The year is moving along too fast. Some of you have been very productive the last 31 days, I am not one of those. So I am making a late new years resolution to visit my looms more often this month and in the months to come. Weave on everyone!

Comments

Queezle

I took a band off my band loom that is destined to be a collar for my Juno, my lab/poodle mix.  Because my dog comes very close to matching my assigned color, and her collar the color of the sea, she with her new collar will represent my first color challenge product.

Queezle

Regardless of my connection, upon posting, I always receive an error message, and it indicates a problem with www.weavolution.com.

Am I the only one, or have most users simply quit trying here?

[email protected]

504 is a gateway timeout error--I have not had that experience posting to Weavolution.  I sometimes post from my cell phone (mostly on wifi).  Tonight I am at my primary home computer.  

As a very self-conscious poster, I proof my writing repeatedly before finalizing it using "Preview."  I have occasionally had small formatting surprises despite my overly cautious approach but I have not (to my knowlege) double posted to the site.  I am very careful to click on "Save" only once and exercise extreme patience until I can actually see my post! One cause of double/multiple posting must be clicking on the button again because nothing happened.  

I also try not to page back afterwards.  The few times I have encountered a message asking if I wanted to send the form again, I have not done that, instead choosing to click on Dashboard to get back to reading threads on the site.

Perhaps this will prove helpful.  I always appreciate Erica and Oli eliminating the duplicates!  

Francine

sally orgren

Jockey Hollow Weavers is undertaking a year-long study of color and weave. Sherrie Miller brought in this 8-shaft gamp, woven from 5/2 cotton, to share with the guild at the meeting last night. She plans to turn it into a jacket.

endorph

I was getting the 504 error message on Monday but not since.

Queezle

Sally, that is truly stunning!

And I will note that I continue to get the 504 message.

Leslie

Catrinka

That is a beautiful piece of cloth--I am guessing that's a fairly complicated process?

Catrinka

That is a beautiful piece of cloth--I am guessing that's a fairly complicated process?

ellen santana

i am reading marguerite davison's book a handweaver's pattern book.  she states that the x in the draft designates the harness to be lowered.  i am confused.  i thought that i had used this book before but maybe not--i have a jack loom, so on her patterns i have to treadle the 3 harnesses not indicated?  it's on page xii of her book. 

Queezle

You can treadle it as shown on a jack loom, but the expected pattern will be on the underside of the fabric.

If you want to see the expected pattern, you have to do the opposite - so if it so sink shaft 3, you need to raise shafts 1,2, and 4 (assuming a 4-shaft design). 

This book confused me for quite a while, too, but its a wonderful treasure.

Erica J

Oliver did a bit of work on the database, so the errors should not be appearing now. :)

My knee has enough bend in it that I can comfortably weave again. I have gotten a lot of weaving done on my color and twill sample this week! I was also back at the drawloom, but it has been neglected for so long that it is being problematic. I have a new warp I need to put on it, so I think I'm going to get that on then troubleshoot the shed with the next warp on it.

Erica J

Ellen,

X in treadline normally do denote sinking sheds, O's denote raising sheds. So as Queezle already explained if you have tied the x's to raise on your jack loom the pattern will be on the underneath. 

You may have woven from Davison before, but you may have remembered to tie the empty shafts in the treadling draft to raise that time, which is what you need to do for the pattern to be on top when weaving on your jack loom.

Have fun!

Queezle

I placed my order today!  So excited.

edited to add that I continue to get the error message. 

and edited again to say that the 524 error is getting annoying.

Erica J

Queezle,

I will look into it more this evening. I am beginning my next adventure in damask.

I hope to get the damask warp on this week!

sally orgren

Catrinka,

I don't think it is that complicated. I believe Sherrie took the pattern from a past issue of Handwoven, but I don't know which one. The Strickler book contains 8 shaft shadow weave patterns, and there is also 1000(+) Patterns in 4, 6, and 8 Harness Shadow Weaves by Marian Powell.

Pick a pattern or two and five colors, and you will be on your way!

Queezle

I think the key step is finding shadow weave patterns that can be woven with the same tie-up and treadling pattern.  The 1000(+) book is pretty amazing.  I bet weaving this would be a lot of fun.

