Tag: Glimakra Standard

Understanding Linen

Karen

What is your experience with linen? I know weavers who love it, and others who completely avoid it. Linen has remarkable qualities. Strength, durability, natural beauty. It took me several attempts, though, to become comfortable using linen as warp. Linen has indeed given me more than my share of broken warp ends! But truly, those struggles have been part of the learning process. The more I weave with linen, the more I love this natural fiber. I am beginning to understand how to work with it, instead of against it. In fact, weaving these lace-weave scarves with single-ply linen warp and weft has been a joy. And only two broken selvedge ends this time!

Linen lace weave scarves as they wind onto the cloth beam.
Linen lace-weave scarves as seen on the cloth beam. Fringe between the scarves is left unwoven. The separated stripes are caused by the hemstitching at the end of one scarf and at the beginning of the next one.

It takes effort and experience to understand some things. The love of Christ is like that. The love of Christ is extraordinary. It takes inner determination to discover the beauty of this unconditional love. Some things are simply worth the effort.

May your understanding increase.

Happy Weaving,
Karen

Quiet Friday: Weaving Linen Air

Karen

Linen lace weaving. It’s like weaving air. 16/1 linen warp and weft, with uneven sleying and careful weaving. “Beating“ is not the right word this time; let’s call it “placing the weft.” Gentle, gentle, gentle, easy does it. No temple needed. Indeed, what would you hook the temple into? There is almost nothing there.

Linen on the warping reel.
Winding the 16/1 linen warp on the warping reel.
Linen warp chain, ready to dress the loom.
Wound warp is chained and placed over the breast beam and through the beater in preparation for dressing the loom.
Lease sticks with linen.
Lease sticks.
Dressing the loom with linen singles.
Ends are counted and grouped before threading.
Uneven sleying of the reed with linen singles.
Reed is sleyed unevenly, sometimes called “crammed and spaced.”

I did weave a sample, trying out different colors and sizes of weft. The weave is so airy; honestly, I was not sure if the fabric would hold its shape off the loom. To wet finish, I first soaked the sample for 20 minutes in hot water with mild soap. Then, I washed it by hand, lifting and lowering the net-like cloth repeatedly in the water. I rolled it in a towel and gently squeezed to remove moisture. Lastly, I laid it out flat to dry.

Half bow keeps linen from slipping, while allowing adjustments.
Half bow-tie makes sure the linen will not slip. Adjustments are easy, if necessary, after weaving a few inches.
Tying up treadles in the "playhouse" under the warp.
Treadle tie-up happens in the “playhouse” under the warp in the back. Sunlight through the linen reveals “invisible” hairy fibers.
Sample weaving. Linen lace.
Sample.
Linen sample, not yet wet finished.
Sample, not yet wet finished.
Linen sample in black and white.
Black and white view shows cloth structure.

Result? It came through beautifully, with the lace weave intact. Linen, there is something about you that is exquisite and delightful, yet a bit mischievous and sly. I like you.

Linen sample after wet finishing. Karen Isenhower
After wet finishing and drying, the linen sample shows a glimpse of scarves to come.
Weaving linen air. Karen Isenhower
Weaving linen air.

May all your concerns be as light as air.

Happy Linen Weaving,
Karen

Dressed with Colors in Linen

Karen

Are you wondering which color arrangement I chose for the linen lace scarves? It wasn’t an easy decision. After weighing all the opinions and advice, color-wrapped card #7 won. I added a neutral stripe on both sides to frame the color sequence, and I varied the width of the stripes, thanks to Fibonacci. The result is that you can hardly distinguish where each stripe begins and ends. The stripes blend into each other, with the magenta stripes grabbing the most attention. (Visit Tools Day: Color Wrapping and Color Wrapping Take Two to follow the discussion about choosing the color arrangement for this warp.)

Dressing the loom with linen.
Linen on the warp beam. The colors blend from one end to the other, framed by bands of unbleached and golden bleached threads on each side. Lease sticks, tied to the back beam, maintain the order of the threads.

It makes sense to think things through before committing a linen warp to the loom. My excitement builds as the loom is dressed. We will soon see the woven results when I experiment with weft options. I am secretly hoping for iridescence. I can imagine it, but I won’t see it until the weaving happens, and the light catches the airy interlaced threads.

Threading the loom with linen.
Each thread is inserted through the eye of a heddle.

Color choices are inconsequential compared to other choices we make, but commitment is something many decisions have in common. We are invited into a personal walk with Jesus Christ. It is no small thing to consider an agreement with the Master. Like dressing a loom, it is a commitment. The excitement comes when you realize that iridescence and other mysteries may come true before your very eyes.

May you have a life filled with the glow of iridescence.

For good,
Karen

Color Wrapping Take Two

Karen

As always, one idea leads to another. I am planning warp colors for linen lace weave scarves, and color wrapping helps unleash ideas. And your comments helped “stir the pot.” You asked for my thought process. Here goes. (If you missed Tools Day: Color Wrapping, you’ll want to read it first.)

16/1 linen in six colors.
Six 16/1 linen colors.

I started with the idea of making a smooth transition from one color to the next. That was card #1. Then, I made more distinct stripes on card #2. For #3, I aimed for a mirrored arrangement. #4 blends colors in a different order.

Color wrapping to plan linen warp.
First six color wrapping cards.

Of those first four cards, #1 was close to my ideal. But the magenta and green stripe seemed out of sync. So I made adjustments, and card #5 became my favorite.

Next, I arranged the six colors of thread from light to dark, and paired each color with its best partner. For example, starting with cream, “With which other color does cream look best?” With enough samples to see all the options, I concluded that light blue suits cream the best. I did that kind of pairing with each color to make card #6. Now #6 became my runaway favorite! And, card #6 received the most votes in the comments from you, too.

More color wrapping to plan linen warp.
Three color wrapping cards that are in the finals. Slightly varied arrangement of stripes on each card. (Click on picture to enlarge.)

I color wrapped two more cards, trying to improve the color gradation. #7 and #8 have the same composition of stripes as #6, but in different arrangements. The “winning” color arrangement will become stripes spread across the warp in a Fibonacci sequence.

Now… Which one of these three would you choose: #6, #7, or #8? (I’d love to hear from you if you left your opinion the first time, and if you didn’t.)

May you see options by thinking things through.

Happy Coloring,
Karen

Linen Gets Wet

Karen

It is time for wet finishing. As curious as I am to see how the linen fabric will emerge through the process, I still hesitate when it is time to put the fabric in the water. Fresh off the loom, the fabric is coarse and stiff, but it looks good! I know that the water, mild soap, and gentle washing machine agitation will absolutely change the character of the cloth. Wet finishing should change the cloth for the better… Finally, I look at my notes again from the wet finished sample piece, and gain the courage to put the linen fabric in the water…

Wet finishing linen. Before and after.
Linen dice weave transforms from rigid squares on a stiff open mesh to gently flowing squares on softened cloth, where the threads blossom together to close the mesh. Oh, how the beauty of linen is revealed through washing.

Don’t hesitate to pray. Seek God when things are calm. Today is the best time to pray, when things are going well. Oh yes, there may be changes as a result of your prayers, but the changes are all good.

May you see the positive changes you hope for.

With anticipation,
Karen