Starting and Finishing a Weft

January 29, 2015, 10:17 pm

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Hi Madelyn!

What is the best way to start/end a weft? At the beginning of a project, the end of a project, and when you run out of weft and start a new one?

Nadia


Hi Nadia!

Different weavers may have different techniques for starting and ending wefts; here are mine.

For very thick wefts, such as are used in warp rep, any overlapping of weft tails will show as a thick lump. This is especially true with warp rep. As a result, you need to “splice” the thick yarns at the overlaps. When you start the thick weft in a warp rep fabric, let the tail of weft in the first pick hang out of the cloth inside the starting selvedge (it should be at least twice as long as the distance from the tail to the selvedge) and separate into two tails. Then pass one of these tails into the shed and around the edge warp thread at the starting selvedge and then back to where the other tail (the other half) is hanging. You now have a single thickness of weft from the tail-hanging spot to the selvedge and two tails hanging the original one and a little bit of the one you used to weave around the selvedge. Trim them both off later. (I learned this from Rosalie Neilson.) To end the weft when the project is finished, follow the same process.

When you are changing wefts in the middle of a project with very thick yarns, you need to splice them, too, to avoid unsightly lumps. If, for example, you have a three-ply yarn, take the tail of the ending weft and about an inch from the end of one ply, break off a second ply, and about an inch from the end of the second ply, break off the third ply. Do the same with the tail of the new yarn that you are going to insert, and then place the new tail so that the overlap is three plies thick throughout.

With relatively fine wefts, (8/2 cotton, 10/2 pearl cotton, etc.), I usually change to a new weft close to the selvedge, taking the old weft around the edge thread and into the next shed for about three quarters of an inch and then allowing the new weft tail to overlap about a half inch of the old tail. The overlap seems to show a bit less at the edge of the fabric than if the overlap is in the middle.

Madelyn

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Oh, Baby! Weaving Wide Cloth on Small Looms

February 5, 2015, 2:44 pm

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Whatever anyone tells you, size matters. Loom width is the bane of many a weaver. That 15-inch to 21-inch rigid-heddle or table loom that fits in your home and your life may be your pride and joy, but when it comes time to make a baby blanket, a wide shawl, or a standard-sized dish towel, you have to become resourceful.  Even with floor looms, unless you have some kind of commercial loom, you'll likely need to improvise to weave a bath towel or full-sized coverlet. (I did see a production Toika loom once that must have been 90 inches wide. The bench was on a rail, so the weaver could throw the shuttle at one side, kick off, and slide to the other side to catch it.  If I'd had the space and money, I'd have bought it for the sheer aerobic joy.)

	Sara Bixler's clever method for weaving projects wider than your loom.

If you want to weave cloth wider than your loom, you have a few choices. You can weave doublecloth that is open on one selvedge. Jennifer Moore's excellent book and video explain how to do this on a shaft loom, and Jane Patrick's book shows how it can be done on a rigid-heddle loom with two heddles. I find doubleweaving to be pretty magical, although it takes time and careful attention to keeping the layers separate.

The other time-honored choice is to weave your cloth in narrower panels and then join them. The trick here is to keep length consistent, match any patterns, and make the joins attractive or invisible. African Kente cloth is woven in long strips and joined, and I have seen backstrap-woven mantas in Peru joined with stitching and embroidery that becomes part of the overall design.

One of the cleverest solutions I've seen in a long time is Sara Bixler's no-sew technique for joining narrow woven strips into blankets. Sara has developed a way to weave loops and basically crochet the panels together. No matching, no seams, and it looks great. Sara's done a great video on the technique in which she makes several beautiful baby blankets (you buy a kit to make your own), but you could use her ideas to make blankets, coverlets, or even really cool kitchen towels.

The moral of this story is: size matters, but the cleverness of the weaver matters more!

(And just because we love all of you clever weavers out there, you can get free shipping when you order a no-sew baby blanket kit in purple, blue, or warm tones. Just use the code 1FREESHIP when you order. It's good through Valentine's day weekend, February 15th.)

