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
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
3 comments:
So many colors....so many possibilities!!! That thread has such a lovely sheen!
I have missed the whole week of updates from the Tuesday gang, but I sure caught the one that'll cost me! Thanks for the tip!
How fun! And tempting...
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