Starting the New Year Off With Old Lessons

So, I started the year repeating my mantra that I cajole my students with: sample, sample, sample! It’s always at the time when one is most pressed, that the temptation to skip this important step is most alluring. But let me tell you it just isn’t a time saver to not sample.

In this case, I was intent on getting a publishable-quality piece ready for my Knitting Daily taping I was going to be doing at TNNA last week. I had used the yarns before in a different application and I thought they would readily full, or bloom.

I wanted to set them for this project in a single heddle. I also wanted to warp up the loom for two scarves, one to weave off as a finished piece and the other to leave on the loom as a work in progress.

I started with a 10 e.p.i. sett and I could tell right away that the weave looked way too loose. I decided to cut off 4” of woven fabric and wash it to see if my hunch was correct. Sure enough, it barely held together, even with vigorous washing. It’s easy enough, if a little awkward to re-thread the loom. But this was quickly done in a 12-dent reed inserted in my second slot on the Flip Loom, removing threads one at a time from the 10-dent heddle and inserting them in the 12-dent. Again, the weave just didn’t look tight enough and the float structure didn’t curve in the way I had envisioned it. Again, there was still sufficient length to cut off a piece and wash it.

(By the way, all of the above was being done for me by our returning intern, Angela Johnson—who gained quite a bit experience with rigid heddle reed threading.) We washed this sample a little too vigorously and ended up with a matted mess—at least I learned that this yarn could not only bloom more fully than I thought it would on my first sample but that it could also be taken to the extreme of felting. This sample told me I did need to thread the yarn in two 8-dent heddles. Now, my weaving was too narrow—and we had to add additional yarn to the edges to bring it back into scarf-width range.

In a way you could say, all the iterations were sampling, and I did end up with a piece that I’m pleased as punch about, but I did loose the second scarf I had planned to leave on the loom. Instead my demonstration scarf barely fit beam to beam.

I show you my tests as well as the finished piece. Look for the finished scarf with instructions this summer as a free project on Knitting Daily TV, probably in July, when my taping about using a pick-up stick appears. Also on this program we mention my new book “The Weavers Idea Book: Creative Cloth from the Rigid Heddle Loom” (Interweave Press), to be released some time late summer or early fall.

Double weave on the Schacht Flip Loom

Above: double weave sampler: the herringbone pattern results when both layers are woven together. Below: Threading for double weave: measure and wind the warp with the first heddle, install the second one and thread it (see Schacht Winter 2007 on-line newsletter for warping details).

You can weave double weave on a rigid heddle loom—and it’s especially convenient to weave on our Flip loom because of its two heddle capabilities.

To begin, warp your loom as for two heddles (check out our Schacht Winter 2007 on-line newsletter for the details) with this special instruction. Warp two colors together, thread color A in the Heddle II holes and color B in Heddle I holes. Essentially, in rigid heddle double weave, you need a heddle and pick-up stick for each layer. Below are the basic instructions for preparing and weaving double weave.

Equipment: Schacht Flip rigid heddle loom, two rigid heddle reed of the same dent (8, 10 or 12), two pick-up sticks, two shuttles, another two pick-up sticks are handy (making four total).

Preparation

Pick-up pattern for dark layer on top:

1. Place both heddles in the down position.
2. For pick-up stick A: Pick up all of the dark raised threads to the left of the light threads (working along the fell of the cloth makes it easy to see which threads to pick up). Transfer threads to another pick-up stick behind the heddles and slide it to the back of the loom.
3. For pick-up stick B: place both heddles in the up position, slide pick-up stick A forward to behind the heddle and slide pick-up stick B into the narrow bottom shed.

Weaving

Weaving two separate layers:

Lower layer (light layer)

1. Pick-up stick B—use light weft
2. Heddle I in down shed—use light weft

Upper layer (dark layer)

1. Heddle II up—use dark weft
2. Pick-up stick A—use dark weft

Exchange the layers, light layer on top:

If you want to change the layers so that the light threads are on top and the dark threads are on the bottom, you’ll need an additional two pick-up sticks. (The first two can stay in place at the back of the loom until needed again.)

1. Pick-up stick C: Place both heddles in the down position and pick-up all of the light threads to the right of the dark threads.
2. Pick-up stick D: Place both heddles in the up position and slide pick-up stick C forward to behind the heddles and slide pick-up stick D into the resulting lower shed. Slide both pick-up sticks to the back of the loom.

Weaving:

Lower layer (dark layer)

1. Pick-up stick D—dark color
2. Heddle II down—dark color

Note: in order to be able to weave with Heddle II in the down position, bring both heddles in front of the heddle block, pull up on the front heddle and push down on the back heddle. This is a little awkward, but I can do it with one hand and then use my other hand to insert the shuttle.

Upper layer (light layer)

1. Heddle I up—light color
2. Pick-up stick C—light color

Flip Rigid Heddle Loom: Take it with you

This is the project I was working on in the car. It's honeycomb--a favorite, and a great weave structure for the rigid heddle loom.

Last week I drove a friend to Denver for chemo. I also had a project deadline. What to do? I took my weaving with me and wove while I waited. Even though I've been rigid heddle weaving for years, I'd never actually taken my Flip loom with me.

So as not to be intrusive in the waiting room, I wove outside in my car, sitting in the back seat with Flip propped up on the back of the front seat. It was a glorious Colorado fall day. I enjoyed listening to the sounds of the city, the cool fall breeze coming in through the car windows, and at peace, throwing my shuttle to and fro. An added bonus was being of assistance to a friend without feeling panicky about my deadline.

p.s. Please register to vote. If you're not registered to vote, I hope you will do so right now. There's so much at stake this election and each voice matters more than ever.

Magazine As Community

My centerpiece fringed with pineapple yarn as featured in the new Handwoven. Here, its shown on my Flip rigid heddle loom. Structure is Honeycomb.

If you haven’t seen the latest Handwoven (September-October 2008), please pick up a copy at your local LYS (that is, if you’re not already a subscriber). This issue premiers Handwoven’s new design, and in talking to my friends at Interweave, they are anxious to know what you, their readers, have to say about it. Is it what you want? What do you like? What don’t you like?

As editor of Handwoven (1986-1992) I viewed my readers as my weaving community and my job as editor was to foster that community. Communication from my readers was important to presenting material and information they wanted. Hearing from my readers about what they thought helped shape the magazine. The good stuff let me know I was on track; the hard stuff, while never easy to hear, made me do a better job. I’m pretty sure this still holds true for the good folks at Handwoven. Just email the magazine at handwoven@interweave.com, your editors will be glad to hear from you.

FYI: while you’re perusing the magazine, check out my project on page 28 and our Schacht ads on pages 3 and 5.