My Love Affair with Cotton

February 11, 2015, 1:07 am

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These polka dot towels, featured on page 46 in the latest issue of Handwoven, are oh so soft and sure to brighten any kitchen. Irene Laughing Cloud Owner, Cotton Clouds, Inc. cottonclouds.com Note: This is a guest post from Irene Laughing Cloud.  Cotton excites me!  It excites all my senses. I love the smell of it fresh out of the field.  I love how soft and cozy it feels next to my skin. I love how clean and crisp it looks in my weavings. I love how practical it is from the sheets I sleep on each night, to the absorbent bath towels I rely on in the morning, to the jeans I pull on day after day, to the tablecloths I set a dinner party table with, to the socks that keep me warm in winter and the T-shirts that cool me off in summer. I love everything about cotton! Yet, it hasn’t always been that way. When I first started spinning, and then weaving in 1976, I only spun and wove from the abundant source of wool I had at my disposal.  A good friend had a sheep farm and each spring when I helped with the shearing in the hills of Arkansas’ Ozark mountains, I came rambling home in my little Honda CRX stuffed with a bounty of fleeces. I carefully skirted each fleece and once soaked and washed in my bathtub, gingerly separated the locks and hand combed them to fill a handmade willow basket to overflowing. I spun and spun and spun wool for hours, days, and months. I loved my wool and would never think of spinning anything else. Then by chance, I took Harry & Olive Linder’s  three-day, pre-Convergence 1978 workshop, Handspinning Cotton.  My love affair with cotton began the moment I sat down at my wheel and had my first taste of spinning this beautiful, white, clean, smooth and gentle fiber. I immediately left my wool spinning skills behind and learned to conform to cotton’s needs for spinning it. I was hooked, so to say. From there I decided to not only convert my entire wardrobe to cotton, but to also weave cotton children’s clothing for sale. The only problem then was that I couldn’t find a source of cotton yarns suitable for my loom. At that time, the revival of spinning and weaving focused on wool, flax and silk. Cotton yarns were nowhere to be found. After extensive research and mailing out over 200 form letters to yarn manufacturers, I found three sources that were willing to sell their coned cotton yarns to me. Once I was dazzled by the vibrancy of rich colors and the variety of yarn weights available, I wondered, “If I can’t find quality cotton yarns for my weaving, perhaps other weavers can’t either. I’ll just start a mail order yarn business, name it Cotton Clouds (my nickname at the time was Irene Laughing Cloud) and see what comes of it.”     Cotton and bamboo combine to make the Huck and Snuggle Baby Blanket, featured on page 54, extra soft and cuddly. Now 36 years later, Cotton Clouds has grown to provide a wide selection of cotton and cotton blend yarns in more than 2,000 colors; exclusively designed kits; cotton fibers for spinning  and where I share my love for and expertise in cotton with spinners, weavers, knitters, and crocheters. Dare I say, “We’ve come a long way, baby” in the consciousness of using cotton yarns in our weavings?  This special COTTON issue of Handwoven is the perfect testament to the answer as YES!  There are so many wonderful cotton yarns in just the right sizes, weights, textures, and cornucopia of colors to please just about everyone’s taste for clothing and accessories, kitchen towels, table linens, household items, and more! In this special issue on Colorful Cotton, you will find not only a cornucopia of projects, but the information you need to be a happy and successful cotton weaver. Stephanie Gaustad gives you a microscopic view of the cotton fiber, highlighting its strong as well as weak characterisitics; Sharon Alderman shares her helpful hints and tips on Finishing Handwoven Cotton Fabrics and you’ll learn almost everything you’ve ever wanted to know about how cotton changed the world during the Industrial Revolution from Aldon Amos. More than three decades ago, Sally Fox came to me at a trade show proudly sharing her first success at breeding colored cotton. I immediately fell in love with naturally colored cotton, have continuously supported Sally’s enterprise and have spun and woven with it ever since!  Here she shares her spirited journey in “A Life in Bloom”. When I first mailed out those 200 form letters to yarn manufacturers, searching for cotton yarns, UKI (Usdan Kolmes Industries) supplied me with 8/2 unmercerized cotton and perle cotton in 3/2, 5/2, 10/2 and 20/2 weights.  Weavers have had to be content with these cotton yarns as their mainstay.  And might I say that they’ve done a splendid job designing everything from towels, to runners, to curtains to clothing these past 36 years. Now, in this current issue of Handwoven, you’ll find a better variety of cotton yarns than ever before. Cotton has been combined with linen (cottolin), bamboo and silk to weave everything from four and eight shaft towels including a thoroughly modern take on Summer and Winter Polka Dot Towels!   Did you know that you can weave with sock yarns?  Kate Lang-McKibbon’s Huck and Snuggle Baby Blanket, woven on a 20” 4-shaft loom uses one of knitter’s favorite sock yarns, Panda Cotton, a mix of cotton and bamboo that will knock off any baby’s socks! Yes, I will say it.  We’ve come a long way, baby, and I don’t mean just babies!  Weavers now have a much better choice of cotton and cotton blend yarns to weave the goodness of cotton into their projects with today’s cotton yarns. My love affair with cotton grows with each new cotton project from Handwoven! --Irene

Capabilities of a Rigid-Heddle Loom

February 11, 2015, 1:15 am

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Hi Madelyn!

I was recently given a rigid-heddle loom. I have signed up for a class, which I am excited about, but I have a question. Or maybe more than one question. I have always been interested in weaving, and have said so to everyone in my life, which is why a friend gave me this loom. But I am wondering about looms since this one doesn’t look like the looms I see in photographs. What is the difference between this loom and others? What can it or can’t it weave?

Lynda


Hi Lynda!

I may have answered this question before or at least a question like it, but it comes up often enough that it might be good to re-address it.

The rigid-heddle loom is a frame loom in the center of which is positioned the rigid heddle. It is usually made of plastic and has narrow bars with holes in them alternating with narrow spaces, called slots. Warp threads are alternately threaded in the slots and in the holes. If you lift the rigid-heddle, the hole threads (every other warp thread) are raised above the slot threads, if you lower the rigid-heddle, the hole threads are lowered below the slot threads. By raising and lowering the heddle, you can weave a plain-weave cloth.

The advantages to this type of loom are many. The loom is very portable. You can weave with it on a table or in your lap. The action of the heddle itself is very easy on warp threads. Extreme warp tension is not required, so fragile or softly spun yarns (or knitting novelties or eyelash/ribbon yarns) can be used. The spacing of the warp threads depends on the number of slots/holes per inch in the particular heddle, usually eight, ten or twelve per inch, so you can weave fabrics with those warp setts. To weave with finer setts, two rigid heddles can be used.

