New Projects

I picked up a 24" 24-harness AVL workshop loom a short time ago. It's a computer dobby loom, and a very fun weave.

It's spawned a lot of weaving mojo, so I've started warping scarves to weave up. Three scarves, one for a friend and two for his wife. I don't know her favorite colors, but I picked color schemes based on what she likes to wear --jewel tones. I chose a winter palette and a fall palette because those seem the richest in tone and texture. The winter palette scarf is an 8/2 painted tencel warp with an 8/2 solid tencel weft and a rayon 6-strand embroidery floss pattern weft in gold. The fall palette scarf is a jumble of painted tencels and rayons, alpaca/silk, silk noil, and even a cotton/metallic.

The other scarf is for a man, so I chose an alpaca/silk pattern weft and a cashmere tabby (3/52 doubled as warp, 2/28 as weft) to weave a very fine (small) overshot pattern in a loom-controlled doubleweave. Yes, I'll post pictures when I get them on the looms.

Ignoring The Softer Side

I've been ignoring all of my craft works for a couple of years now. Part of that has been the intense pressure to succeed on a couple of work projects. Part of it is because my eyesight changed drastically due to some medications, and even after they were discontinued my eyesight did not go back to normal. Part of it is because I have not gotten along with my newest loom as well as I'd hoped. (Yes, it's LOVELY to weave without pressure on my knees, but I miss the balance of the Schacht Wolf loom.)

I do miss the work in my hands. I have made all sorts of things with my sewing machine, but I miss throwing the shuttle or holding the needle. I miss the feel of deep purples or teals or reds flowing through my hands as they make up the web of the work.

What I've been doing for four years now is a Lot More programming. And work on some things that I can't talk about. We finally made the first level this week --our small startup was seeded by an Angel Investor. There have been some really crazy hours logged on this project.

I've also been away from the blog for more personal reasons. I did a favor for a friend a few years back (has it been THAT long??) and the creepiest group of people imaginable began stalking me online. Fine, whatever.

So, my loom and needlework stands are calling me. I've found glasses that help me work again. It's time to just put away the electronic stuff and dissolve into handwork.

Progress

I've finished 3 samples in one evening for the Ratings Program. I'm still going to let the judging wait until September, but I should be ready in April or May.

I need to re-sley the project and start on other samples now.

I'll take some pictures tonight and post about the rosepath scarf that I'm weaving in space-dyed purple merino and 2/20 deep purple worsted. It's a bit fussy because I have to lay in each pick --not tromp down on the beat. And it's on one of my table looms which I don't care as much to weave on. (Unless it's boundweave figures) So it's slow going. I'm trying to weave off about 4 inches per night. I'll have it finished in about two weeks at that rate.

Futility

Today I'm beating myself up a bit about that last failed project. I should have recognized that the yarn wasn't twisted tightly enough to be a warp. It pulled apart in my hands indicating that it was too soft for a warp tension.

Ah well. There's no sense in dwelling on it. The next project is part of the Ratings Program, so I won't be posting pics of the piece in weaving or finished until after the judging in September.

Finished the Silk Noil

....but I didn't finish a scarf. I'm kinda bummed, but that warp was just shredding. It wasn't just the abrasion from the reed. The warp itself couldn't handle the tension strain put on it. It started snapping from the front where it was winding around the cloth beam. At that point, when 5 threads gave at once, I gave up, wove a header, and cut it off the loom.

Here's what my 7.5" sample looks like:



And this is what the start of the piece looked like cut off the loom. (Remember, these were the unsuccessful attempts so it doesn't look like much.)



Not stopping to cry, I started beaming another project. This one is a long warp in wool:



I've spread the warp in the raddle, tied it on the back beam stick, and I've started to wind on. I need help to wind on since I can't hold the friction brake, pull the warp, and wind the beam at the same time. So, tomorrow when Norm has more time I'll get this on the loom and ready to thread.

And It Just Keeps Breaking...

I'm finally liking this project and in a weaving groove. I have to lay the weft in lightly so that the diamond pattern doesn't pack down and obscure the painted warp. So the weaving is a bit slow and fiddly. I'm about 6" into the weaving when this happens:



Another broken warp thread. And this one is after the real weaving started, which means I can't just cheat and tie on a length of warp and advance past the knot to start weaving again. This time I have to employ a weight off the back of the loom.



I haven't done this in a while. I don't know where my old film canisters are so that I can use a penny weight system. So looking around for something heavy enough to weight that thread but light enough it won't break it, I end up with the bracket for my raddle. It works.

I continue weaving along. Around 7.25", this happens:



And I'm fixing it off the back with the other raddle bracket:



I hope this won't happen again, but I fear that this is the beginning of the end. I think the painted silk noil yarn is just too soft to be a warp thread. It's snapping like mad. I think the skinny weft yarn that has 16 picks to the 3/8" is just too many abrasions with the reed for this warp.

If I break another one, I'll stop weaving on this project and pull it off the loom. Maybe I can make a small bag out of the tiny amount of fabric woven.

Fixed the Warp

I fixed the broken warp thread by tying the portion that was around the back beam and through the heddle to a long piece that I anchored in the web with a pin. Like this:



Once the warp thread was secured, I advanced the warp so that the knot wouldn't be in my weaving (or fringe on the finished piece) and started weaving the piece again. This time, I used that lovely deep purple cotton 10/2 yarn from the Lunatic Fringe --10 Purple Blue is the color. I just stuck with a straight vertical herringbone, and suddenly this failed project turned into something pretty:



The weave structure lets the painted warp peek through the solid zigzags. It's lovely. But that photo above isn't quite capturing the colors. This one does:



And there we go. I've gotten one inch woven off so far. Only 71" more to go. Pure work now that I've solved all the problems, but fun to see that pattern emerge.