Weaving and Warps for Days

June 25, 2020

Weaving and Warps for Days

Two weeks ago, we delivered the Schacht Standard 45" floor loom to a good friend in Houston.

This is the warp I sent with the loom, as a gift:

10/2 mercerized cotton, sett of 24, 6 yards long.

In exchange, we picked up a Macomber Baby Mac 24" 8-shaft portable loom.

Of course, the first thing I did was dye a warp to put on her. This one is called Feisty Berries:

It is 6 yards of 10/2 cotton with a sett of 24, 20" weaving width.

She beamed beautifully.

The Baby Mac has new heddles on her, but I needed 100 more.

So, dressing the loom has been stalled, as I await their arrival.

The other looms have warps on them, as well.

The Beast is sporting a 14-yard run of 3/2 cotton towels, and they are glorious!

Lil Miss (32") has something of a throw-away project on her. The warp is a dyeing experiment with different strengths of Fuchsia and Truffle Brown with dashes of color thrown in.

The warp is 10/2 unmercerized cotton with 8/2 weft. The sett is 24 with a 20" weaving width. At the moment, the thought is to use this fabric for a top or shift dress...

Meg (24") has been dressed with 20 yards of 10/2 cotton for tea towels (with 8/2 cotton weft) and hand towels (with 5/2 cotton weft).

As I was having tension issues along the left selvage side, after the 8th towel, I cut off the fabric and re-lashed onto the cloth apron. This solved the problem, but that is the first time I have had to that with a sectionally beamed warp. Curious.

Here are a few of the ones I pulled off:

This uses a pattern I purchased from Webs featuring a dozen different designs using a Rosepath draft.

After each towel, I intended to change the tie ups to try a different one, but I have yet to do that. I am enjoying this one, but I have 8 or 9 more yards to go...

Despite the lovely projects occupying the looms, the last week or so, I have been motivated to plan new projects. Thus, I have been preparing warps!

Not including the Feisty Berries above, I dyed four more.

Feisty Tonic (10/2 unmercerized cotton with a sett of 24, 10 yards long):

Feisty Sari (not Sari) (10/2 unmercerized cotton with a sett of 24, 10 yards long):

Feisty Provocateur (10/2 unmercerized cotton with a sett of 20, 10 yards long, this is for sarong fabric and I wanted a looser sett for tons of drape in the fabric):

Feisty Mirth (10/2 unmercerized cotton with a sett of 24, 6 yards long):

I also have several commercially dyed warps on deck:

Exotic (8/2 cotton with sett of 24, 10 yards long):

Soothe (8/2 cotton with sett of 24, 10 yards long; these will be hand towels and use a weft of 5/2 cotton):

Tranquil (8/2 cotton with sett of 24, 10 yards long):

Huck Towels (8/2 cotton with sett of 20, 10 yards long):

Stripes (8/2 cotton with sett of 24, 12 yards long):

Cool (combination of 8/2 and 10/2, sett of 20, 6 yards):

To keep things organized, I added a small metal shelf with hangers, as well as moved a set of hangers to stand behind the warping mill.

I really got on a roll with the warps there for a bit, which is kind of perplexing, as I just ordered a Sawyer Bee Warping Square, but it is not scheduled to arrive for another 4-6 weeks.

However, for a hot minute I was seriously considering selling the Glimakra warping mill and began preparing the warps before I decided I would prefer to keep it.

More on the warping square after it arrives and I have had an opportunity to test it out.

The pile of fabric to be finished has grown to almost fifty!

I have not been in a hurry to cut, wash, and hem anything because I know me, I will give them away, even though most of them are destined for Christmas gifts, so I will allow them to languish for a while longer.

In addition to the Rosepath ones I had to cut off early, here are a few of them: