would be threaded double and later divided to fill two separate holes/slots...she counted as two. Since I wanted to cut the pattern down to fit my 16" loom, I needed the math to work. After struggling with numbers for several days, I finally asked another rigid-heddle weaver for advice. It took several messages to sort out what I was misinterpreting, i.e., that there would be empty slots and holes when the threading was complete. Once the light dawned, the instructions made better sense, although I'm still of the mind that they could have been written much more clearly. Even so, I miscalculated how many ends I'd have if I removed one repeat from each block. That's why there are a few more empty slots/holes on the right end of the heddle than on the left. Because both the warp and weft in this pattern are doubled, this piece is working up very quickly, and I have to admit that the unusual warping system for this piece made the task much easier. Despite having been so frustrated at times that I was tempted to throw the instructions away, in the end, I learned something new...and now I understand how to interpret her overly complicated directions.

Rigid Heddle Weaving - Log Cabin

Day 326: Weaving on a rigid heddle loom is a new experience for me, and although the basic principle (creating sheds, passing a shuttle) is the same as weaving on a standard loom, the operation is different. Rather than using treadles or jacks to change sheds, the weave raises or pushes down on heddles set in a frame. Notches in the sides of the loom allow the frame to be locked in place, freeing up the hands for shuttle operations. The warp is wound onto a roller in the same manner as it is on a regular loom, and the finished cloth is advanced in the same way. Since there are only two possible sheds (the positions of the threads) with rigid-heddle weaving, more elaborate patterns require the use of pick-up sticks or a second heddle kit if one can be used with that particular loom (mine allows it). That said, some interesting patterns can be woven simply by changing colours in the warp or weft. Here, I am weaving a log-cabin pattern using a repeat of B-W-B-W-B-W-B-W, W-B-W-B-W-B-W-B. Note that at the ends of each half-sequence, the order reverses and the last thread of the first half is the same colour as the first thread of the second half. Using the same two-part sequence in both warp and weft results in a change of the dominant colour in each block.