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Weaving With Yarn Samples

Sunday, February 26th, 2012

In my last post I gave you a teaser for a weaving I did on my little Rigid Heddle loom. I had acquired this loom just before Christmas last year to haul with me on my travels.

Sample card of cotton yarns

Sample card of cotton yarns

Since this was the first weaving on the new loom and I’d never used a R/H before and would be learning on this warp, I was being cautious with my materials. After all, if the first project was to be an epic failure, let’s not break the bank at the same time ;o)

Gifted with a yarn sample card with generous 10 yard samples of each Color of Berroco’s Cotton Twist (old colors) I thought that it would be the perfect warp to try out my new little loom.

 

Direct warping

Direct Warping on a R/H loom

Warping the Rigid Heddle for the first time – I’ve got to say, direct warping is nice, it’s amazing how handy the backs of two chairs can be.

Threading the heddle

Threading the heddle

I even enjoyed threading the heddle, easy and fast. I used the 12.5 dent reed and threaded it about 6 1/2″ wide.

Let the weaving commence

Let the weaving commence

Beamed and ready to weave with a warp that’s about 52″ long.

Decision time - which color?

Decision time - which color?

Sampling the weft colors to see what I like – I used a black 3/2 mercerized cotton and a grey cotton (mill end?) that was a bit heavier than the 3/2. The browns, navy and white I tried were gacky.

1st project finished!

1st project finished!

Since I liked the grey and the black both I ended up weaving 1/2 the length in one and the other half in the other. It’s a sampler, right? I wonder what this little cloth (5 1/2″ x 47″ after washing) will grow up to be…

Deb H

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Tree Hugging; hugging a warm, snuggly tree

Thursday, February 16th, 2012

One of the reasons my Blog was so sparse last year is that I got to do a lot of traveling. I made many trips to Charleston, SC.

Charleston Bridge

I became quite enamored of the design of this bridge!

Not only is the bridge quite cool to look at – the Charleston Bay is a joy to sail around in! And while there, I collected some inspiration for  color and design.

Peacock close-up

Aglow with brilliant color!

And to make sure I still got my fiber fix while traveling about, my DH got me a wonderful little Rigid Heddle loom. So, I’ve even done some weaving.

Sampler scarf planning

Planning a scarf with cotton yarn samples!

And I even fit in a couple of trips to Seattle to visit my awesome daughter! She took me to a park just off Pioneer Square where someone had wrapped the trees in knitting.

Tree Hugger

Tree Hugging in Seattle

Kind of gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, huh?

Deb H

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A New Year, A New Goal

Wednesday, January 4th, 2012

A new Year, a new start…

Will I be better at blogging this year? I hope so, only time will tell. I do miss it, and the longer you are away from it the harder it is to get back to it. Little stupid thoughts start stalking you like “nobody wants to see that” or “who cares about that?” or “that’s just too stupid to put out there”.

Yea, stupid, now you know I can be too. So, my solution is to blog anyway, since I’m not running for President I can get away with a little stupid. Blogging helps me realize I am making progress, without it there is little measurability. So…  blog on!

I have been quite busy over the last year. I’ll give you glimpses of my recent history in the next few posts – just ignore the obvious point of my seriously lacking focus  ;)

Loom Trap detail

Loom Trap detail

This post is for Clara who wanted to see the “trap” modification to my little table loom. Hubby created a tray that attaches to the front of my small loom to hold my shuttles for me (called a trap). It turned out fabulous and does the job admirably.

Loom Trap

Loom Trap

Weaving is much nicer when you don’t have to keep jumping up to retrieve your shuttle off the floor – again.

I’ve finished spinning the yarn I gave an in-progress report on here and it turned out lovely!

Grey & pink handspun

Grey & pink handspun

I haven’t made anything with it yet, I’m letting it “age” like a fine wine!

So now I’m carding up some dog hair to spin.

carding dog hair

Carding dog hair, 70% Husky/30% Merino

When you have a husky that sheds at the speed of light, it’s a survival skill.

Deb H

Posted in spinning, weaving | 3 Comments »

Weaving!

Monday, June 14th, 2010

It hasn’t all been fused glass, I’ve got a lovely….  um, something(?) on my small loom that is turning out wonderful. I just don’t know what it will grow up to be because it’s so narrow (6″). Maybe a panel in a summer jacket?

Linen and cotton Teal overshot

Linen and cotton Teal overshot

I had a lot of warp left on my small loom (4 shaft, 22″ Rasmussen table loom with leg kit from Seattle Weaving Works, circa 1980) from the linen workshop I took from Katie Reeder Meek in March. The warp was supposed to be linen but mine is 10/2 cotton due to some technical difficulties, namely old and brittle linen and the middle of the night so no store open to fix the issue. But, it’s a nice flax color of 10/2 and the threading was the one I used for my linen workshop; Aldana’s Cat’s Paw and a Wave pattern on an overshot type weave structure. I’m still using a fine linen single (unbleached) for the ground weft but have chosen a 5/2 cotton in light teal for my pattern weft.

A joy to weave in such wonderful colors

A joy to weave in such wonderful colors

I apologize to all my non-weaving readers for the geek-speak.  Start weaving,  you’ll love it!!  :)   By the way, there is a lot to be said for a small portable loom that can be easily moved to the front deck on a breezy summer afternoon!

I’ve also been knitting but have not taken photos yet so that will be next post.

Deb H

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Off The Loom!

Monday, June 15th, 2009
5 - 1/2 yards of painted warp

5 - 1/2 yards of painted warp

Ta-Da!!!

There is nothing quite as satisfying as pulling a finished weaving off the loom. Remember the Palindrome warp I was weaving during the winter? There were times that I wondered if the warp had magically lengthened while I was not looking. The bundle on the back beam never seemed to get smaller, even as the bundle on the front beam grew impressively. I simply did not remember how much I put on – my notes were a bit spotty… yea.

a closer look

a closer look

After cutting it off the loom, serging the ends and wet finishing it, I have 5 – 1/2 yards of usable yardage. Isn’t it pretty?  :)

The details; the warp that I painted was a singles merino (about 18 wpi), mill spun at Zeilinger’s in Frankenmuth, MI from a small merino flock just down the road from me – thanks Mary! I dyed it after reading an article in WeaveZine about the Palindrome technique. The solid black warp was pulled from my stash as I decided while warping, late in the evening, that it really needed to be wider. I also thought that the stripes would give it an Ikat style look. There was no ball band so it was a mystery yarn, a sport weight wool (or mostly) knitting yarn that was handy and satisfied my need to wind the warp - right now. It also matched the weft I had decided on the best (in color).  I usually avoid black but after hauling the huge skein of yarn around the shop (Heritage, where I work) to find a weft and looking at every possible option, black set off the colors in my yarn the best. So my wool warp was (if you are a seriously traditional weaver, you may want to cover your eyes right now) woven in a straight, 4 shaft twill with a delicious Bamboo yarn (24 wpi). I did wonder the whole time if I was weaving off trouble.

drapes like a dream

drapes like a dream

Let me just state, for the record, this was brilliant.

The finished yardage has such a soft feel and wonderful drape! I hope I have the courage to cut it up for a lovely fall jacket before 2020.

Deb H

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Posted in dyeing, weaving | 1 Comment »

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