Black and White

Last week I had gotten as far as this on Carl Junior.  Between last week and this week, I  switched out the reed that was too big, and threaded the warp through the reed, but I was not happy with the sett, it made the warp too wide for the Jr.

I checked with Lou Ann about the proper sett for this pattern, and it was 12epi instead of the 10 I was using.  So once I resleyed at the proper sett it was a perfect fit!

This is the beginnings of the first rug.  I am using t shirts cut in strips.  I am using a frazer rag cutter to do the job.  The blue and white will be the dominant colors, so I am stripping those shirts as I go along, but I only need one shuttle full of the red, black and a green.














On a side note, we found a small swarm of bees on one of the small crabapple trees we planted this spring, it was really cool!  But before we could capture them they swarmed again and flew away.  That was really cool to watch, though I am a bit disappointed to not have a hive, I had even picked out the perfect place to put it!

I also found 2 dead moles in the house this week, whew something so small could make such a stench, it did not go unnoticed!

Back up in the Studio, it is time for one of the 100 yard warps to go on the 8 harness. (These warps are only 8 inches wide in the reed and for hand towels I have doubled one of the warps over on itself to make it 16 inches in the reed, so now 50yds.)  I had tried a weighted system  with this warp sometime last year, and I never could get the weights just right.  Either the weights were not enough, and the warp gave as I wove or they were too much and the whole loom groaned as I tried to advance the warp.


So I am back to conventional weaving on this loom.  I am using my trapeze to load the warp and I have 2 weights of 3lbs on it as well, I am going to try and see how much of this warp I can get on the warp beam, I will have to get some more wooden slats for that today.




When I had taken down the weighted warp last year, I rough tied a new warp onto the old warp and of course inserted lease sticks.   As I wound on, I came across the join, and spent a day tying the two together, I think it would have been quicker to start with the fresh warp from the beginning! ( I have several of these 100 yd warps in 12/3 cotton, in the  4 tubs you see below the trapeze.)

I wiggled the little knots through the rough sleyed reed that I use as a raddle, and I wiggled them through the lease sticks, with only 2 broken threads.

I am going to experiment with this warp, if I succeed in getting all 50 yards on the loom it is going to be a long standing project.   I am considering Monks cloth to start with.  I figure I can always rethread when I want to.  With 8 harnesses, I have a lot of design options.




So that was it for this last week, I am glad to be back to work in the Studio, but I am feeling cramped and scattered and I am slowly working on a Studio clean out and reorganization.  Stay tuned!

Until next time, Happy Crafting

Call Me Crazy!

This is where I left off last week.  I had taken the Waffle Weave towels off of the loom in order to re-thread for another pattern.  I kept looking at the towels and at how narrow they were. I did not like it!  I also did not like how there was several reed marks the length of the towels due to the spacing I was forced to do with a 15 dent reed and a 14 epi warp.  I finally decided to pull the whole warp off the back beam, (I know, call me  crazy!) and double the width  with the rest of the warp, and use a 15 epi, which would give me 26 inches in the reed, which is totally acceptable on Little Alice.

 

So I began,  I measured the warp as I took it off, and got 36 yards.  I had cut of just over 4 yards, so their must be 40 yards of paper on the loom.  That is good to know, but it also means that there were 40 yards of paper coming off the back beam that I had to rewind onto the paper holder!

I think it is a beautiful warp.  I pulled it over the loom and towards the back of the loom to make it easier to manage both the warp and the paper.

Here it is going into a box for safe keeping.  I didn't chain it, that would have been one thing too many. ( I know, call me crazy!)

I kept the two warps separate and I started to wind on, only to discover that the paper is too narrow for this width of warp!  So I pulled out the mini blinds that Lou Ann is so fond of and cut a bunch more to size for this project.  I only hope I have enough, 36 yards is a lot to wind on with sticks!

This week has not been the best week for weaving.  In fact this morning has been my only time this week, in the Studio.  This afternoon I am off and running again, so I had to leave it just like this.  It will be waiting for me when I get home this afternoon, and again tomorrow morning, I expect to spend several hours on it then, as well.

I think it will be well worth all the trouble though.  I will be able to weave  much wider towels (even the Waffle Weave) that will please me and my customers much more than those sad narrow ones.  I suppose that the old mountain weaver that wound these long warps had a specific purpose for them that eludes me, maybe it was  table runners, or something like that.

That is all for now, Until next time, Happy Weaving, Tina

Making it up as I go!

Wednesday, I cut the Hollywood Place-mats and Runners off of my little Leclerc, Alice.  I thought it might be time to tackle some of those 100 yd 12/3 white cotton warps that I got in the great haul we posted about last spring.  I must have six or seven of them, and they are wound with 7 strands at once and there are 28 bouts, so that makes 196 ends.  If I do 14 epi, (which I think would be logical)  that would be 14 inches across.  Remember, I did not wind these warps or plan what to do with them!

 Since they are so incredible long, I thought that it would be a good idea to wind these babies on the back beam first and then thread them through the heddles. ( I usually do it the other way!)

I started doing the math as I was looking at these 2 warps, and I saw right away that the only raddle  I have is 20 inches, which would be 8 inches short of the 28 inches I was planning on. Also, I remembered that this little loom has a max weaving width of 27inches!  I also remembered that on Tuesday Carol mentioned something about using an epi of 12, which would give me an even wider width! (Just did the math, 16.3 inches, per warp!)

So, I think I am going to have to re-tie the cross on one of these warps, and put it away,  space the remaining warp ends at 12 epi, and start winding on. I wonder how long this is going to take to wind on? 

 I am planning on threading for Waffle Weave towels first, and when I get good and tired of that, I saw some really cool towels over on "Hey Dawn- whats happening at the Studio" Blog, that I thought I might try.  They are made with a white warp and colored weft.  I have some navy and some tan in a weight that will be compatible with the 12/3.   100 yds  is a lot to work with, I know that I will be switching and doing something else with it after that,  I might even be ready to try some Huck lace by then. 

Who knows how many things this warp will end up being when it is all said and done!  If  I get good and tired of it and I still have some left, I will  have no problem with  re-tying  the cross and putting it back in its tub and doing something else for awhile. The only thing is I have at least 6 more of them! Oh My!

Until next time, Happy Winding and Weaving, Tina