Shuttle Diplomacy

That's a Bluster Bay send delivery shuttle with a honex tensioner.   Curly black walnut wood.  I decided recently that I did not like the Bluster Bay shuttles with the cup hooks. Simply too much fiddle faddle for me. Drop the yarn through the slot and adjust the tension once and get going!  Much more my style.    So I sold off two of the 'cup hook' models and bought this one.  I used it for the entire new project and so have a good feel for the shuttle now. Its lighter than the twelve inch Schacht EDS and so was fine for a narrow warp.  It uses tapered cardboard pirns (which I think come from Louet) and you have to learn to build the end up, not have it collapse and then do the inch worm winding across. Takes a bit of getting used to but my weft was tencel and so slippery. (That's where the tensioning device on my AVL winder really came in handy!)

The shuttle worked nicely but my one pet peeve was how the shuttle felt to my hands when catching and throwing. I  throw and catch palm up and so the thumbs use the bottom end of the rounded area where the pirn sits to throw and catch. That edge is smooth but still what I would call a 'sharp' edge or angle.  The Schacht has a softly rounded depression that the thumb slips into.   Its a small detail like that that makes all the difference in the world to the operator, especially when you consider the thousands of throws you make in a project. So the honex tensioner is a big improvement.... shuttle design needs a tweak.    The exotic woods are beautiful and its well made otherwise.

So what's that on the loom I can hear you ask ?     Well, I had a cone of 8/2 variegated tencel called "Sapphire Blue Combo" from Webs and I decided to give it a try.  Very pretty colour way and any thoughts I had of trying to get colours to pool disappeared when I saw the short increments of the repeat. To work it out would take more patience than I possess right now and so I decided to embrace the 'heather' look of  flecked colours.  (what the heck eh? :)    I decided to use a bolder weft colour of eggplant  after seeing how navy blue simply disappeared and I wasn't happy with other colour choices pulled from the warp.    I used a sett of 24 epi with my snowflake twill.   The 'X's" would not be so squat if I had resleyed to 28 epi, but it was okay and I went ahead with my sample.    {Resleying to 28 epi would have increased the angle of the edge threads and breakage.... the tencel was softer spun than the normal tencel and it was not something I wanted to deal with.  Choose your battles!  :)  }

After my sample was all woven up,  I looked to my notes to see how much length I allocated for fringe ..... and there was none!   I had calculated for two scarves seventy four inches  each, twelve inches samples, then my take up allowance for the woven areas......then I had added in my loom waste of twenty inches  and then  forgot to add in the fringes!   My sample was only six inches and then I reduced the over all woven length of the scarves and I hoped the rest would come out of the loom waste!

I left six inches for fringe allowance at the start and end of both scarves and at the end I got finished scarves of  seventy inches plus four inch fringe and a second scarf of seventy three inches plus four inch fringes.

Phew!    I had to laugh at myself as I had never in 20 years of weaving ever left the fringes  out before so it seems you are never too old to learn new tricks.  I had to play "mental gymnastics" with the warp length and fudged myself up an answer!

Here are the beauty shots:

I had planned to do more blog posting but simply put, I have been ill with walking pneumonia and so my energy has been a day by day thing.  That flu/ cold bug we had in August evolved into another situation entirely and I can't seem to shake it.  The cough just goes on and on! That's the problem with a compromised immune system when you have SLE lupus.   Until I finally get rid of the bug, my surgical date will be 'on hold' unfortunately and that will have a trickle down effect on Life. 

I am enjoying the cooler temperatures and watching the wildlife around the house. The squirrels are busy in the trees again, and the deer don't even move out of the way of our car when we're using the driveway anymore. 

This little critter still has spots on its haunches and Mum is showing them the 'all you can eat smorg" at this nice house with the friendly people!   Don't forget the yummy hydrangea in the front of the house. There's still one bloom left...

Then we came home the other day (driving past the deer that barely moved) to find this fellow on guard duty at the front door.   He didn't move for us either!    :)

Weaving in the Dark

Isn't he or she cute? I wish I could give the photographer credit, but in the mean while I'll just say "who ever you are,  thanks for this great picture!" Edit: Ah, now I can!  Picture taken by: Photograph by Karen (jumbokedama on Flickr)  Many thanks to Susan Berger for sending me the info.

