The news around here is that Jen finished scarf no. 8, and not only that, but also she says she is finished the 20/2 ulltra fine cotton series, at least for a while. Time to move on. This project is unique from the others because she used direct warping method on the 8 shaft table loom — do read Jen’s note down in the Weaving Notes explaining things, and see all the photos. We, the crew of inanimate objects; a chatty mannequin, all of the looms, Señor Mirando (mirror), ladder, chairs, old wooden ironing board, little antique folding ruler, et al — we ALL respect that this double threading thing is a big deal to Jen, but she’s losing her mind a bit, attempting to avoid convention. We, the crew, are happy to be able to work together photographing beneath the rafters, with beautiful draping hand weavings, in the afternoon light, but we aren’t sure what Jen intends to do now being finished with “the series”. She has been spending time making dye concoctions with powdered extracts of indigo, madder, and pomegranate rinds, and so we think her next thing might have something to do with that, which no doubt in my mind will result in another beautiful drapey thing!
Ta ta, Abelene & The Crew
♣ Weaving Notes ♣
Note from Jen: For this piece I tried the easy direct warping double threaded through the heddles on the table loom, so was inventing a method for myself, as so far I have only have done this on the rigid heddle loom with Scarf no.7. Take a look at the photos in the weaving notes below and you’ll see that this is not conventional, and I’m only grateful there are no weaving police around. For the weavers who are reading, I’m sharing my weaving notes and detailed warping photos below . . .
Yarn: 20/2 mercerized perle cotton, 8400yds / 1 lb, Maurice Brassard, in colors Natural (P-100), and Flax (P-5104).
Loom: Ashford 8shaft Table Loom, straight draw threading for plain weave, lifting pairs of odds & evens (1&3, and 2&4)
Warping method: Tested an easy direct warp method, back to front; double threading from back apron rod through reed and heddles, then to peg. Wound on to back beam and finally tied off on to front for weaving. Warp length is approx 130 inches from apron rod to warping peg.
Number of warp ends: 640 max plus 4 extra at each selvedge = 644 ends
Reed: 16 dent reed, 2 ends in each dent and 2 ends in each heddle (except for selvedges 4 ends each)
Width in reed: forgot to measure.
Sett on loom: forgot to measure.
Selvedges: I did not add extra ends to the selvedges, but did use a temple.
Sett after finishing: Warp 36 epi, and weft 26 ppi.
Color Pattern Warp: [32 dents of Natural, 32 of Flax] rep blocks across reed until measures 20″
Pattern Weft: Wound on to a 30″ stick shuttle for each color as follows: [30 wraps Natural, 30 wraps Flax] repeating sequence.
Finished: 1/4 inch turned hem, then washed and dried in machine, then pressed, measuring 81″ long and 18″ wide, and weighs 150g.
Yardage: Total yardage used for finished piece = 2780y, figured from weight of finished piece and not including loom waste.
What I will do differently next time: Raise up the harnesses to warp, thread and sleigh, I found I had to crouch down unnecessarily before I realized! Also I will group in 1″ bundles, having mistakenly miscalculated 8 groups of 4 harnesses, was actually 2″. EACH GROUP OF 4 harnesses is 1/4″. A group of all 8 harnesses will be 1/2″
Here is Jens latest weaving in her ultra fine series! She thinks the attention to drape is really emphasized when the weaving is wrapped around something body-shaped, and not necessarily ladder-shaped, as she had been doing earlier, and so I am the designated weaver’s model, and giddy for the thoughtful attention. Besides, Jen says I’m the new It Girl!
I am trying not to take offense to be calling ” it ” but Jen assured me that an “It Girl” is an attractive and engaging young woman, originating from a 1920’s film all about the British upper-class society. Hey, then I am IT for sure! Mostly because I like to be attractive and engaging. Oh, and Jen thought it best to have a format for these weaving posts, where I get to focus on the dazzling visual affect, then afterward she will explain the boring weaverly aspects in a special note about the project below.
Ta ta, Abelene
Note from Jen: I’ve been exploring weaving in a series of ultra light 20/2 cotton, this being the fourth, and the 20 epi woven on the Ashford Table Loom, set up for weaving straight draw (that means using 4 harnesses threaded 1-2-3-4, which in itself, was a completely new and thoroughly difficult experience, with threads doubled through the reed. Gibberish to my knitting colleagues, but to the weavers who might be reading this, they know this is an absolute basic step to learning weaving on multiple shafts. In fact, the weavers who might be reading this will roll their eyes for the fact that I warped it the same direct method as I do rigid heddle looms – direct warp – drawing the warp from the front apron rod through the reed, and around a peg, and then threaded through the heddles as an in-between step before winding it all on to the back warp beam. I improvised with this and subsequently the warp had mistakes, but not willing to get bogged down with them, I wove the piece instead testing gleefully what seemed closest yet to a perfect balanced weave, with just one light tap of the real swinging beater. This project was first in its own series of multiple shaft fine weaving, and so this very exciting!
