Tag: Glimakra Standard

Rya Pillow in the Rocking Chair

Karen

Do you remember this sturdy linen cloth, that I wove months ago, with the wonderful wool and linen rya? Yesterday I made it into a classy pillow. First, I fashioned the pillow cover, with invisible zipper, and all. Hollow by itself, the pillow cover needs an insert to be usable. So I made a muslin insert to fit, filled lightly. Now I have a cloud-soft rya pillow. (Read about weaving this fabric in Rya, Rya, How Does Your Garden Grow? and Now What Are You Counting?)

Rya pillow. Hand-tied rya knots in linen fabric, handwoven.
Fabric is two-sided point twill with rya knots. 8/2 linen for warp and 8/2 linen, doubled, for weft produces a sturdy base fabric for the hand-tied rya knots.
Finished handwoven rya pillow.
Pillow insert, lightly filled with down-like cluster fiberfill, fits perfectly inside the pillow cover.

This new rya masterpiece makes a perfect lumbar pillow for the antique rocking chair in my living room. This was my great-grandmother’s chair. One thing I know about my great-grandmother is that she was a praying woman. I love to imagine that she rocked her babies in this chair, praying for them and for her future grand- and great-grand-children. She may have prayed for my life in advance.

Rya knots made with wool and linen threads, on linen background fabric.
Each rya knot includes a combination of threads–Åsborya wool, Mora wool, and 16/2 linen.
Great grandmother's rocking chair with new handwoven rya pillow.
Great-Grandma’s rocking chair. A reminder of love that reaches to the next generation.

I want to be more than what others see on the outside. I need the Lord on the inside. I yearn for God to hear me and for me to hear Him. Without that connection, life is hollow. Prayer is a two-way conversation. That ongoing conversation keeps me from being empty. When I am filled, I am at my best. Could that be an answer to my great-grandmother’s prayers?

May your life affect future generations.

Softly,
Karen

Who Says Plain Weave Must Be Plain?

Karen

Do you see the lengthwise raised ridges in this linen fabric? Don’t be fooled. The plain weave panel of this fabric is as flat as can be. Optical illusion. I have two slightly different colors of linen in the warp, unbleached and golden bleached. Instead of strictly alternating the colors, I threaded the warp ends “as they came,” to bring depth and interest to the plain weave fabric.

Dice weave on the loom. View from under the weaving.
View from under the weaving, the cloth is seen going over the knee beam. This dice weave, with 16/2 linen, has colorful squares of weft pattern floats. A panel of plain weave follows the patterned cloth.

We can be fooled by what we see. Lines and colors work together to create a false impression. Coming close enough to touch and examine is the best way to help the eyes see what is real. How many things do we misunderstand because we fail to come near enough to truly examine the evidence? We assume that a distant view is reliable.

Humility sets the stage for learning. It removes distance between us and what we need to learn. Instead of trusting only what we see, we step nearer to touch and examine the real thing. The humble are teachable. They know there are things they don’t know, and they are on a quest to learn. With weaving, and with matters of greater importance, like faith and truth, we must come close enough to touch and to learn.

May you hold valued fabric in your hands.

With much to learn,
Karen

Linen Is Special

Karen

Linen is special. This is nothing new. Even in biblical history, linen is mentioned as fabric for sacred purposes. But weaving with linen requires attentiveness. The inelasticity of linen means extra care is needed in every stage of dressing the loom and weaving. Of first importance is an even warp tension.

Getting ready to weave with linen. Tying on.
Tying on linen in small 1-inch/2.5 cm increments is one thing that helps contribute to an even warp tension.

This method of tying on* is perfect for weaving rag rugs. The 12/6 cotton rug warp stays snugly in place. Not so with linen. The even warp tension that I have been so careful to maintain can be lost in a moment. The sneaky linen is smooth and slick enough to tie on easily, and then loosen up just as easily. So I take the double precaution of tying an additional overhand knot, AND moistening that knot with a dab of water which helps the linen grip itself. I never have to worry about these knots slipping loose.

Beginning dice weave in linen.
Additional overhand knot, with a dab of water, secures the tie-on threads. I am using sample space to try weft colors and work on getting optimum weft density.

What do you worry about? I have bigger things I worry about, too. But my heavenly Father assures me that He has secured all the knots that concern me. “Don’t worry,” he tells me. “Your Father knows your needs.” Be attentive to keep first things first. Put yourself in the Father’s care, and find that he takes care of you. Special you.

May you forget your worries.

With you,
Karen

* I learned this method of tying on from Becky Ashenden. You can see it fully explained by Becky, with pictures, in Dress Your Loom the Vävstuga Way: A Benchside Photo-guide.

