warping – Page 3 – Warped for Good

Tried and True: One Small Skein

October 13, 2020October 12, 2020 Karen

I have a single skein of colorful cotton/bamboo sock yarn that a sweet friend gave to me. I’m not a knitter. What can I do with a mere 50 grams of silky-soft yarn? My 13.5” Glimåkra Emilia rigid-heddle loom is perfect for the task. When I’m at home I weave on floor looms. When I travel I like to take Emilia along.

"Make Do" warping while away from home. — This is called “Make Do” warping while away from home.

Glimakra 13.5" Emilia rigid heddle loom, ready to tie on and start weaving. — Emilia is beamed and the heddle is threaded. Ready to tie on and start weaving.

Weaving in the Casita Travel Trailer. — Now, a trip to visit some wonders of creation in Texas. Time to bring Emilia along. Weaving in “La Perlita,” our Casita Travel Trailer.

Weaving outside while camping. — Weaving outside the Casita in the shade of a tree is a relaxing way to spend the afternoon.

Weaving outdoors. — Two shades of bamboo thread are used for the weft–hot pink and coral–woven in alternating blocks of color.

Santa Elena Canyon in Big Bend National Park, with poppies in the foreground. — Santa Elena Canyon in Big Bend National Park. Poppies in the foreground provide color inspiration for more weaving projects.

Hemstitching at the end of a scarf on the rigid heddle loom. — Hemstitching at the end of the scarf, easiest to do while still on the loom.

One skein of this yarn yields just enough to make the warp for a short scarf with fringe. I am using Xie Bamboo thread for the weft, left from the huck lace shawl I wove for myself to wear to my daughter’s wedding six years ago (See Quiet Friday: Coral Shawl for a Memorable Occasion). This thinner weft gives me a loose weave, and the color blends in a way that allows the changing color of the warp to take center stage.

Trimming fringe on a handwoven scarf. — Back home again, doing the finishing. Fringe is trimmed to an even length.

Twisting fringe. (For more on twisting fringe, see Tools Day: Fringe Twister.)

Handwoven scarf before washing. — Before hand washing.

Rigid heddle scarf made with sock yarn. — Scarf has been air dried, and the fringe knots have been trimmed. This soft short scarf is just right to wear with a light jacket in the Texas autumn air.

Now that this scarf is finished, the only thing left to do is make sure I have a new warp ready for Emilia in time for our next travel adventure.

May you take your joys with you.

Happy travel weaving,
Karen

Warp Chains Are Beautiful

June 16, 2020June 15, 2020 Karen

The reel spins ‘round, ‘round, ‘round one way, and then ‘round, ‘round, ‘round back the other way. Rhythmic, mesmerizing, and strangely soothing. Counting, as I wind two ends at a time, I find myself whispering “2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, ….” The warping reel is one of my favorite pieces of equipment. This warp has seven colors of 22/2 Cottolin for bath towels which are to accompany the hand towels I recently made. I am winding this in four bouts, and there are different color changes in each bout.

Winding a warp for cottolin bath towels. — First bout on the warping reel.

Making cottolin bath towels. — Second bout. Choke ties about every meter keep the ends from shifting as the warp bout is chained and taken to the loom.

Making a warp for handwoven bath towels. Cottolin. — Third bout. Each of the four bouts has nearly the same number of warp ends.

Glimakra warping reel - one of my favorite pieces of equipment! — Fourth bout.

I marvel at the combination of thread colors as I chain each bout off the reel. The warp chains look beautiful. They always do. Warp chains are dreams in the making, where anything is possible. Haven’t you dreamt of handwoven bath towels?

Winding a warp on the Glimakra warping reel. — Came close to running out of thread on some of the tubes. (I did have backup tubes, but not from the same dye lots.)

Beautiful warp chains! — Beautiful warp chains, ready for the loom.

When we listen closely, we can hear the inaudible. Our hearts can hear the softest whisper. “2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, …” Even the hairs on our head are numbered by the Grand Weaver who planned our existence. Our days are numbered, as well. And when our heart is listening, we can hear the quiet whisper of the Lord Jesus, “Are you weary and burdened? Come to me, and I will give you rest.”

May you listen for the softest whisper.

Gently,
Karen

Process Review: Jämtlandsdräll with Julia

May 26, 2020May 30, 2020 Karen

My intention is to weave fabric for a couple of cushy throw pillows. But after just one pattern repeat, I realize that this cloth on my brand new Glimåkra Julia is something I would like to wear! No pillows this time. Instead, here is my new autumn/winter shoulder wrap, embellished with frisky swinging fringes. Miss Julia has proven her worth on four-shaft Jämtlandsdräll (crackle) in 6/2 Tuna wool. Her next adventure will be something that explores all eight shafts. (See My New Glimåkra Julia Loom.)

Jämtlandsdräll Wool Wrap - woven on Glimåkra Julia. — Finished wrap. Ready for cool weather!

This project starts with the draft for the Jämtlandsdräll Blanket on p.59 of Simple Weaves, by Birgitta Bengtsson Björk and Tina Ignell. Tuna yarn samples, along with Fiberworks Silver for Mac, help me jazz up the color. I settle on three colors for the warp, with burnt orange as the anchor. Six different colors are used for the pattern weft, plus dark teal for the tabby.