♣ Weaving Notes ♣
Yarn: 20/2 mercerized perle cotton, 8400yds / 1 lb, Maurice Brassard, in colors; Galaxy Blue (P-112), Light Beige (P-2), and Blanchi (white) (P-101).
Loom: Ashford Table Loom.
Warping Method: Direct warp, using an extra peg so I could get some extra length in the small space (because honestly , this table loom and stand take up a lot of space in the room. 1-2-3-4 straight draw, and 2 threads in every reed dent. Warp length is approx 110 inches from apron rod to warping peg.
Number of warp ends: 360, plus 4 additional each selvedge. 368 ends total.
Reed: 10 dent reed, 2 ends through each dent.
Width in reed: approx 18″
Selvedges: Doubled for 4 ends each selvedge, and used a temple.
Sett after finishing: Warp 22 epi, and weft 20 ppi. Still not perfectly balanced, but could be a situation of beating . I think a closer sett for warp would allow me to beat more consistently and get perfect balance, because with a slightly open weave the measuring overall is more difficult because of variations throughout.
Color Pattern:
Warp = [20 slots with 2 ends each slot (40ends) blue, 20 slots with 2 ends each slot (40ends) light beige, 20 slots with 2 ends each slot (40ends) white] repeat. 20 slots with 2 ends each slot (40ends) blue.
Weft = wound on to a 30″ stick shuttle for each color as follows: [30 wraps blue, 30 wraps light beige, 15 wraps blue, 15 wraps light beige] repeating sequence for the length of the warp.
Finished: 1/4 inch turned hem, then washed and dried in machine, then pressed, measuring 76″ long and 17″ wide, and weighs 96g.
Yardage: Total yardage used for finished piece = 1776y, figured from weight of finished piece and not including loom waste.
What I will do different next time: Warp back-to-front, again direct, but with longer warp needed due to the fact that the table loom has more loom waste than the rigid heddle loom, such as a minimum of 120″ from apron rod to peg for 80″ finished scarf. Also I need to better organize heddles before attempting to thread, so mistakes don’t happen as easily. I will tie off bundles of 1″ in groups according to epi.
I have to confess mild disappointment, as I thought I could do better on my first twill project than I have. I planned it to be full width of 32″ and at least 72″ long. I planned it to be soft and fluffy and light, a lap blanket or shawl, whichever it wanted to be. But there was a double learning curve within this piece as not only have I not yet woven alpaca, which I realize now this particular superfine two ply worsted weight is quite slippery, but neither have I woven twill, or anything on multiple shaft loom. This was to be the first piece on the new table loom, a test run, using alpaca yarn that I happened to have the exact amount of in my yarn drawers, and meticulously planned to use up every yard of my light grey and cream that I had.
I set off with things going nearly right, having been lucky with the warping and keeping it organized, I had to improvise a front-to-back method. The work of sleying the reed and threading heddles entailed so much fussing I bore down under the yoke of determination and eventually, miraculously, got it done. Threading through the texsolv heddles in a straight draw, and finally with Jeff’s help I got it wound on to the warp beam nicely and firmly, with a lot of cardboard warp separators. Then there was testing the shed and fixing crossed threads for quite some time, not knowing what I was doing really, I really was at my limit. Presently, my first impression is that I don’t really love texsolv heddles, oh, yes, they’re quiet, and ultimately lightweight, just that threading them is a chore! I don’t know what wire heddles are like either, but they must be easier to thread.
After I started my first few inches of weft, just about everything went wrong that could go wrong; warp threads started to break within the first 12 inches of weaving, as well as the floating selvedge, and I noticed how uneven the twill angle was, all over the place, beating so inconsistently as I am not use to a beater at all, it seemed I was barely pressing the weft into place. In retrospect I suspect that it is because the warp was too spread out, and I should have used at least one size smaller reed, if not two, and being so spread out, the weft just sunk heavily into place practically covering the warp, in some places almost like tapestry weaving. I did not and could not predict this weft-heavy twill because of my complete lack of experience. So now I know, especially for this alpaca that is slick, pack the warp in double that I have, and then I will have some choice about how the weft beats down.
I should be laughing, I knew so well that I’d make hash of the twill thing, but I also knew I’d learn a lot, and I most certainly did. The good news is that it was a lovely cold snowy morning yesterday when I brought this hand-made gift of goodwill over to my dearest friend (who agreed ahead of time to accept it as the learning curve it is), that I had finished it in time before it became hot as it does often in mid March, and who wants a heavy alpaca thing then? I am hopeful the alpaca will most certainly bloom and soften and become a perfect accessory in her rustic mountain cabin where it will now live, strewn over the back of some truly antique leather chair next to an old stone fireplace hearth, and even though it is lumpy, bumpy, and unintentionally striped with uneven twill angle, it will bloom out and fit in wonderfully.
