I waded into deflected double weave for the first time. It took me one full scarf to figure out what I was doing. By the second scarf, I had a much better sense of how the pattern fits together and what to do with the shuttles (most of the time). Both scarves are quite imperfect (no one will ever know…). The loom behaved perfectly, though. This is my Julia’s first project using all eight shafts. Now, I know that this sweet loom is up to any challenge I give her.
20/2 Mora wool by Borgs. Yarn is temporarily secured by pulling a loop behind the warp at the nearest upright on the warping reel.Preparing to dress the loom. The lease cross end of the warp chain is placed through the beater.Warp is beamed and tied on, and the treadles and lamms are tied up.First scarf gives me a chance to learn. Beat consistency is getting better with practice.Trickiest part about deflected double weave is understanding how the shuttles interact so that the color from one shuttle (the salmon color) never goes to the selvedge.Gaining confidence and consistency on the second scarf. Stiff Mora wool will soon soften in the wash. After cutting off, I discover that a tiny misunderstanding gave me a consistent wrong thread all along one selvedge on the back side. Maybe we should call this defective double weave. (But, really, no one will ever know.)Bundles of light and dark threads are twisted into swinging fringes before the scarves are washed.
By the way, I like the finished airy scarves, even with their flaws.
Finished scarf has delightful pattern and character. Mora wool is sufficiently softened through washing and drying, to make a supple fabric.Perfect (imperfect) scarf to brighten up a foggy day in Texas hill country.
Merry Christmas Eve to you. Looms are quietly waiting to resume their rhythm. Meanwhile, songs of joy and hope fill the air because the Savior of the world is born.
1. The Standard Pictorial tapestry, with only 6 centimeters of the cartoon remaining.2. The Ideal Second rosepath rag rug completed. Two short rugs yet to be woven on this warp.3. The Little Loom First of two scarves is started. I am using the Stardustdraft by Mona Nielsen, published in Happy Weaving, from Vävmagasinet, but with yarn and colors of my choosing.4. The Drawloom Warp is threaded and tied-on. Single-unit draw cords have been prepared. Next step: Attaching draw cords to pattern units. And then, tie uptreadles and start weaving!
May your night be silent and holy, calm and bright.
Dressing the drawloom the second time is easier than the first time. No slip ups or confusion. Just smoothly moving from one step to the next. (Read to the end to see what to expect for July.)
Winding skeins of wool yarn into balls.
With my first drawloom warp the most challenging part was distributing the pattern shafts. (See Q and A with Joanne Hall and Drawloom Dressing.) This time something clicked and the light bulb turned on. Instead of blindly following steps, I now understand what I am doing, and why. And I am having fun in the process!
Winding the warp on the warping reel, making two bouts.Warp chains of 6/2 Tuna wool, ready to dress the loom.After beaming the warp, the loom bench is moved to the back of the loom for threadingheddles. Pattern heddles first, and then, ground heddles.With the reedsleyed, it’s time to return the ground shafts to the front of the loom and put the reed in the beater.Warp is tied on, and the leveling string is doing its job.Inkle band serves to separate pattern heddles as I distribute the pattern shafts.Pattern shafts are resting nicely on the pattern shaft holders. Their little hooks grab the Texsolv that connects them to the draw cords and handles.Pointed threading can be seen in the arrangement of the heddles on the pattern shafts.Drawloom setup is complete except for tying up the treadles. Treadle tie-ups on a drawloom are refreshingly simple.Testing pattern sheds by pulling some of the draw handles. After a few small adjustments, she’s ready to weave!First sample. 6/2 Tuna wool warp and weft, 4-shaft broken twill on the ground shafts, sett is 5.5 ends per cm, 16 pattern shafts with 1 extra shaft for the edges.
Friends, It’s that time again, when Warped for Good is put on pause for the month of July.
Thank you for sharing in this journey with me!
