Sunday, July 25, 2010

Advanced Twill/Point Twill Scarf


This is an advancing twill/point twill scarf in a wool/silk yarn. It's my first project with this yarn and my first advancing twill project.

Both the front and back of the scarf are visible in this photo. I really like the front. I'm not sure yet about the back! --Granted, this is the unfinished piece. Perhaps I'll like the back better after it's wet finished.











This photo shows why I haven't wet finished the scarf yet. I have to decide to fringe or not to fringe! The ends are hemstitched, so I have considered a short (1-2") cut fringe, but I am partial to twisted fringes and have yet to decide which to do. What do you think?











And, lastly, here is a photo of my double error and fixing method. I ran into problems on my Baby Wolf with the extra treadle ties getting caught in the lamms. After much frustration, I finally sat down on the floor and pulled out all the unused ties. I will have more work when I change tie-ups (I'll have to move the ties around) but at least this way the shafts aren't sticking!

There were two errors in this piece: A row above the scissor case (looks like an almost solid black line) and a row right at the point of the scissor case that is under repair and only one long float is visible. To correct this, I cut the float, pulled out the original weft pick and needle wove a replacement into the piece. The challenge was I kept loosing my place! I eventually wove a high contrast, slippery yarn into a good row to serve as my guide. Much better! Needle weaving corrections like this are time consuming, but the scarf looks much better without the errors!

Friday, July 09, 2010

Full Loom Width Test

The fabric from my full width of the loom test is done! This was a plain weave piece, woven primarily to weave something at the full width of the Baby Wolf.

I filled every dent with yarn for this piece--the warp was 10/2 cotton, unmercerized, sett at 12 epi. The weft was a thick/thin mystery yarn (I think it's a cotton/rayon blend).

I had woven a test scarf with these yarns and liked the texture created from the pooling of the thick pots in the warp. I also liked how it looked with some fabric that I had pulled from my stash...so, now I have more textured fabric, and maybe I'll make some clothes from all this! :)

The next challenge (and the real reason why the fabric I just finished weaving is still sitting on my loom) is cleaning my sewing space! We had a water problem in the basement a couple of weeks ago--a new one: the exterior drain by the back door got clogged, and the water poured in over the door sill. Things got cleaned up reasonably fast. It took some time for my husband to get the drain unclogged, but he succeeded, and we got the carpet and pad dried out in a couple of days. The challenge was getting my craft room back together. With the exception of my sewing table (perhaps because it was an open table it accumulated stuff!) things are back together. Now I need my sewing machine!

Here's one of the possibilities for the next project: overshot on 8 shafts. These threadings are from Strickler's "8-Shaft Pattern" book, but the tie-up and treadling are mine.

I must admit that I have so many structures that interest me right now that there is a good chance that this will never get woven. I want to do EVERYTHING and I just don't have the time to do it all. So, now I have to decide what to put on the loom. Maybe I'll just leave it empty for a day or two.

Thursday, July 01, 2010

Weighted Selvege --Loom Modification

I have yet to invest in a temple for my weaving. For a long time I didn't think they were necessary, but I've learned a little since then! The last few times I've wanted a temple, I have made use of weights clamped to the selvege. With my old looms I would just hand the string (connecting the clamp and weights) over the edge of the support bar at the side of the loom. The Baby Wolf doesn't have a high enough support bar, so I added a zip tie to each side to support the string for the weights. :)




















After I figured out that this would work, I read a different solution on-line: run a strong cord from the front beam to the back beam and let the string hang over the cord. :)