Wed, 06/10/2009 - 02:28

tien (not verified)

Hi, I'm Tien, and I've been sober for...

Whoops!  Wrong forum. :)

I've been weaving for a little over two and a half years now, first  on a Baby Wolf, then on a Leclerc Diana, and finally on an AVL Workshop Dobby Loom, which will be my last loom unless I move to a bigger house!

I used to spin, but after doing my second ring shawl gave up on knitting and spinning both - I didn't feel it was a challenge anymore, and went off in search of other mountains to conquer.  I still have a Majacraft Suzie wheel, but mostly just use it for skeining these days.

I do a lot of sewing, mostly costumes for AIDS Lifecycle, a 7-day, 550-mile cycling fundraiser for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the LA Gay & Lesbian Center.  We bike from San Francisco to Los Angeles over the course of a week.  I wear a different FABULOUS outfit every day, mostly wedding and evening-wear patterns that I cut off at the knee so I can bicycle in them!  Every one is designed and sewn by yours truly.  The coup de grace last year was a peacock-feather outfiit that had over 1000 peacock body and tail feathers sewn on!

And my current weaving project...is my wedding dress!  Not content with making my own, I'm designing and weaving the fabrics as well.  (I've posted most of the drafts to Weavolution.)  Right now I'm warped up with 25 yards of 60/2 silk at 96 ends per inch, and weaving with 140/2 silk at 60 picks per inch.  I estimate it will take me two months at least to weave up the yardage.  After that it's time to think of weaving the fabric for the coat that goes over the dress...good thing we're not getting married until next June!  But I've designed both of the other fabrics already, and they're only going to be about 40 epi, so weaving it up should be a snap next to what I've got on the loom now.

That's it!  Weavolution has soaked up so much of my life this past year that weaving and sewing are about all I've done.  In most years I do a lot of (bi)cycling, too, training for AIDS Lifecycle.

Oh, and I make chocolates once a year.  A big production, but lots of fun, too.

I better shut up now and turn the floor over to someone else!  :-)

Wed, 06/10/2009 - 02:32

khwaln (not verified)

Howdy.  I do handwoven shibori and traditional shibori.  I always have a loom warped for shibori.  Lots of fun.  Check out my shibori blog.  weaverkat.blogspot.com/. 

Wed, 06/10/2009 - 03:07

Alison (not verified)

Hi Dave,

I've woven one scarf using two heddles.  You can see it under my projects - the painted warp scarf.  The goal was to waste as lillte warp as possible as I has such a limited amount - just the two 1 oz skeins I had dyed.  Since the yarn was Zephyr, I needed a denser sett than I could get with 1 heddle, so I went to two and settled on 24 epi.  It came out wonderfully.  Eventually I'll have more pictures up, but on one of them, you can clearly see the set up.

Do you have Betty Davenport's book?

Wed, 06/10/2009 - 03:07

Alison (not verified)

Hi Dave,

I've woven one scarf using two heddles.  You can see it under my projects - the painted warp scarf.  The goal was to waste as lillte warp as possible as I has such a limited amount - just the two 1 oz skeins I had dyed.  Since the yarn was Zephyr, I needed a denser sett than I could get with 1 heddle, so I went to two and settled on 24 epi.  It came out wonderfully.  Eventually I'll have more pictures up, but on one of them, you can clearly see the set up.

Do you have Betty Davenport's book?

Wed, 06/10/2009 - 04:42

ranvaig (not verified)

 I borrowed a WWL two years ago, and bought some Jaggerspun Maine line for it.  I have mostly done narrow bands and didnt want my first warp to be too fine, so I chose the thicker weight.  I set the loom up for a reenactment group who used it as a demo, but didnt weave on it.  The heddle rod had come out at some point and the original heddles were all tangled. It was lots of fun, and I want one for myself soon.

I am in a wheelchair, so weaving on a loom with the cloth bar so high was a challenge.  I'll probably make mine shorter.

Sharon Palmer aka Ranvaig the Weaver in the SCA

Wed, 06/10/2009 - 07:40

Caroline (not verified)

Wow! You guys are adventurous, and I shall enjoy reading what you get up to!  Adventurous means using polyester or acrylic yarns to my local spinning and weaving group, and its very much frowned upon, so I'm really looking forward to being able to talk about and experiment with pushing the boundaries.

cheers, Caroline, :-) !!

Wed, 06/10/2009 - 09:10

Glizzer (not verified)

Tie-Up and Lam Lamentations!

 

 Halp! I've recently bought a countermarche loom (8s/8t Glimakra Aktiv fold up floor loom)) and I have yet to master the (incredibly) complicated tie-ups and seemingly endless fine adjustments. I've only worked with a small jack loom before, and this is quite the adjustment (pun intended! :->) Anyone have words of advice for me that don't include either buying an item (bought the loom, so very broke), or asking an actual person to help me (as I live in a dearth of guilds). I thought of calling the kind people at Glimakra, but I didn't want to bother them while I asked endless questions or struggled to describe something visually that I'm not familliar with. Anyone have words of advice or just plain 123 steps of First: you do this, and Next, try this... Thanks in advance!

 

-Glizzer

Wed, 06/10/2009 - 12:28

fireflytex (not verified)

Perpetual-beginner weaver needs advice on assigning treadles --

I can't figure out how to start a thread, so I'm not sure where this will appear.

I am preparing to weave a 4H pattern requiring only 4 treadles (no tabby needed) on an 8H loom with 10 treadles. It seems easier to reach the treadles in the middle, but perhaps easier to hit the right treadle using the outside ones. What's the best approach?

Wed, 06/10/2009 - 12:39

maurerwerks (not verified)

Hi Lisa -

I'm in Sunapee, NH, and two of my boys, Bill and Peanut, are white and are very sweet. Wilbur, on the other hand, is black (turning a lovely silver) and has a major attitude problem. The butting doesn't bother me all that much, but when he tries to hook me with his horns - OUCH.  He and I have had "flip the goat and sit on him" sessions and stand-in-the-corner-so-he-can't-move sessions - all the while telling him speaking softly to him.  It works for about a half an hour and then he goes after me again.  I'm just stymied as to how to calm him down.  He wants to prove that he is head goat, not me.  I've starting wondering if there are herbs or even drugs I could give him to mellow him out. None of them are registered since I only got them for pets and for their hair - and their fleeces are gorgeous. I love them dearly, even bratty Wilbur.  Any ideas?

Sue

Wed, 06/10/2009 - 12:39

Aunt Janet (not verified)

COOL GROUP!  I haven't woven with any of this stuff, YET.  Last week I collected and dried up some grass with intent to weave it.  While cleaning out a storage room this week I found a spool of fine copper wire.  I was thinking of weaving it on my inkle loom.  I make paper sometimes, so I'm looking out for plant materials anyway, I suppose I can weave some of my handmade paper as well.  I'll be looking forward to seeing work woven by folks in this group.

Aunt Janet