I'm not weaving heavy 12 shaft patterns right now and I am not really pursuing any real weave structure in depth. I'm just weaving what appeals to me.  For my next project I let what my Etsy store needs refilling be my guide and I am currently sold out of runners. So runners it is...

So I decided I would like to do the huck lace diamonds again as I found it to be a fun weave,  its also easy on the joints and the pattern is visually very satisfying to weave.

Bruce recently bought me some more of the French 9/2 linen for Mother's Day when we stopped into Knotty by Nature yarns store in Victoria. I had two cones of a lovely inky jet black with a beautiful sheen that only linen has.  So I got busy and wound the warp for three runners.... and then for good measure I have wound two other linen warps in other colours, so be prepared for two or three posts featuring yet more lace diamonds!  No doubt by the time I'm done all of them I will be taking a long break on huck lace  :)

Well,  yarns dyed black have had a harder time of it from all other colours. It takes a longer process with higher percentage dye and then there's the mordants and all the rinsing.  It didn't surprise me that this linen was a bit more 'linty' than the others and I even considered wearing a mask to weave.  I knew the vacuum would have to come out at the end of the project and maybe even mid way!

Bruce helped me beam the warp which did stick a few times but not bad all things considered.  Threading was fine, and then the sleying at 24 epi went okay.  Finally it was laced on and ready to go.  The "two stick start" is nice with linen as it gives a nice firm foundation to beat on at the start.  I got into a nice rhythm and the hem allowance wove up nice and quick and I did ladder hemstitching every four ends.  I use a slippery synthetic cord doubled as my spacer and wove a half inch of plain weave, then hemstitched the top row.   Now I'm ready to weave the lace!   So I wove a full repeat and this is what I saw:

Can you make out the pattern? Nope, neither can I!   So I tried  slipping white paper in behind:

Not much better huh?  You can just make out the basic design shape but not much clarity, leastwise there could be two mistakes right there and you'd never see them!   Oh, crap!   Now what?

It occurred to me that I had my little treadling note stuck to the castle and I would just have to be really clear about my treadling order and literally call out my steps to myself.  The numbers represent the treadles, with number 1 and 8 being the tabby : " 1, 7, 1, 7, 1....8, 6, 8, 6, 8....." etc. The runs are all in logical groups of five ends. It seems if there is going to be an error, its usually where a tabby step gets missed and you must have the tabby change over to seal that group before moving onto the next group of  five ends
.
It was like flying at night and using only your instruments !    Or sailing in a fog bank using radar  (I used to live on a boat and can tell some interesting stories about boating in the fog)

So that's what I did for a whole runner, then a second in all black linen.  The third runner I ran into a completely different problem. I ran out of black weft!  I decided to stick with linen and used a natural beige 9/2 linen  and feature all black hems. An even beat is essential as variations will show as streaks. It was much easier as I could see the pattern build and grow and by now, a good steady rhythm was achievable.

Notes on linen in this project:

• I found no difficulties in beaming the warp but I had help beaming to ensure even tension. It makes a real difference.
• I laced on over hand tying bow knots. Linen can be slippery and this also leads to uneven tension.
• I used an end delivery shuttle with adjusted tension to give me lovely edges. 
• I decided not to use a temple as linen seems to weave up sturdy and stiff. Temples help with stretchier yarns such as cottons.  It would have made little difference on this project and only slowed me down. (If it had been a cotton warp with linen weft, I would have used a temple)
• I wound my pirns *very* tightly using my AVL winder, with a tensioning device. I used a damp clean cloth to hold the tail of the yarn from the cone in my hand as I wound on. This dampness seems to help tame the linen, and reduce the fuzzies.  Its not wet, simply damp. If you do one pirn or bobbin using this method, you must do them all as it will show in the cloth where you didn't.
• Linen is nifty when it comes to turning hems.... they tend to fold over nicely and press flat well. Basically the whole project is stiff !   The linen becomes softer with laundering and even gets better over time with each further wash and press.
• Try not to get crease lines in the project where you don't want them...... they can become permanent. Better to roll it up for storage, or place a soft crush of tissue paper at the fold to avoid compression.  **I've seen where one weaver uses the cheap pool noodles cut into appropriate lengths to pin her projects to and then enclose in tissue paper.**
• Linen must be hemmed as fringes will disintegrate with washing. Its also the perfect fibre for playing with special hemstitching techniques or even leno borders,  and Danish medallions.
• Last of all... don't be intimidated by linen. If starting new to linen, then use a plied linen (not a singles) and have fun with it! My first linen project was four napkins using 16/2 and table napkins draft from a Handwoven Design Collection issue. I even crocheted a lacy shell edging all around the four napkins and they sold at the guild's Christmas sale.  It was my first time for huck lace too and I wove them on a table loom.