 

edited to add that I am still getting the 524 message.

sally orgren

it should be mentioned that shadow weave uses two alternating colors in the warp, a light and a dark. It also requires two alternating shuttles, light and dark.

Erica J

I've managed to get my silk sleighed in the reed and the loom ready to start threading. This is only 240 threads, but given I haven't been able to weave for about a month, it is exciting news for me! :)

Erica J

Queezle,

This problem is not happening consistently, though it seems to be consistently happening to you. It would be very helpful, if you could contact us directly the next time this happens to you. We spent 3 hours on with tech support and were unable to replicate the problem while on with them.

10ashus

Tore fabric into strips for 2nd twining project. I think it will be another rug. It is for the first challenge in a Twist Along to learn more about twining.

Picture of cotton fabric selection in red, green, blue: https://flic.kr/p/QCojic

Queezle is not the only one experiencing problems in posting. I will do my best to report the sequence of events on the next occasion.

 

 

10ashus

Clicked Save on my previous comment. It processed for over 2 minutes, then displayed the error screen. I assumed comment was not published, yet it did display after refreshing the screen 4-5 times. You may delete this post after getting info needed.

Screenshot

sally orgren

When I post, I wait a bit, as the system seems slow to process the entry.

I realized I don't wait for it to finish, I usually click out and do something else. When I return, the message has been posted successfully.

sally orgren

Ok. For that post, it took about 10 seconds to upload, no error message.

Erica J

Thanks for the updates on the error messages. I would ask everyone to contact us directly when you experience these issues. The best was is to send a message to [email protected] We need to know in a timely fashion in order to pin point the issue. We also probably don't want to clog this thread with updates about technical issues.

Thanks for your help in troubleshooting this issue!

Queezle

Finally finished my table runner. 

Queezle

My tempo treadle shipped, and it is supposed to arrive tomorrow!  I am just started with warping up the loom for a crackle weave sample (guild challenge this year...), and this will clearly turn into my top priority.  I have made some small fiberworks wif files with some of the crackle treadling variations.  

What next?  I am going to look for something interesting with a really looooooong repeat, so I can revel in the joy of producing pattern with errors minimized.  Any suggestions?

sally orgren

I have been dragging my feet on a few projects, and I hope the log jam breaks this weekend.

1) I need to finish the last M&O's towel on the loom. Guild is next Tuesday, so my goal is to finish them off, wet-finish and then hem for Show n Tell.

2) Next, I need to warp for a swatch exchange due in March on Diamonds. I think I finally settled on a draft. Did I say Finally?

3) After that, I need to weave a run of baby blankets. I found out a family member is expecting. I have noodled around with my favorite pattern in Huck with Henry's Attic Monte Cristo cotton, but having just attended a program at the Connecticut guild about baby blankets, I am thinking about trying something new.

Finally, I have been trying to weave up a queen sized alpaca and wool blanket for several years now. I sampled in 2012 (the last time I also wove baby blankets.) I really want to complete this project and turn that part of my stash into a useful piece of cloth.

Can I accomplish all of this before I need to weave samples for my guild exchange (theme: color 'n weave) in June?

Time will tell. I must get busy this weekend!

Queezle

Sally, you are so amazing - that is a lot of weaving!

I have a crackle sample on my loom, and my new TempoTreadle (TT) is up and running.  It is so nice to see all my crackle samples, and be rather assured that errors were minimized.  Its also a peaceful way to test new things - work them out on Fiberworks first, and then upload the wif into TT and away we go.

The crackle is for a guild challenge and sample exchange.  I am hoping to find a pattern I especially like, and then weave enough for a small bag.

sally orgren

Queezle,

One of my guildmates bought Tempo Treadle at Convergence, and I saw her demonstrating a fairly complicated 8 shaft pattern on her Baby Wolf with confidence at a fiber festival this fall. (See below)

I am sure most visitors didn't realize she was having a little bit of assist tracking the pattern, they were just amazed to see what she was weaving. Conversely, she was able to weave a "real" project while interacting with the public instead of wasting warp.

P.S. M&O's dishtowels done, now to thread for the next project.

