Something Woven This Way Comes

The pitfalls of windfalls

Restless — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:41:46 +0000

Thank you everyone for your input on the beginning workshops. It wouldn’t be me teaching it. I’m working with someone that is wanting to build her teaching repertoire and we were discussing just how it should be taught. Unfortunately, we rent a room at a local college and don’t have a permanent space so we can’t extend the hours into a longer class. While we do have until January to work this all out, it looks like we’ll at least be starting with pre-warped looms.

Last week I took a vacation from work. Tuesday through Monday. Seven glorious days to just relax and enjoy life. On Thursday morning, I went to an estate sale and bought some weaving books. The previous owner had stashed some money away in one of those books and let me tell you, I was doing the happy dance and thinking of the new toys I could buy for myself, and some that The Man could buy for himself. That night, we ended up taking The Man to the emergency room for some severe stomach pain. They ran some tests and couldn’t find anything, saying he may have gastroenteritis and he needed to make an appointment with a doctor as soon as possible. Yesterday we went to the doctor, and he wants to do an endoscopy tomorrow. He thinks husband may have an ulcer that was caused by bacteria or some such thing. While we do have insurance, by the time we pay the deductible and the percent of the bills, there goes that found money.

Also yesterday, I noticed one of the sprinkler stations was still running. It had probably been running since at least the night before. Long story short, the whole sprinkler system is hosed. Thankfully, it’s the time of year when we actually get some rain once in awhile so fixing it doesn’t have to be done today.

Money in, more money out. Boo.

Oh, and I also bought a 24″ 8 shaft table loom at the sale. More on that later.

Beginning weaving workshop opinions?

Restless — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:34:58 +0000

I’m the workshop planner for our guild this year and want to schedule a workshop for rank beginners, people who’ve never woven or touched a loom before. I’d like to hear some thoughts on beginning weaving workshops. Keep in mind that the workshop has to fit in a day and a half (about 10 hours total time).

If you took a beginning weaving class, how was it taught? Was it on a rigid heddle loom or multi shaft loom? Did you warp it or was the loom already warped? Do you wish the class had been taught differently? If so,what would be different?

If you teach classes, do you start the student with a pre-warped loom, or do you teach them how to warp from the first step? Which do you find is more successful, or keeps people interested in weaving without them getting discouraged?

Any other thoughts or opinions you’d like to add are welcome.

January 16

Restless — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 22:48:46 +0000

There I go again, just leaving you all on the edge of your seats wondering what I’m up to. The last few months of the year, I wove quite a bit. Four scarves (2 for each daughter), 6 (I think) false damask towels, and 4 or so waffle weave towels. I didn’t get pictures of the scarves before I handed them off to the girls, I only have before-wet-finishing pictures of the waffle weave towels, and the false damask towel pictures are still in the camera. I’d show you pictures but they’re crap – washed out and don’t show the colors well.

I also tried my hand at tying on a new warp to an existing one, and figured out why my Gilmore and I didn’t see eye to eye (the issue was not me :p but I will fix it). I have not hemmed any of the towels yet.

I’ve kind of fallen into a weaving funk, if not just a general winter funk. I want to weave, I just don’t know what I want to weave. Everything sounds appealing, yet nothing sounds appealing. I might be coming out of it though. On the WeaveTech list, Susan Wilson posted about her new book on Crackle weave being available (click on See What’s Inside to see a couple of pages from the book). After reading about it, I suggested to the guild librarian that it might be a good book to add to the library, which she did. And since I suggested it, I got to borrow the book first. I got it at the meeting on Saturday and after just a few pages in, I’m extremely interested in getting to know this weave better. I’m anxious to read more and put a learning warp on the loom. I have The Crackle Weave book by Mary Snyder* in my personal library and have had for quite awhile but I’ve never paid too much attention to it. Susan’s book, Weave Classic Crackle & More, has detailed pictures – very pretty pictures – that The Crackle Weave book doesn’t and now I see what can actually be done with it. Not that I haven’t seen crackle woven before, I’ve just never taken the time to understand what makes crackle what it is.

Maybe picking a topic and learning about it will get me out of this ho hum blah.

I also took a week off work. Right now I just hate it. Despite being able to roll out of bed and work in my pj’s, I dread getting up during the week and being chained to my computer. It’s one thing to spend hours surfing and reading things that are interesting, and something totally different spending hours doing something that is boring the hell out of you. My brain needs a rest. Though I don’t know if studying crackle will be considered a rest or not.

