I would love some help with a krokbrogd rug pattern. I am using Halcyon 4 ply wool single as warp and Rug Wool 3 ply as weft. Sett is 4epi but the pattern is not showing up correctly. The weft is not fully covering the warp. Am I not beating hard enough? If so how can I add weight to the beater? Does anyone have suggestions? Thanks!

Comments

Mon, 04/01/2013 - 20:21

sally orgren

You DO need to beat REALLY hard, and the pattern typically doesn't show up until a few inches away from the fell line. The reason is the wool weft sort of springs back a small bit, and it takes at least 3 passes/picks to equal one shot of "regular" weaving. Each pic sort of nestles into each other to form a single row when they pack in correctly. This is not a quick weave.

When I wove several Krokbragd rugs, I used a linen for the warp and Halcyon wool for the weft. I have never heard of using the wool for warp, but perhaps someone else has, and will chime in. (For my *very first* Krokbragd experience, I used carpet warp. Linen was infinitely better!)

How they lay in:

How they weave (three pics should look like one row):

Mon, 04/01/2013 - 21:52

lindalacasse1

Thanks Sally. The visual really helps. I am continuing to beat hard and the pattern is starting to show. The weft is covering the warp now although I think when I weave another rug using this pattern I will use linen warp. What linen yarn would be good? If anyone has an idea on how to weight the beater I'd love to hear!

Thanks again!

Mon, 04/01/2013 - 22:30

Joanne Hall

It is also good to use a temple.

You might need to bubble the weft a little more. What loom are you using?

8/5 is a good linen for rug warp.

Joanne

Tue, 04/02/2013 - 13:46

sally orgren

on the underside. The loom was a Macomber, and the person who did it was a woodworker, so I am not sure of the specs or how he attached it.

Left to my own devices, I would probably find something very heavy and cable tie it to each end of the underside of the beater, so it could be removed when not needed.

Tue, 04/02/2013 - 15:29

Joanne Hall

The reason that I asked what loom you have, is that some small looms have screws as part of the assembly of the beater and sometimes even the frame.  If that is the case, it is better to bubble the weft more so that you don't have to beat so hard.  The hard beat can be damaging to your loom.

I was demonstrating once on someone else's floor loom.  It is a very popular loom, which I will not mention.  Every now and then, I had to take a screw driver and tighten one of the screws.  Eventually a larger screw will need to be put in it's place.

Joanne

Wed, 04/03/2013 - 16:50

sally orgren

I have woven Krokbragd samples on table looms in workshops and demos, and it is tough to do and get a real idea of what it can look like. Also, the bubbling of weft IS very important...

Most embarrassing guild moment for me was at a Jason Collingwood workshop on rug techniques. My little table loom (also a common and popular brand) "sprung" the warp not once, but twice! The warp just zipped out the back end of the loom like it was possessed, with a big clatter of all the packing sticks at the finish. I finally had to clamp the brake into position to continue weaving, and rebeaming (twice) meant that I did not catch up with the rest of the class until the morning of the third day (when I did a victory lap around the room.)