Loot!

My yarn came in!

Well, most of it... Some of it is on back order. Sigh... :(

These are the yarns that I ordered for the 5 exercises at the end of the chapter on "Plain Weave Variations" in the Chandler book. You can see that I'm still sticking pretty closely to thicker wools - the thought of moving to thinner cottons and silks makes me nervous. But the yellow is thinner than anything I've woven with to date! Baby steps... ;)

The exercises have me practicing a plain weave, rib weave, basket weave and twill while changing sett, in a plaid, and using yarns of different weights and textures. I'll also be trying a log-cabin pattern. That looks really cool in the pictures!

I'll try to get the loom warped for the first exercise in the evenings after work this week. I'd love to be ready to go next weekend! What are you working on this week?

Carrying an Umbrella to Prevent the Rain

Well, people in central Florida have me to thank for the end of the "cold" spell and the return of our typically temperate February weather.

"How did she do it?" you may be wondering. Well, it was simple, really. I just finished the toasty warm scarf that I was making for David! ;)

It went amazingly quickly. I purchased the yarn last Saturday and finished weaving after work on Monday. As advertised, the wool was very forgiving with my far-from-perfect tension and settled itself into nice parallel stripes after being washed.

I had been wondering what the term "felting" means for a while, and I learned the hard way - by putting the scarf in my washing machine. I did select the most gentle cycle, but there was definitely felting along the fringe. Lesson learned - it's hand washing for me from now on. ;)

I was worried about the weft tails from each color change. I tied overhand knots, but many of them came out - in the washing machine... So, I used my sewing machine to stitch along each long edge. And I took that opportunity to put in my label.

Eventually I hope to get a photo of David modeling the scarf, but a friend at work offered to be the "stand in" for now:

The yarn for my next series of samplers in the Chandler book is due to arrive early next week. Unfortunately, I've got a trip this week and through the weekend, so it's going to be a little while before I can get back on the loom... :(

Oh, I'll be working with something other than wool - kind of like going without a safety net! ;)

Wish me luck! :)

Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men...

Oh yes, I'm going to continue doing the exercises in the Chandler book and postpone any "real" projects until I've finished all those samplers... Right... Was anyone taking bets as to how long that would last? ;)

If so, the results are in: less than one week. But, wait, I have a rationalization. Oops, I mean, an excuse. Er, rather, a good reason.

You see, I decided to order the yarn for the next set of exercises via the internet. And it will take about a week to arrive in the mail. So, what was I to do in the meantime?

Clearly, I had to do a project. There was simply no alternative. ;)

Actually, it was a miscommunication that spawned the project. I wanted to show my first sampler to two Hispanic friends of mine, Ana and David. They don't speak English and my Spanish is pretty minimal. In my mind I was showing it to them, however my intention apparently wasn't clear. There was an awkward moment when Ana wrapped the sampler around David's neck and they both thanked me, as I realized what they thought. This was followed by an even more awkward moment as they realized that I hadn't been giving it to him for a scarf. Yikes! :(

In any event, after many apologies all around, I promised to make him a scarf. He rides a small, red motorscooter, so I decided to make him a red and black checked scarf out of the same wool I used for my sampler. It's not particularly soft, but hopefully it will be warm.

It's going quite quickly and I should be able to finish early this week. Then, when my "real" yarn arrives in the mail, I'll get back to the book and the exercises! Honest! ;)

One Sampler and Many Samples!

On Sunday, I took my first sampler off the loom. I simply made overhand knots - while it was still on the loom under tension - to tie it off:

I washed it in cold water with shampoo to finish it. It probably doesn't look like much to anyone but me, but I'm happy with all I learned on this project. :)

Okay, not to mention relieved that it didn't all collapse into a huge tangled knot the minute it left the loom! ;)

I still need to scrutinize it carefully and make note of things like the amount of (weft) draw-in, etc. I did estimate almost one yard of loom waste in the warp! Yikes! :(

As for the "many samples" - I took Susan's advice and ordered a bunch of yarn samples. More specifically, I ordered Halycon's Yarn Store in a Box ($40 + shipping).

Here is the complete set of cards that came in my box:

Here is a close-up view to give you a better sense of the variety of yarns that the cards cover:

Each card gives a lot of useful information, such as how to care for the yarn and the tabby and twill setts.

This is absolutely perfect for me, as I know nothing about yarns. :)

Part of me wants to jump in and start on a "real" project. However, Chapter 6 of the Chandler book has 5 weaving homework assignments at the end, focusing on practicing plain-weave variations.

