Tomorrow is the official start of Halloweave. Get ready, get set, get weaverly! Report your progress, or lack there of, good days, bad days. frustrations and triumphs here!

Comments

theresasc

Okay, not weaving this morning but braiding and unbraiding.   I am counting it as weaverliness because it is 5/2 perle cotton from my weaving stash.  Since I seem to be emmersing myself in all things braids and that is fiber related it is being included here.

Queezle

It seems to me that braiding is 3-dimensional weaving.

endorph

I spent some time yesterday looking at my color challeng card and trying to come up with a strategy for usin them in a project. I Alos was deciding what kind of yarn to use - I am leaning toward 8/2 cotton or cottolin, or perhaps both and am thinking the project will be done on my rigid heddle. That is about as far as I got. Now to do some stash diving to see if I have colors on hand that will work.

Queezle

I've decided two things.  First, I want to try inserting a zipper in another project before the BIG project, and I've selected this method - its zipper placement is closer to how my major project will look, and the tutorial is written by same author as the instructions for my bag.

 

Second, after looking at walking looms on line, I want to change my schacht standard to have this sort of treadles.  Its not going to be simple, because there is a horizontal bar across the bottom, but possibly if I can raise the loom 3 or so inches, I can make longer treadles that stick out enough.  Am I crazy?

Gone

Not crazy at all Queezle! I admire you for your inventiveness. You're already looking down the road at changes and potential hangups. I think that would be an amazing swap if it works! And don't forget the belly guard  ;-)

Just thinking...The walking looms are CB looms. Isn't the Standard a jack? I guess there would be no balance issue then. Just a pull down.

The walking looms certainly produce some fine rugs!

Queezle

Yea, the walking looms do appear to be CB.  But I think that for the standard, I just need to lift the loom a couple inches off the floor and then replace the treadles with longer ones.  Probably need to be careful that they are not too heavy (I have extra maple flooring, but I am guessing that would be heavy and so might not work). 

I'm not really intested in rug weaving, rather I want that loom to be more comfortable to weave on - and given the popularity of standing desks, can standing looms be far behind?

endorph

And I managed a few minutes on the floor loom. I need to wind some quills and ran out of steam!

 

How is everyone doing?

10ashus

The pouch fabric is finished. For the strap, I have completed 15 of the 52 inches of planned length.

Design suspense. Will the 1-1/4 inch strap appear too wide for the pouch? I will not know until it is off the loom.

Please do not over do the activity, Endorph. Reserve lots of steam for your body to use for recovery.

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Oops. Sorry, Arachnids. I posted to the wrong group. I'll quietly exit stage left.

Queezle

I have been captivated by my sewing machine - which seemed so unlikely. 

Nevertheless, the return to the MW's boulevard weave has been fun.  I don't like weaving as much as I like planning and threading, and weaving the first 3 inches.  So as I get ready for bed, if I've not woven, I go hit it for at least 10 minutes.  I'm up to 10 inches on the first dishtowel. 

 

The weaving on the 4-harness (gothic cross) was so exciting when I started doing it standing.  But now that the idea of turning the loom into a walking loom (much more efficient than the dance to change feet with treadles in their usual position) I am obsessed with converting it now, mid stream, with about 20 inches woven.  How bad of an idea is it to partially disassemble the loom mid project?  Really it would be disassembling the treadles, extending them, raising the loom about 3 inches, and thats it.   Half of me says its a terrible idea mid stream, but the other half....  what do you think?

10ashus

My first reaction was finish your towels first. But if you can do something to make it more pleasurable, why wait? What is the worst that could happen? If it did happen, would it be irksome or catastrophic?

theresasc

loom repairs midway through projects and it all came out okay.  If you are just changing out/adapting treadles I don't think that it would effect what is on the loom all that much.  You might want to find a way to secure the beater in one position and keep decent tension on the warp.  That would be about the only concern that I would have.

 

Thanks by the way, for your comment on braiding being 3-demensional weaving.  Now that the Glimåkra is out of commission for a little while, I am going to see if I can finish up a braid that I have on my core stand.  I also need to do some weaving on the Cranbrook - I have had some bath towels on that loom for months.  New toys distracted me:-)

endorph

Why is the month going by so fast? this weekend I picked out cotton for my color challenge project. I found some natural colored cotton that is pretty close to the colors on my challenge card. Not a perfect match but. . . . I had thought about doing this project on my RH but t may end up on the floor loom instead. That means I need to get the never ending towel warp off the floor loom!

What's everyone else been up to?

theresasc

Hard to believe we are this far into the month and the only thing I have finished are the twill towels.  I feel like a slacker:-)  

Queezle

My major focus has been learning how to insert zippers into handwoven fabric.  I'm starting to feel pretty confident, or let me say confident that my typical non-straight lines and sloppiness don't totally screw up an inserted zipper. 

