My first rugs

I finally finished weaving, then braiding my rugs. I am so stoked about these. I wish that there were a way for all of you to feel the drape and softness of these rugs. Once I got them off the loom, the next step was to braid the fringe. Instructions from the pattern were not very clear, and I could not find anything on a Google search. The directions included adding 1/2″ of waste yarn and to unravel slowly. So, I started at the left edge and unraveled the waste yarn, 6 threads at a time. It was a slow, tedious process, and I just developed a Zen attitude, either listening to a podcast, music or a TV show. My drafting table came in handy, the parallel rule holding down the rug, weighted by beautiful knitting books on the other side.

The seam ripper was a good way to carefully remove the yarn. Directions called for braiding for 2″ and have a guide to measure against. That is really not necessary, as all you need to do is count the number of cross overs, in my case being 25, then tie a knot to secure.

It is only by happenstance that this yarn made rugs a perfect match for my vintage 1913 bathroom.

I had added additional warp to be able to make 2 rugs. The second is shorter than I would have liked. I should have learned, as these instructions from this kit are very skinny on the warp length. Even with that, I have quite a bit of yarn left. After all 4 of these projects are completed, I will use the extra yarn to make more rugs.

#ArriannaFunk

#GistYarn

#Lada2021

Låda Part 3

I signed up last year for the Gist yarn Låda (pronounced low-da) 2021 quarterly subscription box for 4-shaft loom weavers, created by Arianna E. Funk and Gist Yarn. These patterns have introduced me to Droppdräll the Swedish word for Huckaback weaving.

Låda – Set of Four Patterns

I have made 2 of the 4, and working on the third now.

Here is a recap if my first weaving from this subscription, it is a shawl, although a bit stiff. I keep it on the porch for those cool nights. It was a good introduction to the technique. What I realized afterwards is that the patterns leave a lot of extra yarn, something that I tried to rectify in project #2. While the directions are good, I would have liked to have a community that was working on the patterns at the same time, or at least a place where I could see what others had made and discuss issues. for instance, there was no discussion in the patterns for how to add the tripled yarn in when you ran out. I ended up feathering in the 3 different strands sothat I did not have a large overlap. More direction there would have been appreciated.

The second project was towels. I absolutely love how these came out. Knowing that I was going to have extra yarn, I warped on for an additional towel. I also got a hand towel to hang in the kitchen. I use these daily in my main bathroom

Now I am working on project 3 – rugs. The techniques get more involved, albeit slowly. Here is my progress so far. Again, I warped enough to make a second rug.

For the rug, I had to wind 6 yarns together for the rug shuttle. Here is my trick, use wine bottles (they need to be full, you can drink after this part is completed) to hold the cones. worked perfectly.

And to separate the rugs, I needed selvedge yarn to make braids, so I used cardboard strips that I have for warping on the beam. I just wove a couple of plain rows in between each separator. Worked splendidly.

So far, this is my favorite project. But, I am really looking forward to the pillows next (see link above)

#ArriannaFunk

#GistYarn

#Lada2021

Weaving Lab Part 2

I returned on June 6th to the Weaving Lab exhibit at Compound Yellow to work on the installation of weaving to music.

The interactive weaving exercise took an hour, and it was on an 8-shaft Wolf Pup loom.  I did have some difficulties at first with the pedals being so close to the edge and the amount of pressure that it took to push down on them.

Here are the General Instructions.  All of the pedals were marked, and I needed to check them as I worked.  The shuttle pattern was given that I followed.

Here are some samples of my weaving.  I felt that I did fairly well for my first time on a shaft loom.  I am sure that a weaver with experience would have found this rudimentary.  You were supposed to switch when the music changed.  I had trouble with the sound transition at the second point and moved to the end a bit too soon.  The last set of music was birds in the wild, I loved it and found it so relaxing.

During the nature portion of the music, I repeated the diamond pattern, but used one row with black weft, and the next with white.  It gave an interesting pattern. apologies for the blurry images from my antique phone.

Again, I need to encourage anyone locally to go to the event.  It closes this weekend, and then is off to Europe.  There is also a galley exhibit with Marianne Fairbank’s beautiful weavings.  Here is just a tease.

Weaving Lab

School finally finished a couple of weeks ago, and I am catching up on posts.   this semester seemed especially busy.  Not sure why.  My last post involved Compound Yellow, as does this one coincidentally.

This past Sunday, there was a grand opening for Weaving Lab in the 2nd floor studio space at Compound Yellow.  Marianne Fairbanks brought many different types of looms that could be tried out, examples of weaving and books to peruse.  In addition there were 2 exhibits that opened in the 1st floor area, and several sample projects displayed throughout the studio.  I encourage anyone local to plan to make it to the space in the next couple of weeks and sample the looms.  I have posted the information from compound Yellow’s website with the gallery hours.

I tried out a few of the looms, and am going back for a “Weaving Sounds” loom project soon that involves weaving to the tune of music (sign up for a 1 hour time slot).   I wove the few alternating rows on the photo below of brown and dark gray.  This will be converted into a pillow at some point.

This loom from the 50’s with a steering wheel was most unique and fun to try.

