Hello Everyone,

I've been doing a lot of post Halloweave contemplation. I hope everyone enjoys HalloWeave as much as I do. I think special events are something we can provide for the community to get us all reenergized! If you have ideas about special events you'd like to see on Weavolution, please send us a PM or an e-mail using the contact e-mail, so both Oliver and I get the message.

I listen to the Craft Stash Podcast on my morning commute. She has hosted many a longs via her podcast. Last summer she hosted a dye a long. As many of you know I've been doing a lot of spinning lately. I'm also getting excited about getting back into dying. In thinking about all of these things, I began thinking about how important it is to sample! I've been sampling for months to get just the right cloth for my first commission. I'm so glad the commission is for a friend. The sampling has been go wonderful for me as a weaver. I've seen how many different colours create a variety of effects and am a bit addicted to sampling right now. I'm planning to reuse several colours with a closer sett, and then sample further using a slightly differen threading.

I love sampling know, but it was not always that way. So if you love sampling, or if you're resisting sampling, I'd like to invite you to a Weavo-A-Long (WAL). It's been some time since I've participated in a WAL. So I hope several folks will be intersted in weaving a long with me. If you're interested, please comment here and let me know how soon you would like to start. How rigid do we want to be? Do we want a goal number of samples, do you want to use the method my weaving teacher taught me. Which is to creatively sample with a varieyt of colours, and treadlings, then sample with a wider and more closer sett? Do we all just want to set our own parameters?

I hope a few other folks will be interested, and of course we can leave the WAL open for several months, so people can join later if they wish.

Hope you'll join me in this WAL,

Erica

Comments

Mon, 11/18/2013 - 19:29

sally orgren

Perhaps a good idea!

We have a lot of newbies in my NJ guilds, so it might be fun for a land guild to partner with an online community for this process.

One guild is doing a sample exchange due in June, the topic being "tied weaves." What ever kind of tied weave you want to explore is fair game. (Summer and winter is a common one for beginners.) 

At the other guild, we just had a program on blended drafts. There are different ways to blend drafts and someone also brought up weaving "gamps". (There is a whole issue of Handwoven devoted to gamps). We are just now considering if that guild might want to undertake a sample exchange in this topic for 2014.

Dishtowels make great canvases for trying out weave structures and producing generous-sized samples.

Just a thought! Anybody else?

Mon, 11/18/2013 - 19:38

pammersw

Where can a newbie go to learn what stuff like gamp, rep weave,  tied weave, etc. mean? All this is over my head!

Mon, 11/18/2013 - 20:09

sally orgren

...lead you to issues on specific topics or structures with photo examples of the fabric and drafts.

Workshops help!

Su Butler opened my eyes to tied weaves this summer, and Barbara Diefenderfer shared her technique for blended drafts with my guildmate. FYI, "gamp" apparently comes from a Dicken's reference (according to Handwoven) and was a word used for an umbrella. (How a woven sampler became called a "gamp" eludes me.)

Mon, 11/18/2013 - 22:00

pammersw

Maybe because there are different sections? 

Tue, 11/19/2013 - 06:43

Erica

I really like the idea of collaborating with a local guild!

I've never participated in an exchange. How do they normally work? Is it disasterous if someone doesn't finish on time? Does everyone mail their own items out to otger people?

Tue, 11/19/2013 - 09:03

ReedGuy

Pammers, you'll soon pick up on the terms from reading books and forums. I'm still learning them to. Sometimes the spelling of a word changes too from old books to modern books. :D

For instance, used to be repp, now rep. Some words became Americanized, you might say. ;)

Tue, 11/19/2013 - 11:05

Erica

Pammersw,

You can also search Weavolution for terms. If you subscribe to Handwoven most issues have a nice vocabulary section. You can also do a basic internet search for the terms. This does beg the question, perhaps we should have a weaving vocabulary forum for new weavers?

Cheers,

Erica

Tue, 11/19/2013 - 13:33

Queezle

I have not participated in activities here, though I would love to.  I have a demanding job, a home remodel, and teenagers, so  I have little time to weave, especially big project.  But just yesterday, I  thought that I should do some sampling.  I am intrigued by the "turned color twill effect" dish towel on p38 of the Nov/Dec 2013 Handwoven (current issue).  I also have A LOT of 14/2, which I'm dreading using (errors!).  I also used to dye, and if I took it back up, I could get some nice colored yarn without buying more (I need to clear things out first). 

The holidays present a variety of challenges, but if we don't have rigid deadlines, I am in.

Tue, 11/19/2013 - 14:45

pammersw

I don't subscribe to anything yet, hence the question.  :)

 

I'm not sure if you need a whole forum, maybe a FAQ  or FAWQ (frequently asked weaving questions).

 

Tue, 11/19/2013 - 14:47

kerstinfroberg

There is a group calle textile terminology - you find it here.

Tue, 11/19/2013 - 15:00

Erica

I thought there was such a group, but could not find it!!!!