And I'm spending a fair amount of time trying to convert a traditional floor loom into a walking loom.  My Dad was a great one for modifying things that worked fine, in a quest for better functionality; my husband is quite amused as my loom project makes him think about how similar I am to my Dad. 

I've still not found/purchased yarn the right color for our color challenge.  But I am still accumulating photos that use the colors as design inspiration.  I'm grateful that the color challenge extends over a whole year.

theresasc

bath towels.  Wow, I did some searching around and found that I put this warp on in January.   That is really pathetic of me, shows just how sidetracked I get.  Now I have some rug ideas floating around in my head and that is the perfect loom for rugs so the towels need to be woven!bath towels

 

 

Queezle

I love the idea of hand-woven bath towels.  What fiber and what weave structure? 

theresasc

the towels are woven out of 3/2 unmercerized cotton on what they are calling a crepe twill.  This is a kit from Lunatic Fringe and they reference Handwoven Sept/Oct 2003 for the draft.  I am doing the 8-shaft version. I received the kit with a bunch of yarn when I bought my 8-shaft table loom a couple of years ago.  I am still trying to work through my stash:-)

endorph

I wove two of the Lunatic Fringe bath towels during a round robin event at my LYS. I love them. And I found they wove up fairly quickly.

theresasc

up fast, especially when I take the time to actually sit at the loom and weave - LOL!  I could have had them done months ago but I kept getting sidetracked by other fiber interests.

endorph

and I have to confess to doing no weaving related activity for the past two days beyond coming in here and seeing what everyone else is up to. Embarassed I am going to try and get to the loom tonight. Still not feeling up to winding a warp so that will need to wait for a few more days. Besides, I need to get the current warp off the loom first!

Queezle

In the Buff Towel Kit
Here is the photo of the lunatic fringe bath towel from their web site.  This is beautiful, and I love the appearance of its texture  Making myself bath towels is on my list... 

theresasc

That is a different draft than what I am weaving.  The kit that I have has some age to it:-)  Both drafts are lovely. Years ago I wove some bath towels from cotton chenille and 8/2 unmercerized.  I had a very bad, weak cone of 8/2 and the towels became a nightmare to weave.  I had so much junk hangi g of the back beam thT it looked like a Christmas tree.   After that experience,  I stayed away from bath towels til now.  This is a much better experience!   LOL

Queezle

I've had a few christmas tree projects myself - in the last one, I started running into trouble because there was so much stuff hanging off the back that it started getting tangled, and it took me forever to untangle, just to advance the warp. 

I like the idea of using cotton chenille, when I weave things with 8/2, and declare it anything other than a dish towel, my whole family rolls their eyes, and say ITS A DISH TOWEL AND IT WILL ALWAYS FEEL LIKE A DISHTOWEL. And so I collect potential bath towel drafts...  my bath towels need a refresh, and I love the idea of replacing with handwoven.

10ashus

I feel like a game show host. "Pick one. Will it be Door Number One or Door Two?" Except, my choice is between Strap 1 and Strap 2. Both have pros and cons. Neither one has a factor to sway me.

The deadline is 8 p.m. The pouch pieces are getting joined tonight.

Endorph, is the rigid heddle still too much to handle during recovery?

endorph

the bath towels are amazingly soft and comfy. I am really glad I got to make two during our round robin event.

endorph

I think the RH will be fine once I get it warped. I am even doing okay on the floor loom as long as I don't weave too long. Standing and winding quills on the other hand . . .  Okay, I will confess, I do not like winding quills. I find it really boring! But it is a necessary evil.

theresasc

My takadai came yesterday!  I am so excited, I have it set up and braiding.  Project notes here.

first braid on takakai

Queezle

I just love that - both your design (love the pink with brown) and how wonderfully the takadai organizes each of your strands. 

Queezle

My sewing projects are 99% completed, so I have officially joined this group.  Last night I wove for an hour - the blvd weave - the first towel is 50% done. 

Gone

I've got a color & weave scarf on the loom. A neat pattern - somewhat N.A.-ish. 6S/4T draft. I suspect my sett may be a bit tight. It's at 16 now, but there are 2 slightly different sizes of yarn in it. I'm going to try it out anyway to see how it looks. I'll beat light, which may prove a challenge on the Mac. It's wool and if it fulls that way I think it will, the pattern will be vague anyway.

endorph

I did manage a bit of weaving on the floor loom last night. I think this last twoel on this warp is going to take forever! It will feel good to get the warp cut off the loom.

