Passing it on

Last Fall, I went to Victoria to view an old loom and a weaver'supplies for sale. One of those sad occassions where old age now means that it's time to sell off all the equipment and do-dads of a weaving life. Your happy purchase is their sorrow. That day will come for each of us one day.

The collection included *many* books and papers from a weaving interlude dating from the mid 1970's to late 1980's. I was able to add many amazing collectible and out of print books to my library and then sold many more. I still have some sitting here that need new homes.

Among the papers, were a series of weaving swatches by the Victoria Guild from the early to mid 1980's. The colours are dated but the weaving information is fabulous! Great inspiration when the 'grey matter' runs dry. I have over 4 three inch wide binder full of swatch exchanges from various guilds, my own weaving, plus my friends'. I never tire of looking through them. They are so simple to make: just add an extra 12 inches to your next project. I then draft up the design and weaving notes in my PCW Fiberworks program and hit print. One friend said she loves getting 'the big brown envelope' that arrives suddenly in the mail and there are my last 6 months worth of projects to share.

Below is one swatch from the Victoria collection that is extra special. The guild handed out this sample in 1984. The material is from old curtains woven by a long time guild member way back in 1938 for her mother. Now doesn't that tug at your heart strings! The two pictures are my attempt to show clarity of the summer and winter weave structure as well as the colours. The colours run in value somewhere between these two images.



Here is the accompanying notes (sure hope you can make it out okay) :

The profile draft for this design is shown next and the sample fit somewhere in this scheme:

The book referenced in the notes is this one:

I think this book is on most weavers' book shelves. But when have we *really* looked at it? Some times it takes a small treasure like the swatch to nudge us into a second (or even a first!) look. We wait for the latest new weaving books to be announced by the various publishers with their shiny covers and glossy pages. But perhaps a backwards glance is even better?

We'll take a backwards look next entry....

New Tricks and Resources

So it seems our heat wave was a short term thing and we are back to a more normal range. Blankets off, then blankets back on the bed and there's the chilly house in the mornings. Things weatherwise are not 'business as usual'!

There have been some discussion on other blogs and chat groups about keeping track of where you are when weaving a project. I've seen pictures of tape measures pinned to the selvedges and also cash register tapes rolling along. These will mean that the weaver is weaving to the exact measurement they need *provided* they allow for take up. If they don't, it will come up short and how much depends on the grist of the yarn used, their beat and the warp's relaxation once it comes off the loom. I had a mentor tell me that if the length is critical, such as in a piece for a test program, then relax the warp on the loom and measure it the next day. That will be a better guide to what you have.

But I like to use temples! They must be moved every so often and a tape measure or tape roll in the way at the edge would be a big pain to move all the time. So I developed my own system to monitor where I am. Most weavers adapt something to suit their needs and I'm sharing what I do. Be warned that I have an 'organize gene' and so this isn't difficult for me to do. But those 'less organized' may forget to pick up a pen and have challenges. :)

I simply measure along the edge of the selvedge and place a large loop of scrap yarn in at a measured point. On a sheet of paper, which I keep in the loom bench, I have a note of how long the towel planned to be and allowances amde for things such as hems, borders etc. In the towels currently on my loom, they are to be 34 " long total. I would weave 4" for hem, then 2"for a border, then I'm weaving the main part of the towel. BUT I must subtract for the other hem and border so 6" x 2 = 12" Take 12 away from 34 and the main part of the towel will be 12" before I must start the opposite border, then hem. Each new planned section is easy to track as I go along, armed with my plan, pen and paper. I had already factored in take up into the length I want for the towel along with shrinkage after wet finshing.

Here's a picture of a towel where it's to be 34" in length and there are no borders. Simply 2/16's weft in mercerized black cotton. All I need to do is to track inches woven. I measure what I have woven new and move the cotton loop. The new inches are added to the previous total and I make a new total. As a friend says "easy peasy".