For weavers who love patterns in cloth, pick-up techniques can be used with rigid heddle looms. The slots allow threads to be picked up on a stick behind the heddle, and the pick-up held in place for rows of weaving.

The other basic type of loom used by contemporary weavers is one with shafts. Every warp thread goes through the eye of a heddle (a needle-like item) that is placed on a frame (the “shaft”). If there are two frames on the loom and the warp is threaded in the two shafts alternately, you can weave plain weave by first lowering (or raising) one of the shafts and then lowering (or raising) the other shaft. Looms with four shafts can weave patterned fabrics (twills, laces, overshot, summer and winter, etc.). The more shafts a loom has the fancier the  possible patterns and the greater the number of possible weave structures.

Shaft looms can either be table looms or floor looms. Table looms are portable but usually not as portable as rigid-heddle looms and  need a table or stand (you can’t use them in your lap).

Floor looms need space (for the loom and the bench that you sit on to weave). Most table looms cost more than  rigid-heddle looms, and floor looms cost a LOT more. (In the cost area, there is usually less loom waste—yarn used for warping that is left over after weaving—on rigid-heddle looms than on table or floor looms.)

Table looms allow many different combinations of raising and lowering shafts without being dependent on the number of treadles on the loom. If the shaft loom has treadles, it provides an additional advantage over a rigid-heddle or table loom. It allows what we call the "rhythm of weaving" that happens when you step on a treadle to open a shed (rather than use your hands to raise the shafts or the rigid heddle), throw the shuttle across, catch the shuttle on the other side, move the beater to position the weft, step on a treadle to open a shed…. Doing this, over and over, as you watch a cloth grow is an experience I think of as “more than the sum of its parts.” Weaving is also much faster when you don’t have to use your hands to move the shafts (or heddle).

Basically:

Rigid-heddle loom: portable, not expensive, good with knitting yarns and relatively simple structures and open setts; lends itself to pick-up patterning, embellishment, finger-manipulates techniques

Shaft table loom: portable, less expensive, good workshop loom, can do many weave structures and patterns depending on number of shafts, no limit to combinations of shafts forming the sheds.

Shaft floor loom: not portable, more expensive, needs space, can produce fancier patterns and more weave structures relatively speedily, allows a weaving rhythm, treadles require tying up (to make the different combinations of shafts rise or sink), number of possible combinations limited to the number of treadles.



Hope this helps!

Madelyn

Bringing Embroidery Patterns to Life through Music

February 11, 2015, 1:21 am

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If your weaving were a song, what would it sound like? That’s a concept that two Hungarian artists are currently exploring. Appropriately called “Sound Weaving,” Zsanett Szirmay and Bálint Tárkány-Kovács are gathering traditional Hungarian embroidery patterns and printing them on long strips of perforated paper. The paper is then fed through a music box, which catches the paper’s holes with an internal comb to produce sound.

Of course, the result isn’t exactly a song--it’s more of a disjointed series of notes that sounds akin to a child playing around on a xylophone. But it’s oddly soothing nonetheless, and it’s pretty cool to see visual patterns brought to life through music! Check out an example here. 

Overshot Ambitions

February 13, 2015, 1:47 am

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Pattie Graver's miniature overshot drafts provide a great canvas for experimenting with color and treadling variations. Christina Garton Editor, Weaving Today weavingtoday.com I can tell you the exact moment I fell in love with overshot. I had previously thought it was lovely, and had admired it on a variety of occasions, but when Pattie Graver brought in her truly stunning miniature overshot towels for the November/December 2012 issue of Handwoven, I was hooked. Vibrant purple provided a base for the shiny jewel-tone pearl cottons. As I examined the towels, I knew I would need to learn more about this structure and weave up my own set of miniature overshot towels someday.   But I did not weave those towels because at the time I was scared. I had not woven a two shuttle design before, so the phrase “use tabby” made me nervous. Then there was the fact that I was told that counting picks and beating evenly and to square mattered in overshot in a way they did not matter in twill (my current favorite). I was worried, and so I refrained from making something beautiful and eventually became distracted by other structures and adventures on my loom.   Now, I realize that I was silly. I have, since that time, woven pieces that required two shuttles and found that while it takes a few picks to get used to, it’s really not that difficult. I’ve also woven pieces where beating to square matters very much and where I carefully counted every pick to make sure my beat was steady. I’ve found in these cases that adding on six inches or so of extra warp helps a great deal so you can sample and find your rhythm before starting the actual piece.   Perhaps best of all Madelyn van der Hoogt, the Divine Miss M. herself, has a new video out about weaving overshot. If there is one thing I have learned from my years of working with Madelyn, it’s that the reason she knows as much as she does is not because she was divinely blessed with the Gift of Weaving, but because she has woven a lot, made mistakes, and learned tricks to deal with the difficult bits. She is a weaver who knows her stuff, and having absorbed her past videos I cannot wait to watch Weaving Overshot this weekend. At this moment I have some lace towels on the loom that are very nearly done (10 inches to go as of this writing) and everything I need to weave up Pattie Graver’s beautiful towels in my stash. I will watch Madelyn’s video and warp my loom for my next great adventure: overshot.   Happy Weaving!