The lace areas all shifted to their final positions with the hand washing.

I got two all black runners 13 inches wide and one is 57 inches long and another is 61 inches.

A neat feature of the solid colour lace is the effect of seeing Celtic knot work like curves when its turned to produce squares over the diamonds. It only works with solid colours though.

This runner comes in at 71 inches over all length, by 13 inches wide. 

The beat appears to be even thankfully!

It has that look of quiet elegance I wanted to achieve.

Oh, by the way... there was not one treadling error in all three runners!

I also spent some of my Etsy earnings and bought myself a new shuttle! Bluster Bay has now moved to use Honex tensioners over the little cup hook system.  So I ordered a black walnut, open bottomed shuttle. It uses the cardboard pirns so you have to learn to build the shape on the winder in small increments.  There is an allen key to make adjustments much like AVL or Schacht shuttles.  I haven't used it yet but soon.... very soon! Isn't it pretty?   :)

The Quest for the Illusive Selvedge

So have you ever had a sore toe and then you seem to hit it on everything? The dog even stands on it?  Well, my sore knee is much like that toe... just begging to be hit.  I rapped it hard against the beam on the loom, cracked it on the coffee table and then the final straw,  I pushed it sideways trying to reach up and turn off a bed side light.   ~*ouch*~  is the only word I can write here in polite company.

So its been well iced, anti inflammatory gel rubbed and generally babied. I even resorted to a cane to help me up out of chair and on stairs. Its paid off and I'm back to my normal cranky knee and stepping on a treadle again didn't seem to bother it today.  yeah!

The side issue from this recent little episode is that there's been no weaving. I've been working on some drafts and playing with the Fiberworks program while I had my leg up. I had planned to get one more blog post in for May but that didn't happen. Then I was wondering what the heck to write about when a friend asked me to share how I get my edges when weaving. I can do that!   So I've been thinking about the things I do, the tools I use to get my selvedges.  Its been a learning curve much like anything else we learn and do in the weaving world!

My dear friend and mentor Margaret gave me some tips and advise when I was still a newbie weaver back in 1997, but the one pearl that stuck with me was to "simply weave a mile". Turns out her weaving teacher had told her that way back when in 1947 when she started weaving. Margaret used to be an occupational therapist before she retired and used weaving to help recovering veterans from World War 2 with their therapy.

"Weave a Mile" sounds funny at first, then silly.....but when you stop to think about it, it makes sense.  When you are new, you fuss over every shot, every pic. By the end of a mile, its about simply getting the job done and the edges just disappear from your overall view. A mile means you have perfected your throw and catch, when to apply the thumb to brake the yarn, how much to angle the yarn so it draws in what it needs before the shed closes. You also develop a good rhythm and synchronize your movements.

Margaret had me sitting properly at the loom and mindful of my posture right from the start of my weaving career. When I got my big Woolhouse loom in July 1998, she was there on the doorstep right away before I ever threw a shuttle to make sure my new bench was the right height and how to use it properly so not to abuse my body.

She also told me that once you have the basics maneuvers under control (more of that mile again), then use whatever tools you have to hand to assist you in a successful project.  Temples (or stretchers) and end delivery shuttles (also known as end feed shuttles).