One of the nice things (for me) about getting older is gaining some patience as well. So, I'm going to work on her exercises. (Well, some of them, anyways - I might not be THAT patient!) I know that I'll learn important things and gain practice that will contribute to the quality of my first "real" project. :)

Advice Column: Ask Experienced Weavers

Thank you so much to Lynette, Shannon, Jane, Sue, Cally and Amelia for offering up advice last week! I asked what people use as warp separators.

Three variations of brown paper were called out - rolls from the Dollar Store that are cheap but sometimes rip, the parcel wrapping brown paper readily available in many locations (including the post office), and carpenter/builder's paper available at Home Depot. :)

A couple of people use lease sticks - Jane made hers out of yard sticks, cut to the right length and sanded smooth.

Amelia warned me that fabric doesn't work well! (She knows that I have a stash of fabric just looking for a use!) ;)

Cally explained a bit about yarn for me. Her comment, combined with information from here, helps clear up my confusion about "knitting yarn". It seems that there are (at least) two types are yarn:

• woollen spun yarn - which is made of shorter fibers going every which way, and thus is soft and fluffy (and recommended for knitting)
• worsted yarn - which is made from longer fibers aligned in parallel, making it stronger and better for weaving

Finally, Lynette passed on a hint to periodically give the paper a good tug, to help tighten the warp, and Jane explained how she made her own raddle with some simple supplies from Home Depot.

I can't tell you how much I appreciate all of you taking the time to give me some advice and encouragement! Thanks! :)

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Dear EW,

The Chandler book is great and I am really learning a lot! In many instances she presents several ways to do something and encourages the beginner to try them all. I appreciate this perspective and intend to do just that.

But still, I'm curious to hear from other weavers... For example, how do you warp your loom, from front-to-back or back-to-front? And why?

Similarly, when do you beat your weft - before closing the shed, while it's closed, or after opening the new shed? And why?

Were you taught these methods explicitly, or did you experiment with several different ways before settling on your current approach?

I'd really be interested to hear your stories!

Thanks!
Gwen

photo credit:

snikrap

Some Nibbles from my First Sampler

Well, the "slight hitch" extended beyond the reed to the heddles, but I was able to sort it out and fix it, and then the weaving began! :)

The most fun bit was diving into The Handweaver's Pattern Dictionary by Anne Dixon and trying some of the patterns! The thing that made me especially happy was that I was able to "crack" the code myself. (Although, later I read the chapter in the Chandler book that explained it beautifully.)

I even experimented with different tie-ups:

Man, I have to say that the Chandler book is EXCELLENT! I tried some weaving before reading the relevant chapter, and experienced a few issues - such as the twill packing more tightly, having difficulty rolling the fabric forward, and getting little loops of yarn along the selvedges.

THEN I read the chapter and found out that she had covered EVERY single one of those issues! It was like she was psychic! (Or possibly, has taught hundreds of beginners and thus knows exactly what problems we typically have...) Note to self - from now on, read first! ;)

So, my selvedges are pretty crappy, I certainly do NOT have control over my ppi, and who knows how well I've maintained the right tension in my warp - but I'm having a blast and I'll learn! :)

Do you remember your first piece? What was it and how did it come out? Did you save it?

Advice Column: Ask Experienced Weavers

Thank you so much to Sue, Amelia, Kristin, Lynette, Leigh and Susan for offering up advice last week! I asked for advice about types of yarn and places to buy it.

Regarding good places to buy yarn, here is a (linked) list of the wonderful suggestions that I received:

• WEBS
• Halcyon Yarn
• Earthguild
• Yarn Barn
• Harrisville yarn
• Camilla Valley Farms
• Treenway Silks
• Brassard yarns

With regards to what type of yarn to use, several people encouraged me NOT to use "knitting yarn". Unfortunately, I'm not exactly sure what counts as knitting yarn. Back when I used to knit (dinosaurs still roamed the earth), I pretty much thought I could knit with anything I found in the store... I didn't know that certain yarns were officially "knitting yarns" and others weren't.

In contrast, a couple of people said that wool is a good first yarn, because it is very forgiving of beginner's mistakes.

So, based on this advice, I did return the cotton yarn that I had purchased (shown in the previous Dear EW post), and bought a wool yarn (Patons 100% pure new wool) instead. I don't know if this also counts as knitting yarn or not, but in the future I'll order from the above web sites, just to be sure... ;)

Other miscellaneous suggestions included a recommendation for thread on cones (vice balls) and to look for a local weaver's guild for both help and a community.