Weaving Overshot on a Small Loom

February 13, 2015, 1:54 am

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Ask Madelyn HAVE A QUESTION? OUR EDITOR HAS THE ANSWER madelynv@interweave.com Hi Madelyn: I have a loom with a weaving width of only 26 inches.  I would like to make an overshot coverlet.  On such a small loom, would it be easier to weave a friendship-type coverlet with different pattern squares or weave the coverlet in three (or four!) panels? I know it is difficult to have a consistent beat and wonder if I could make all the panels match. Cathy Hi Cathy! I think you¹d be better off with the friendship-type of coverlet for several reasons. (Friendship coverlets are usually the result of a group of people each threading and weaving a unique overshot design and exchanging squares so that everyone ends up with a coverlet composed of a square from each person in the group.) The main advantage to weaving the coverlet in three or four panels is that you might not have as much rethreading to do, if any. If you wove four panels, for example, you¹d probably thread the overall design, weave two panels using it, and then rethread so that the second two panels each included some kind of side-border design. You¹d join the first two panels in the center with one of the other two panels on each side. (If you wove it in three panels, you could weave one for the center and then rethread for the other two if you wanted a side-border design.) The main disadvantage to weaving the coverlet in panels is the one you are guessing, that it would not be easy to weave them so they exactly match. This would even be true if your coverlet were made of only two panels. It is possible to weave them to match, however.  If you decide to go this way, put on enough extra warp so that you can practice achieving a beat that is relatively easy to maintain consistently. It is important for all of the panels be the same weaving width (i.e., if you rethread for borders, keep the width of the each panel the same). The same force on the beater will produce a tighter weft sett on a narrower warp width than on a wider one. When you sew the panels together, you can ease in small variations of beat.   For a friendship-type coverlet, you¹d be weaving a number of squares to join together. For a coverlet 70­-80 inches wide, for example, your squares might be about 16² wide with four of them joined across the width and more joined across the length (the number depending on the desired length). Each square need not be exactly the same size since your joining method can accommodate some variations (using panels of cloth between the squares can allow overlapping their edges). One disadvantage to this method would be rethreading for each different square if you¹d like the friendship-coverlet look of many different designs. Remember that with overshot, however, you can weave each design rose fashion or star fashion or even invent design variations by changing the treadling order of the blocks. Using different pattern-weft (and/or tabby-weft) colors in each square can add even more variation. You could instead choose to weave each square in the same design, but I think changing the designs, colors, and/or treadling orders would add a lot of interest to the project and you¹d learn a lot about designing and weaving overshot. The remaining disadvantage to weaving the coverlet in separate squares is, of course, the additional task of joining the squares. I like the idea of using a plain cloth in a color that acts as a frame for each of the squares (and also takes up some of the width and length required by the coverlet). Madelyn

Boutenné and Its Origins

February 18, 2015, 8:39 am

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Boutenné has a rich history, dating back to 2000 BC. Christina Garton Editor, Weaving Today weavingtoday.com This is a guest post from Weaving Today contributor Sara Bixler. When I plan a project to throw on my rigid-heddle loom using a technique such as Boutenné, I can’t help but consider its origins. When we limit ourselves to the most basic two-harness weaving, we can imagine the thought process weavers of the past must have explored to make the most of what they had available to them.  The term "Boutenné" originates from a small region of Quebec along the St. Lawrence River. If we make like an archeologist and “dig” a little deeper into its history, we’ll find that the technique of bringing loops to the surface of a piece of fabric to add texture and pictorial imagery can be traced back to as far as 2000 BC during 11th-dynasty Egypt. Most of the examples found through the Coptic period have a linen ground fabric and naturally dyed wool to create patterning through the piles brought to the surface. Beyond the history of Egypt, many examples of this same technique carry through the 15th and 16th century in Italy and Spain. Gold and silver threads were often incorporated into some of the velvet fabrics to highlight some of the imagery and the contours of the designs. Examples of this pile and loop technique continued to survive in Europe through the next four centuries.  Today, the most recognizable form of Boutenné is the Bolton coverlets produced in Lancashire, England. These coverlets were produced in cottage industry setting, established somewhere around the late 18th century predating the industrial revolution, but not clearly documented. Characterized by their white-on-white cotton motifs, they continued to be produced on a large scale for domestic use and export. Some similarly produced quilts are still being manufactured today and can be found at many home goods stores.  Although this technique varies slightly from culture to culture, one common thread they all share is this wonderful ability to create amazing imagery with as few as two harnesses. In this day and age where we have access to the greatest tools and computer-interfaced technology, it’s wonderful to return to creating unbelievable fabrics with the most rudimentary equipment.    I hope you consider trying this time honored technique the next time you warp your loom and take some time to connect those who wove before you! --Sara

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Ribbon Weaving Riots of the 19th Century

February 18, 2015, 8:44 am

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If you were to travel back in time to 19th century England, you’d encounter a very angry group of weavers…and you’d probably be a bit frightened. Thousands of residents in Nuneaton and Bedworth depended on weaving ribbon for steady income, but once a tax on foreign imports was removed, those weavers were suddenly out of work. And they weren’t too happy about it, so they started rioting in a most unusual fashion: by dragging their oppressors out of their homes and forcing them to sit on donkeys while being publicly humiliated (a practice that’s aptly known as “being donkied”).

Unfortunately, the weavers’ rioting and protests (the biggest protest was comprised of roughly 6,000 weavers) didn’t get them very far, as the ribbon weaving trade ended up declining. Many weavers sought to find work overseas in Canada and Australia, hoping to leave poverty behind and begin anew. Let’s hope they left those poor donkeys alone!