Anyway, the list of Next Times are long and detailed and for documenting purposes, I have included them in my weaving notes below, and I shall find them useful in the future.
Special thanks to Ruth, the chat help at The Woolery, who has taught me more than any books or class!
♣ Weaving Notes ♣
Yarn: Simply Alpaca by Knit Picks. Superfine alpaca, approx 12 wraps per inch, 247 yds = 100g. Color for warp is natural “Alaina”, and color for weft is light grey “Alfie”.
Loom: Ashford 8-shaft Table Loom, 32″.
Warping method: Traditional warping peg with cross, improvised back to front, but I forgot to measure the warp before winding on beam.
Weft pattern: 2/2 twill.
Selvedges: 1 end of floating selvedge each side.
Number of warp ends: I ended up improvising adding some, doubling up some dents to try to use up all the warping yarn, and never counted.
Reed: 8 dent.
Sett after finishing: Warp 10 epi, and weft between 5 – 7 ppi.
Finished: 30″ wide by 60″ long, plus a 5″ knotted fringe. I did not wash but steamed well.
Yardage: Total yardage used = 1654 y, figured from weight (670g) of finished piece and not including loom waste.
What I will do differently the next time I weave this alpaca:
Start with way more than enough yarn, nearly double the amount I need for warp, so that being frugal doesn’t affect my planning!
For this alpaca I will use a sett of 12 epi for plain weave, and perhaps 14 or 16 epi for twill. doubling ends through the 8 dent reed for twill. I do suspect the reason the twill is so weft heavy and at such a shallow angle is because of the warp being too spaced out, I don’t know actually, only a guess. Setting up the warp erring on too close probably better than too far apart, for the weaving would not stand up to even a light beat, as if it just wanted to squish together and the warp hardly visible.
Originally I wanted to use my 10 dent reed that it came with, but didn’t think I could get the 72″ length full width of the loom, and I wanted it to be as wide as possible. So, I recalculated an epi of 9, and got an 8 dent reed, so I improvised 2 ends through one dent every 11 dents, it was crazy doing this, and I think it actually caused a vertical stripe in the warp ! As it ended up, I ran out of weft and had to cut the piece off the warp with another 12-18″ that could be woven –frugality backfired into waste! That was wasted warp that could have been reconfigured into a 10 or 12 dent reed for the warp I ended up using in the end. In future, it has got to be easier, a simple rule of start with plenty, and warp evenly 1 or 2 ends in the dent, every dent the same number of ends, all the way across the warp, with exception of the selvedges being more if reinforcing the edges.
Not use the full width of the reed, this must be a universal thing, for one needs room for floating selvedges, and to add a couple of warps if necessary. Leave at least an inch on either side of the warp for fixes, at least until I know for sure, at least until I know what I’m doing.
Add more twist to this alpaca if I can, before warping! The weft can be fluffy and barely twisted, that’s okay, but I would have had far fewer breaks had I run the balls through the spinning wheel giving them a couple of turns more.
Warp it in even bundles of say, four inches on the reed, and sley/thread one bundle at a time rather than overwhelming myself with all of them at once. After all the threads are gone through the front, it is easy to untangle the warp with this slick alpaca, just a few shakes and the strands magically align, to wind on to the warping beam.
As I was breaking warp threads, I was looking for things in the house I could wind and weight down as a floating weight. I discovered my tiny drop spindle to be the perfect warp weight!!! I loved it so much because I could actually spin and increase the twist of the yarn that was breaking because it was too loosely plied. So, bought another just like it, and plan to have two of these tiny less-than-an-ounce spindles to be my official floating selvedge weights, perhaps twisting two selvedge strands together rather tightly and “parking” it on the table, as those turkish style spindles do so well.
How could I have escaped the inevitable? The fate that I would want to operate multiple shafts was almost necessary to learn to be a weaver, and so I surrendered to fate. It took me about three days to put together, and it was not without near catastrophic moments, and in the end, it all worked out just fine. It is the largest model, with a 32″ weaving width capacity, and 8 shafts, although I don’t plan on using more than 4 for quite some time. I’ll admit to you though, I am a little afraid of it, for it surely will elevate me beyond mere simple plain weave to perhaps twill, and perhaps with a few hundred more texsolv heddles, I could weave very fine linen. We will see. For now, it is just an inanimate object that needs to have the pulse of creativity brought into it, and so today I intend to begin its very first project, I have made the calculations, with four skeins of alpaca for the warp, it is waiting for the spark of life. Wish the two of us luck.