*The Crackle Weave by Mary E. Snyder is no longer in print but you can find the book (I would call it more like a booklet) used pretty cheap. It’s like a workshop in booklet form.

Again with the bleh

Restless — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 01:35:57 +0000

I sampled and I sampled to get the hearts just right, and then I screwed up. So, the hearts scarf is done but not happy with it. The tops of the hearts just aren’t right. Too thin on one side, too thick on the other. They aren’t like the 9th and final sample that I was happy with. This is because sometimes I just do stupid stuff. Like handwash the samples and get them like I want, then throw the actual scarf in the washer where it gets more agitation. Which caused me agitation.

And, I had a warp thread break, the one right in the middle where it will show up the most. Eh, people won’t notice it when the scarf is worn but I just happened to take a picture of the spot when trying to get the reverse side. Of course

And then I folded the scarf in half and found that my reverse point was not at the halfway point. We’ve all known for a long time that I can’t count stitches, now it seems I can’t count hearts.

To add insult to injury, my other project for the guild challenge also turned out bleh. I didn’t want to make more towels so decided on a bag. I knew the minute I started putting the warp on the warp beam that I wasn’t going to like it. No way in hell I’m carrying around this as a bag.

This is after wet finishing but the color isn’t right

The colors are actually like this

This may turn into a couple of extra wide dish towels, or it might rot in the closet until I get over my irritation.

Road trip, the story is as long as the trip

Restless — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 05:59:34 +0000

Someone had a loom for sale so I emailed them. (Because I need another loom like I need a hole in my head.) After not hearing anything for a day, I emailed again. After two days of not hearing anything, I assumed the loom had sold. But I finally got an email on the second day. My previous emails had went to spam, I was the second person to respond, and yes the loom was still available, please call her. I assumed the first responder had not taken the loom. I called and made arrangements to pick it up the next day (yesterday). I told her it was a 3 1/2 hour drive and I could be there by 3:30.

The Man got off work early to go with me so as soon as I got off work, we headed out. We got there early, a few minutes before 3:00. I rang the doorbell, no one answered. I tried to call and got an answering machine. No big deal since after all, we were early. The ocean was only a couple of blocks away so we went there for a few minutes. Back to the house at 3:30, still no answer to the doorbell. By 4:30, I’m getting pretty pissed. Either there was an emergency or she had sold the loom and wasn’t considerate enough to tell me before I drove close to 200 miles. I called one last time and left a message that we would stick around local until around 5:00 but wouldn’t be able to stay past that but to please call me on my cell if they got home around that time. We were just about to leave when a vehicle pulled up and parked in front of the house. It was her daughter. I explained that I was supposed to be there to pick up a loom at 3:30 and no one was home. The daughter called her mom and at 5:00 we were looking at the loom.

I’d say long story short but too late for that. The seller had emailed her phone number to both me and the first person who emailed her. After I called her, the other person she had given her phone number to also called her. The other person apologized and said she couldn’t take the loom, had decided to do other things. The seller thought that it was me calling, changing my mind, not the second person with her phone number, so they weren’t expecting me to come pick it up. The seller felt so bad for us waiting for so long that she knocked some money off the loom.

Now I have a 4 shaft Schacht Baby Wolf (minus the stroller wheels that it was supposed to have, couldn’t be found). The plan was to use it for workshops but there’s no way I can get that thing in and out of my car’s trunk by myself. Everyone seems to like weaving on them and it doesn’t take up much room when it’s folded so it’s going to be here for a little while.

I asked The Man to make a little tension device for my electric bobbin winder. The winder is old, very old. I’d say no newer than the 1960′s based on the wiring. I was taking it to The Man to explain what I wanted and a ball bearing falls out of the motor. He tried taking the motor apart and could find no other ball bearings in it. I’ve either been using this thing with only 1, the others are extremely well hidden inside, or they also fell out and rolled far enough that I just haven’t found them yet. I’ve gotten very spoiled with the electric double ended winder and I don’t want to live without it. New ones are expensive so I’m hoping to find a cheap motor at a local sewing machine shop.

Panel revealed

Restless — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 15:43:16 +0000

You get to see what it looks like through one of the panes. I tried taking pictures of the full length and the camera can’t pick up enough detail. IF, and that’s a BIG IF, I were to do this again, I would do what I did the first time I made them, shorten the lace boxes. I liked them better square.

Still working on the hearts. I put enough warp on to create two 70 inch scarves + 30 inches for sampling +30 inches for waste. I think I’ve already gone past my quota for sampling, trying to tweak the hearts to get them to look like I want them to. I still have more adjusting to do and will hopefully get them the way I want soon.

