Unusual
Something strange happened last week.
In the middle of November, I finished weaving the Coffee Towels on the smaller loom.
I immediately warped her with some lace weight wool with the intention of making an overshot wool and silk shawl; however, after the warp was beamed, the heddles threaded, and the reed sleyed, I had issues with breakage while lashing on, which made me question my choice of warp.
As my pattern weft was 100% worsted silk, I did not want to take a chance on wasting it. So, at the last second, I changed my plans and used the warp to make cowls from various wool yarns I had on hand, including some hand spun.
These took a day and a half to warp and weave, and I was left with a bare loom again.
Fortune smiled, though, and my gorgeous friend agreed to model them for me!
This one uses worsted weight weft and has been doubled over, as it is 18" tall and 26" in circumference, perfect for pulling up and over the mouth and nose when the winds are howling from the north.
This second one used fingering weight yarn and is much finer and smoother in texture, as well as lighter. It is also 18" tall, but 33" around. It has a lovely drape. All these had a sett of 10.
These were so quick and fun to weave, I know I will be making more.
In fact, I almost warped the loom with more of the same lace weight wool, but because I had fifteen yards of warp on the larger loom, twelve of which were for Christmas towels, I held off on warping her until the holiday project was done.
Well, on December 6th, I finished the warp on the big loom.
Both looms were bare at the same time.
That has never happened.
It was actually strange to walk into the studio and have both looms naked.
My practice is to have a warp waiting in the wings to beam on within a day of a loom becoming available.
However, while I had a warp ready for the overshot project I mentioned above, albeit, this time with tencel warp, I was unsure whether I wanted to start it or make more towels.
Part of my 2019 goals is to clean out the dish towel drawer and fill it with nothing, but hand woven towels!
Both looms are now eight shaft with ten treadles each; however, eight shaft patterns are more enjoyable to weave on the 32" loom, rather than the 56" loom. Macomber looms have metal harnesses or, should I say, very heavy metal harnesses.
The patterns I have done lately require treadling of 5, 6, and 7 harnesses per treadle. While I have not actually weighed a 56" harness with metal heddles, even if they only weighed 5 pounds each, 7 of them would be 35 pounds, not including any tension created by the warp. Of course, the back-hinged treadles make it significantly easier than front-hinged ones, each treadle requires more effort than the 32" loom.
A friend of mine has the fraternal twin sister to my 56" Macomber. Mine has 8 shafts. Hers has 16 shafts.
I do admit to having had some shaft envy when I first learned how many she had; however, now that I have spent a great deal of time weaving 8 shaft patterns, I cannot imagine weaving on a 12 or 16 shaft 56" Macomber without an air-Dobby system in place (which is computer driven and uses compressed air to lift the harnesses as needed). I am exhausted just considering it.
All that to say, if I have an 8 shaft project and a 4 shaft project and each loom will accommodate either project width-wise, I will save the 8 shaft one for the 32" loom and the 4 shaft one for the 56" loom, which is what happened here.
Here is a screen shot of a draft I was playing with in Fiberworks:
In the middle of November, I finished weaving the Coffee Towels on the smaller loom.
I immediately warped her with some lace weight wool with the intention of making an overshot wool and silk shawl; however, after the warp was beamed, the heddles threaded, and the reed sleyed, I had issues with breakage while lashing on, which made me question my choice of warp.
As my pattern weft was 100% worsted silk, I did not want to take a chance on wasting it. So, at the last second, I changed my plans and used the warp to make cowls from various wool yarns I had on hand, including some hand spun.
These took a day and a half to warp and weave, and I was left with a bare loom again.
Fortune smiled, though, and my gorgeous friend agreed to model them for me!
This one uses worsted weight weft and has been doubled over, as it is 18" tall and 26" in circumference, perfect for pulling up and over the mouth and nose when the winds are howling from the north.
This second one used fingering weight yarn and is much finer and smoother in texture, as well as lighter. It is also 18" tall, but 33" around. It has a lovely drape. All these had a sett of 10.
Lastly, I made a much longer cowl with worsted weight wool as weft. This one ended up being 19" tall and 48" in circumference. We have it pulled down on my friend much like a shawl to cover her back and shoulders, but as I am much broader through the shoulders than she is, I wear it as a loose cowl/infinity scarf, one side folded over the other.