I requested one for Christmas as it was a bit spendy. Not sure about this new shuttle as I had no experience with one, other than a hearty recommendation from Margaret. Santa brought me a twelve inch Schacht end delivery shuttle and a bag of five red plastic pirns. Winding the pirns took some practice but I managed to get the knack. By the end of my scarf project, I had requested a second one for my birthday in March!  I was sold, sold, sold!  My edges were respectable before and looked great now!

Lay the yarn between the two plates and gently pull down and slide the tail of the yarn into the slot.

Then slide the tail up and over that little post and that's it.

If you are changing yarns and need more or less tension, then you make small adjustments at this point with the allen key that comes with the shuttle. The screw tightens or loosens the compression plates. Make the adjustments small as the little screw could fall out if tightened too much. Happily, that hasn't happened for me and I've used some fine yarns. If there are little loops at the selvedge, then tighten and if there is a bit of draw in, then loosen the plates off.  The nice benefit of this type of compression plate is that you set the tension and then if using the same yarn pirn after pirn, you seldom need to touch it again.

The pirn slides on to the aluminum shaft and after time of lifting and dropping the shaft again, it may need to be raised a bit. An adjustment at this point under the shuttle will raise the pirn shaft.  The pirn needs to be level so the yarn feeding off the tip travels straight through the compression plates. I'd like to add that I have only adjusted the shuttles for this only once each since I got them so its not a step you do very often.

I had eventually bought the larger fifteen inch Schacht shuttles that use the longer black pirns. Perfect for wider projects such as towels, shawls and baby blankets. The black pirns hold so much more weft yarn than regular shuttle bobbins. That means less joins in your work.  Who doesn't like that?

This is the best spot to mention that a tightly wound pirn also means smooth and easy weft being pulled off the tip of the pirn and laid into the pic. If  the weft digs down into the lower layer on the pirn, or is loose and an entire section comes off as a lump, you can guess the result.  I find when this happens you usually have to cut the weft lump and then that yarn is wasted. The answer is to apply tension to the thread as its being wound onto the pirn.  

You can hold the yarn between a small piece of leather, wear a glove or use a tensioner.  I went on a search for a new electric winder a couple of years ago and finally decided on the AVL model. I want to point out that Leclerc has one and so does Schacht and no doubt there are others too. The AVL model had what I was looking for, and was on sale at the time too! So I'm going to focus on the tensioner part as they do sell that part individually. It can be adapted and added to an existing winder set up if you are handy with tools or have a crafty husband.

The yarn goes through the pink ring on the far right, then between the tension plates and through the small pink hole, then through the pigtails. The "U" notch is where you can add a yardage counter if you like.  This whole apparatus slides to and fro in a notch on the stand. 

You control the tension on the plates by tightening the little white nob on the end of the spring. It adjusts for varying grists of yarns

Here you can see that I can't get the point of the scissors down into the yarn on the pirn. Its as hard as can be.  It pulls off the end smoothly and with no drag at all!

Weaving towels, particularly twill towels, sometimes had more draw in than I liked even with the end delivery shuttles. The weft travels over every second, third or even fifth thread and so the warp threads snuggle into their position closer together. Even with good technique and an end feed shuttle, you can still get draw in. Hard to stop it.... but you can reduce it.  Anything over half an inch to an inch is a lot so reduction is a good thing.

Temples or stretchers are in common use in European  weaving. They don't think twice about using them. Its a tool to accomplish their project. I liken it to a woodworker using what ever he has in his shop to make a beautiful wooden work of art. Hand tools, power tools.  Who sees the tools used later when the piece is done and presented?    With a handwoven, there's no indication that says "this was woven with a temple"   :)

It seems there is an idea in some North American weaving circles that using a temples is a crutch. That you should somehow get nice edges or less draw in on your own merit.  I strongly disagree .  Yes, new weavers should learn how to 'weave their mile' but after that, use the tools available. It all still requires proper technique and a good warp, and the temple doesn't replace that.

I stick the teeth into the edge about  two eighths of an inch in from the edge....

The temple sits about a quarter of an inch below the fell or leading edge of the work.

