I Like Sectional Warp Beams!

You may not have heard me cheer late last week, but I know my near neighbors must have.  I have had a hard time the last couple of years, staying on task up in the studio.  Nobody's fault but my own, I usually have too many irons in the fire, and end up getting nothing done.  Anyway last week, I spent a couple of days concentrated on weaving off some long standing warps.

 One of them was on the loom a couple of years (8/4 blankets) and the other warp (8/2 towels), had been on a loom I had sold at least 3 years ago, and had finally gotten back on a loom last month.  It really did not take long to weave this second warp in plainweave, letting the stripes do the all the work.  I haven't finished or washed the fabric that came off the looms, once I get that done, I will post some pictures.

The "Burchard" loom from Berkley, California, is a 4 harness counterbalance loom, that has a wooden sectional warp beam.  One of the sectional rakes was in need of repair, so I took it on Tuesday so that Polly could take a look at it.  She is going to repair it for me,  and soon I will be putting on a new warp for Linen kitchen towels.  This will be a first for me,  but I have quite a bit of linen on hand, and I have to use it for something!

The Sears "Hearthside" loom (6 harness/ 6 treadles, jack loom) had the towel warp on it.   About a month ago, I purchased some used Leclerc sectional rakes that I thought would fit this loom.  Once I emptied the loom, I went to work putting on the new sectional rakes, which do indeed fit the back beam.  (I prefer sectional warp beams, for me it simplifies warping, especially for long warps.)

 It required a little drilling on my part, but I was up for it.  I also had to go get some bolts and wing nuts  that would fit through both the rake and the old beam boards to hold it all together.


 (They are always curious about what project I am getting into when I go into the hardware store.)

An hour or so later  the rakes were in place and I was ready to start winding spools of yarn to get the new warp loaded.

I have had this pile of partial cones forever.  I usually use it for weft, but I do have a shelf full of full cones as well.  (This is 12/3 white cotton, that I got years ago when I inherited the famous 100yd warps of the very same thread)  I thought that it would ease the clutter (in my mind and on the shelf) a bit if I could empty some of these cones first as I wound the warp spools.

When I was finished with the 24 white spools I had emptied all these cones.  There are a few more partial cones remaining, and you can be sure I will be using them first as I wind bobbins for weft, before I break into the full cones.

I also wound 16 spools of 8/4 in the color red, it will give me a lot of choices as I design the warp as I go.

Oh the possibilities!

I had already wound the red and white sections that go down the center of this towel warp before I stopped to get this picture, so I had moved on to the all whited sections.

 Here is a picture of the Leclerc spool rake that holds 40 spools.  A couple of months ago, I got a deal on 40 Leclerc warping spools, and this is the first time I have been able to use them.  I don't think that this tension box is a Leclerc, but it works just the same.

I had to clamp a board to the bottom of the back beam so that the tension box will stay on.  An extra clamp here and there keeps everything in place as I wind each 1inch wide, 20yd section.


















I have wound 17 sections and I plan to add an additional 3 sections on each side of  what is already on the loom, that will give me a good 23 inches in width for  some very thirsty kitchen towels.

I have found a broken twill threading that was designed for this very same 6 harness, 6 treadle  Hearthside loom.  It was on one of my favorite online resources,  here .  It is a wonderful website full of really old out of print and out of copyright books, magazines, articles etc , on any fiber related subject you can think of.

Spring break is right around the corner, which means more Grandma time for me in the coming 2 weeks, including a trip to Washington DC!  So it may be a couple of weeks before I can get back to this project, but you can be sure that I am looking forward to it!

I almost forgot, this week I finished the first band using Knit Picks "Curio" crochet cotton, that I posted about last week.  I really like how it turned out, it feels sturdy but soft in my hand and there is a slight sheen that "Curio" has that enhances this band.  There is also just the right amount of slickness to this yarn that makes "pulling the weft through on the succeeding shed" easier for me.  All in all I really recommend this yarn for all your warp faced band weaving needs.


That is it for today, Until next time, Happy Weaving!

Edit: because of math!

Narrow Bands

You may notice a similarity in thought between LouAnn and myself, we have been overcome with narrow bands lately.   Narrow bands are quick to warp, and fun to weave, they can be as complicated as some of the Scandinavian "Pick up" bands, or a quick simple plain weave band.  You can use them to tie things up, like gift packages or maybe a bundle of items you need for a project.  They can be used as ties on an apron, straps on a bag or collars for a goat.  Before there were buttons and zippers, there were narrow bands.

We still use commercial narrow bands these days, in many ways, lantern wicks, book binding, even zippers are made with narrow bands, and teeth or spiral coil.  Many hand weavers make a bit of narrow band or tape to make tabs to hang a hand towel or item of clothing.  Anyway, I think that is what  has spurred us once again, into the world of narrow band weaving.

I have been weaving some bands with what I had on hand, 8/4 carpet warp, sewing thread, and that was working well enough.  But, a couple of weeks ago I read about a crochet cotton distributed by "Knit Picks" an online yarn company.  I went to check it out and I found that they offered a 20 ball sampler at a really good price, and since I was in a "gathering" mood, I ordered the sampler.  A few days later there was a box on my porch when I got home.

The box was literally bulging!  I brought it inside and opened it right away!















There were 2 layers in the box, this being the bottom one.  There is a really good variety of colors and even though there a couple that I would not normally have ordered, I think that it may push me to use some color combinations I may have otherwise not done.

I was so tickled with my new stash of band weaving yarn that I was loathed to break into them, I didn't want to mess up the neat tidy little balls, once you start to use them they never look so good.  Anyway, I wanted to share them with the group on Tuesday before I disturbed this lovely picture.







On Thursday, I was finally able to sit down and choose my narrow band pattern from Anne Dixon's "Inkle Pattern Directory".  I chose the pattern "Single Flowers" but I changed the pattern a little bit to make it a symetrical band.  I stayed close to her color choices, and I am pleased with the results.

The weaving of this band is going pretty quickly, since it is plain weave and I do not have to do any extra steps to get the pattern, it is all decided while you warp.  I warped the full length on the Schacht Inkle loom that I have borrowed from the center, I expect to have a good bit of band to use as apron strings.

I really like this yarn, it is smooth, strong, shiny and colorful, just right for narrow band weaving.  Each ball of yarn has over 700 yards on it,  I could even see using some in a project on my floor looms.  The only complaint that I have read about this yarn is that people want to see more colors come available.

I can't wait to get this band off the loom so that I can see how it looks and feels in comparison to some of my previous bands.

It is comforting to know that I have more than enough colors and yardage to experiment with for the next couple of years.  Until next time, Happy weaving, Tina