Weaver At Work

Day 339: Weaving with standard knitting worsted may present an issue I call "grabbiness" when the warp is set close together, even moreso when two strands are brought through each dent of the reed in order to weave a double width of cloth as I am doing here. Yarns specifically designed for weaving are generally spun harder than those available in craft stores and therefore have fewer hairs to tangle with adjacent threads. Garden-variety worsted tends to be rather fuzzy, and the hairs like to "hold hands," making it a little harder to open the sheds for the shuttle even when weaving a single layer of fabric. In weaving double-wide cloth, two of the sheds are fairly easy to open because only one harness is raised; the other two sheds require three harnesses to be raised simultaneously, and "grabby" yarns catch on each other, raising those threads which were supposed to stay down. When weaving the two problematic sheds, I first raise the single harness and manipulate the warp with my fingers to separate the strands, and then verify that the shed is clear by passing a yardstick through it. If any strands need to be worked free, I do so before depressing the second treadle which raises two additional harnesses. The process is as follows: treadle 1 (upper layer), pass the shuttle, beat in place; treadle 2 (upper layer), pass the shuttle, beat in place; treadle 3 (lower layer), "play the harp" to free up binding threads, verify with the yardstick, treadle 5 (raising harnesses 1 and 2), pass the shuttle, beat in place; treadle 4 (lower layer), "play the harp," verify, treadle 5 (again raising harnesses 1 and 2), pass the shuttle, beat in place. Although it takes longer, verifying the difficult sheds each time prevents having accidental floats which would have to be repaired later. Although my loom is only 48" wide, this worsted-weight throw will measure 58" x  80" when finished (not counting fringe).