My tally sheet..... showing towel #7 and to be 34" total, with my additions. I measure often as right now I must move the work frequently to prevent me from leaning forward over the work. My physiotherapist has ordered no leaning forward and adding strain to my lower back. Since I want to weave, I do as I'm told!
I hope you give this a try and see how you like it. It will take some getting used to if you have been using other methods. Every time the cotton loop rolls over the edge of the breast beam, simply measure and move it.

Now, onto other things... In 2007 I attended Fibre Fest and had a grand time. I took a fine spinning workshop by taught by my friend Judith Glibbery. Great course and helped my spinning immensely! I wandered the vendor area and brought home some treasures: such as painted bamboo skeins from Laura Fry's booth, cashmere silk blend spinning fibre from Jane Stafford's booth and I even bought some small bobbins with the new merino wool and stainless steel yarn at Fibres Plus. Not sure what I will make with that but who knows! I'm trying to stay current with the new yarns out there.

I also bought books.... I *love* books. I keep looking for classic titles that I need for my library and also to see if any of the newer releases are worth snapping up. This book pictured below is one such book!

The ISBN # is 0-9611136-2-6 and my copy is dated 2005. I paid about $45.00 and it's well worth it. Self published by Doramay Keasbey and the address given is Eugene, Oregon, USA. It's a large book of about 300 pages and filled with crisp, clear black and white pictures, drafts and well written text. I'm finding it to be an amazing resource! Why isn't this book more talked about among the weaving community? It covers historical aspects and then quickly moves onto every possible type of pattern weave you could imagine. This was a labour of love for Ms. Keasbey! I would say it the best book I have bought recently besides Anne Dixon's new one on 4 shaft weaves. It's a keeper!

(Sorry about the two colours of font, but I can't seem to get Blogger to change it today.)

Great Inspiration!

As promised, here are the samples from the Jane Stafford "Twill Explosion" workshop. Twill is one of my favourite weaves as there is so much potential for incredible patterning! Missing this workshop was quite depressing, but the ladies of the guild have worked hard to make sure that I got 7 of the 8 samples very quickly. (Thanks so much) I washed and pressed them up and have them all in plastic sleeves. Just need to get a new binder to hold the course material. They plan to hold a session soon where we'll review what they did and learned during the course and share it all with me. Neat huh? Will almost seem like I was there....

So here's the first: Twill gamp for 8 shafts, using simple threadings.

There is a second 8 shaft twill gamp, with more complex threadings:

Then there was a sample with two threadings (straight twill and point twill) and treadled seven different ways. It's amazing how these two simple threadings change so much!

( I have NO idea of how these pictures managed to group themselves considering I asked for 'centre' positioning. Blogger has been quite difficult to deal with lately!)

There is a shadow weave, which I love! This one is woven using wool.

Next there are a couple of samples using bamboo. Here's the fine version as a turned two block twill:

Now using the heavier grist, and in plaited twill:

The drape and sheen of the bamboo is wonderful. I will add more of this to my stash in time!

Then, the (last) sample is a double weave twill:

It's neat how there is not a trace of one coloured side showing on the other except for the row near the hemstitching. Would make a great reversible rug or lap throw.

So there is one more sample to come and that's a 4 shaft twill gamp that's all set on my loom. I'm short the 8 dent reed right now (2 ends per dent for 16 epi) I do have a 15 dent reed and I'm thinking " close enough' for me! I started to sley this reed today until my back told me no more!

This was my table loom all set to go to the workshop. I'll record how this twill gamp goes as I weave it off and wet finish it. It's 4/8 cotton which is nice and soft, although a bit large for my tastes. But double weave using 4/8 would great placemats. I have a small stash of 4/8 and now I know how to use this up.

Back report: I seem to be stuck. I'm not any worse, but I don't seem to be improving either! I think physiotherapy is the key but there's no getting in any sooner than the 23rd. It started to rain this afternoon, so at least I have a reason for staying inside now.

I did get around the flower beds yesterday and got some nice shots of flowers opening. Will share some next post.

Finally: sorry about the weird grouping of pictures and text. I have no idea why it went this way as its not what I asked Blogger to do! Perhaps I can re-edit it to to a better layout next time.