And before I left, she had these little weaving cards, or pocket looms as she calls them, that were made on a laser cutter, and everyone could try a little sampler.  the cut-out even acts as the stand!

 

I just started mine, I will post my finished object later.  Some were veery creative, using paper and other items.

Now I am so excited to start a weaving class.

The next stop for this exhibit is Norway so see it here while you can!

 

WEAVING LAB WITH MARIANNE FAIRBANKS

Opening reception: Sunday, June 2, 1:00-4:00pm

Weaving Lab invites the public to participate in the process of weaving, speculation and conversation.  Weaving tutorials are combined with conceptual inquiries into domains of rhythm, math systems, meditation, and materiality.  Weaving Lab both explores and subverts each of these associations, hovering between process and speculation, theory and making, and providing questions and experiences so that each participant can draw their own conclusions. The project works to extend access to weaving so that we might invent new ideas about textiles, community, and making .

 Whether you can stay for five minutes or one hour, we hope that you can come join us to weave, connect, and explore. More info at weavinglab.com.

Week 1:

June 3-          Monday 10-5
June 4-          Tuesday 10-5
June 5-          Wednesday 11-7
June 6-          Thursday 11-7
June 7-          Friday 10-5
June 8-          Saturday 10-5
June 9-          Sunday 12-5

Week 2:

June 10-        Monday 10-5
June 11-        Tuesday 10-5
June 12-        Wednesday 11-7
June 13-        Thursday 11-7
June 14-        Friday 10-5
June 15-        Saturday 10-5

CLOSING RECEPTION AND DISCUSSION:
3:30-5PM SUNDAY, JUNE 30, 2019
MARIANNE FAIRBANKS, EMILY WINTER AND LISA VINEBAUM

 

Navajo Rug Weaving

An historic silent film

My new Hobby requires a few things…

Taking on a new hobby is not without some equipment and supplies.  I found these at Architectural Artifacts (led there by Kim and Jane), and got a great deal on the cones for warping my loom.

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Luckily they fit nicely in my yarn closet, at the front of the baskets holding yarn and projects.

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For my second project I tried direct warping, and although I had to do it twice, it seems to have worked really well. I did not have a clamp to hook to, so brought one of my dining room chairs down.  Essentially you have a large cone of yarn sitting under the wheel and keep wrapping it over or under the back bar and then to “peg” that you have set the distance away to get the length that you want.  Because you are not tying down individual strings, except when you want to change colors, it seems to go much better.  My new weaving hook helps a lot too, tried the first time with a crochet hook, and that was really cumbersome.

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This is the video that shows how to do it, much better than I could describe.

And here is my 2nd project, over 1/2 way done.  Not sure what it will look like…  It is quick and fun though, and I have found a good location in the basement that was an unused area, and I can watch TV while working on this.

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The Gift that Inspired

Last Fall my cousin Cheryl emailed me to ask if I would like an Architecture book that they found at a sale; of course I had to answer yes.  I was very surprised when this large box arrived the next week.

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These are cones of yarn used mainly by weavers.  Weaving had always enticed me, but the only looms that I knew of were the Inkle loom and the large floor looms.  I have an Inkle loom that I have been meaning to learn on for many years, and the floor looms are just too big for our house.  Then last Fall my friend Jane was given an old table top loom by a neighbor, which got her on the weaving bug.  The beautiful shawls and blankets and bags that she has been turning out were really inspiring.  A woman at the local yarn shop was interested in selling her table top loom, but luckily she never got back to me with a price.  A couple of months later Kim and Joe joined our SnB knitting group one night.  Kim is a knitter and weaver, and Joe makes square wooden knitting needles. Joe was showing me photos of all his projects, which included a floor Rigid Heddle loom, I was intrigued, and when I went to visit them a couple of weeks later, I purchase one on the spot.  Each is a little bit different as he uses reclaimed lumber, so there is a mixture of various hardwoods in each loom, and they are all unique.  Apparently he was inspired to start making looms when the noise of Kim’s table top loom banging on the table got to him, and he has been making them for many years.  You can find out more about his products here.  This is from the website:

The Rigid Heddle Loom is an original design by wood artisan, Joe Hanes

It has been evolving through the years.

This loom is simply beautiful and purely functional!!   Created from exotic wood

showing many of the “beauty marks” from the wood.

They are  a strong durable loom,  that can “pivot” to the weaver’s back, which means the  weaver can choose to sit anywhere they are

 comfortable to weave at their loom.

         It has slides on the sides, which allows more space for theweaver to create.

The loom can pivot down  to enable the loom to slide into small spaces.

  They are made in 18″ and 24″ widths.

Kim & Joe Looms

A couple of weeks ago my loom arrived, the 24″ wide version, and last week Joe helped me to set it up and warp the threads.

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Sliding Bar for the Rigid Heddle so that it can move down towards you and requires less time winding up.

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Beautiful wooden tension knobs.

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The warping took about 2 hours and I used some of the cream colored cotton in the gift box of weaving yarns.  Looks like a mess, but it all turned out beautifully.

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Then we wove some toilet paper at the beginning to even out the threads and I was ready to go.

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And there she sat for a couple of days while I looked at Youtube videos and waited for Jane to come over and guide me throughout the beginning of my first project.