 

A Brief History of Turkish Rugs

February 20, 2015, 2:06 am

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Turkish rugs are arguably some of the most popular handicrafts in the world. And it's not hard to see why---their diverse, colorful designs are eye-catching and absolutely beautiful. While they've found a place as decorations in households around the globe, their origins can be traced back to as far as the 4th century BC! However, we don't know much about the rugs that are that ancient; our earliest knowledge dates back to about the 12th century, from which rugs found in Turkish mosques have survived. Back then, Turkish nomads, shepherds, and others would frequently drape rugs on walls or spread them out on floors to protect themselves from the harsh temperatures they commonly faced. 

The rugs are almost as integral to the Turkish identity as the weaving of the rugs. Carpet and rug weaving has survived all these years and remains an important part of the Turkish culture and economy, specifically among women, who traditionally take on roles as carpet weavers. 

Which woven household items do you adore? Show us your skills in our Handwoven for the Home Weaving Challenge! Your handwoven cloth creation could be featured in an upcoming issue! Click here for more information on how to enter.

 

Image source: Wikimedia

Taking Time for Yourself

February 20, 2015, 2:15 am

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Christina Garton Editor, Weaving Today weavingtoday.com I know for a fact that I am not alone in my desire to someday wear my weaving. Now I’m not talking about wearing a scarf, shawl, or other rectangle; I am talking about taking a piece of handwoven cloth and turning it into an elegant jacket or a fun skirt. Yet for some reason many of us--including those of us who have no problem sewing from commercially made cloth--are scared to sew with our own, handwoven cloth. Well fear no more. Daryl Lancaster, long known throughout the weaving community and beyond for her truly fabulous garments sewn from handwoven cloth, is here to help guide us through the process. --Christina  You’ve given scarves, handwoven dishtowels, mats, throws, and baby blankets to everyone you’ve ever known.  They are cherished and used, and you are thought of in such wonderful ways. Now, it is time to make something for yourself. We dress ourselves every day. There is no better way to celebrate the skill from our hands, through our looms, and show off our talents than to wear something from handwoven cloth. Just ask anyone who has ever been stopped in an elevator at a weaving conference. If it were that easy...  Weaving the cloth is one thing.  There are important things to know about sett, and washing, and structure, but there is also learning how to fit the body you have now. How to cut that piece of cloth into shapes that make you smile, and be proud and get you lots of great admiration at the next gathering of handweavers. Cutting into that cloth can make the average weaver swear off on making handwoven clothing, or worse, decide to dress only in rectangles. And that would be sad.  We have shape, and we have volume and cloth needs to be manipulated and sewn to celebrate that shape, and few can do it with just rectangles. Journey with me through a five-part series on garment construction from handwoven cloth. In the first part we will talk about inspiration, what size cloth to weave, sett, and how to sample without setting up the loom twice. And of course finishing that cloth so that it is “needle ready”. We will talk about cutting out that yardage and how to keep that handwoven fabric under control. In part 2, we will talk about fitting the body.  How to understand the industry fit model, and how to make it work for you.  We talk about measurements, full bust adjustments, and working with the grainline. And of course, making a test garment or muslin. In parts 3-5, we get into the real meat of sewing with handwoven cloth. How to control grainlines, sewing basics for handwoven fabrics, seams, edge finishes, and of course closures. There is so much to talk about, and I’ve got so much to share.  I’ve spent a lifetime creating garments from my own hands, and there is nothing more satisfying than wearing something you’ve made that fits you well and celebrates the cloth from your loom. Join me for Part 1 on Monday, February 23, 2015. The webinar is 60 minutes and there is time for questions. All will be answered eventually, and packaged in the download. If you can’t make it for the live webinar, we will let you know when the download becomes available. Register now! Meanwhile, happy weaving! --Daryl Lancaster

End-Feed Shuttle vs. Boat Shuttle

February 20, 2015, 2:25 am

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Ask Madelyn HAVE A QUESTION? OUR EDITOR HAS THE ANSWER madelynv@interweave.com

Hi Madelyn, I’ve never used an end-feed shuttle, nor have I seen one operate. But people who write about them speak very favorably of them and wouldn’t go back to a boat shuttle because they say end-feed shuttles make better selvedges due to the tensioning mechanism within them. However, when I weave on a well-tensioned warp and with a tightly and evenly wound bobbin, neat selvedges happen automatically. I do not have to “fiddle” with them to make them neat. However, I am curious about end-feed shuttles and every now and then I think about purchasing one. But before I make this expensive outlay, what is your opinion?  Does an end-feed shuttle have an advantage over a boat shuttle that contains a well wound bobbin? If so, what is it?   Many thanks, Anne Hi Anne! End-feed shuttles have a tensioning device, as you mention, that can be adjusted to give the exact amount of pull on a weft thread that is needed for the weft to turn smoothly around the edge warp thread. Usually, end-feed shuttles are a bit larger than typical boat shuttles and a little bit heavier. The advantage to using one is the tensioning device as you point out. You do have to wind the pirn (the end-feed shuttle’s “bobbin”) correctly. The weft thread is pulled off the end of the pirn. If you were pulling the thread from the base of the pirn, you could potentially pull off all the wraps of thread on the pirn. So you have to wind the base of the pirn first, back and forth for an inch or so, then move up an inch and wind, and continue so that the last part you wind is on the tip of the pirn, the part that gets pulled off first. One disadvantage to using an end-feed shuttle (besides its greater cost and its greater bulk, which you could think of as a good thing or not, depending), is that the thread pulls from the shuttle farther from the weft turn on one side of the warp than on the other, which causes a slight difference in the degree of pull on the weft  (you don't turn the shuttle around when you weave; you keep it in its same orientation). You therefore have to set the tensioner so that it pulls a teeny bit too much on one side and a teeny bit too little on the other (not usually that much of a problem). Another disadvantage is that the weft thread gets twist added to it as it is pulled off the pirn (the way twist is added if you pull thread from the end of a tube rather than from a rotating tube). This can be a problem if you are using  a singles or energized yarn. I am with you in that I love the way the rotating bobbin on a boat shuttle pulls just the right amount on the weft as it turns. With a boat shuttle, it’s the unwinding bobbin that determines the drag on the thread. If the bobbin is firmly wound, and the shuttle is thrown so that the rotating bobbin supplies the pressure (rather than fiddling with the thread or keeping the bobbin from rotating), it is fairly easy to achieve even selvedges with practice. I have to admit, also, that I love the clacking sound of the rotating bobbin (as well as the lighter feel of the boat shuttle in my hand). Madelyn