Queezle

Sally - that is a great photo, and a perfect example of good deployment of TempoTreadle. 

I realized another benefit to me last night.  My weaving time is typically filled with interruptions; I get grouchy, or make my family member wait until I finish a repeat, etc.  But then last night, my husband came into the studio and started talking to me.  And no stress, the TT allowed me to  switch to 100% attention on him, and then later return to weaving without losing a single pick!

sally orgren

We are weaving mug rugs for the MAFA goodie bags. One of our inventive members made RH looms with 3D printed heddles. Here's a few pics. (You guys are seeing these before they even appear in the newsletter!)

A happy weaver:

Some of the finished product:

 

sally orgren

here are the M & O's towels:

16/2 cotton warp, 10/2 cotton weft. 8 shaft.

ShawnC

You've all beeen so busy. Beautiful runner, Queezle, and I like the treadtle tracker idea. Sally, the towels are lovely! Structure and choice of color an order.

 

I finally got all of the pattern threading errors on my skillbragd/smalandsvav and am (slowly) weaveing one panel of the coverlet. I do like this structure. I have a couple of antique looms coming soon and may set up the blue Norwegian loom for skillbragd permanently. We'll see. This has to be entirely finished and to the exhibitors by May 1st. So, nervous, but happy.

Joanne Hall

This is lovely.  I hope that the exhibitors will appreciate this.

Joanne

ShawnC

Thanks, Joanne! It is amazing to me what 6 pattern shafts can do in this structure! Well, I did check before committing to weaving this and they agreed skillbragd was ok. I think they will enjoy it. I know I will be happy to have it in the house once the exhibit is over.

Queezle

ShawnC, that is so beautiful!  Is this something that requires a drawloom?  I would like to learn more - and especially about the loom requirements.  It is so beautiful!

Joanne Hall

But I will describe another way this can be done.  Shawn had put long eyed heddles on her loom's shafts to weave the pattern weft and then mounted plain weave shafts to weave the ground weave.

If you want to experiment with this, you can make half heddle sticks like I demonstrated in the Swedish Art weaves workshop.   On a counterbalance or countermarchloom, these half heddle sticks make shafts and they are put behind the loom's shafts.  They form a shed when you lift them and put in a batten.  Maybe you will remember this for weaving the monksbelt pattern.

On a jack loom, you need to put the half heddle sticks between the beater and the shafts and it is hard to work with more than two.  I sometimes have a Smålandsväv sample in a workshop if there is a cb or cm loom available.  Even just three of these h h sticks will make a nice pattern, although not as complex as the one that Shawn is weaving.

Joanne

sally orgren

I need to wind over 660 warps, and I am just shy of half way there.

ShawnC

Thanks, Joanne! I'd forgotten you can do this (or damask) with pick up. I'm lucky, Queezle, that I have large Scandinavian style looms. You need enough space to hang 2 sets of shafts, so like a drawloom, it is a double harness set up. But with this structure, the ground is hung in the back using CB system for plain weave. The pattern is threaded in long-eyed heddles on shafts hung from button hole elastic. Each shaft requires 1 treadle. I guess you can go up to 10 pattern shafts, but most of the patterns I've seen in books use 4. It is so very easy if set up well. I messed up a few things when setting up, so took me longer. There are 1680 threads threaded through the ground heddles, then the pattern heddles. But the cool thing is, each unit of pattern through the pattern heddles goes through some or all or none. So goes a bit more quickly at that point. The Vavstuga drawloom video has a lovely little section on smalandsvav. I guess you can also set up a drawloom to do this, but seems sort of silly to me, since I want to save my drawloom for other things and this can be done with simple looms of the proper sort.

 

Artistry

Hi Gang,

pleased to report that I've actually had daily weaverliness if my life the last  few days. Yay! I have threaded up my 22 inch Mirrix , put in the heading today and start weaving. 12 inches  x  ?  .  I'm thinking floating bars, these are lines with generally 1 pass( 2 picks for floor loom terminology) with a color study. I will be planning with subtle colored bars with a strong background, probably graduated color. I want to see if the saturated background will make the subtle valued bars "pop"more. I'll also be exploring complimentary colors in different values , how much distance do you have to have in this application To prevent "shaky "lines. 

