This time, please permit me to share with you a short video that tells a little something about me as a handweaver. I suspect, if you are a weaver, you enjoy weaving for some of the same reasons I do. The process of turning threads into cloth never ceases to fascinate me! I weave on Glimåkra countermarch looms, with an emphasis on Swedish-style textiles. Even within that boundary, there are endless weaves to explore and techniques to try. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to sit at a loom and weave these threads together. Thank you to Eddie Fernandez for his kind manner behind the camera and for his masterful videography.
And I can’t tell you enough what a joy it is to walk through this process with friends like you.
I’ve been told that you cannot do a skeletontie-up on a countermarch loom. That would require pressing two treadles at the same time, which is not feasible on a countermarch. Guess what? I have a skeleton tie-up, and I’m pressing two treadles at a time for the pattern blocks in this kuvikas structure. On my countermarch!
Trying to establish a consistent beat so that the squares are all the same size. Making the squares a little taller than they are wide will, hopefully, produce actual squares in the end. The fabric is expected to shrink more in length than in width when it is cut from the loom, and washed and dried.
It works because the tie-up is carefully planned to avoid conflicting treadle movements. I couldn’t be more thrilled with the square-within-a-square results. Isn’t it fascinating that a design such as this can be fashioned by hand, using a simple wooden loom and a bunch of strings, with a few simple tools? And a non-standard tie-up?
Pressing two treadles at the same time is surprisingly less cumbersome than I had imagined it would be. The whole series of motions feels like a slow majestic dance.
Have you seen the sky on a moonless night? Who made that starlit fabric? Who wove the pattern of the heavens? Who put the sun in place, and set the earth on its axis? How grand and glorious are these constant features of our existence! Our human hands can create no such thing. The heavens reveal the glorious nature of God. They shout the unmistakable truth that God is our Creator. Surely, the fabric we make with our hands serves to confirm that we belong in the hands of our Maker.
May the work of your hands be a reflection of you.
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:
Remove the lamms. Treadle cords are added while sitting in a comfortable position.
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:
Sit on a low stool instead of the back of the loom or the floor.
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.
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.
After all 8 lower lamms have the treadle cords added, the lamms are reinserted in the loom, 2 at a time.
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.
Cord acts as a sling to hold the treadle up to a comfortable height.
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.
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. 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.
Lower lamms are removed as the pin is pulled out. After the treadle cords are added, the lamms are reinserted.
Detached treadles lay on the floor. They easily pivot up at the front of the loom for attaching treadle cords.
Important things are happening below the warp on my eight-shaftcountermarch loom. Eight upper lamms, eight lower lamms, and eight treadles beneath the lamms are at work. Shaft cords connect shafts to lamms. Treadle cords connect lamms to treadles. When the loom is all tied up, stepping on a treadle raises some shafts and lowers others, making it possible to send the weft across in a shuttle. And weaving happens.
Heddles line up like soldiers, holding each warpend in place. Shaft cords reach down from the lower shaft bars and are attached to the upper lamms with little Texsolv anchor pins.Treadle cords hang loose from the upper and lower lamms, each cord in its proper position.
Everything below the surface matters. When you start weaving, it won’t take long to see if all the connections work. When everything behind the reed and underneath the warp is set up properly, you can expect a pleasant weaving experience.
Treadle cords reach down to the treadles to finish the line of connections. Cords are threaded onto a sharpened dowel beneath the treadle to hold the cords in place.
Joy is evidence of what is happening below the surface. You can see joy on the face of someone who looks to the Lord and trusts in Him. Joy is more than a smile. It’s a radiance that starts on the inside. Trusting in the Lord produces positive connections below the surface. That deep trust is formed through life’s most difficult moments– joy that is cultivated there endures. Like weaving on a countermarch loom, joy depends on true connections.
Let there be light! I now have exceptional lighting at my weaving looms. Steve installed a snake arm lamp on both of my Glimåkra looms. This wonderful illumination gives me greatly improved visibility, especially when working with fine threads. These lamps meet my lighting needs much better than the floor lamps I had been using. Good riddance, floor lamps!
Wood block, sized to fit on loom (mine is installed on the countermarch frame; 8 1/2″ x 2 3/4″ x 3/4″ for the Glimåkra Standard 8-shaft loom; 6 1/2″ x 2 3/4″ x 3/4″ for the Glimåkra Ideal 6-shaft loom)
Electric drill and pilot bit
2 drywall screws
Short three-prong extension cord
Steps
Prepare wood block by drilling screw holes (screw threads slip through the holes without biting)
Position prepared wood block on loom, mark loom for screw placement
Drill pilot holes
Screw wood block in place
Block of wood is screwed into place on the Glimåkra Ideal loom countermarch frame for mounting the loom lamp.
Position lamp and clamp into place
Lamp is positioned on the mounting that is attached to the Glimåkra Standard countermarch frame.Snake arm gives flexibility for directing the light onto the weaving surface, or over the area of work; e.g., threading, sleying the reed, etc.Lamp is clamped onto the mounting. Project notes hang for easy referral while weaving. The back of the sheet shows yarn snippets used in the project.
Plug lamp cord into extension cord; plug extension cord into outlet
Simple on/off switch controls the lamp. Monksbeltpicks are easier to count with the new loom light turned on.
Illuminate!
Lamp cord runs along the frame of the loom and down to the floor, where an extension cord continues to a wall outlet.
