Category: towels

Striped Warp Freedom

Karen

Winding a warp like this is intricate work because of the frequent color changes. These narrow warp stripes provide the perfect canvas for plattväv accents. The simple weft float pattern, woven across the width every five centimeters, adds embroidered-like stitches to the cloth. Everything else is a breeze. It’s plain weave.

Plattväv towels on the loom. Karen Isenhower
Cottolin warp and 16/1 linen tabby weft, with doubled 16/1 linen pattern weft.

It’s good to have a plain weave project every now and then. It’s a reminder of how freeing it is to let the boat shuttle fly back and forth between your hands. Rag rug weaving isn’t like that. Soft alpaca scarf weaving isn’t like that. I’m zipping along, …only stopping to move the temple, advance the warp, and add the black linen accents. No worries here.

Plattväv towels on the loom. Narrow warp stripes advantage.
Two red picks are woven for the cutting line that separates the towels. First towel is seen wrapping around the cloth beam.

Consider all that has been prepared for us to have a meaningful life. Why should I worry? Who wound the intricate warp and put it on the loom? Doesn’t the Grand Weaver know what it takes to complete his design? We enter the Lord’s place of rest through the door of trust. True rest is worry free. Let the shuttle fly. Let the weft floats embellish the cloth. Come enter the place of rest.

May your worries slip away.

Plain weaving,
Karen

Quiet Friday: Countermarch Back Savers

Karen

After back surgery, I wondered how-in-the-world I would be able to tie up my countermarch looms. After a four-week ban on bending over, I was eager to weave, but not eager to do anything that might strain or injure my back.

Two simple maneuvers made it possible for me to tie up the lamms and the treadles on both of my Glimäkra countermarch looms:

  1. Remove the lamms. Treadle cords are added while sitting in a comfortable position.
  2. Detach the treadles. Bring treadles closer to the front of the loom for attaching treadle cords.

And two important practices kept me from over-reaching and overdoing it:

  1. Sit on a low stool instead of the back of the loom or the floor.
  2. Take frequent breaks to stand up, stretch, and walk around.

Tools:

  • Low stool for sitting
  • Rolling cart (IKEA cart) or small table
  • Plank of wood, longer than the loom is wide (one plank of warping trapeze, 1″ x 5″)
  • Treadle cords, Texsolv pins, other tie-up supplies
  • Length of cord to hold treadle up (Texsolv cord that’s used for hanging the reed for sleying)

The 120 cm (47″) Standard loom has open space in the loom, making it easy to get within arm’s reach of most things; but the challenge increases with the number of shafts–eight for this tie up.

Alpaca warp, ready for countermarch tie-up without back strain.
Beamed, threaded, sleyed, tied on. Waiting for the final step of tying up lamms and treadles.
  • Lamms are removed, 2 at a time, and placed on the cart to add the treadle cords, all the while sitting on a comfortable stool.

Countermarch tie-up without back strain.

  • After all 8 lower lamms have the treadle cords added, the lamms are reinserted in the loom, 2 at a time.

Countermarch tie-up without back strain.

  • Treadle rod is removed to detach the treadles. Wood plank keeps the treadles from sliding back while treadle cords are attached at the front of the loom.

Trick to make countermarch tie-up easier on the back.

  • Cord acts as a sling to hold the treadle up to a comfortable height.

Tips for making countermarch tie-ups more back friendly.

  • The raised treadle helps with visibility, and enables the use of both hands, especially helpful for the “Vavstuga method” of tying up treadles with knitting needles (I use sharpened dowels). After treadles are tied up, re-attach the treadles at the back of the loom.

Hints for making countermarch tie-up more back friendly.

 

The 100 cm (39″) Ideal loom requires more reaching. Tying lamms to the shafts is a challenge for short arms, like mine. With four shafts, and only three treadles for this tie up, the rest of the process isn’t difficult.

Threaded for striped towels. Glimakra Ideal.
Threaded for striped towels. Glimäkra Ideal has smaller spaces in which to work than in the Standard loom.
  • Upper lamms are placed on the cart. I hold the weaving draft in my lap as I add the treadle cords to the lamms.

IKEA cart as tie-up helper.

  • Lower lamms are removed as the pin is pulled out. After the treadle cords are added, the lamms are reinserted.

Removing lamms to make countermarch tie-up back friendly.

  • Detached treadles lay on the floor. They easily pivot up at the front of the loom for attaching treadle cords.

Tips for making countermarch tie-ups less straining on the back.

  • Everything is tied up and ready to weave!

All tied up and ready to weave!

May you stay healthy to live long and weave.

Happy Weaving,
Karen

Stripes on the Warp Beam

Karen

Why are stripes appealing? Stripes on the loom look good. I don’t usually wind warps in advance. I like to wind a warp and put it directly on the loom. But, recently, when I wasn’t able to weave, I was able wind warps. Now, one of those warps is beamed, and soon I’ll be weaving some striped plattväv towels.

