The Gatorade Method

Day 86: Dressing a loom is best done with a partner whenever possible, but it has been many years since I had a helper available to hold tension on the warp while I wound it onto the back beam, and consequently, I have had to improvise. This technique is what I laughingly refer to as the "Gatorade Method." The warp bundles are tied to yarn loops around the necks of empty G2 bottles partially filled with water for weight. Depending on the fiber, more or less water can be used to maintain uniform tension throughout, reducing the amount for delicate threads which might break under greater stress. The drawback to the system is that it requires re-tying every 18" or so in order to keep the bottles suspended, and that means a lot of up-and-down on creaky old knees. By the time I have six yards of warp wound onto the beam, I will have had my exercise and will be more than ready for the less physical work of threading the heddles and the reed. It's important that you keep your electrolyte balance up when weaving. Drink lots of Gatorade!

Nordic Band

Day 85: I believe I can come close to dating when I first became fascinated with Nordic-style bands. When I was still in primary school, my favourite uncle gave my mother and me "car coats" for Christmas. Hers was light blue and mine was red, and both were trimmed with commercially-produced ribbons along the front edge of the hood and the cuffs in a pattern very similar to what you see here. The snowflake designs intrigued me, and I began noticing them elsewhere, notably on garments my classmates wore on skiing trips, and thus the "Nordic" association was firmly instilled in my mind. Only later did I discover that the bands were part of traditional costumes, especially in Norway and Sweden. I first learned to create my own Nordic bands on an inkle loom, pushing down or lifting up the appropriate pattern threads relative to the active layer. The purchase of a Swedish band loom simplified the process enormously. This particular band, similar as it is to that on my old "car coat," is bordered with what Heather Torgenrud calls "an interesting threading" in her book, "Norwegian Pick-up," in that it forms alternating spots of two colours rather than the typical "chain" or "flower" pattern, and for as complex as it appears, it is very easy to memorize.

Waffle Throw

Day 84: Remember Wilson on "Home Improvement?" I bet he never hid behind a waffle! Yes, the waffle throw is complete, and measures 45" x 58", very close to my estimate. Waffle weave has a tendency to pull in on itself both crosswise and lengthwise, and depending on the fiber, you may lose as much as 20% of either dimension. In this case, I don't have to worry. Both warp and weft are fabric-store acrylic worsted yarns, and the colours are tag ends from old projects. I did have to purchase a little more black for the weft (well, I purchased more than a little, because I will definitely be doing this again), but otherwise, the only requirement for a colour was that it yield six 18-foot lengths for the warp. What you can't see in this photo is that I am wearing a thickly textured sweater knit on the same principle, also with a base colour of black. There are a lot of ways to use up all those mini-balls of yarn besides turning them into granny squares. The throw was woven as two panels, and if you look closely, you'll be able to see the horizontal seam where the two selvedges meet. That said, I'm counting on the colours to dazzle your eyes so that you don't notice.

Naked Potential

Day 83: There is so much potential represented in a naked loom! Yes, the waffle throw is off the rollers, although I only have the panels halfway stitched together as yet. There is a Plan in the works, but first I must finish up the last few inches of a band in order to free up the warping board because it currently holds the next warp for the bonker loom. That's a simpler solution than digging into the cupboard to retrieve my second warping board from behind fabric and fiber-arts equipment boxes. There is one major decision to be made, however: colour. I want to try out a new summer-and-winter draft and may have to flip a coin to choose between traditional colours (red or blue) or go with something more modern. I'm leaning slightly toward the latter, just to spice things up a little. Of course, once I've made my test pieces (probably several towels) and know how the draft works up, then I'll have a better perspective for drawing up a Grand Plan for a tablecloth or coverlet. For those of us who love experiments, the promise offered by a naked loom is too much to resist for long.

Leftovers

Day 82: You know how it goes with casseroles: sometimes they're better on the second day. Faced with roughly 18" of leftover warp trailing the two panels of the waffle-weave lap robe, I decided to play around with a different pattern sequence. Normally, I'd weave a sample to include in my files, discarding the remaining thrums or cycling them out for a shorter project, but there was too much potential here. After thinking about several ways I could treadle, I opted for horizontal stripes, alternating 7 throws of tabby ("over-and-under," the simplest weave of all) with a single waffle (8 throws). After a few inchest, the Casserole Effect set in, and as luck would have it, I found myself preferring the pattern over the original all-waffle repeat. Although I won't set it up immediately after I take the throw off the loom (I have another project planned), there's still an abundant supply of tag-end yarns to use up, so at some point in the future, I'll use this treadling sequence for another blanket.

Bringing In 2023

Day 81: Given that New Year's Day brought a circumstance which necessitated a significant dip into my limited financial resources, I am hoping that this morning's spectacular sunrise bodes well for improving conditions. My freezer is terminal, and I hope it will hold together, assisted as it is by a substantial amount of duct tape, long enough for me to eat up the meats and process the fruits into other forms. I am not so gullible that I believe the "promised delivery date" for the new one; too many comments from other purchasers indicated that the supplier is more likely to miss at least once, if not twice. However, the new one will be delivered to my kitchen, and the old one will be hauled away (for a fee, of course). I really had intended those raspberries to be snacks, but they are destined for the jam pot now, and I have my next few days' work cut out for me.

New Year's Weave

Day 80: I hope that all my friends had a New Year's Weave as enjoyable as mine! I decided to experiment with a different warp set-up to see if it made working complex pickup patterns any easier on the bonker loom. Instructional materials for the bonker loom are few and far between, so I am drawing on my years of experience on different types of looms to improvise. Here, rather than running the pattern threads (magenta) through heddles as I've done in the past, I left them free-floating so that when either shed is opened, they form a third layer in the center of the web triangle. Picking of the active threads to bring them to the surface of the band is greatly simplified with this method. For the trial, I only warped a little over two yards, and I am happy to say that it worked out so successfully that I will be measuring new warp today for a longer project (likely a different pattern). Happy New Year!