organize – Page 4 – Warped for Good

Tools Day: Yarn Record Book

August 11, 2015August 10, 2015 Karen

Would you like to keep track of every type of thread and yarn you use? You need something you can refer back to for fiber content, color numbers, sett information, and where you purchased the yarn. I have a simple yarn record system that accomplishes that. Because it is easy to do, I update the records every time I start a new tube of thread or skein of yarn that is not already represented. I call it my Yarn Record Book.

How to Create a Yarn Record Book

1. Gather supplies:

Three-ring binder
8 1/2 x 11″ white cardstock
Paper cutter or scissors
Three-ring hole punch or single-hole punch
Small color wheel and other color tools
Black fine point Sharpee
Pocket pages
New spectacular yarn and thread in colors and sizes you have never tried before!

2. Cut cardstock. Cut a sheet of white cardstock lengthwise in half.

3. Punch holes. Punch three holes on one long side of the cut cardstock to coincide with three-ring binder, and punch five holes on the opposite side.

4. Insert color tools. Place color wheel and other color tools in front inside pocket.

5. Add yarn label information. Write information on front of prepared card:

Fiber type and size/plies; e.g., Cotton 8/2
Brand name
Fiber content
Where purchased
Length and weight

6. Add yarn sample. Cut one meter of the new thread or yarn. (My loom bench, conveniently a meter in width, is my quick measuring guide.) Fold the length in half, in half again, and in half one more time. Push the loop at the fold of the yarn through a hole on the five-hole side of the card and pull the other end of the yarn through. Write the color number above the hole.

7. Insert yarn card into notebook. On the back of the card write the date the yarn is added. Include information about how the yarn is to be used, and the intended sett. (Later, if your plans change, or you determine the sett needs adjusting, come back and make notes here to reflect that.) Insert the card in the Yarn Record Book. I arrange fibers in alphabetical order, e.g., alpaca, cotton, linen, wool; and, within each fiber, by size of yarn from finest to coarsest.

8. Add color cards. Put purchased yarn sample color cards in pocket pages at the end of the notebook.

9. Expand. When you accumulate so many types and colors of threads and yarns that your notebook is overflowing, get a bigger notebook!

May you make progress in putting things in order.

Happy Organizing,
Karen

Tools Day: Rubber Bands

June 17, 2014July 21, 2014 Karen

At the risk of telling you something you already know, I am going to show two ways I use rubber bands in my weaving studio. Yes, rubber bands. Simple, to the point of being simplistic. But I sheepishly admit, I didn’t know to do these things until I saw someone else do them; and then I expanded (pun intended) their practices to suit the way I like to work.

1. While it is common to put a rubber band on one treadle to act as a marker for your feet, I find it helpful to put rubber bands on two treadles for even greater efficiency. I put one rubber band on the first pattern treadle, and a second rubber band on the third pattern treadle. My feet never have to guess where to step. (With the rosepath tie-up for the rag rugs on the Glimakra Ideal loom, there are two plain weave treadles on the right, and then four pattern treadles. The rya weaving on the Glimakra Standard loom has one treadle on the right that lifts the warp ends for the rya knots, and four pattern treadles.)

Treadles marked with rubber bands for efficiency. — Plain weave, like the solid blue section, and the band of brown, uses the two treadles on the right on this Glimakra Ideal loom. The rosepath pattern, in orchid, and the dots and dashes, in dark pink and blue/black, uses the remaining four treadles.

Treadles with rubber bands for easy treadling. — Five treadles are used for this rya weaving on the Glimakra Standard loom. The treadle on the right lifts the warp ends on the second shaft, onto which the rya strands are tied. The remaining four treadles are used to weave a rosepath pattern in the cloth.

2. Rubber band the thread label around the tube of thread. This is the simplest way to keep track of fiber information–fiber content, weight, color number, brand. I also cut a short length of the thread and stick it to the sticky side of the label. This helps me get the labels back on the correct tubes, especially when using several threads of different colors.

One way to keep thread labels from getting mixed up. — With similar colors, like these two tubes of 12/6 cotton rug warp, it helps to keep an identifying strand attached to the label. I always try to put the label back on its tube as soon as possible to prevent mix-ups.

May you find simple solutions to do what you do better.

(Have you checked out my new Etsy shop yet?)

Happy Weaving,
Karen

Tools Day: These 6 Apps Are Great for Weavers!

November 12, 2013November 11, 2013 Karen

I love mixing new technology with the old, passed-down tradition of handweaving. My iPhone has become a regular accessory in my daily routines. Since my iPhone is usually in my back pocket, the ease of using apps as weaving tools makes a lot of sense. (These apps are useful, even if you are not a weaver.)

Here are my favorite apps for weaving and how I use them:

Things gives me a simple way to organize my daily activities and responsibilities. I especially like the way I can break down a weaving project into parts or steps.

Kitchen Calculator makes conversions between metric and imperial units super easy. I use it to convert weight units and length units of thread and yarn.

WolframAlpha is my go-to app for more complicated calculations, such as when I want to convert two numbers in an equation. Some websites list yarn in grams/yards, which makes no sense to me. This app does the heavy-lifting math so my brain can save itself for more creative work.

My Library keeps a list of all the books in my weaving library. This certainly helps keep me from duplicating purchases. The books are organized by category in the app, so I have them arranged the same way on my bookshelf, making it easy to find a particular book.

OfficeTime – Time and Expense Tracking makes it easy to track the time for every phase of a weaving project. I can also set a dollar amount per hour, so I can see the cost of labor at a glance.

Google Translate helps me make sense of my stack of Swedish weaving books. I type Swedish words and it translates back to me in English. Usually the translation is not quite right, but close enough that I can understand what it means.

Have you found apps that are useful for weaving? Please tell about them in the comments!

May you reach a new level of efficiency that makes room for even more creativity.

Thankful,
Karen