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!

Eggplant and Olives

Well, I've been chipping away at these projects and showing you snippets....but the time has come for the big finish.

To be truthful I would much prefer to show you an entire project from start to finish in one post but I must multi-task in the studio .... and then there's that real life stuff to deal with too.
Is it wrong to envy weavers in eastern parts who have snow days still?  They can weave away guilt free!  I look out the window and the weeds smirk at me and the lawn is growing two inches a day.
Enough of my whining...

So last time I wrote, the first two scarves "Eggplant to Olive" tencel were off the loom and a new colour set under way. As part of the multi-tasking, I would take a break and work on fringe twisting.

I usually put on some snappy music to accompany the twister workout. It moves along nicely and soon, with many breaks for tossing a ball for Calli,  they were finally done. I rummaged through the bead stash and found I had nothing suitable to match the eggplant / burgundy. (There's that mysterious hole in the stash again.) I had various greens and even olive tones so I worked on the olive scarf first.

Then, time to tackle the eggplant version...

The centre colour is an old gold shade and so I decided to play off of that colour and I have a good selection of gold tone beads to choose from. I settled on gold stars and multi toned gold seed beads and kept it simple. The eggplant weft seems to suck the green out of the olive warp and tone it right down. That's because they are opposites on the colour wheel (well close enough).

Not long after that, I had a friend Lindi over and she was looking at the finished scarves that had yet to go into the laundry tub for hand washing. Now she's familiar with tencel when its all soft and drapey and so it came as a big surprise when she felt the 'loom state' cloth. Its stiff, bumpy and quite unappealing. I told her the washing and pressing is what really completes the project. Especially the pressing part! I hard press the cloth like no other owner of the scarf would ever do. I bear down with a steam iron and flatten the cloth. It sets the threads into place and from then on, just normal hand wash and a light press will be all it needs.

If you buy commercial made fabric its full of sizing and smells funny. You wash before wearing it or using it for sewing.  We do the same with our handwovens because they are not ready for use until you do.

In these two pictures above, I've tried to capture the cloth before and after washing/ pressing. The difference is noticeable!  See what I mean about the eggplant sucking the green from the olive?

So that's Eggplant and now meet its alter ego, Olive:

I really enjoyed weaving these  and looking forward to showing you the next set when they are done.  I'm half way through the second scarf , but with a trip away coming up soon, there will be a debut of an older project next time...

I'll leave you with a new studio acquisition (after all my sales!) My first Bluster Bay end delivery shuttle and some African wenge wood shuttles:

Its made from curly walnut and I can't wait to give it a try on the next new project! 

Heavy Handed!

 A couple of months ago I was answering questions on the Beginner Weaver forum at Ravelry.com. There are a number of weaving related groups there and we form a little enclave in the midst of knitters / crocheters galore!

A newbie weaver, Jennifer was asking about using an end delivery shuttle on her table loom. Well, why not?  Anything that gets the weft across, though a EDS is sort of wasted on a table loom. It would be more of a pass through than a throw!

It was a beautiful shuttle she had found at an antique store in North Carolina... or it came from a textile mill in the Carolina's. I'm a bit fuzzy on the details right now.  It was lovely and I was coveting it!  I collect shuttles and ones like this don't usually cross my path on Vancouver Island too often. I wrote to her and said that if she came across another, to keep me in mind. Well, imagine my surprise when she said she had two of them! She was willing to sell one to me.  The pictures here were taken by Jennifer.

The tightly wound yarn on the wooden pirn is polyester and its wound *perfectly*! The inside of the shuttle has these synthetic filaments that hugs the end of the pirn and tames the yarn as it flies off in the shed. Great idea for very fine yarns. Its the ultimate in yarn control!

 I can't find any identifying marks on it at all so if you recognize this shuttle or know something about them, please email me at the address shown on the right hand side of the blog.

There is one small  detail about this shuttle that took me completely by surprise.....the size and weight!

Here are pictures taken by me....and you might want to click on these to get a feel for the dimensions!

So its roughly 17 inches long and while I haven't weighed it (yet) its really heavy!

Here it is against my other Schacht end delivery shuttles. The 12 inch and 15 inch  which are real light weights next to this behemoth!  It arrived in a very long box and I thought Jennifer had reused a mailing box and it was a bit over kill but apparently not.  I did have plans of hanging it on the wall with my other antique shuttles but now I'm wondering how to do this?!  I love it....


Changing subjects entirely...
My husband was readmitted to hospital and is fighting one of those nasty MRSA super bugs. He had a second operation today and this time it was on his hand by a plastic surgeon. We are hoping that this now means he can start to heal and the antibiotics can do their job. I must wear a lovely yellow gauzy gown (yellow is NOT my colour) but they do coordinate nicely with the blue non latex gloves that every one entering the room must wear.  Its been a long month as we have been dealing with this since November 1st.

We decided it was unfair for Calli to be cooped up in a kennel so I took her to the doggy resort and when I last saw her, she had a huge grin and was being chased by a little Yorkie! I'm happy that she is playing with other dogs  but it means the house is rather empty. This would be a supreme weaving time but I have no heart to throw a shuttle and, to be honest, I'm too tired to play with my toys.
I am chipping away at Christmas tasks and  I have even placed a yarn order! Webs web site said it was all in stock and no sooner than I hit 'confirm' for the order, half of it was immediately back ordered!
There will be show and tell when it does arrive....this year or next!   :)

PS  I have created a sales page (see top bar) for some of my handwovens that came home from the Christmas sales.  More will be added as time allows so please check back!