Tag: Glimakra

Building Blocks in Double Weave

Karen

Troubles. What troubles? All is forgotten now that the shuttle is ready to soar. After my threading misadventure and correction, I’m ready to weave! But first… The treadle tie-ups need adjustments. And then, after weaving a couple inches, a few more adjustments. Now the shed is nearly perfect on every treadle. Ready, set, wait a minute… Sample. Which shuttle goes where to lock in the weft? How many picks make a square? Is my beat consistent?

Waterfall of colorful threads over the back beam!
Like a spectacular waterfall, warp ends splash with color over the back beam. First adjustments have been made to treadle tie-ups. Ready to start weaving the sample.
Sample first. Double weave throw about to begin.
Sample gives opportunity to practice and experiment. Checking shed clearances, weft color tryouts, synchronizing two shuttles, consistent beating–a few of the reasons why it makes sense to sample first.

After completing the sample, I am now weaving the wide dark plum beginning border of the double weave throw. In a few inches I will be enjoying the colorful blocks that we have all been waiting for. Building blocks. Success, setbacks, adjustments, and practice, all build a foundation of weaving experience.

Beginning dark plum border of a double weave throw.
Here it is. The real thing. The beginning border of the actual double weave throw.

Build. If I’m not careful, my attention goes to the building up of myself. Yet, love focuses on others to build them up. It’s through a process of success, setbacks, adjustments, and practice that love flourishes. When your strong desire is to see the colorful blocks of the weave, you press through until you see it. Love is even stronger than that. Our example is Christ. His love makes the pattern of love possible in us.

May you build on what you learn.

Happy weaving,
Karen

Double Weave Throw – Take Two

Karen

Nothing about the original draft is incorrect, but when I wrote it in pencil on my planning sheet, I transposed one. little. thing. The threading key. “X = plum; black square = other colors.” Exact opposite of what is written in the draft from The Big Book of Weaving, by Laila Lundell. (See When You Misread the Threading Draft, where I discover my dilemma.)

One little mistake. Big consequences.
Blind to my own mistake, even as I double check my handwritten draft.

Thanks to Fiberworks weaving software I am working out a solution. I adjusted the tie-up, so the treadle tie-ups on the first, third, fifth, and seventh shafts trade places with the tie-ups on the second, fourth, sixth, and eighth shafts. It works. And now, the one little threading error that is clearly visible seems like a breeze to correct!

Ready to weave a cotton double weave throw.
Tie-up adjustments bring the correct warp ends to the surface. Solid stripes of color are set to produce the desired design when woven.
One threading error. No big deal at this point.
One blue warp end stands out like a sore thumb. I’m glad to find this one threading error at this stage in the process.

There are times when my whole perspective needs an adjustment. It’s time for love. Love adjusts our view. At the heart level, love brings about changes in us. It re-sets our attention and motivations. Because God loved us, we can love, too. We don’t see, understand, or know everything now, which shows how incomplete we humans are. But the love that heaven knows is something we get to participate in here and now. Our cloth is far from perfected, but our love adjustments give us a glimpse of cloth from another realm.

May you make necessary adjustments.

Love,
Karen

When You Misread the Threading Draft

Karen

What if you finish tying up the loom, eight shafts and eight treadles, having beamed, threaded, and sleyed 2,064 ends, and the first thing you see when you step on the treadles is… that you misunderstood the threading draft? Do you undo everything and re-thread? Not likely, if it took you eleven-and-a-half hours to do the threading in the first place. I am taking a deep breath. Time to walk away and think. Maybe I can adjust the tie-up, or maybe I can use it as is—a serendipitous design. Should I laugh or cry? My idea to serve my loved ones with handwoven gifts (See Weaving a Gift) is getting off to a rough start.

Double weave throw. Warp is tied on.
Warp is tied on. Ready to tie up the treadles.
Tie-up completed for eight shafts and eight treadles.
Lamms are connected. Treadle cords are positioned. Treadles are tied up. Eight shafts and eight treadles.
Double weave throw.
This view should show solid dark plum all the way across.
Double weave throw on the loom.
This view should show stripes of solid colors, not two-color stripes, with solid bands of dark plum in between.

Serve. I want to offer my best, especially when I’m making a gift for someone dear to me. It helps to look beyond the person, though, and realize my true service is to the Lord. Heart, soul, mind, and hands. I bring my misunderstandings and missteps of the heart to my Master Weaver, who has taken it on himself to make things right. And I’m reminded that as I serve someone with my weaving hands, the true gift is love. This double weave throw will be a reminder of that.

May you recover from your mistakes.

Humbly,
Karen

UPDATE: I have had a chance to put the draft on Fiberworks weaving software and work with it to adjust the tie-up. I think I found a solution. Stay tuned!

Thousands of Threads

Karen

Finally! Every warp end is in a heddle, where it needs to be for double-weave cloth to happen. I don’t mind the time it takes. The process of dressing the loom is fascinating. And I hope I will always see it that way. I’m thankful that I get to weave.

Threading complete! 2,064 ends for a double weave throw.
Threading complete! 2,064 ends in that many heddles, at about 3 ends per minute. But who’s counting?

And now, onward to sleying the reed!

Sleying the reed. 4 ends per dent.
Reed is sleyed at 4 ends per dent in a 50/10 metric reed (equivalent to a 12-dent reed, imperial), at about 12 ends per minute, which feels pretty fast at the moment.

Thanks. It’s something we give. Heartfelt thanks is a ready gift that costs us nothing to give. Gratitude leads us to see blessings in the ordinary, and opportunities in the routines of life. When we abound in giving thanks, letting it spring up from a satisfied soul, we bring life to our family and our community. An abundance of thanks to God lifts our eyes to a view from above. It’s there that we see all those threads, thousands of them, working together to become a glorious cloth for our good. That’s reason to give thanks.

Thankful for friends like you,
Karen

Heddle Shortage

Karen

I am well into threading when I realize I neglected to take into account how many heddles I need for this project! I don’t have 2,064 even if I grab all of the heddles from the other loom. This double weave throw project is at a dead end until more heddles appear. I hurriedly place an order for more heddles…

Threading heddles for double weave.
This Glimåkra Standard is one of three looms that share my supply of Texsolv heddles.

Thankfully, the new heddles arrive quickly and the project is alive again.

This is what 1,000 Texsolv heddles looks like!
This is what 1,000 Texsolv heddles looks like! I didn’t want to run out again any time soon.
New Texsolv heddles - 1,000 of them!
Heddles come in bundles of 100, held together with twist ties. WARNING: DO NOT undo the twist ties before you put the heddles on the shaft bars. You’ll be sorry…
Clipping loops on new Texsolv heddles.
Before putting the heddles on the shaft bars, and while they are still tied into bundles, clip the loops at each end.
Clipping Texsolv heddle loops.
I clip the loops on both ends of the heddles. It is easy to move heddles wherever you want if the loops are cut, including repositioning individual heddles. (It is far easier to clip the loops while the heddles are still tied together.)
New heddles on the shaft bars.
There are 100 new heddles on each shaft. The heddles that are not used will be tied up and put away in my heddle box, ready for the next time I need more heddles.

Alive. This is the Easter season when we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He died, and was made alive again! What makes it even more fantastic is what that means for us. We all have a goodness shortage. And without a source of true goodness, our lifetime self-improvement project is at a dead end. Yet, through faith in the powerful working of God, we are raised with Christ. We are made alive together with him. His true goodness becomes our living source.

New bundles of Texsolv heddles stand ready to be used!
Threading progresses. New bundles of heddles stand ready to be used!

May you be supplied with more than enough.

Happy Easter,
Karen