These were so quick and fun to weave, I know I will be making more.
In fact, I almost warped the loom with more of the same lace weight wool, but because I had fifteen yards of warp on the larger loom, twelve of which were for Christmas towels, I held off on warping her until the holiday project was done.
Well, on December 6th, I finished the warp on the big loom.
Both looms were bare at the same time.
That has never happened.
It was actually strange to walk into the studio and have both looms naked.
My practice is to have a warp waiting in the wings to beam on within a day of a loom becoming available.
However, while I had a warp ready for the overshot project I mentioned above, albeit, this time with tencel warp, I was unsure whether I wanted to start it or make more towels.
Part of my 2019 goals is to clean out the dish towel drawer and fill it with nothing, but hand woven towels!
Both looms are now eight shaft with ten treadles each; however, eight shaft patterns are more enjoyable to weave on the 32" loom, rather than the 56" loom. Macomber looms have metal harnesses or, should I say, very heavy metal harnesses.
The patterns I have done lately require treadling of 5, 6, and 7 harnesses per treadle. While I have not actually weighed a 56" harness with metal heddles, even if they only weighed 5 pounds each, 7 of them would be 35 pounds, not including any tension created by the warp. Of course, the back-hinged treadles make it significantly easier than front-hinged ones, each treadle requires more effort than the 32" loom.
A friend of mine has the fraternal twin sister to my 56" Macomber. Mine has 8 shafts. Hers has 16 shafts.
I do admit to having had some shaft envy when I first learned how many she had; however, now that I have spent a great deal of time weaving 8 shaft patterns, I cannot imagine weaving on a 12 or 16 shaft 56" Macomber without an air-Dobby system in place (which is computer driven and uses compressed air to lift the harnesses as needed). I am exhausted just considering it.
All that to say, if I have an 8 shaft project and a 4 shaft project and each loom will accommodate either project width-wise, I will save the 8 shaft one for the 32" loom and the 4 shaft one for the 56" loom, which is what happened here.
Here is a screen shot of a draft I was playing with in Fiberworks:
It is a bit elaborate for tea towels, but flush with the success of the cowls above, I knew I could use 5/2 bamboo with the 8/2 cotton warp (or some fingering weight wool) to make more cowls or fabric for mittens, etc.
I also flirted with the colors a bit, as well as adding a couple lines of black for interest.
In the end, I decided to take inspiration from these colors and make something of a gradient warp:
The lighting was horrible when I took this shot, as it was very late at night. Trust me. The sea greens are actually different shades of teal.
Dressing the loom is actually one of my favorite parts of the process, especially since I switched over to sectional warping.
Typically, I work straight through. Once the warp is beamed, I immediately begin threading heddles. I try to remember to do my tie ups before I sley the reed, but that is hit or miss. I usually remember to do the tie ups before I lash on.
However, as both looms were bare, as soon as I beamed this warp, I swung the Beast around and went ahead and beamed his warp, too.
My studio room is very small, approximately 12' x 13".
Thus, when things are out of order, there is hardly room to breathe.
Here is the warp going on Lil Miss:
The Beast is waiting his turn:
However, it was the right decision.
The sett for the warp on the smaller loom was 20. The sett for the warp for the Beast was 10. It took no time to beam the warp, thread the heddles, tie up the treadles, and sley the reed.
By the time I was ready for bed, I was able to test the pattern quickly.
Oh, gosh!
It completely exceeded my expectations.
This is an overshot pattern by Bertha Gray Hayes.
That was several days ago, and in the meantime, we brought a sweet mini Aussiedoodle puppy home for the younger daughter.
Oh, yes, I have been playing with puppy without a thought to looms, weaving, or much else.
However, last night, I finally made my way back to the smaller loom.
With wee puppy (and the other dogs) for company, I was able to get her fully dressed and by bedtime (there is a theme here), it was done.
Here she is resting on the front beam, which thankfully lies flat on the floor for threading heddles.
Again, I managed a quick test of the pattern. The pink is NOT staying! It was a leftover bobbin from another project.
Now that both looms are dressed again, my weaving world has been righted.
Unfortunately, with an 18th birthday, a high school graduation, and Christmas celebrations looming, not to mention twelve Christmas towels awaiting hemming, I doubt there will be much time for weaving before the new year, but I will be ready!
Happy Holidays!
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