Exploration of the color theory of Harmonies too.

Design wise think, DNA, oh if I was only that good, lol! That's the other experiment , making the bars "turn " to a visual spiral.

Patagonia still waits :) she's big ! I want to practice awhile now and get my skills up to snuff before I embark again!

Happy to be back, missed you all:)     Cathie

Artistry

Hi Gang,

pleased to report that I've actually had daily weaverliness if my life the last  few days. Yay! I have threaded up my 22 inch Mirrix , put in the heading today and start weaving. 12 inches  x  ?  .  I'm thinking floating bars, these are lines with generally 1 pass( 2 picks for floor loom terminology) with a color study. I will be planning with subtle colored bars with a strong background, probably graduated color. I want to see if the saturated background will make the subtle valued bars "pop"more. I'll also be exploring complimentary colors in different values , how much distance do you have to have in this application To prevent "shaky "lines. 

Exploration of the color theory of Harmonies too.

Design wise think, DNA, oh if I was only that good, lol! That's the other experiment , making the bars "turn " to a visual spiral.

Patagonia still waits :) she's big ! I want to practice awhile now and get my skills up to snuff before I embark again!

Happy to be back, missed you all:)     Cathie

Artistry

Hi Gang,

pleased to report that I've actually had daily weaverliness if my life the last  few days. Yay! I have threaded up my 22 inch Mirrix , put in the heading today and start weaving. 12 inches  x  ?  .  I'm thinking floating bars, these are lines with generally 1 pass( 2 picks for floor loom terminology) with a color study. I will be planning with subtle colored bars with a strong background, probably graduated color. I want to see if the saturated background will make the subtle valued bars "pop"more. I'll also be exploring complimentary colors in different values , how much distance do you have to have in this application To prevent "shaky "lines. 

Exploration of the color theory of Harmonies too.

Design wise think, DNA, oh if I was only that good, lol! That's the other experiment , making the bars "turn " to a visual spiral.

Patagonia still waits :) she's big ! I want to practice awhile now and get my skills up to snuff before I embark again!

Happy to be back, missed you all:)     Cathie

Artistry

Had problems posting just now. I saw others have been too.

Cathie

sally orgren

Happy to have you back, too! Keep it up.

Any chance we'll see you at a weaving conference or craft school out east this summer?

ShawnC

Yay, Cathie! So happy you are weaving. I know it's no fun when I can't get to it.

 

Thanks, Sally! It's such a fun structure. I can see playing with it for a long while.

Artistry

Thanks! 

Sally, no workshops this summer! Another son getting married and 2 honeymoons to foot the bill for. It's all good and happy though:)

Cathie

Queezle

What a great way to brighten my day - seeing my old friend Cathie back here.  Is your son going on two honeymoons?

 

I received some interesting weaving-related news.  My grandmother lived in Vancouver, was a great patron of first-nation people, and developed a collection of woven baskets and woven fabric.  Upon her death, her extensive collection and an endowment was give to the Royal BC Museum in Victoria.  The endowment has not been used in many years, and it has grown.  There is now a plan to expand the displays to feature the roles of first-nation women, both in weaving and non-weaving areas.  They will start once again to use some of the endowment's proceeds to boost their collection, and feature the current efforts of first nation people to restore their language, culture, and traditions.  My grandmother's contributions will also be noted with some permanent plack.  I will be really interested to learn about contemporary first nation weavers, and must plan another visit to see the on-going efforts.  The museum has been really nice to let my family into the archives and to show us some of the more valuable items (many of which I played with as a young girl).

Artistry

Queezle,

Your news is wonderful !

 I go out to Victoria usually 4 times a year to visit Dad and my brother. I often go to the Royal Victoria Museum, it's fabulous! I will go next time I visit them ( this Spring) . The work of The First Nations People has and will continue to be quite an inspiration to me. I did a small tapestry influenced by their work, about 20 years ago. Maybe I'll post it here.

I am very grateful for your grandmother's collection ending up at the museum !

Two sons, two honeymoons. One got married last year ,but, because of a large project they were working on , they decided to go this year. The other son gets married in October. Yay!

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