Queezle

I read your post this morning, and after getting my husband and daughter out of the house for work and school, I went to my loom and wove about 6 inches.  Unlike you, I am at the front, my first towel, and so have a long weaving road ahead of me. 

I recently purchased Laura Fry's video - the efficient weaver - mostly because of Sally Ogren's comments on using it with her guild.  Last night I viewed the first ~10 minutes (for the fourth time or so), and this morning I tried Laura's shuttle-holding/throwing technique.  I realize that I have always thrown with palm down (bad self-taught weaver), opposite of Laura's palm up approach.  Though it felt awkward (because its not how I've done it), very soon I was much better at whipping the shuttle across the warp.  One thing that also helped me was swapping out shuttle #2 for one that matched shuttle #1.  If the shuttles are the same size and weight, it makes sense that you can more easily get into a rhythm.  Anyhow, I was so fascinated with this new shuttle holding/tossing posture that I wove twice as much as I had expected.  I've now got about 20 inches woven on towel #1!  And - I have a Sally-esqe plan for towel #2.

Queezle

I was happy to get back to my dish towels this evening. I am going slow to try to get myself to hold my shuttles properly.  I'm about 5 inches away from being done with towel #1 on the Blvd warp.

endorph

woven last night. I went to wind more quills of my main color and discovered three quills I wound weeks ago. Yippee! I think it might be enough to actually finish this towel.

theresasc

are moving right along.  I have been looking at & reading weaving books.  I also got my first issue of VAV this week, so I have been reading there too.  Since I had that big ole knock on my head earlier this summer, concentration has been challenging for me, especially at the end of the day.  It takes a bit more to grasp new concepts.

theresasc

that I did manage to finish.   I have all my cords braided for my tie-up treadle loops, even have enough for when the other 4 treadles arrive.

 treadle tie-up loops

 Queezle said braiding is like 3-D weaving and the braids are for my loom, so in my mind it counts:-)

 

 

 

Queezle

And I love those beautiful braids! 

I have finished the first dish towel on the 5.75-towel warp.  And I have now changed my tie-up to #606 in Strecker's 8-shaft weaving book. 

This treading uses tabby, and 6 different pattern treadles, each lifting 5 of the 8 shafts.  My more sensible half tells me to just tie up the 3 for lighter treadling, but I've been admiring this particular draft ever since I was given the book - maybe 1993? - and so I want to weave it with the pretty side up.  What would you do?

theresasc

I tend to tie up the patterns with the lesser shafts being lifted.  Two reasons for me, easier to treadle and I tend to have fewer skipped threads because there are not as many being lifted.  That is just me, but then on narrow warps, I will weave with the pattern up because, hey, its pretty and it is narrow and still easy enough to treadle.  How is that for a no-answer?  LOL

Yarnsnthreads (not verified)

I have been weaving like crazy. I have a baby wolf in my yarn room. I hate to call it a studio because it's so small. I have a baby wolf because it's the only loom that will fit in it. Anyway my mother is coming for the holidays to visit, so my oldest daughter is going to move into the yarn room through the middle of January. So if I want to get any weaving done,now is the time.  First I made some fabric for a tote bag, next I made a couple of scarves. My plan was to make them both deflective double weave, however the threads kept breaking so they became cowls. Right now I have the overshot table runner on my loom. It's the one from the current Handwoven. I am thinking both my mother andmother-inlaw will love one.  I have a warp for 3 scarves wound and ready to go and I am now thinking about another one these all have to be done by the 16th so that I can fold up the loom and make room for my daughter to sleep on the floor. Yikes!

Queezle

Its an interesting question - what is it that turns a room containing a loom into a studio?  I didn't call my weaving room a studio until I had an entire room for it, and it was a room that I liked.  But its also conceptual, I think, that is I started calling it a studio once my mind was made up to embrace weaving again.

Yarnsnthreads (not verified)

Well for me it has been the yarn room for years. It's not a very big room. As a matter of fact it used to be my youngest daughters bedroom when she was a toddler. We moved her into her sisters room. It's so small that I have a baby wolf loom because it's the largest loom that will fit in it. Along with the yarn. I started calling it a studio when I realized all my fiber stuff is in there. I could say all my yarn and fiber are in that one room, but it would be a lie.

Yarnsnthreads (not verified)

Well for me it has been the yarn room for years. It's not a very big room. As a matter of fact it used to be my youngest daughters bedroom when she was a toddler. We moved her into her sisters room. It's so small that I have a baby wolf loom because it's the largest loom that will fit in it. Along with the yarn. I started calling it a studio when I realized all my fiber stuff is in there. I could say all my yarn and fiber are in that one room, but it would be a lie.

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