Outfoxed

Lately, I have redirected my focus on actual weaving and finishing of woven objects, rather than preparing more warps.

The reason is obvious, all four looms (three floor and one table) have warps on them.

The wee Meg actually has two warps on her, a ten yard plain beamed one and 30 yards on her sectional beam.

With his baby blankets, the Beast has garnered the most attention, and I hope to wrap that warp up next week.

It was the moment I realized the blankie project was nearing an end that my mind strayed to dyeing another warp.

This was a bit ridiculous, as next up for the Beast is a run of bath towels from a kit I purchased from Lunatic Fringe Yarns using 3/2 organic cotton.

I do not normally purchase kits, but there are few patterns available for bath towels, and I was in need of guidance regarding thread size, sett, etc.

Having said that, I was able to find two other patterns using 8/2 cotton and 4/2 cotton.

Those will also go on the Beast. I am hoping they turn out well, so I can go into production for Christmas gifts by mid-summer.

Instead of prepping the warp for the towels, I jumped right to making another one in 10/2 cotton for dyeing. This time I wanted seven 3-inch chains, each dyed a single color. My thought was to add a small line of a solid color on either side and between each dyed color to make interesting striped towels.  As with 10/2 cotton, my sett was again 24.

The good news is that I am smitten with the colors and how well they work together.

Using the photo above, the colors from top to bottom (Dharma Trading) are Turquoise, Sapphire Blue, Sage Green, Deep Navy, a combination of Power Berry and Grape (I was being frugal and did not want to waste what I had left in two different bottles), Shiitake Mushroom, and Mist Grey (with a little Magenta thrown in for good measure).

The plan was to do a single color for each chain, but by the time I got to the grey, it looked so drab and lifeless, I had to sprinkle some magenta in it. I am so glad I did.

The not so good news, I outsmarted myself and over-applied the dye to five of the seven chains. Those show very little variation in saturation and tone, which basically means they do not resemble hand dyed thread, but regular, single color factory dyed thread. My bad.

I was a bit zealous in trying to assure the depth of color I wanted for each and used far too much dye.

For a lot less time and effort, I could simply have pulled similar colors from my stash and prepared almost the same warp.

Fortunately, I love the colors. I am not too disappointed and will happily use the warp, as soon as one of the other looms become available.

Speaking of looms, the husband and I drove to Leander, Texas on Saturday and picked up another one. Due to the social distancing, the seller left the loom in her driveway and did not come out when we arrived to collect it. We were in text contact, so she knew exactly when we were arriving.

With several loom purchases under our belts, it is usually a social thing with the seller happy a beloved item is moved to a loving new home; however, it was for the best. This seller was a furniture restorer who acquired the loom from a friend who inherited it from her mother. Neither the seller, nor the friend knew anything about weaving.

Schacht Floor Loom, 4 Now-4 Later, 45"

She is in really good condition. 

There is no reed. The apron strings were okay, but not great. We already cut those off, and I have plans to make canvas aprons for her, as that is my preference. Tie up cords are on order. They are surprisingly inexpensive ($22 at Webs for 24). New inserted eye heddles are en route. 

I have not yet ordered a reed, but I have two 32" reeds (10 dent and 12 dent), which actually fit in the beater. 

The only thing, which gave me pause was one of the harnesses was slightly bowed along the bottom piece, which did not allow it easily move up and down. 

I requested a price to replace it, but in the meantime, I googled how to straighten warped wood. 

The process was simple and straight forward. 

Step 1:  Soak the wood. If unable to soak in a vessel, then wrap it with sopping wet towels for half an hour.

Step 2:  Sandwich the bowed wood between two straight pieces and clamp down.

I had two MDF shelves coated in plastic hanging out in the garage. With the sweet husband's assistance, we clamped the harness down with that.

Step 3:  Wait 24 hours or so for the wood the completely dry.

I was somewhat skeptical, but it cost nothing. 

Last night, I asked if we could check to see if it were working. 

The husband unclamped everything. 

Voila!

IT WORKED!

I slipped the harness in place, and it fit perfectly.

Wow.

Seriously good to know. 

Now I feel bad asking someone to track down a price for me, but I sure would like to know how much that saved me. 

UPDATE: The price for just the harness frame without hardware is $88, if I were to reuse my heddle support bars and hooks, and $134.40 for everything.

In addition to making the aprons, the heddle support bars need a bit of attention with steel wool to knock off some surface rust, then a polish with Vaseline. 

The husband has a grinder and worked on the bars from Lola a few months ago. 

Oh, gosh! They looked brand new. 

Poor guy.

He does something really nice once, then I ask him to do it over and over. 

He is certainly the unsung hero in and out of my weaving world. 

In fact, he did not blink when I showed him the listing for this loom. Bless him.

Originally, I had a Schacht table loom and a Leclerc Artisat floor loom. When I decided I wanted a larger floor loom, the Leclerc was the first to go, followed by the Schacht.

For a week, I was a loomless weaver. I did not even have a Cricket rigid heddle back then.

I was eyeing a Schacht Standard 45" 8-shaft floor loom in Arkansas for $2,200 or $2,300 when I came across a Macomber 56" 4-shaft loom not far from Tyler, Texas for $1,300.

To be perfectly honest, I had not heard of a Macomber.

I called a friend, and we immediately began scouring the internet.

The information I found was promising, so I went with the Macomber.

We upgraded him to 8-shaft, and he is affectionately now known as The Beast!

I have never once regretted that decision.

However, I have often been curious as to how the Schacht Standard weaves. The Schacht table loom I had was solid and extremely well built. In fact, I have often toyed with the idea of getting another, I am so fond of them.

The listing for this one was reasonable.

My plan is to rehabilitate her and weave on her, but I am not certain I truly have the room to keep her.

Thus, if anyone is interested, let me know.

I will certainly post our progress on the rehab.

I know these are uncertain times and there is a fair bit of anxiety and strife affecting most everyone. I find myself a bit more stressed and testy than I normally am, not to say I am not usually tightly wound.

To maintain some sense of normalcy, I choose to share the weaving stuff as a welcome distraction.

There may only be a handful of you out there, but I sincerely wish each of you well.