Emmatrude

This is my main floor loom and I call her Emmatrude. It's for my mother and maternal grand mother combined. My second name is Trudy, so perhaps for me as well?
It's a Woolhouse Tools countermarche and is called a Gertrude by the builder, John Low. {http://www.woolhousetools.com/} So, sort of close name wise. Yup, that pink blur is me and yes, I'm camera shy. A friend tonight says she loves seeing my hands in pictures, but to give me some credit, it's hard to photograph yourself weaving!

Anyhow, my loom has 12 shafts, 16 treadles, a second warp beam and a tie-up assist. The action on this loom is so easy and smooth! Since she has the floating lamm system (upper jack cords come down the outside of the loom) you can get a full allotment of treadles underneath. She's nice and gentle on my creaky joints and I don't think I could really handle a jack loom with this many shafts anymore. Easy treadling action is a big consideration when shopping for a floor loom..... not that many of us planned to get old(er) and creaky! The picture was taken at our last house in Powell River and the windows faced east. It was nice and bright in the mornings.

Today I woke up with more back pain and then the sudden realization that I had an early guild meeting. {http://www.northwestweavers.org/MemberGuilds/MGTzouhalem.html} I dashed through the shower and was reasonably ready when my ride came. Thank the gods for drugs! I really enjoy being with the other weavers and sharing ideas and planning workshops. In fact, I'll be taking part in a workshop with Jane Stafford later this month called 'Twill Explosion" featuring 8 shaft twills. I picked up my warp today and my 12 shaft table loom will be featuring (ta, da....drum roll...) a 4 shaft twill. Okay... not quite what I imagined but I'm game and really looking forward to the class.....

In April, I'll be attending 2 half day seminars with Laura Fry featuring her "Magic in the Water" and " A Good Yarn". I'll have my camera handy for both events and will report after they are done. It's been a while for me participating in a workshop as moving homes seemed to coincide with the last few I had a chance to take. In June, my best friend will come to visit us and we'll attend Victoria's Fibre Festival at Saxe Point Park. That should be a fun time too.

Weaving can be quite a solitary hobby, so a day out with like minded friends is a great diversion. It's uplifting! Hey....I just realized that I'm not entirely alone...

This is Connor, our Lakeland Terrier. He hides his toys in the end sections of my loom bench and stuffs his rubber balls under my treadles, usually when I'm using them! He doesn't know or seem to understand that he's 11 years old. We could learn a lot from our pets....

Tools of the Trade

Both my looms are fully engaged and the weaving process is coming along nicely. I have one full log cabin scarf done and another started. On my bigger loom, I have towel number 3 done and the fourth will start after this blog entry is complete. So not much to show you there. I thought we could look at a 'weaver's tools of the trade' and I dragged out all my shuttles, bobbins and other do-dads. I have discovered that despite selling off 4-5 shuttles and other items recently, I still have a sizeable collection. Funny how that happens....

My preference is for Schacht end feed shuttles as they can be precisely tensioned and are actually nice to throw and catch. No noisy bobbins rattling and rolling on after the throw is done either. A friend who bought an EFS a while ago just started using it and is a new convert. Suddenly, she has two of them.. (see how that happens? ) They use pirns and they must be wound differently from regular bobbins. I can try to photograph this for a later post but best if you could refer to any good weaving book for a description. Here's a picture of the EFS's I have:

The wooden one is made by the late Jim Arhens (the 'A' in AVL) and has a wooden pirn which I can't seem to locate right now. Then there are the two sizes, and differing weights of my Schacht shuttles. The red pirns fit either, but the black only fit the larger shuttle. The decidely distressed shuttle is an old EFS (from a textile factory) that I found at a local antique store. It's seen better days for sure. It has the tips encased in metal as was normal for industrial shuttles. Now computers' blow' the weft across with high powered shots of air. No more shuttles.

Next is my selection of Leclerc shuttles. They are made in Quebec and this company has been making looms and equipment for so many years that they are a weaving insititution, literally everywhere. I would call these the workshorses of weavers. One is a double bobbin shuttle for when you'd like to blend and weave with two wefts at the same time. Personally I think a doubling stand is better. Of course.... more on that at another time. These take the regular styrene plastic bobbins.