I repeat on the left hand side and then press the parts together and down, sliding the brass ring over to hold them in place. Then I force the wood bits apart and slide in the holding pin.

As you can see, I really spread them! It allows extra weft to be laid into each pic . I also beat on a closed shed. The twill will still draw in as that's the nature of the beast. It will also shrink in width as well. If I want twenty three inch wide towels, I usually plan for twenty five + /- in the reed. It all depends on the warp yarn and sett density. Lots of variables! Some of these details are hard to explain as you simply pick things up along the way and absorb them like osmosis and then simply do what you need, and adjust as you go.  (You are making me really think Martha!)

So see for yourself below.... temples seems to work. This edge result is a combination of end delivery shuttle and a temple. There are no holes from the temple as they disappear. Yes, you may stick yourself on the teeth but only a couple of times and you learn to be careful. Moving it is a pain say some..... I think the results show its worth the effort. I moved this temple every one pattern repeat which is 24 shots for my 12 shaft pattern. Any longer and the draw in starts to show again.

(... I'll share this project details in full another time okay? Its still under way right now...)

Here are some other end delivery shuttles:

Both sizes of the Schacht. The red pirns will fit the larger model but not the reverse.

The mini Bluster Bay end delivery shuttle and the shaped card board pirn it uses. You thread the yarn around the hooks to produce drag on the yarn.  Works nicely but must be rethreaded every pirn change. Here is one threaded at the top of this post. Its also uses the opposite side to the Schacht! Took my head a while to get around that.  :)

This is the mini AVL and its stubby little pirn. It uses compression plates.

This is the large model of the AVL end delivery shuttle. It uses the large black pirns. Its *heavy* in the hand. I would think wide warps and a good heft. You'll have amazing biceps in no time. Watch your feet if you drop it though!

I hear wonderful reports about Crossley end delivery shuttles. The link also show further comparisons of EDS as well as a Crossley model. Not many are around for sale since they went out of business in 2006. Weavers who have them, hang onto them!  I hope to try one some day if I can find one for sale.

So what else do I do to get a good edge? Well, you must have an even, well tensioned warp. No one can weave well on a bad one, although you can weave badly on a good one!  Get comfortable with your warping skills and if you haven't tried the back to front method, then consider switching. I use this method on all my looms.  

Hate beaming warps?  Then get a friend or hubby to help you. The company is always nice and showing someone how you do it actually reinforces your knowledge and ability to do it! I always try to ensure the warp is properly centered on the back beam to avoid it being skewed.  If the warp is to be fourteen inches in the reed, I like to spread the warp to fourteen and a quarter inches on the back beam. That way the warp angles in towards the heddles and reed ever so slightly. It aids in minimizing abrasion of the edge threads. Things just seem to behave better when I do, and I don't seem to be able to give you a very technical explanation I'm afraid.

This is the new warp on the Louet Spring that I finished setting up yesterday. You can see that I threw three shots and beat, then another three.... then wove  for an inch in a high contrast yarn. I'm looking for errors. So far it looks good! There is a floating selvedge on either side and I tied on this time as the yarn (10/2 cotton, 28 epi) has some 'bite' to it... some 'tooth' and so tying overhand knots hold nicely. I'm able to get good tension with yarns  like this. Slippery yarns such as tencel, bamboo and some silks, I will lace on to get better tension and reduce loom waste. (I always make small bouts.) Take a look at the warp again and notice that there is little to no draw in. I'm only using the Schacht end delivery shuttle. No temple.

I don't expect to need a temple for this project, but if it did draw in more than I like, then I would use one. I have slowly added to my Glimakra temple line up and have some for narrow scarves right through to a wide blanket.  They are as important as your shuttle is.

Like Forrest Gump said "like peas and carrots"

Well, if you are still with me at this point, well done! For someone who didn't know what to write, I have surpassed myself!

Wild Orchid

I love Orchids. Did you know there are over 5900 catalogued varieties? That they are the most sophisticated, specialized plant on the Earth? The blossoms, the colours...they look so delicate and so complex! Did you know that real vanilla extract comes from an orchid ? Many are green house varieties needing special humid conditions but phalaenopsis or Moth orchid can be grown in most homes on a window sill.