Cheers,

Erica

Tue, 11/19/2013 - 19:03

Queezle

Pammersw, I am a self-taught weaver (both a good and a bad thing).  I learned the different weave structures by getting books, and weaving samples.  I still do this, so much to learn, and my self-education certainly had bumps and omissions along the way.  I think this idea of a weave-a-long, especially focused on samples, should be ideal for you.

Tue, 11/19/2013 - 20:09

Bonnie Inouye (not verified)

If you can take a weaving class, it will give you a head start. Weaving is a very big field, which is great because one can weave for many decades and still find new avenues to explore.

You can learn the basics from a beginning weaving book. Probably people here have discussed this at length because more than one book comes to mind. There are also other online groups and email lists. Some of the weaving terms are names of weave structures- ways to interlace threads for particular kinds of cloth. Other names are for methods or effects. "Gamp" is a word for a sampler that tests several different threadings (or colors) across the warp and also several different treadling sequences (or colors) with the weft.

Sometimes you can do a search for handweaving and a term, and see photos. Remember that some things that you find for free on the internet are wrong! Sometimes people just guess at what to call something. You can sort this out eventually, but will learn more quickly with a good book and/or a good teacher.

Bonnie Inouye

Tue, 11/19/2013 - 21:58

pammersw

I have had a weaving class and have woven plain weave and some twill. I also have two books, Deborah Chandler's Learning to Weave and Marguerite Porter Davidson's A Handweaver's Pattern Book. These were the 2 books my instructor referred to. There is just so much to learn!

Tue, 11/19/2013 - 22:52

Bonnie Inouye (not verified)

You have a good start. Learning to Weave is an old standard for beginners, very popular still. Marguerite P Davison's book is even older and has lots of drafts.

Do you have a 4-shaft loom? You could look at projects in Weavo that used 4 shafts and start comparing different kinds of woven cloth. When you see something you really like, make a note of the name given and see if you can find other examples. Do you like these, too? Then see if this weave is included in either of your books. You could also look for weaving books in your public library, or join a local guild which is likely to have a much better selection of weaving books. Some guilds have weaving study groups.

People look at the wealth of possibilities in weaving and sometimes exclaim, "I should have started weaving decades ago!" Others see the options extending into the future: I can weave for decades and not exhaust the possibilities!

Search Weavo (and any other groups you belong to) for weaving books, beginners. Maybe include intermediate, too? We had a thread here about 10 best books for intermediate weavers. There's also a weaving book review group on Ravelry (and a bunch of weaving groups), perhaps one here as well.

Bonnie Inouye (weaving since 1967)

Tue, 11/19/2013 - 23:24

pammersw

Thanks Bonnie. I joined the local guild last month and currently am renting a 4S Bsby Wolf from them because I don't have a loom of my own yet.

Wed, 11/20/2013 - 00:14

loomyladi (not verified)

Erica - I would be interested in more information on the project.

Thu, 11/21/2013 - 16:39

Erica

I was thinking a sample WAL. Sorry I thought I posted this yesterday, but clearly got distracted.

I am thinking the following guidelines.

1) Warp at least 2 yards
2) Warp stripes, either a preplanned stripes or 2" in several colours to see how they interact with weft colours.
3) The first sample will be sett for a balance weave and participants will creatively sample a variety of wefts and treadline sequences. Did you know you there are 75 twill possibilities on a 4 shaft loom?
4) The second sample should be sett more densely, ie more warp faced, as if you were going to use it for upholstry fabric, curtains or another use which would require a denser sett.
5) The third sample should be sett less densely, not quite weft faced, but a more open and drapier sett.
6) For those who wish you can continue to sample with other threadings in the same colours, change up the stripes, etc.

This a common sampling technique amoung weaving programs and professional weavers. I think it is a good practice and the sampling I've done thus far has really helped me understand twills, twill movement and the role sett plays in fabric!

Cheers,

Erica 

Thu, 11/21/2013 - 17:17

Queezle

In fact, this idea made me dig out my hidden stash (shhh - don't tell my husband), and I am excited to begin.  Do let us know how we should post our progress -- here on this thread?

Thu, 11/21/2013 - 17:33

pammersw

Some of us newbies might need a little more hand holding to start, but this sounds very valuable! I'd be able to participate after my Christmas presents make it off the loom, and assuming that nobody is waiting to rent it, so I can extend the rental another month.

Fri, 11/22/2013 - 14:57

sally orgren

Is a great resource for the various treadling options for basic threadings like straight draw and twill. Don't forget, you can also change your weft size using the same threading and get different results!

Fri, 11/22/2013 - 18:12

pammersw

Oh! If that is the sort of thing this is talking about, I did that with my table runner! Ok, I get it now. :)

Mon, 11/25/2013 - 08:59

Erica

I think I'll post a group/forum soon and then folks who have time can Weavo-A-Long in December and those who are busy with holidays can join in later! 

I'll have a look around today to see where is the most logical place to post the WAL.

Cheers,

Erica