2 February 2018
Welcome to my formerly abandoned - but not deleted - blog.
I expect there will be more posts now that I have embarked on a weaving journey. Not that I have totally abandoned lampworking, knitting, jewelry making, painting, etc. It’s just darn cold up in my studio right now, so I now work in the living room, as close to the woodstove as I can get.
I have questions from my friends in the student connection group regarding how I got to this:
Let me start by saying I really admire Sarah Swett’s weaving and tapestry work! I was so inspired by her blog posts https://www.afieldguidetoneedlework.com/blog/four-selvedge-warping-instructions that my IWTT* kicked in. I, too, wanted perfect little woven pieces without having to deal with knotting and sewing. So, I studied and studied her blog posts on four-selvedge weaving, assembled all the parts and convinced my husband to make a jig for my Mirrix loom.
Assembling the parts:
I live on the seacoast, so I thought fishing line backer shouldn’t be too hard to find. Not so, I finally got some online from Cabela’s. WARNING don’t run out and get some! Read the whole story. I actually bought two kinds and both are the wrong size. I’m guessing the fish are bigger out here? Neither one would fit in the 8-10 epi spacing of my loom. Hmpf. Luckily I have a spool of upholstery thread which I use in making bracelets. It is a nylon thread, fairly smooth and very strong. So, I used it.
Choosing the right warp:
I got really ambitious and tried to use a wool warp. I like - and have a fair amount of- Faro yarn so I used the strongest one - a medium grey. Yes, it did break. I tied a knot and continued, thinking I would deal with that later, when I needed to.
Using the jig:
My jig looks very much like Sarah’s. I used grosgrain ribbon (using what was at hand) to keep the jig in place. After affixing the jig in place, I warped it with said Faro yarn, and proceeded to the next step.
Installing the supplementary warp (aka fishing line backing or upholstery thread):
I very carefully poured over these photos. At first I couldn’t figure out how much thread to use. Then I decided to measure the distance and multiply by epi to approximate the amount needed. I wound that amount around a bobbin and started to add it to the warp on the jig. I started at the bottom because it was a smaller project than the upper part. That seemed to work fairly well, so I did the upper part, which also went pretty well. Whew. I knotted it off and then I waited a day to release some pent up angst.
Removing the jig:
That was much harder than I expected because the jig just barely fits inside the loom. There was not a lot of room to move the jig pieces around without disturbing the warp set up. Suffice to say that I will probably shorten the horizontal bars a tad.
We are not done yet. I had to fiddle with the warp to get even tension across the loom. Well, you know how easy that is on a normally warped loom? It is not the same on this set up! Perhaps it is the way I anchored the supplementary warp with funky slip knots. Or perhaps the nature of the beast. In any event, as soon as I got one warp in place the adjoining warps would go wonky. You can either adjust the warp or the supplementary warp or both to achieve an even tension. I finally gave up trying to get even ends and even tension. It's just a first attempt after all...
Start weaving!:
Or, not. It is clear to me now that I don't know what I am doing. I cannot see where to put the first row in. After a few false starts I begin to think that an extremely thin wool warp was an insane choice. I now choose to exchange the wool warp with one I know well, the 12/6 seine warp. It should be pretty easy, I already have a path to follow. Oh, guess what? The supplementary warp strings twist when you are not looking. So I painstakingly weave the horizontal bars of the jig back through the wool warp and then attach the vertical side bars, adjust the tension and replace the wool with the seine warp. Now a second attempt at getting an even tension goes a little better since there is something to pull against (the bars) this time. Now I can retie the knots, remove the jig and start to weave. At last the path looks a little more familiar. But remember the twisty supplementary warp?
That is what the skinny wooden slats are for - keeping the supplementary warp in place while I weave.
I first put in a bit of Harrisville Design wool yarn to create a header. Although this method does not require a header I need one. The lower edge of my piece is wonky, so hopefully this will give me an even start to the weaving. I can (and do) pull it out later and move the weft down. Yeah, I break a lot of rules when I weave. I want to weave with the Faro yarn, so I try to determine how many strands I will need for an even weave. I settle on four strands and weave a little bit. I always feel a little better when I have a design set up on the warp, so I add a bluebird. It is hard still to pick up the correct warp lines, so I add a header at the top as well. Yes, I could add heddles since the heddle bar is right there. But I like to pick up the warp with my fingers or a stick. So, I don't set the heddles up.
On a whim I decided to split the warps to make it twice as many epi, but I am finding harder to weave. Perhaps I will just play with this piece a while.
*Iwannatrythis
Any questions?
Cheers!
I expect there will be more posts now that I have embarked on a weaving journey. Not that I have totally abandoned lampworking, knitting, jewelry making, painting, etc. It’s just darn cold up in my studio right now, so I now work in the living room, as close to the woodstove as I can get.