Weaving Good Habits

February 25, 2015, 9:28 am

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The Efficient Weaver video focuses on developing good habits to save time and reduce stress on your body. Deb Essen Contributor, Weaving Today weavingtoday.com I always say it’s a good day when I learn something new. The day I watched The Efficient Weaver video by Laura Fry was a very good day! Have you ever been in a class and you couldn’t see what the instructor was doing and felt uncomfortable asking her to repeat the steps? Having a video to rewind, review, and zoom in for a better look is really nice. If you are a new weaver, this video will set you on the path of good weaving habits. Good weaving habits mean fun weaving with beautiful results. I’ve been weaving for nearly 25 years and I love learning things that make my life easier. I picked up so many tips in this video, I wish I had more space to tell you about all of them, but here are some favorites. “If you can’t be perfect, be consistent.” Laura repeats this phrase often in the video. She demonstrates multiple ways to easily achieve consistency: from winding warps, winding bobbins, beaming and threading the warp, and more. Consistency leads to easier work and a better end result. Laura defines efficiency as minimum input for maximum output. She demonstrates what she calls "nanosecond step savers" that add up to quicker work and less stress on your body. An example is her demonstration of the threading and sleying technique she learned from Norman Kennedy. The technique is essentially the technique I already use, but just a couple little tweaks to the hand movements greatly speeds up the threading and sleying process. We all know that we need to insert a spacer of some sort into the warp as it beams to keep tension even on all the threads. I’ve used everything from rolled cardboard to paper to sticks to slats from mini blinds and while all of these objects work, they all have their frustrating quirks. Laura uses bamboo blinds--the matchstick style with small round bamboo rods, not the flat lengths of bamboo. These blinds are lightweight, very flexible, and they just flow on and off the back warp beam. I can’t wait to get some to use on my looms. My favorite section is on using a warping valet to achieve even tension when beaming a long warp. No, the valet is not a reluctant family member holding the end of the warp chain while you wind on the warp. The warping valet set up she uses is simply a closet pole suspended from the ceiling of her studio and the warp is weighted by a plastic jug. Nothing fancy, but it turns beaming and tensioning a long warp into a quick and easy process--and this warping valet doesn’t complain! I think the portable clothes rack I use for show displays will make a great warping valet. I can’t wait to try out all the new tips I learned, so I’m off to the studio to wind a warp! Happy Weaving! Deb Essen

Recreating Herringbone on a 16-Shaft Loom

February 25, 2015, 9:30 am

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Ask Madelyn HAVE A QUESTION? OUR EDITOR HAS THE ANSWER madelynv@interweave.com

Dear Madelyn,

 

I’ve woven a lot of tweed cloth for jackets and waistcoats, using Harris yarns and a herringbone twill threading 4-3-2-1 / 3-4-1-2. But recently I saw some blankets for sale with a really broad version of this, a kind of magnified or giant herringbone with each stripe several threads thick. Could you please explain how (or if!) I might re-create this on a 16-shaft loom? (See an example at http://www.cotswoldwoollenweavers.co.uk/throws.html; Natural British Chevron)

 

Very many thanks,

 

Derek 

 

Hi Derek!

 

I was intrigued by your question after going to the site and looking at the examples. I think you can achieve what you are looking for on 16 shafts, easily. The stripes will show in contrast to each other as a difference in twill direction. But I think that a wonderful effect for blankets that would take only four shafts would be to weave stripes of warp twill vs weft twill; see the second draft. In it, you’ll see both a difference in twill direction and a contrast in warp vs weft colors.

 

Both of these drafts will work best in wool or a wool-like fiber to keep the contrasting diagonal floats from shifting a bit. For the 4-shaft draft, in a smoother yarn, the stripes will tend to form “pleats”; that is, the 3/1 twill stripes will curve upward, the 1/3 twill stripes will curve downward.

 

When you weave your blanket, send us a photo!

 

Madelyn

4-shaft vs. 16-shaft draft

 

 

Preserving the Pirot Carpet Tradition

February 25, 2015, 9:32 am

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A group of Serbian women is fighting to keep an important weaving tradition alive in the country.

