Hello again -
I am almost to the point where I can start to weave a huck lace tencel scarf, following a pattern. I had a few crossed threads and other little problems, but I am now getting a pretty good shed with all four treadles. Before I go any further, I would just like some clarification on the tie up. I have a Nilus LeClerc 4 harness jack loom.
The previous owner had two strings hanging down from the harnesses per treadle, probably because she tended to use that combination often. She used Texsolv. I ordered some Texsolv but unfortunately ordered the smaller button hole size. To make things easier for myself, I put my Texsolv on all of the places where she had no string hanging down at all. I then did the tie up according to the pattern, which I might change as I get more accustomed to "doing my own thing." For now, the tabby is on the two treadles farthest left, and I will follow the pattern for the rest.
Another helpful weaver reminded me that the harnesses need to raise evenly, so I have now put the same size Texsolv throughout. However, I notice that even when using the same button holes there will be some variation, because of the angle needed to go to various harnesses. Maybe I am trying too hard to make that part perfect. But after really working it through, and fixing a couple of problems, I have two main questions.
1. How high should the treadles be tied? I realize they must raise evenly, and obviously I need to be able to pass the shuttle through. Should it be *just enough* space, or can I tie them a little higher for easier passing of the shuttle? I know, "how long is a piece of string?".......but any insight will help. I am thinking that the end result matters more than how I got there. So, I just need the harnesses raised evenly up top, and the treadles should look about the same height at bottom.....?
2. Is it normal for things to be a little problematic based on how the sections are split to tie on at the front? (I warped back to front.) I noticed that in some cases, what looked like a problem really was not a huge problem, it's just that with one pair of harnesses raised, things were fine, but with another pair raised, it would have been a cleaner situation near the front tie rod if I had split the small section differently. For a couple, I did regroup at the front tie on area, but it didn't always work because with different harnesses raised, the same problem occurred. Is this something that just resolves on its own after weaving with some cardboard, miniblind slats, or junk yarn? I am also thinking that tying on to the front first might be beneficial for this very reason.
Thanks so much for any thoughts.....
Cindy
in MD where it has decided to snow, big huge flakes, and I have decided to weave instead of doing paperwork. :)
Ideally the shed should be large enough for easy passage of the shuttle through it. It doesn't have be be huge, just large enough the shuttle doesn't rub against the top threads.
Are you tied on to the apron? If not, do so. You might find a recent blog post useful: http://www.laurasloom.blogspot.com/2012/01/beginning.html
This shows how I start weaving - just 6 picks to spread the yarn. Since your warp is fairly slippery you might want to use something with some 'tooth' like wool or cotton for the header.
Once the warp is tied up and you have your header woven, then assess your shed and see if it is adequate. If not, then adjust the cords to make it bigger if needed.
cheers,
Laura
where we have sun today - yay!
Thanks Laura - you're always such a help. Yes, I have started with the scrap yarn, and everything seems to be coming together nicely now. I had not thought about tying it to the outside of the rods. I can see how that might prevent curling. Thanks for the information about the shed. I think it's actually wide enough for my shuttle so I will leave it as it is. Now, must stop typing and start weaving! I hope all of the extra time getting this scarf warped will pay off.
I did make a mistake with my first explanation...for this pattern, the tabby is actually the middle two treadles. It seems a little awkward but I did want to follow the pattern exactly for this one to minimize problems. The woman (Linda!) who taught me to weave said that sometimes she re-writes the directions to suit the way she likes to tie on. She uses the left two treadles for tabby, and the rest for pattern. I will probably do that eventually but for now I find it easier to just read the directions! I cannot WAIT to see the pattern emerge. :)
I am *so* excited to see my first pattern start to emerge; I can hardly breathe! Thanks to Laura and Louise in CA for all the help in making sure the warp was ready before moving forward. Here are a few photos! This pattern is from Kristin Kelly, and is shown on page 31 of the March/April 2008 issue of Handwoven.
I also re-configure the tie up to makes things easier to treadle. The warp I just finished, the plain weave treadles were the middle two and the pattern treadles either side. Made treadling *so* much easier! :)
cheers,
Laura
On a jack loom at rest your warp should seat on the bottom of the reed. The eyes of the heddles normally would be 1/4 to a 1/2 inch below the level of the bottom of the reed. Hope this helps . Snow in MD today, here is middle GA it was 72F
Michael
Thanks Michael. I just checked, and that's exactly where they are. :) It's so satisfying to see everything all lined up, nice and neat, ready for weaving.
I appreciate your help!
Cindy
Hi Michael,
You sent this a few weeks ago, but it is just now really sinking in that what you are saying could be the source of my problem. I am weaving with Tencel for the first time, and all is going reasonably well, but I have had some selvedge thread breakage, and more upsetting, quite a few skips. I realized while trying to figure out what I was doing wrong that I needed to go back and read what you wrote. I do understand what you are saying, and I do see that my warp at rest does NOT really set completely at the bottom of the reed. So, when I depress a treadle, the bottom warp is raising 3/8 of an inch or so, causing me to create occasional skips. Although I understand why now, I cannot figure out how to fix it. At first I thought I needed to tie up the treadles a little closer to the ground. But that won't change what is happening at rest. I looked at the loom, and I don't see any way to adjust the height of the bar that contains the reed. Am I missing something? My heddles are inserted eye, and everything else seems to be working fine. I have also noticed that my "extra" heddles keep travelling to the center, even though I have pushed them toward the right and left when I begin. Do most people tie them in a group somehow, so that they stay put.......and could that be one source of my selvedge thread breakage? Thanks for your help. I think I am starting to catch on to some of these smaller nuances but am still stuck on how to get a shed that is closer to the wood so that I don't cause skips.
