Process Review: First Drawloom Warp

There are two questions I hear most often. 1. How long did it take? 2. What is it going to be? These are hard questions to answer. I admit that I stumble around to find satisfying answers. 1. How long? Hours and hours. 2. Cloth. It is going to be cloth. What will the cloth be used for? I don’t know. But when I need a little something with a pretty design, I’ll know where to find it. There are two finished pieces, though, from this first drawloom warp: the Heart-Shaped Baskets table runner (adapted from a pattern in Damask and Opphämta, by Lillemor Johansson), and a small opphämta table topper that I designed on the loom. The rest are samplers, experiments, tests, and just plain fun making-of-cloth. Oh, and I wondered if I could take the thrums and make a square braid…just for the fun of it.

First warp on my drawloom. Success!
Opphämta piece on the left, with Fårö wool pattern weft. Heart-Shaped Baskets runner on the right, with red 16/2 cotton pattern weft. Ten pattern shafts.

I will let the pictures tell the story of this first drawloom warp.

May you have plenty of things to make just for fun.

Happy Weaving,
Karen

15 thoughts on “Process Review: First Drawloom Warp

    1. Hi Beth, Thank you so much! Ah, blanket stitch – I hadn’t thought of it as that, but you’re right, it does have that look. I like having a border.

      All the best,
      Karen

  1. Thank you…looks amazing! Your last comment gave me pause. I spin all the time for the enjoyment and just to make the yarn. However, I really weave with project in mind, never just for the enjoyment and experimentation. Going to have to change…..

    1. Hi Karen, Sometimes we’re too hard on ourselves and strive to be “productive.” But there is value in doing creative things just for the sake of being creative. Besides being fun, that’s where a lot of learning happens for me.

      Happy weaving,
      Karen

  2. So beautiful! 10 total shafts needed for the heart runner?
    Do you sell the pattern or is it available somewhere?

    1. Hi Joni, there are 4 ground shafts and 10 drawloom pattern shafts, plus the “x” shaft for selvedges. The pattern is in “Damask and Opphämta,” by Lillemor Johansson.

      Without a drawloom, this pattern would need many more shafts.

      Thanks!
      Karen

  3. Man, when someone asks me how long it takes to weave, the answer is always different. So much goes into the designing, warping and threading that makes it hard to calculate time. As you know, some pieces are less labor intensive than others.

    1. Hi Annie, It’s been so enjoyable to see the possibilities for designs. I made a few of them by re-working some old cross-stitch patterns.

      Thanks!
      Karen

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