Not unlike Turkish rugs, Pirot carpets are an important part of Serbian culture—yet they’re facing extinction due to a shortage of weavers. The carpets, which feature colorful graphics and patterns, are said to ward off evil and bring good luck into Serbian households. They feature the same design on both sides and characteristically are very dense in composition. Using locally-sourced wool, weavers create the rugs using tried and true techniques that have been around since about the 16^th century. It’s slow work—on average, a weaver will yield less than a square meter per month.

 

The Lady’s Heart group, an organization comprised of several women, aims to keep the tradition alive. The population of weavers has declined from about 5,000 to roughly 10 today, yet the weavers continue to preserve this important piece of culture.   

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10 Years of Interweave Knits Projects

February 27, 2015, 8:26 am

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Christina Garton Editor, Weaving Today weavingtoday.com Top: Lace Kerchief Scarf; Bottom: Dollar and a Half Cardigan Interweave Knits Assistant Project Editor Laura Hulslander is here today to talk about her beloved magazine and the projects she's knitted over ten years of being a subscriber. Here she is! My Ten-Year Knitting Journey Over the weekend, I finished up a pair of socks and needed a new project. I was rummaging through my pattern collection and suddenly realized that I've been subscribing to Interweave Knits for ten years. Happy anniversary to me! I started subscribing fairly early in my knitting career, and several of the projects I made from the magazine reflect some sort of personal first. I went through my projects and pulled a few out to share with y'all. (Please forgive the DIY photos--I never expected anyone other than me to see them!) First, we have the Lacy Kerchief Scarf (Interweave Knits, Summer 2005). I knit this out of my very first gift yarn, a pink alpaca sportweight from my grandmother. It's incredibly warm, and perfect for those cold winter days. Waving Lace Socks Second, the Waving Lace Socks (Interweave Knits, Spring 2004). These were one of the first pairs of socks I ever knit. Surprisingly, they're still holding up really well! It took awhile for the sock bug to really bite me, but these were definitely a nudge in that direction. They're lace--how could I not love knitting them? Not to mention how soft and warm handknit socks are. They're one of the best portable projects out there. Finally, my Dollar and a Half Cardigan (Interweave Knits, Spring 2007). This was the first pattern I ever modified. I liked the asymmetry and the patterning, but V-necks weren't my style at the time. With a little bit of planning and a lot of winging it, I changed it to a turtleneck: when it's buttoned all the way up, the collar forms the turtleneck. It was a big moment for me, realizing that I could make my knitting do whatever I wanted it to. Knitting freedom! I'm currently working on another pattern from Knits. After looking through all my patterns and magazines, what did I decide to knit? An oldie but a goody from Interweave Knits, Spring 2006: the Simply Lovely Lace Socks. I love lace socks, and since I still get a lot of wear out of the Waving Lace Socks, I thought I needed a new pair. Simply Lovely Lace Socks, in progress! These socks are no-stress knitting. The pattern is super easy to memorize, and they knit up quick. I think the lacy pattern will be really pretty in the dark colored yarn I chose. Are you an Interweave Knits subscriber? If not, now is the perfect time to get a digital subscription--we've got options for just about any device you want! Knits gives you the best in knitting patterns, in-depth technique articles, and lots of other things knitters really care about. Subscribe today and start your ten years of knitting with Interweave Knits. Time flies! Happy knitting,

Weaving Plain Weave and Twill on an 8-Shaft Loom

February 27, 2015, 8:33 am

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Ask Madelyn HAVE A QUESTION? OUR EDITOR HAS THE ANSWER madelynv@interweave.com

Hi Madelyn,

I am puzzled!  I would like to weave a fabric using the Bird's Eye/Rose Path pattern in Marguerite Davison’s A Handweaver’s Pattern Book (Joseph France’s No. 11,  #VI, page 15), but I want to have stripes of plain weave (or twill) in between the twill pattern. I have an 8-shaft loom, so can I warp the plain-weave sections on shafts 5-8 and the Rose Path on 1-4?  And how would it be treadled?  As you may have guessed, I do not have a program on my computer for weaving!  If you have any suggestions I would so appreciate it!

Linda


Hi Linda!

You can definitely thread and weave both plain weave and twill on your 8-shaft loom. You really only need to use six shafts, but I’ll make a draft for both six and eight. The issue with treadling is whether or not the twill treadling repeat has an even number of picks and treadles. (If not, you would tie the plain-weave shafts to two independent treadles and step on a twill treadle and a plain-weave treadle together in the order needed. Your treadling worked out evenly, so the plain-weave shafts can be tied to the twill treadles.)

I noticed when I made the 8-shaft draft that you could thread the twill there, too, and then weave squares of plain weave alternating with squares of twill. Just a thought! (You could also thread a different twill there, but it would be harder to work out the treadling so that it would look very different.)

Madelyn


PS: In February 25’s Ask Madelyn, the 8-shaft draft was incorrectly labeled a 4-shaft draft. I had first worked with changing twill direction on four shafts, but decided it didn’t work well enough and ended up with two blocks of 4-shaft twill on eight shafts without changing the caption and text.

Woven War Rugs

February 27, 2015, 9:25 am

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When you’re weaving, you typically think of creating some sort of beautiful, enchanting pattern, right? Well, some artists don’t exactly pick the happiest patterns to illustrate. In Afghanistan, some weavers are choosing to showcase drones in their handicraft. While this may seem a bit morbid, it’s not the first time it’s happened: “war rugs,” as they’re commonly called, started to emerge in the 1980s during the Soviet occupation of the country. Throughout the years, they’ve featured designs such as helicopters, tanks, and fighter jets, depicting the signs of the times.