Out darn spot

Restless — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 23:51:47 +0000

I got rid of the side spots

Side 1

Side 2

Now there is some solid stuff at the top of the heart but I don’t think it’s as distracting as the ones that were out to the sides. Now to decide on color. Pink has to be in there somewhere. All pink warp and weft? Only pink in the warp where the hearts area? Pink warp or weft with a different color warp or weft? Pink everywhere but a different color where the hearts are? How far should the hearts be spaced? More playing will need to be done.

Opinions wanted

Restless — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 00:16:02 +0000

I’ve been playing with drafts for a guild challenge. My plans were to include hearts in the middle of a twill piece. I’ve accomplished that for the most part, and while I’m not sure I’m done playing with this, I would like to go ahead and get some other thoughts besides my own.

1 Side A

1 Side B

2 Side A

2 Side B

3 Side A

3 Side B

I like the hearts spaced out in number 1 but the sides of the hearts are a little thin. The hearts are closer together in 2 and while they still appeal to me somewhat, there’s still an issue with the sides. I like the sides of the hearts in 3 but so far I haven’t been able to get that heart without the little spots that go out from the sides. The spots don’t bother me at all in side A but I’m not sure I like them in side B. Be honest, tell me what you like or don’t like about these. If you hate them all and think I should go back to the drawing board, I’m ready to hear it.

In other news, I finished weaving the fabric for panels for our doors. I was 2 inches short of weaving a full 6 yards. I’ve washed the fabric and pressed it. I hand hemmed the.. uh.. pocket for the rod to go through. I haven’t cut the bottom yet, still thinking about how long I want them. Pictures soon, so far the only ones I have are on my phone.

Long time no see

Restless — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 05:15:35 +0000

It’s hard to believe it’s June already. Since I last posted, we made a trip to small town to see the daughters and grandkids. There’s a state park there that has an old pioneer village in it. In the summer months, there will be people dressed for the period and doing some of the tasks. I grew up next to the state park and went many times, and the ones I remember most are the blacksmith and the woman who wove on a loom. Since it was nice, we all went to the park and walked around the village. While the woman wasn’t there weaving, the loom was. It’s basically a 2 shaft barn loom and I didn’t think to take a picture of it. What I didn’t remember seeing before, and what I did take a picture of, was the warping board. I would say this was a 6 foot square.

When I first got the itch to want to weave, I thought it would help me use up all that knitting yarn stash that I accumulated. That is NOT what happened AT ALL! I bought weaving yarns and the knitting yarns never got used. It seems rigid heddle looms are much better suited for knitting yarns. That was my justification for buying one anyway. That, and I can’t seem to leave someone’s sale without buying something. So yeah, bought a used 24 inch Ashford Rigid Heddle loom. I warped it with a yarn I had bought from JoAnn’s years ago. Lesson 1, just because it’s an 8 dent heddle does not mean that you can use a worsted to bulky weight yarn, especially when that yarn turns out to be fuzzy. I threw the whole thing in the trash before ever attempting to weave it. I then took some sportweight yarn that I had left from a baby blanket. I didn’t measure, I didn’t calculate, I just warped.

And I ran out of warp yarn. I don’t mind really, the main thing was to get a feel for the loom. I’m using what’s left of the fuzzy yarn for the weft. I don’t know if rigid heddle weaving is for me. I thought the 24″ would be a good size (like I wouldn’t have bought it anyway had it been a different size) but I think it may be too wide. Part of the problem is that I don’t have anything to rest the back end against while sitting on the couch. I haven’t given up yet. I’ll finish this one, and wind another one the full width to see how that goes.

Yarn flowers

Restless — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 18:38:30 +0000

Reading blogs can be so dangerous. Sometimes, you see something in a whole new light and you become obsessed. Such was the case when I read this post by Curiousweaver. I’ve never really had a huge desire to make yarn flowers before. Until I saw hers. What a neat little touch. I spent the next couple of hours looking at flowers, looms, and instructions. In the end, I made the simplest of looms.

I used a compass to draw the circles on a piece of paper, then taped it to a small box. I just eyeballed the spoke lines, and used plain old brad nails. I found some 8/2 tencel that had been the end of a warp and got started. I started big and worked my way down in size. I tossed them on the lamp shade so they didn’t get lost in the couch cushions

I kind of like them there.

I don’t know that I’ll use these particular ones in any project, they’re mostly just for learning how to do it.