Striped warp for cottolin and linen towels. Glimakra Ideal.
Narrow stripes wrap around the back beam. Next step is threading heddles. One step closer to weaving towels…

This draft is from one of my favorite Swedish weaving books, Kalasfina Vävar, by Ann-Kristin Hallgren. I changed the colors and modified the stripes, while attempting to keep the attractive appeal of the original stripe design. We will see the full effect when weaving begins. The warp is the first part of the picture. The weft always brings a transformation. The golden bleached linen, in this case, won’t change the warp, but it will create a fresh palette.

Black and white photo shows the color values.
Making a black and white photo is a good way to see the color values.

Faith and truth are partners. Truth becomes clear through faith. Warp and weft. Truth and faith. A fabric of convictions is woven to hand to the next generation. The good news of Jesus Christ is a message of faith and truth. The truth doesn’t change; but it comes alive when woven with faith.

May your convictions be securely woven.

Yours truly,
Karen

Planning Swedish Towels

Karen

After spreading out a few Swedish weaving books and other resources, I am ready to develop my own version of towels in plattväv, a classic Swedish weave. I have double-checked my calculations, so I’m ready to wind the warp. This set of towels has a cottolin warp and linen weft.

Planning new handwoven Swedish-style towels.
Planning sheet holds all the details for a weaving project. I use digital devises for planning most things, but for my weaving plans I still like paper and pencil the best.
Winding a striped warp for cottolin towels.
White, black, silver, ash gray, and pale blue gray. The pale blue gray seems to turn the other grays into brownish hues.

As always, I started with more than enough thread. Unfortunately, I made a major error while winding the warp. By the time I noticed the error, I had already wound 264 meters (289 yards) of warp. I chained off the mistake, putting it aside for another use. I started over, correctly this time, but I had a nagging worry that I might run out of white thread…

Warp winding for cottolin towels is complete.
Warp winding is complete. Smallest tube of white thread is close to empty. Spool crate is elevated to reduce the distance needed to bend down.
Warp chains for striped towels.
Smaller warp chain on the left was wound incorrectly. The threads will be divided up and used for weaving bands on the band loom. The two warp chains on the right will become striped handtowels with plattväv (platt weave) patterning.

Worry doesn’t make anything better, and big worries can lead us into a downward spiral in our thoughts. Prayer pushes worry away. When we pray about the things we are tempted to worry about, God’s peace acts as a guard over our hearts and minds. His peace frees us from the weight of worry. And we often learn later that our worry had been unfounded. Like my worry about the white thread, which, despite my blunder, did not run out.

May you forget your worries.

All the best,
Karen

Handwoven Thick and Thin Towels

Karen

Do you remember the black and white towels? I love the fascinating results of weaving with thick and thin warp ends, and thick and thin weft threads. That’s why I submitted a project to Handwoven for their November/December 2016 Thick & Thin issue. I gave you only a brief glimpse of the thick and thin towels I wove on an Aquamarine, Teal, and Moss warp, from the palette given me for that issue. (See Tools Day: Loom Cart and This Time in Color.)

Thick and thin towels on the loom.
Double bobbin shuttle carries the doubled weft.
Thick and thin towels at the front beam. Karen Isenhower
Breast beam with thick and thin towels.
Thick and thin towels just off the loom!
Cut from the loom, new colorful thick and thin towels.
Thick and thin towels just off the loom. Karen Isenhower
Towels just off the loom.

Guess what!? My project was accepted for publication. Not only that, these towels that I enjoyed designing and weaving have been placed on the cover! What an unexpected privilege!

Excited to see my Thick and Thin towels on the cover of Handwoven!
Credit: Photograph by Joe Coca from Handwoven November/December 2016 magazine. Copyright © F+W Media 2016.

As great as it is to have your handiwork appear on the cover of a national publication, there is something even greater–being loved. Being on the receiving end of kindness, compassion, and forgiveness. Love is like that. Love is to be demonstrated. That’s how Christ demonstrated his love to me–kindness, compassion, and forgiveness. His love is printed on the cover of my heart, with instructions written within so that I can learn to love like I’ve been loved. That’s the cover story I like to tell.

May your heart be covered with love.

With love,
Karen

PS I am recovering from back surgery better than anyone expected. I’m not weaving yet, of course, but I have no shortage of things to share with you while I regain my strength! Thanks for your wonderful encouraging words and prayers for my full recovery.

PPS My draft and instructions for the thick and thin towels are in this Handwoven November/December 2016 issue. This is the same draft I used for the black and white towels.
For purchase of the Handwoven November/December 2016 print edition:
http://www.interweavestore.com/handwoven-magazine-november-december-2016-print
For purchase of the digital edition:
http://www.interweavestore.com/handwoven-magazine-november-december-2016-digital
For weavingtoday:
http://www.weavingtoday.com/