I also have some Glimakra shuttles. The darker ones are made with oak and all are unique as they have rollers to help get them from one end of the warp to the other. I don't find them helpful with my current looms as I have no shuttle race for them to ride on. That also includes my old Leclerc counterbalance. (Most Leclerc looms have a shuttle race but 60 years ago, this old lady didn't get one.) The little brown 'rolls' are premade pirns for the shuttles. These are from Louet and last a long time. They can also be cut to fit. You can also use good stout, stiff paper and roll a quill and load it up with yarn. Not very exciting, but works when you have nothing else to hand. There was a time when all the nifty toys we use now weren't available and you made do. Next are some damask or 'mustache' shuttles: These have a lower profile and will slip through a narrow, tight shed. I use them often on my table loom and seem to load them with finer weft yarns. They take the Louet cardboard pirns due to the low height ( or paper rolled quills) These are made by Glimakra, another possibly Toika and one is by Woolhouse Tools.

Next we have ski shuttles for large weft projects such as rag rugs and bulky wools. The first picture is of Leclerc ski shuttles and one that will even take large bobbins. The second picture is of Scandinavian versions. The one with the symbol is made by Mr. Howell and are called Little Man Shuttles. Mr Howell passed away a few years ago but his work is still out there.

A friend gave this shuttle as a gift when she was selling off all her belongings prior to a move to Hong Kong. I haven't used it as yet and only have two of the large bobbins to fit it. It has the 'Little Man' logo:

I have some very tiny shuttles that I have used when weaving card inserts or doing inlay. But I think I have them cause they're cute. Good enough for me :) The top one is 3" in length and is made from dogwood. The black one is plastic and I inherited that with a loom some time ago.

Now comes some of my special shuttles. These are made from exotic woods by Mr. Michael Harris of Heirloom Shuttles, in Garland, Texas. They use the cardboard Louet pirns and the entire metal bar comes out and is held in place securely with magnets. They are hand polished with paste wax and are a real treat to use. My favourite is the Snake wood shuttle. The close up shows the wood's inner details. The others are a blend of Mexican rosewood, tulip wood, zebra wood and padauk:

A special commenorative ski shuttle was available for weavers to purchase when they signed up for HGA's Convergence in 2000 in Cincinatti. It featured 'curly maple' as you can see here:

His special shuttles all came with their own little cloth bag to protect them. A real nice touch! I don't believe that he's still making shuttles at this time. ( His day job was at NASA... and so while weaving isn't rocket science, it comes close with these beauties)

Next we have flat stick shuttles. These are great for table looms, big looms and any kind of weft. They are hand wound and can be slow to work with, but you get used to the process. I have them in all lengths from 4" to 34". Ideally you need them to be at least 3-4 inches longer than the warp on the loom so you can hand them off on the other side. As said before, these are great for narrow sheds and squeaking out the last few inches of a warp. The dark one is a special stick shuttle that is carved and can pack in the weft as well as carry the yarns. Inkle band weaving needs a shuttle with an edge. I don't know where this was made as there are no identifying marks, but it's sure interesting to see and hold!

Lastly, there are plastic netting shuttles which are handy for small amounts of weft such as cards or inlay work.

Next we have a variety of bobbins used in all these shuttles and the devices used to wind them:

I have shown my old electric bobbin winder. Made by Leclerc and it is circa 1950's. I had a new foot controller added (at a sewing machine repair shop) and just keeps on going! Then there is a Swedish pirn winder. It has a smaller post for the narrow pirns or quills as they are also called. It uses a worm gear and it's amazingly fast to use. Lastly, my emergency hand winder for regular bobbins and also made by Leclerc. It's for when the power goes out or the electric winder finally gives up the ghost one day.

So I have other tools to share but I think this is enough for this time. Just one more picture of my bench cushion, which is timely for weavers who have had enough of winter.

It's a little hard to see, but those are dancing ladybugs......See you again soon (if the computer gods allow) Blogger's spell checker isn't cooperating today, so all errors are mine. :)