So imagine my curiosity when I saw that there is a tencel colour called orchid! 

 I *had to* order it.  When it arrived I could see that its a delicate lilac. Super, uber pale!    I have used it as weft in one of my shawls and while it looked good, it didn't really bring the true colour out. The other colours in the warp and weft took centre stage.

The cone sat on my yarn shelf for a time and I mulled over what would be the best way to express this delicate colour to its best advantage.  Eventually, I decided on huck lace and the orchid would be warp and weft, because as we all know, that lace weaves look best when you use the same colour and yarn.

So I went through my pattern books and then my sample binders. I found an 8 shaft lace draft I used some years ago and woven a white shawl. All I have is a picture of it as the warp was too short for samples and it sold right away. (That was before I added extra inches as a dedicated sample length!) This tencel is 8/2 and I used a sett of 20 epi for a slightly firmer lace (over the recommended 18 epi).

I wanted to use the bottom section again, which I like to call 'trellis'. The top section is a lot more lace than I really wanted but I went through the various lace blocks and took some from the top and what I liked from the trellis. The basic rules are a block that has a 1 for the plain weave must be followed by a block with a 2. This way you can select which ones you want to create the image you'd like. Well, that's what I did  with this draft.  It was fun actually and I came up with several patterns that I'll use in the future. They are all based on the threading shown above and all I've done is play with the blocks and in what order they are treadled.

The picture above shows the start of the first scarf using the trellis style.... and my new Bluster Bay curly walnut end delivery shuttle. The yarn feed is opposite to what I'm used to and I had to get used to the tensioning hooks. Due to tencel being slippery, I ended up using pretty much all of them. It didn't take too long to get used to it and as you'll see later on, it did a nice job with my selvedges. The only difficulty I had was re-learning how to wind the cardboard pirns correctly, but even that went okay after a couple of tries. 

The plain weave treadles, nine and ten, are on the far right.... and all the pattern treadles are sequentially across from treadles one to eight. Your feet are jumping around quite a bit! After a repeat or two, I decided to place numbers on the treadles to give me my placement at a glance.  If you give the draft above a try, then you might want to do this too.

Scarf number two I wove blocks that went across the scarf and made small rosettes, then an abbreviated blocks to make them appear rounder, followed by the rosettes again. This was repeated on the other end of the scarf. In between, I wove the rounder 'flowers' with six pics of plain weave in between to give some separation. Its pretty but I like the first scarf better. Its seems that simple designs are more effective. 

Then it was time for the fringes to be twisted...

You can see the shine already!

Beads were a interesting experience! I pulled out all my suitable colours and then put most of the away again.  I had some that almost matched perfectly but they did absolutely nothing and completely disappeared. I found that some that looked the right shade, turned a different colour against the orchid colour! Finally I found the ones shown above for the trellis scarf. They are darker than I really wanted but trust me, in person, they really work!

Photographing it on white simply did NOT work....it turned gray and looked dreadful! My dark charcoal counter top worked best. If it didn't, then I wasn't sure what to do next! As you can see from the picture below, the areas of plain weave produced a very stable cloth.

The second scarf, which I'm calling 'flowers' turned out quite nice too. You can see the softer shade I used for this one's beads and crystals. Both scarves have lovely edges and I must credit the Bluster Bay. I ordered a second one, this time curly maple, so I have a set. I'll use them on narrow widths such as scarves.

They both came in at 7.5 inches in width and 71 inches in length, plus the fringe. They are definitely a lady's scarf.

I took it easy weaving these scarves due to my cranky knee. X-rays were done and I had a visit with our family Doctor. Seems I need a knee replacement! Actually, half of one but its up in the air if a 'demi' version would work. Many orthopedic surgeons gave up on the half version and went back to the full. We'll see what my surgeon feels about this when I get to see him sometime this late spring or early summer.

I'm going to keep on weaving, as it is exercise after all,  but use more (lighter) 8 shaft drafts and go slower.  My Doctor says I'll be back weaving again once I'm all healed. The trick is how long will the wait for surgery be?    I'll keep on playing with yarns while I wait...