My great aunt was a Weaver during the 1930's her epi's are 22, were 11 dent Reed's common then? I'm sure you could get one made now but I thought maybe she had a 22 dent reed but that doesn't seem feasible either. I would love some thoughts on this, thank you! 

Comments

Sat, 07/22/2017 - 09:38

ReedGuy

Was this written in her weaving notes? If not they may well have been 20 epi and drew together tighter once washed. I weave overshot a fair bit with 20/2 cotton for the ground cloth. My set is 24-27 epi and the ground draws together to 36 epi when washed, tromp as writ at the loom. It stays proportionate, but shrinks a lot. If I set on the high side I loose more length than width, not tromp as writ, to weave square on the loom. So treadling is reduced to achieve that.
Sat, 07/22/2017 - 13:10

Lainey

Agree with reed guy, but add that if you want to weave at 22 EPI you don't have to have an 11 or 22 dent reed.  You can use a reed substitution chart to find the correct sleying for a reed size you may have (5 or 8). (here).  That doesn't answer your question of how common an 11 dent would be:  I'm guessing they weren't and still aren't very common because I never see them listed on substitution charts or as a standard size for sale.  If you have some of her weaving you should post some pictures!  Lucky you.

Fri, 07/28/2017 - 21:08

sally orgren

back then, and they wove with finer yarns like Lily cotton 20/2. Now it is 12 dent reed that usually comes with a new loom and our yarns are thicker. A lot of weavers like to start with carpet warp or 5/2 cotton.
Fri, 08/04/2017 - 22:42

Nanefire

I know someone whose used floor loom came with numerous reeds and she never knew what a goldmine that was until she started talking to other weavers who didn't have, yes, a 9-dent reed and a 7-dent reed, and a 14-dent reed. I don't find it hard to believe that someone had an 11-dent many years ago. You can still get custom sizes from Goudy. This doesn't detract from any one's else's replies, certainly; but it's quite possible that someone had a special reed for the type of weaving they performed often. I'm curious, too, though as to where you saw the 22 epi/11 dent reed referenced, if it was notes or what? I can't imagine anyone trying to decipher my notes on epi as I go through hoops and loops sometimes to get the right sett. LOL!

Sat, 08/05/2017 - 06:26

ReedGuy

Many weavers keep good notes on sets and yarns along with swatches. I do it all the time. I have scrapbook binders full. This site is set up to keep such records online. For some reason, I have read how some find this useless, I never have. Weaving magazines are full of published projects specific to yarns used and sets. :) In a book of drafts, your on your own.

Sat, 08/05/2017 - 07:10

kerstinfroberg

11 dents per inch - if using the dirty conversion to metric (4" = 10 cm) we get 44 dents per 10 cm. 45 dents per 10 cm is a quite normal size here in Sweden (and yes, even 90 dents/10 cm can be had).

So she might have used metric reeds?

Sat, 08/05/2017 - 07:18

ReedGuy

If it was an old reed or reeds, maybe it had a lot to do with the binding used to get the spacing, as it may have been a tarred twine that is wrapped around the split dowels and between the dents. Glimakra still hand makes reeds with split dowel and tarred twine wrappings. One never knows sometimes. :)

 

And I have also thought about Kerstin's metric reeds.

Sat, 08/05/2017 - 14:38

Reidflys

My mom's working on a book about my Aunt Jennette Tandy, she was a very famous Weaver at the time, she wrote two books of her own. There's a preservationists working on the chapter about the mechanics of her weavings. I have been e-mailing back and forth with her. Aunt Jennette wove people's faces using linen with remarkable likeness. She would weave from the bottom side of her loom underneath. She used fishing line to get really good tension. However after a bunch of measuring with epi's that are 22 here 23 there a school of thought is she didn't weave her tapestry damp, but literally wet, and when the linen dried it produced several epi's. The comments reguarding the reed's from Europe would make alot of sense, she was very well traveled, she lived with the Hopi, in a trading post, and may have gotten her reeds that way, she wove pictures of the Indian tribe inside the Grand Canyon as well. I will try to update with some pics when I go back home again in a month.

Sat, 08/05/2017 - 21:04

Sara von Tresckow

Unless the reeds used are still available, it may not be possible to determine the dents per inch. Once fabric comes off the loom, it is subject to distortion - takeup and shrinkage among them. Simply relaxing the piece lets the weft (on weft faced weaves as well) relax and go "over and under" the warp in an undulation. In most cases this will increase the ends per inch - sometimes sitnificantly. When that fabric is washed, even more change is to be expected.