Hello,
I'm a new weaver, been dabbling for a year on a rigid heddle. I have dreamed about having a mighty wolf but with the cost associated with them I didn't think that would ever happen. Then one day I was on the state guild website and there was one for sale so I contacted the lady and she said she still had it and was I interested in it. The price she was asking for the loom was ridiculously low and she indicated she had decided that weaving was not her passion and she just wanted to get rid of it. (She had only had a warp on it 4 times and it looked like it came off a showroom floor) She only was about 120 miles from me so away I went and became the lucky owner of a mighty wolf. So along with the wolf I got a lot of accessories and a warping board so I set out to wrap my warp and I have my loom dressed. Decided to make some cotton dishcloths to get the feel of the loom. Now I have not woven any thing but tabby so I'm set up to try a waffle weave. My question is I put on a 4 yard warp planning on about 7 dishcloths. My question is how do I make them all the same length? Any advice and help would be greatly appreciated. Peg
The easiest way is to take a piece of strong cord and a safety pin. Make an overhand knot at one end and insert a safety pin. Now measure how long you want your dishcloth and make another knot.
Pin the first knot to your weaving as you begin. When you reach the second knot, throw 2 shots of a contrasting color for the cutting line, repin the cord so that the beginning knot is at the cutting line and keep weaving.
Thank you Sara, I will try that! Have a great evening!
How do you thread an 8 shaft loom, 12 dent reed, so that the warp yarn will not be hidden by the weft yarn?
There are many ways to make the warp dominant in your weaving. One is to increase the sett (number of warp threads per inch) of the warp. You can do that by putting two, three, or four threads in each dent of the reed. You can also alternate two or three threads in every other dent. Another way is to use a heavier warp thread than weft thread. A third way is to space out the weft threads (place them slightly apart instead of beating them together) to use fewer weft threads per inch than warp threads. Fourth, you can use a warp-faced or warp-dominant pattern and finally, you can do an unbalanced weave, such as a satin or 3:1 twill, in which the warp is dominant on one side and the weft on the other.
If the warp and weft are the same size, and the number of threads per inch is the same in the warp and weft, then a tabby pattern (plain weave) will show 50% warp and 50% weft. To make a plain weave cloth warp-faced, you'd need roughly 4 times as many threads in the warp as in the weft (if the warp and weft are the same size). So the simple answer is, use a thicker warp and/or add more ends per inch.
Can you give me an example of a warp-dominate pattern?
Sara's trick works, but you have to remember that your cotton towels will draw in when washed. So you have to allow about 20% for lenght and 10% for width. Under resouces (above) you will find a table to figure out the size of your warp and weft. You can see a few towels here: www.handweaver.us
Michael
Sara's trick works, but you have to remember that your cotton towels will draw in when washed. So you have to allow about 20% for lenght and 10% for width. Under resouces (above) you will find a table to figure out the size of your warp and weft. You can see a few towels here: www.handweaver.us
Michael
Sure, go to http://www.handweaving.net/Patterns.aspx and enter "warp faced" in the key word box. Then click <search>. You'll get a wide selection of drafts from "Warp Faced Stripes" by Ralph Griswold.
Michael,
I try, sometimes, to feel that the weaver already knows to allow for takeup and shrinkage. Of course, the knot comes to include all parts of the object being woven.
Am working on towels with a decorative stripe at each end - uses 4 knots - and that on a computer controlled dobby - works as well as a set number of picks because the stripes are not always the same.
Sorry Iafriend, I just realized you asked for warp-dominant, not strictly warp faced. I suggest you look at twills on handweaving.net and select any twill with more warp floats than weft floats. Here's an 8 shaft example grabbed at random:
Note that the fabric appears red (the warp color) and that white, the weft color, is less prevalent. Does this help?
Yes, thanks.
Thank you Michael! When I wrote up my project record to record all my figures I did calculate in shrinkage, take up and loom waste. I have religiously been reading Deborah Chandler's Learning to Weave and following her instructions. I'm at 11" wide (allowing for some draw in) on the loom and hoping that will allow for the shrinkage at width and I'm going to weave them 10 inches long. I appreciate your help! Wish me luck!