What’s on my looms: I am near the end of the blue double weave blanket on the Standard, and I am planning a new pictorial tapestry for that loom. The drawloom is dressed and in motion. And the Ideal loom is still sitting ready for rosepath rag rugs. Also, Steve and I have a Casita trip planned that will include some leisurely backstrap band weaving.
What’s on your loom right now? Share with us in the comments.
See you the first Tuesday of August! (In the meantime catch me over on Instagram @celloweaver.)
May your second times be better than your first times.
I made an embarrassing blunder. No wonder this Tuna wool resists all my efforts. It’s the wrong yarn! Tuna is 6/2 wool—twice as thick as the 6/1 wool I should be using. Cowboy Magic won’t solve this sticky problem. (I thought it would, as I expressed in this post: Tame the Wool.)
The yarn is gorgeous, but my frustration level is pushing me to throw in the towel. I tried hard to make this work. I was so convinced I had the right yarn that I missed it even when reader Joan left a gentle comment asking if 6/1 Fårö yarn would work (I’m sorry for not listening, Joan). There is nothing left but to cut off this failure.
Every shed is a struggle. It seems impossible to get a clean shed with this “sticky” yarn. (It’s not the yarn’s fault, though.)Failed piece is cut off. There are unwanted floats everywhere, and the fabric is like cardboard because of the tight sett.Bottom of the double weave has even more unwanted floats than the top layer.
In this lowest moment a thought occurs to me. Re-sley the reed. An ounce of hope rises.
Reed is changed from 50/10 metric to 40/10 metric. This spreads the warp an additional 19.9 cm (7 3/4″).Sleying is complete and the new reed is placed in the beater. Warp is tied on and leveling string is tightened. On your mark, get ready, get set…
I re-sley to a coarser reed and tie back on. I hold my breath and step on the treadles. It works. And it’s gorgeous!
Go! Night and day difference in being able to clear each shed.Double weave at its finest.Weaving into the sunset.Clean lines of double weave, with a (very) few unwanted floats that will be easy to fix later.This is now a pleasure to weave!
Have you experienced great disappointment and loss of hope? Sometimes our own failure brings us to that point. The Lord makes things new. We come to Jesus with our failed attempts, and he exchanges our used rags of effort with his clean cloth of righteousness. In his forgiveness, the failure is cut off and removed. Our threads are re-sleyed and re-tied to make us gloriously new.
The plan to keep every loom dressed is easy when there is only one loom. Now that I have four floor looms, it’s a tough plan to follow. The drawloom—check. The Glimåkra Standard, dressed in Tuna wool—check. The two smaller looms are threaded, and just need tying on and tying up. So, I’m well on my way! The end of the first warp on the drawloom is in view, however. That means the drawloom will soon be back in the queue. And so it goes.
Winding a warp for rosepath rag rugs. 12/6 cotton. Spring colors.Warp for cottolin towels is threaded on the little hand-built loom.Opphämta on the drawloom. Pattern weft is 6/1 Fårö wool. The right side of the fabric is seen underneath, as it comes around the breast beam.Threading heddles on the Glimåkra Ideal.Blue and Almond Tuna wool warp is tied on in 1″ sections.
I like to stay a step ahead of my looms. I’m ready to wind a new warp as soon as I finish cutting off. It’s the cycle of weaving. But I have trouble staying ahead.
Twelve shafts. Twelve upper lamms. Twelve lower lamms. Twelve treadles. This is an amazing system.Warp is tied on. Ready to add the leveling string.Loom is dressed. Treadle cords are adjusted. Ready for weaving!End of warp comes near the pattern heddles. This is my first drawloom warp, so I’m waiting to see how far I can weave until I lose a good shed. So far, so good.Closing chapter of my first drawloom warp. I’ll keep “turning pages” until the shed disappears.
We have good plans for our lives. But often, it’s tough to follow those plans. Too many things happen at once, and we don’t know how to stay ahead of it all. The thing to remember is that our plans stem from our inner commitments. When we commit our ways to the Lord, trusting him, he leads us through our days. Trust turns plans into achievements. And those are the plans worth pursuing.