Weaving Around the World

March 4, 2015, 7:33 am

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Weaving tools of the past were much larger than what we use today. Christina Garton Editor, Weaving Today weavingtoday.com Last spring, my husband and I spent a lovely long weekend in the Santa Ynez Valley of California. We stayed in the wonderful town of Solvang, which was built by Danish pioneers and is known for its downtown filled with traditional Danish architecture, including a windmill or two. While there were many reasons we chose that particular bit of California to visit, the way I was able to ultimately “sell” the trip to my husband was with the promise of Spanish Colonial missions to visit. My husband loves to visit these old missions and churches. There have been several occasions when driving home from Albuquerque where we added an extra two hours to our trip to go visit a tiny desert town and admire its beautiful church. We have driven up and down the dirt roads of New Mexico in tiny cars with no air conditioning to visit these buildings, and so a nice plane ride to Santa Barbara seemed like a piece of cake in comparison. We visited a total of four missions, but my favorite by far was the La Purisima Mission, which is now a state park. The mission, which was abandoned for many years, has been reconstructed and a troupe of volunteers works to help bring mission life alive. Life in such a mission was hard; while some goods could and would be brought in from Spain, most items had to be produced onsite, including textiles.     An old-fashioned tool used to brush wool textiles. La Purisima did not disappoint in their display of how textiles were made during the late 1700s and early 1800s. Thought there were no historical reenactors at the mission while we were visiting, the display of textile tools certainly brought the mission alive for this weaver. Baskets of wool sat on a long table with carders, drop spindles, long shuttles, and simple rugs woven with naturally colored yarns. A truly massive 2-shaft loom took up much of the room and made me appreciate my much smaller 8-shaft jack loom. Loops of yarn hung from hooks on the wall weighted down by rocks. Most interestingly (for me, at least) was a tool made up of two pieces of wood with a number of thorny seed pods (?) sandwiched between them. Now, my first assumption was that these tools were used for processing wool, but when I spoke with a ranger at the main building, I found out they were actually used to brush the wool textiles much as we might brush a mohair blanket today. I marveled at the ingenuity of the tool; whether it was devised by the local tribes and adopted by the Spanish or created out of necessity by a Spanish weaver in a new world I do not know. I think, perhaps, I am not just drawn to weaving in historical displays such as these just because I enjoy weaving myself, but because I feel a connection to other weavers. While there have been so very many changes in weaving technology in the past two hundred years or so, much remains the same if not similar. Looking at the loom and shuttles, I could imagine myself working at them. I could feel the weight of the shafts as I pressed the treadles and felt the large shuttle in my hands as I would pass it back and forth. I felt connected to weavers long in the past and it felt good to know that I am but one piece of a much larger history. I know that I am not the only weaver to feel this way, not the only one to travel and seek out other weavers and other weaving. It is something that connects us to the world over, and that is one reason I love our upcoming March/April issue of Handwoven so very much. The issue is filled with textiles inspired by weaving traditions from around the world interpreted in different ways. We have traditional Japanese Noren done in stunning indigo and white, kitchen towels woven using drafts from Imperial Russia, and the traditional baby wrap reinterpreted with the modern man in mind. I hope that you all read this issue and feel a connection to weavers around the world and throughout time. For those of you who are isolated from other weavers by distance, and may sometimes feel quite alone, I hope you read this and remember that you are part of a community that spans the globe and most of history as well.   Happy Weaving!

Converting Twill Pattern into Doubleweave

March 4, 2015, 7:42 am

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Ask Madelyn HAVE A QUESTION? OUR EDITOR HAS THE ANSWER madelynv@interweave.com

Hi Madelyn! I have tried to convert a twill blanket pattern into doubleweave so I can weave it twice as wide as the weaving width on my loom. I found a tie-up for doubleweave, but I am having trouble interpreting various possible treadling sequences. I am a relatively new weaver. Can you recommend a source that would show this in a simplified way? I found a doubleweave draft for four shafts (for a plain-weave blanket), but I am weaving this on eight. I have threaded the loom 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 and my warp is all one color. My plan is to use a 12-dent reed with 2 ends per dent with a yarn that would be sett at 12 epi if it were woven in one layer. Margaret Dear Margaret, There isn’t a specific tie-up and treadling order for doublewide weaving; it depends on your threading (the weave structure you are producing, in your case 2/2 twill, and the way you choose to assign the shafts to the layers). In a doubleweave threading, one end from one layer alternates with one end from the other layer. So since your threading alternates evens and odds, one layer is threaded on shafts 1-3-5-7, the other on shafts 2-4-6-8. (1-2-3-4 would be one layer and 5-6-7-8 the other layer for a 1-5-2-6-3-7-4-8 threading) The next choice is which layer will weave on top. The Draft shown below places the 1-3-5-7 layer on the top. Now look at the tie-up. I have marked with pink the shafts that are weaving 2/2 twill in the top layer and with green the shafts that are weaving 2/2 twill in the bottom layer. Notice that whenever the bottom-layer twill (green) is woven, the entire top layer must be raised. The shuttle order for this treadling is to weave across the top, then across the bottom, then back across the bottom (the fold will be where you make that turn on the bottom), then across the top: i.e, top bottom bottom top, throughout. When you open the blanket, the twill will all be running in the same direction. There is a great source for doublewide weaving, the Best of Handwoven: Doubleweave, Doublewidth eBook. Madelyn