Serious Warp Chicken, Rigid Heddle Style

Day 362: I have played Warp Chicken on rigid heddle before, but never quite as narrowly as this. I did manage to get the full 280 throws on my last placemat, but it measures a full inch and then some shorter than the other five because I was overcompensating with the beat. Still, having the same number of throws as the others will go a long way in how it fulls in the wash. I've used the counted-throw method before, and after fulling, the difference in lengths was negligible even though it had been very noticeable in the raw. Now both rigid heddle looms are standing empty, as is my table loom. I'd like to start a new project, but what I want to make has to (HAS TO!) go on the floor loom, and that's currently occupied with a rather boring project. I've created a dilemma for myself!

Summer and Winter Colourplay

Day 296: Since Max moved in, he has been assigned a series of long-term projects from coverlets to tablecloths, the last one being my tartan shawl. I decided it was time for him to work on something less demanding, but on the other hand, I didn't want it to be so simple that I got bored with it. When I came across "Summer and Winter Unit Treadlings" on p. 188 in "A Handweaver's Pattern Book" (green version), an idea started percolating in my brain. The blocks are units of 12 warp threads each, so it was easy to break the design for stripes. I used Brassard 8/2 for the warp, and am using a greyer green 8/2 Valley cotton for the tabby throws. The pattern throws are also 8/2 Valley cotton in a darker blue. I wasn't sure how the colours would play with each other where the grey-green crosses the light blue, and was prepared to use a similar blue instead, but I am so taken with this combination that I will probably weave six identical placemats from this warp. Of course, summer-and-winter weave does not give an exact opposite on the reverse, so it will be interesting to see how obvious the difference is when I get to the point that I can see the back side of the fabric on the roller. As experiments go, this one is a smashing success!

Self-shading Warp

Day 292: Sometimes, you buy something on a whim and then have to ask yourself, "What in the world am I going to do with this?" That was the case when I ordered a cone of variegated thread, always a sucker for colour. I used a little of it as weft in some project, wasn't particularly impressed with how it turned out, and thus the cone migrated to the back of the storage cupboard. While I was working on the zanshiori placemats, my mind was on what to do next. I liked the way the doubled warp was working out to balance the changes in colour, and it occurred to me that warping with the variegated blues might be a way to use the cone to good advantage. I was not expecting it to "self-shade" like this, but I love the way it's working out to look almost like a hand-painted warp. Of course, I had to add a stripe for contrast, but I am using pale blue exclusively for the weft to create a "tidal" effect.

Zanshiori Placemats - Blue

Day 289: I have finally reached the end of my stash of thrums, except for the green ones which I saved out for another project. Although I used thread directly from cones for the doubled warp, the single weft in these placemats is entirely "waste," i.e., the tag ends from other projects after I cut them off the loom. This art of using waste thread to create something functional is called zanshiori, and is not necessarily limited to using the same type of thread throughout a project. Rather, it has an element of zen in it, allowing the weaver to use whatever they have on hand and as the mood strikes them. Many zanshiori pieces are highly textured by using thick yarns with thin, incorporating additional structural elements such as wool locks, strips of cloth, etc., but I chose to use 8/2 cotton exclusively. The tiny knots where I joined the threads adds organic character to the work. In other news, I finished a piece of bandweaving last night, adding the thrums to my stash for the next round of zanshiori somewhere down the line. Waste not, want not! Want waste, want knots!

Rigid Heddle Warp Chicken

Day 288: This is about as close as I ever hope to come while playing warp chicken on a rigid heddle loom. Y'see, when I started this project of zanshiori placemats, I warped for four, adding "a little bit for the Pope" as I always do to be on the safe side. When I got the fourth one finished, it looked like I just might be able to squeeze a fifth one out of the remaining warp. Since I was counting throws (280 per placemat), I could get a pretty clear estimate of where I'd wind up, and...well, if I was 10 throws short, that placemat would be the one I kept, as opposed to those I intended to gift as pairs. As you see, I might have been able to squeeze another ten passes in, but when I took them off the loom and measured them, I discovered I'd over-compensated a bit with the beat. The fifth one has the requisite 280 throws, but it's about half an inch shorter than the others. That will level out somewhat once they're wet-finished, another advantage to counting the number of passes as opposed to measuring the length on the loom.

Finished Placemats

Day 146: Quite a few people have asked me what I do with all the bands I weave. Admittedly, I have dozens of them rolled up and tucked away, but here is one way I put them to use. I wove the placemats as an afterthought when I had wound more warp than I needed for the primary project, but to me, they looked unfinished. I decided to weave a band in matching colours to apply as a border around the edges. I turned the raw ends to lie beneath the band, stitched down the outer edges, then mitred the corners and stitched along the inner margin of the band. I'm not a fan of machine sewing (although I like to sew by hand), so it took me a while to get around to applying the edgings. I like they way they turned out enough that I might make more with the same variegated weft. I accidentally doubled the length of the band when I put it on the loom, so I have enough left over to make another pair.

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.

All The Trimmings

Day 101: I'm frequently asked, "What do you do with all those bands you weave?" Well, here's one example. I didn't have enough 3/2 cotton to finish out the warp I'd hung for the King's Flower coverlet, so I grabbed a skein of heavy cotton variegated craft yarn from my knitting/crocheting supplies and was able to get two perfectly-sized placemats out of the remainder (visible behind the vertical portion of the band in the photo). I thought they needed a little extra touch, and I was fortunate to find colours which came close to matching among my weaving cones. This band will be applied around all four sides of the mats when it's done. Quilters will understand what I mean when I say that it takes a lot more material than you might think to put a border around an item. I warped ten yards to be sure I would have enough trim for both mats. If there's any left over, it will go on a bag, a towel, a throw pillow, a table runner, or whatever else strikes my fancy.

Off The Loom

Day 75: The project I began at Christmastime 2013 is off the loom at last! I am now engaged in tying 756 bundles of fringe and then the fabric will be ready for fulling.

Woven in traditional birdseye and tabby using natural 6/2 and colored 8/2 cotton on 27' of warp and 210 ends, these pieces will finish at approximately 14" x 21" (allowing for shrinkage). They make excellent fingertip/kitchen towels, but are also heavy enough to serve as placemats on the table.

And of course hindsight is always clearer than foresight. I wish now that I had used a heavier warp or a lighter weft so the birdseye patterns would have been more obvious. However, weaving threads are not as easily obtainable as they once were, and my favourite supplier closed his shop for health reasons years ago. I do not like to purchase fiberart supplies without being able to finger the goods, limiting me to one shop in Seattle (a major expedition, by my standards). Alternately, I could have warped at 15 dents per inch instead of 12, but that would have resulted in a harder fabric which would have been unsuitable as towels. That said, I am pleased with these, and subtle woven textures have their own appeal.