Cindy
I am not certain which Nilus loom you have. You will find instructions for adjusting the beater here http://www.leclerclooms.com/draw_inst/batten_s.pdf
See if this looks like your loom.
Michael
I think the floats and the thread breakage will go away with practice. If the height of the warp is only slightly off where you think it should be, I would concentrate on getting a level and gentle throw with the shuttle and save the fiddling for later when you have gotten to know your loom better. Check the warp for loose threads that might be sticking contrary to the shed you're in. Your tension should even out in the course of weaving your junk section but if you find a really loose one you can pin it in the junk section to remove the slack and keep going. Take notes on the problems that came up and what you did about them.
Michael - thanks for the pdf file. It looks like my bolts are already in the correct place. With thicker yarns, maybe the "dip" would be more obvious than it is now, and I think my beaming tension will improve with time also. I am now rolling along without errors, but it's mainly because instead of throwing, I am handing it to my other hand very carefully, since the bottom part of the shed is still a little bit raised. This is fine for a scarf but I guess I will have to fiddle with it a bit more before I try something wider such as a baby blanket.
calebsb - I think you are exactly right. I keep checking the underside of my recently advanced cloth, and it looks better and better with time. This particular scarf will certainly have its share of mistakes, but the more I weave, I realize that some of these things will take care of themselves. There are places where my selvedges are *really* good and other places where they are a bit wobbly. Thanks also for the tip about fixing any loose threads by pinning it into the junk yarn. I do have notebooks where I write down "what I learned" for each project. :) Thanks so much for your insight! :)
You may have too much tension. New weavers get carried away with trying to get the tension too tight. Your warp should be taut but not so tight that you can make a coin jump. Tencel is not the best yarn in the world for a new weaver. Yes, you can tie the heddles you are not using to the heddle side frame. One last point, "you are not beating the weft in place, you are using the beater to just move the weft yarn into place.." If you beat too hard you will end up with a stiff scarf.
Michael
As Michael says, Tencel needs a bit of extra 'care'. The ideal is that you have the same number of picks per inch as ends per inch. If you have more picks than ends, you are probably beating too hard. Additionally, Tencel really likes the humidity to be higher than 50% (relative). If you are having broken ends you might check the relative humidity in your house. If it is less than that, I suggest running a humidifier.
cheers,
Laura
You may also find some useful info from this free book from the Arizona archives.
Michael,
I am close to the end of the scarf and have now had so many broken selvedge threads that I have lost count. I have become an expert at fixing them. I think you are correct that too much tension is my problem, as well as beating too hard. You are also definitely right to say that Tencel was a bit of a stretch for a beginning weaver. I was anxious to try both thinner yarns and huck lace, so just followed the directions. I have learned a lot. When I get this one off the loom, my biggest concern will be that my warp thread breaks near the selvedge were always right at the fell line, so they did not really have tails that I could weave in. With such a nice tight cloth I am hoping this won't be an issue. I can probably weave in the tails that are still attached to the Tpins though. I'm still wondering how I can get the bottom warp threads (when a treadle is depressed) to have the same tension as the top, and to lie lower and flatter so that I can throw. Currently I am gently handing the shuttle to my other hand, and keeping it high up, so that I don't make any more skips. It's working; this end of the scarf looks much better on the underside. But I know there's probably something that could still be adjusted. I'm hoping that by using a more practical yarn next time, I will be able to figure it out. Could it be a beaming problem......maybe I didn't keep enough even tension when beaming (front to back)? I was taught to periodically give a firm tug from the front while beaming. Maybe I did not do it often enough.
When advancing the warp, refresh my memory....do I remember something about a quick tap on the brake again to loosen it a bit?
Thanks!
Cindy
Hi Laura,
As I have experimented as I move along on this scarf, I have moved away from my strong "beating" that I did at the beginning to more of a "push". I do think that I was treating Tencel too roughly and also expecting it to be woven with too firm a tension. I started on a rigid heddle, with acrylic of course, and there, I found that tight tension worked best for me. With my floor loom, I will need to realize that when it comes to tension, "it depends". :) I think it's fun to learn more and more about how to make decisions in weaving. I really apprecite your help. What a great thought about the humidity too. We have gas heat and a whole house humidifier, but I never think that it works very efficiently. I'll check the humidity in the loom room. The piano might appreciate that as well! I work with art papers also, and have to think about the humidity for various papers, but I didn't think to make that same connection with fiber. Thanks!
Reed Guy --- thanks much! I am looking at the book now. I really appreciate your help. :)
Cindy