I have questions from my friends in the student connection group regarding how I got to this:
Let me start by saying I really admire Sarah Swett’s weaving and tapestry work! I was so inspired by her blog posts https://www.afieldguidetoneedlework.com/blog/four-selvedge-warping-instructions that my IWTT* kicked in. I, too, wanted perfect little woven pieces without having to deal with knotting and sewing. So, I studied and studied her blog posts on four-selvedge weaving, assembled all the parts and convinced my husband to make a jig for my Mirrix loom.
Assembling the parts:
I live on the seacoast, so I thought fishing line backer shouldn’t be too hard to find. Not so, I finally got some online from Cabela’s. WARNING don’t run out and get some! Read the whole story. I actually bought two kinds and both are the wrong size. I’m guessing the fish are bigger out here? Neither one would fit in the 8-10 epi spacing of my loom. Hmpf. Luckily I have a spool of upholstery thread which I use in making bracelets. It is a nylon thread, fairly smooth and very strong. So, I used it.
Left: glowing orange line backer, middle: mauve upholstery thread, right: bracelet made with upholstery thread and beads that I make.
Choosing the right warp:
I got really ambitious and tried to use a wool warp. I like - and have a fair amount of- Faro yarn so I used the strongest one - a medium grey. Yes, it did break. I tied a knot and continued, thinking I would deal with that later, when I needed to.
Using the jig:
My jig looks very much like Sarah’s. I used grosgrain ribbon (using what was at hand) to keep the jig in place. After affixing the jig in place, I warped it with said Faro yarn, and proceeded to the next step.
Installing the supplementary warp (aka fishing line backing or upholstery thread):
I very carefully poured over these photos. At first I couldn’t figure out how much thread to use. Then I decided to measure the distance and multiply by epi to approximate the amount needed. I wound that amount around a bobbin and started to add it to the warp on the jig. I started at the bottom because it was a smaller project than the upper part. That seemed to work fairly well, so I did the upper part, which also went pretty well. Whew. I knotted it off and then I waited a day to release some pent up angst.
Removing the jig:
That was much harder than I expected because the jig just barely fits inside the loom. There was not a lot of room to move the jig pieces around without disturbing the warp set up. Suffice to say that I will probably shorten the horizontal bars a tad.
We are not done yet. I had to fiddle with the warp to get even tension across the loom. Well, you know how easy that is on a normally warped loom? It is not the same on this set up! Perhaps it is the way I anchored the supplementary warp with funky slip knots. Or perhaps the nature of the beast. In any event, as soon as I got one warp in place the adjoining warps would go wonky. You can either adjust the warp or the supplementary warp or both to achieve an even tension. I finally gave up trying to get even ends and even tension. It's just a first attempt after all...
Start weaving!:
Or, not. It is clear to me now that I don't know what I am doing. I cannot see where to put the first row in. After a few false starts I begin to think that an extremely thin wool warp was an insane choice. I now choose to exchange the wool warp with one I know well, the 12/6 seine warp. It should be pretty easy, I already have a path to follow. Oh, guess what? The supplementary warp strings twist when you are not looking. So I painstakingly weave the horizontal bars of the jig back through the wool warp and then attach the vertical side bars, adjust the tension and replace the wool with the seine warp. Now a second attempt at getting an even tension goes a little better since there is something to pull against (the bars) this time. Now I can retie the knots, remove the jig and start to weave. At last the path looks a little more familiar. But remember the twisty supplementary warp?
That is what the skinny wooden slats are for - keeping the supplementary warp in place while I weave.
I first put in a bit of Harrisville Design wool yarn to create a header. Although this method does not require a header I need one. The lower edge of my piece is wonky, so hopefully this will give me an even start to the weaving. I can (and do) pull it out later and move the weft down. Yeah, I break a lot of rules when I weave. I want to weave with the Faro yarn, so I try to determine how many strands I will need for an even weave. I settle on four strands and weave a little bit. I always feel a little better when I have a design set up on the warp, so I add a bluebird. It is hard still to pick up the correct warp lines, so I add a header at the top as well. Yes, I could add heddles since the heddle bar is right there. But I like to pick up the warp with my fingers or a stick. So, I don't set the heddles up.
On a whim I decided to split the warps to make it twice as many epi, but I am finding harder to weave. Perhaps I will just play with this piece a while.
*Iwannatrythis
Any questions?
Cheers!
Ok. When I read Sara’s blog initially I knew I could never in a million years manage all that fussing. Thank you for confirming my instincts. Am currently trying to convert a Harrisvillepeg loom into a “Navajo” loom to try 4 ( or 3) selvedges that way. You are more patient than I!!! When is/ was Ireland?
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