Finally, I also followed Susan's advice and downloaded the Master Yarn Size Chart from Interweave Press. I'm not sure exactly how to use it, but I'm sure I'll figure it out and it will come in handy eventually! ;)

Thanks again to everyone for taking the time to offer up so much advice and encouragement!

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Dear EW,

I'm working on my first warping, and I'm wondering about the warp separator. Chandler recommends heavy brown paper, corrugated cardboard, wallpaper, venetian blind slats or warp sticks. I didn't have any of those materials at hand. (It's lucky our house isn't wall papered, or I would have probably ripped a few panels off the wall! Ditto for venetian blinds...)

I ended up using medium weight crafter's vinyl, because it was the material that I had available that seemed most consistent with that recommendation.

I'm not sure how well it will work. Hopefully it won't stick unevenly to the yarn ends. We'll see...

So, do you have any recommendations? What do you use and where to you get it?

Thanks,

Gwen

photo credit: snikrap

A Slight Hitch in Warp Speed

On Saturday I finished sleying the reed and threading the heddles. Sunday I worked on attaching my warp to the back and front beams of the loom. Here are my threads tied to the apron for the back beam:

When I went to wind the threads onto my back beam, I discovered a missing piece of hardware. I don't have a crank handle. My husband supplied a metal ruler that did the trick. And I ordered a real one on Monday morning! ;)

Next, here are the threads tied to the apron on the front beam:

The next step was to make a header. I chose to use panty hose. (I wasn't the least bit influenced by how much I hate wearing them and how fun it was to cut up a few pairs!)

And THAT was when I discovered the hitch...

Yup, out of 120 ends, I had made exactly one mistake - two threads through the same dent, with no empty dent on either side. Truthfully, I'm not upset. It strikes me as reasonable to have made one mistake my first time. Also, I was interested in the process of how the error revealed itself to me and how I was able to diagnose the problem. Definitely a learning experience and it reassures me that I will be able to understand things - they won't just happen by accident or remain a mystery to me...

It looks like I'll have to unsley about 40 ends to fix the mistake - it wasn't quite in the middle of the warp, but almost! This will be good practice too. I've got a business trip this week, so I probably won't get back to it until next weekend. I'm getting really excited to start weaving! :)

Warp Speed: Faster Than I Expected

This weekend I jumped into the deep end with both feet. Carefully following the instructions in Chandler's book, Learning to Weave, I tried to thread my loom for the very first time. If you've used her book, then you know that her first project is a 10 inch by 2 yard sample, with 2 colors in the warp (in 1 inch strips) and 2 colors in the weft.

Here is my first color on the warping board:

And here is my first chain:

Chandler has you start by threading the loom front to back. This shot shows my progress half-way through sleying the reed:

And here the reed is fullly sleyed:

Here are the heddles threaded:

Another shot, from beater to shafts:

And, finally, a shot of the back of the loom.

That's as far as I got on Saturday. I haven't attached my yarns to the front or rear beams yet. Hopefully I'll be able to complete the process, and maybe even start some weaving, quite soon.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by how relatively smoothly and relatively quickly it all went together. Years ago I used to knit, and I think that experience helped me work with the yarn (wool) more comfortably. Also, of course, the piece isn't very large, so I was only working with 120 ends.

Still, I was braced for this to be very time-consuming and tedious and difficult - especially for my first time and working alone from a book - but it came together quickly and I can easily imagine the process being enjoyable with a bit more experience. :)

Parting Shot: Weaving is also new to our cats. Here, Sammy oversees my work at the warping board, with interest. I had just commented how sweet it was that he wanted to be near me, when he pounced on the ball of yarn... ;)

Advice Column: Ask Experienced Weavers

Dear EW,

Thank you so much to Amelia, Kristin and Sue for the advice regarding books for learning how to weave! I was happy to hear that my choice of books (D. Chandler, Learning How to Weave) was highly recommended by all! Also recommended were "The Big Book of Weaving" by Laila Lundell and a magazine called Handwoven. Definitely two good things for me to check out! Thanks!

So, I think I've got all my weaving "hardware" under control. But I could really use some advice about the "software" - the yarn.

Can you recommend some places - brick & mortar chain stores and/or online stores - where I could shop? Are there certain types and/or certain brands you recommend? Or maybe ones that you would encourage me to avoid? ;)

Thanks so much for your advice! :)

Gwen

top photo credit: snikrap