First Commission, Warping!

I finally have had a chance to start warping the commission piece for Kim.  It will be the widest piece I've woven yet, just shy of the width of the loom.   The threads will be the same as for the St. Pat's table runner:  cotton/linen warp, and a green, flecked yarn for weft.

I've learned a couple of things with this warping, things that work better for me, anyway.  Mostly I've discovered that it's much better if I temporarily tie warp threads in groups of 4 at the back.  It takes some more time to do the warping (I'm warping front to back) but it makes it much less likely that I'll make an error when threading heddles--at least when I'm using 4 shafts.

Almost has the front beam warped last night, and then realized I had made an error.  That I made that mistake, and then took so long to realize it, meant I needed to hang it up and go to bed!  Tonight I'll be able to finish warping, and maybe start winding some bobbins for the weft.

St. Pat's Runner

I finished the St. Pat's table runner-almost. (I am working on tying the fringe.)  I like it more than I feared I might; it looks rustic, which is exactly what I wanted.  I used cotton/linen warp, which seemed appropriate for flax-rich Ireland, and a yarn the colors of Connemara marble.  (I knew that I didn't want bright Kelly green.)

This weaving doesn't have wavy edges, as my earlier pieces did, and I think that's because I didn't tighten the warp so tightly that the finished part was pulled over the front beam.  The picks were then not so close together when I wove, but that was perfect for this piece.

Weaving again

I've been doing a "little bit" of weaving while I waited for thread to start learning double-weave.  It has arrived but, in the meantime I have a commission. (My first!)  While I waited for measurements I started a piece for a St. Pat's Day table runner.  And therein lies the adventure.  :-)

I have warped the loom several times, and everything has gone remarkably smoothly.  I suppose I shouldn't have expected that to go on forever--but I was hopeful.  Let's just say it was a warping-from-hell.  I learned a couple of things, though:  how to make a heddle from string (actually, I used sock yarn and I may come to regret that--fortunately it isn't a very long piece, so the friction will hopefully not destroy it), and I also learned that when you make such a heddle you must pay attention to where you create the "eye."   Mine was too high and when I opened the shed that warp thread was not clear about where it wanted to be.  I fumbled--literally--my way through that, and weaving seems to be going smoothly now.

So, once this piece is finished I'll be ready to get started on the commission.  I had bought yarn for the commission but, now that I've been working on this piece, I think I'd like to use this same combination of warp and weft yarns for the comIMG_20110228_212407.jpgmission.

(Pink yarn is just waste weaving, to even out the warp threads.)

Peppermint Stick

Whew!  I finally had the time to quit just putzing at the weaving, and finish up the Peppermint Stick woven piece.  I'm mostly happy with it--edges are a little wavy, but I know why it did that, and I should be able to avoid that in the future.

I am happy with the warping--it kept tension evenly, and well, much better than previous woven pieces.   All in all, given that it's just my second piece woven on the Baby Wolf, it turned out pretty well.

Cany Cane weaving

The warping for my candy cane weaving is finished.  This is actually the second warping, having used the fuzzy yarn for the white in the warp and then cutting it all off because it wasn't going to work-the fuzziness gets tangled with the fuzziness next door, and I would have had to physically work with each end to open the shed on every pick.  I also tried tying the new warp onto the old, and found that I didn't like that--I still rather like doing the warp from the start.

Anyway, the new warping, with all cotton, went well and seems to be working--the fell is as straight as any of my weaving so far.  I had to correct a threading error but, thanks to having learned with the last weaving to check the shed BEFORE starting to weave.  I think--fingers crossed--that all is well.

I'm not sure yet that I like the fuzzy yarn for the weft.  When I finish this weaving I think I'll try a smaller sample, using the cotton for the weft, too.

New warp...on the old

I'm tying a new warp onto the old; the width and heddle threading pattern is the same, so it should work--fingers crossed!

In my head I'm making a scarf or table runner that looks like--or at least brings to mind--a candy cane.  I used a great online plaid design program to try out different warp and weft combinations.  I want to use a twill pattern for part of the weaving because I think it will give the winding effect of a candy cane, and the design program won't show me that.   But it was a wonderful help in planning the basic warp and weft.  We'll see. (If you want to check out the design site:  http://plaidmaker.org )

Finally weaving!

Finished warping the loom, and finally got started weaving.  I'm learning many things: double-check for crossed warp threads before weaving,  etc.

Tied to back apron rod:

Back beam warped...

And finally weaving!  ( Notice that I'm not showing you the beginning of the weaving!)   I practiced several inches of tabby (plain) weave and dealing with things like the selvedges (managing them is, for me, different than on the rigid heddle--or, at least different enough that I'm having to play with it), and crossed warp thread (note to self:  double-check for crossed threads BEFORE you start weaving---oh, did I mention that before???)  Then I tried twill weave.   I like it.

The yarn I'm using is a little stretchy but it's working OK--probably good for me to learn how to do it.  I do like the rhythm of treadle-shuttle-beat-treadle-shuttle-beat, which you can't do with a rigid heddle.  And having 4 shafts make it easy to do patterns that look complicated.