Tools Day: Sley the Reed

Karen

I am dressing the big loom with linen. This flaxen thread brings a worthwhile challenge I find hard to resist. Beaming the warp was slow and deliberate. It pays to be attentive to everything at this stage. Threading for this dice weave could not be simpler; it was finished before I knew it. Now, it is time to sley the reed.

Tools:

  • Reed     I am using a 12-dent reed for this project.
  • Texsolv cord for hanging the reed in front of the shafts
  • Tape measure     I remove the metal ends.
  • Reed hook     Mine is from Vävstuga.
  • Bench, set at comfortable height for threading and sleying     With my Glimåkra Standard, I get to put the bench “in” the loom. It’s like going into my own little playhouse.
  • Good lighting     I use a small Ott Lite Task Lamp when natural light in the room is dim.
Everything is ready for sleying the reed.
Reed is positioned right in front of the threaded heddles. Shafts and reed hang at optimum height for visibility and ease of hand mobility.
Sleying the reed.
Left hand index finger separates the end(s) to be sleyed.
Sleying the reed.
And the right hand holds the reed hook under the reed to pull the end(s) through the dent. (These two pictures show why a third hand would be nice. Normally, I sley the reed with two hands, so a third hand would be useful for taking a picture.)
  1. Form two loops of Texsolv cord that hang down from the top of the loom, one on the right and one on the left, to hold the reed for sleying.     My Texsolv loops hang from the countermarch frame.
  2. Adjust the length of the Texsolv loops so that the reed will fall just below the eyes of the heddles.
  3. Rest the reed horizontally in the Texsolv holders.
  4. Use the tape measure to find the center of the reed.     I mark the center of my reeds permanently by tying a small piece of 12/6 cotton seine twine at the center.
  5. Find your weaving width measurement on the tape measure. Fold that measurement in half and place the folded tape measure at the center point on the reed, to the right, to find the starting dent for sleying the reed. Place one end of the tape measure in that starting-point dent to keep your place.     Some people use the reed hook as a place holder, but when I pick up the reed hook to sley the first dent, I invariably loose my place.
  6. Pull ends through the reed with the reed hook, referring to your draft for the correct number of ends per dent, starting at the dent on the right hand side that has the place holder in it. Good lighting helps to prevent errors.     This is especially true with finer dents and darker threads.
  7. After sleying each group of warp ends, visually examine the sleyed dents to look for missed dents or extra ends in dents.
  8. Tie the sleyed group of ends into a slip knot.
  9. Finish sleying all the ends; and smile, knowing you are a step closer to weaving fabric.

May all your looms be dressed.

Happy Dressing,
Karen

Quiet Friday: Cotton Scarves

Karen

One thing I learned is the scarf with the longest warp floats has the greatest shrinkage rate. Another thing I learned – again – is to plan a longer warp than what I think I need. The third scarf is significantly shorter than the first two because I ran out of warp. Table runner, anyone? I always include length for sampling, but I need to include more, more, more. Still, I am very happy with the finished results. And, you have a new video to watch! (Scroll down to see it.)

Cotton warp for scarves is tied on.
Warp of 8/2 cotton is tied on in 1-inch/2.5 cm sections. The leveling string evens out the warp for immediate weaving.
Cotton lace weave scarf on the loom. Fringe twister video.
First scarf, with dark green weft, has the longest warp floats. This scarf ended up shorter than the second scarf, even though the first scarf’s length on the loom was longer than the second scarf.
Cotton lace weave scarves on the loom. Fringe twisting info, too.
Second scarf, with citrine weft, has a border element created with light green weft (same as the warp), including warp floats. The plain weave before and after the border element helps create a natural ruffle at each end of the finished scarf.
Cotton lace weave scarves on the loom. Springtime colors!
Saving the best for last, I used a series of springtime colors to create this scarf. The varied lengths of the floats give an illusion of colored ribbons crossing the scarf.

I wet finished the scarves in the washing machine, adding a small amount of Eucalan, on the gentle cycle, with warm wash and warm rinse, and very short spin. They went in the dryer on low heat until damp, and then hung to dry the rest of the way. The scarves came out lightly puckered, which is exactly what I had hoped for. I could have washed them in hot water and left them in for a longer amount of time if I had wanted the scarves more dramatically puckered.

Twisting fringe using a fringe twister tool.
Two scarves with fringes twisted. One waiting to be a film star in “Using a Fringe Twister.” This is before wet finishing.
Three cotton lace weave scarves, and fringe twisting video. Karen Isenhower
Wet finishing happens after the fringe has been twisted. These scarves have done it all. They are finished.
My favorite scarf. For now...
First seen on Instagram @celloweaver #warpedforgood

There’s nothing like finishing a fun project! Clearly, I know what to do next… Dress the big loom and keeping on weaving.

May you learn something new every day.

Happy Weaving,
Karen