Planning my next weaving project on Fiberworks. — Paint chips, Tuna yarn samples, and Fiberworks Silver for Mac aid my planning process.

Colors! Let's see how they work together on the loom. — Colors! Let’s see how they work together on the loom.

Beaming the warp on my new Julia. — Beaming the warp.

Weaving Jamtlandsdrall (Crackle) on my new Julia. — Daylight, plus colorful yarn. As summer is warming up outside, Julia is dressed warmly inside.

Color gradation in the pattern. — Some color gradation in the pattern.

My new Glimakra Julia! — Miss Julia, filling up her cloth beam.

Crackle (Jamtlandsdrall) in Tuna Wool. — Ending with a few picks of plain weave.

End of warp on my new Glimakra Julia. — Thrums at the end of the warp will serve as fringe.

Cutting off Jamtlandsdrall (crackle)! — Cutting off, giving a view of the back side of the cloth. Front and back have reverse images.

Twisting fringe on Jamtlandsdrall wrap. — Much to my pleasant surprise, after removing (unweaving) my short sample weaving at the beginning, and untying the front tie-on knots, I had the EXACT same length of fringe–*to the centimeter*–on both ends of the woven wrap.

Chunky, frolicky fringe. — Overhand knots secure the weft. Two groups of four warp strands each form each chunky fringe. Now, this wrap is ready for wet-finishing.

This is one of those times when the weaving is so satisfying that I truly don’t want the warp to come to an end. (…except that I’m excited to start on Julia’s second adventure!)

May your adventures never cease.

Happy Weaving,
Karen

I Forgot to Tie the Cross

December 17, 2019December 15, 2019 Karen

It’s not a good feeling when you discover that you did not tie the lease cross on one of the warp bouts. When you wind a warp, it’s the cross that keeps the ends in proper order. I carefully tie both sides of the cross before removing the bout from the warping reel. This time, though, I inadvertently tied only part of the cross, which is, essentially, not tying the cross at all.

Realigning threads at the cross. — Working from right to left, I separate one pair of ends at a time to try to recreate the proper order of the warp ends. After every few strands, I insert the lease sticks and tie the cross. Fortunately, the bout on the left was tied properly before it left the warping reel.

Ready to pre-sley the reed and beam the warp.

I make my best guess to recreate the thread order, inserting the lease sticks little by little. And as I beam the warp there are several twists that threaten the whole process, getting hung up at the reed. But I coax the warp through at a snail’s pace, not forcing anything.

New wool warp being beamed. — I beam the warp and stop frequently to check the yarn for twists on the front side of the reed. No combing my fingers through the warp, which could lead to uneven warp tension. I lightly flick any twist-ups in front of the reed with my fingers to help keep them moving.

Eventually, the warp is successfully beamed. What a relief!

New warp ready for threading. — Now that the warp is beamed, there is no more concern about misaligned ends. The ends are now in the proper order as they appear on the lease sticks.

Things that matter become misaligned when we or those around us mess up. Some of the ensuing twists and conflicts spell disaster. It’s not a good feeling. We start to imagine that we’re alone and forgotten. You are not forgotten. Baby Jesus of the real Christmas story grew to manhood for a clear purpose. He came in pursuit of you and me, gently calling, never forcing, ever loving us, to put our threads back in order again through his cross. What a relief!

May your threads be put in order.

Good Christmas,
Karen

Imagine Rag Rugs on the Drawloom

December 3, 2019December 2, 2019 Karen

Rag rug weaving on the drawloom! I can only imagine the delight. In the meantime, the drawloom is getting dressed. It takes time to group the pattern heddles into units, add lingos, thread pattern shafts, thread eight ground shafts, sley the reed, move the ground shafts and pattern shafts to their positions, and tie on. After I finish all that I can think about adding all the single-unit draw cords and finish tying up. Whew!

Winding a warp for the next drawloom project. — Warping reel is in a corner of the drawloom studio. When not in use, the reel is folded up and pushed against the wall.

Warp chains of 12/6 cotton rug warp. Drawloom rag rugs! — Warp chains of 12/6 cotton rug warp.

Drawloom - rug warp is ready for threading. — Warp is beamed and ready for threading.

I became acquainted with the single-unit drawloom at Joanne Hall’s studio (see Drawlooms in Montana), but this is my first go at it on the drawloom in my studio. Because of the reward that awaits, I will gladly tackle all the tasks of dressing this loom. Weaving rag rugs on a drawloom will be phenomenal!

Pattern heddles and weights for prepping the drawloom. — Pattern heddles are hanging on the breast beam for grouping into pattern units. A lingo is hung on each unit.

Threading the drawloom. — Pattern heddles have been threaded. You can see the lingos hanging below. Ground heddles are now being threaded. Straight draw threading on eight ground shafts.

Joy sees hidden treasure. We go to great lengths to unearth high-value treasure. Jesus did this, seeing us as the reward. That’s what Christmas celebrates. Jesus left his splendor in heaven to come to earth as a baby. He entered this world and endured the worst because of the joy set before him. He did it all for the joy of having us in fellowship with God. We come to him and find that we are the Grand Weaver’s reward.

May your joy be full.

Joy to you,
Karen