It's cold!!! I mean, really COLD! Those of us here in East Tennessee are used to freezing weather in the winter (we're not total wimps!) but we are NOT used to it lasting so long! It was 11 degrees when I got up this morning....it hasn't been above freezing in a week! And, that is the source of my chilly weaving!
It was chilly in the house yesterday...I couldn't seem to get warm. I had on the proper layers, and polar fleece and wool socks, but I couldn't get warm. I kept bumping up the thermostat but that didn't help, and on one of those trips to "kick it up a notch" I noticed that it was 62 degrees in the house. HUH???? There was even a little message on the unit: "Check System."
I ran downstairs to the furnace room, and sure enough, that little pump had kicked on that's supposed to keep me from drowning and ruining the heat unit. The condensation tube had frozen where it exits the house. (Now this is the same little tube that caused all the water damage in my laundry room when the drain backed up!)
Long story short, the tube is thawed, and all is well for the moment. But, it sure did take a while before the house warmed up again. The kitchen was the warmest place to be, so I pulled out the Pioneer Loom that I had gotten from Joyce, one of our fellow weavers. It's a very interesting table loom with a top open reed and top load heddles. The front and back beams extend to thread the loom, and it holds about a two yard warp in this position. Good for sampling, right? Or, in my case, playing around with overshot patterns for mug rugs!
I had been playing with a piece of Tennessee Squares from Davison's Handweaver's Source Book. There was a perfect motif for mug rugs in the upper right hand corner.
So, why the house was getting warmer, I threaded the pattern for TN Squares.
The loom is built so that after you thread your pattern, you beam on the thread by closing up the loom.
I don't have the tension down great, yet, but I already know that I need a few more repeats of the small squares in the corners to add length to the rug. The finished length was only 4.5 inches.
I also discovered that you shouldn't use a boat shuttle with this loom; the shed doesn't really allow for that. So, for the second rug, I've got a stick shuttle loaded with the tabby thread. I think I'll do a red rug for my friend that has a red kitchen after I get the kinks worked out. She'll be pleased!Happy weaving & stay WARM!
LouAnn
6 comments:
I am glad your heat is back on! I would love to see you warp that crazy loom the next time you get to it!
Glad to see a warp on that loom! I should have known your first warp would be overshot!! It looks great!
Linda
Ok,I give up. How do you treadle it? You need to do a demo one Tuesday on how it works. The overshot is so pretty.
Bonnie...The levers are on the right side...just like our other table looms. I threaded it with the heddles in the up position (found out it was easier) and then put the levers back in the correct position to weave.
Glad you're warm again. It was heated here at the house when I arrived, but it was about 15 F below and the house is old so I froze. It's a bit warmer now and more comfortable, or am I just getting used to it?
That pattern looks great! Mug rugs will be a great project for overshot! Do you have a mug yet or are you just figuring?
Carol
So glad to have found your blog. I simply do not understand the drafts, in A Handweaver's Source Book, even though I have read the explanation on page 10. How am I to know that the draft [figure 1] starts on the second shaft? Then, how could I guess that in the second block, threading begins on the second shaft?
I'm sure it is something quite clear and that I am too thick-headed to understand the reasoning. Any help would be so very much appreciated.
Cordially,
Judith Rosenberg
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