Category Archives: my weaving diary

Auld Lang Syne (Scarf No.15)

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A lot of the time I don’t realize the coincidences at play as I bring something to finish. For instance, the Scottish phrase “Auld Lang Syne” evoking the sentiment of “for old times’ sake” and “days gone by” . . . and my attempt at weaving to mimic an “auld Scottish tartan” design that my dear old friend and I planned the minute I got my first loom a couple of years ago (the very loom on which it is photographed) . Posted yesterday drying on the line, today here it is, fulfilling all those sentiments as it will be draped artfully over the shoulder of an old wingback chair which sits facing an old woodstove, in a very, very old cabin. For old times’ sake indeed, not to mention it is New Year’s Eve — happy 2026 everyone!

♣   Weaving Notes  ♣

This weight of alpaca is truly perfect for the rigid heddle looms, using a 15 dent reed, because the drape is spectacular and there is enough room for the alpaca to bloom in the simple plain weave. Oh, and about the missing information in the notes; I wrote everything down on a piece of paper as I was calculating the design, then later lost the piece of paper, so it was accidentally thrown away.

  • Yarn: Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud lace weight, in Carson (dark grey), Alfred (medium grey), Arabella (dark green), Elizabeth (red), and Zadie (gold). 440 y = 50g
  • Loom: Ashford 20″ Knitters Loom
  • Warping method:  Easy direct warp method for rigid heddle, 1 end in hole and 1 end in slot.
  • Number of warp ends: Not available
  • Reed: 15 dent rigid heddle reed.
  • Width in reed: 18.5″
  • Selvedges: I added 4 extra ends to each of the selvedges, as they tend to get pulled in, and I used a temple.
  • Sett after finishing: Warp 16 epi, and weft 16 ppi.
  • Color Pattern Warp & Weft: Not available
  • Finished: 3″ hand-twisted fringe, then washed and air-dried hanging, and lightly steam pressed. Measures 89″ long (not including fringe) and 18″ wide, and weighs 175g. 
  • Yardage:  Total yardage used for finished piece = 1540y, figured from weight of finished piece and not including loom waste.

Drying on the line.

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Heavy and dark with water, drip drying on the line out in the woods. I just finished hand-twisting the fringe and in the setting-wash I decided to add some tea bags with some vinegar to fix. I didn’t really “boil it in” so it would be just a slight effect if anything at all, trying to soften the contrasts some, to make it more like an “auld tartan”. Probably later today this will be completely finished, ends trimmed off, photographed, but instead of folding it up and putting it in the drawer of woven scarves, I will then personally deliver it to its new home. It was with me for about ten days; a blink of existence in the weaver’s life, and I am only grateful I got to weave it and give it to a home that will give it the appreciation it deserves, draped invitingly on a chair in front of a woodstove, in a 100 year old cabin just down the road from me, and which I visit often. Yes, there it will be appreciated a lot, even by me when I visit.

Posting tomorrow, the finished scarf with weaving notes, so watch this space!

Scarf No. 14

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Levi came to visit, and as I was showing him my alpaca scarf series, I could tell that he admired them, and that perhaps he even wanted one, but none of the colors I had woven were appropriate for his blue & grey gentlemen’s style. So, the day before he was to leave I suggested he design one with the alpaca colors I had on hand and that I would weave it for him, and so he did, and by the time he was leaving back to Canada, I had already woven one repeat to show him. Then this last week was a determined effort to getting it done, and now it is finished and ready to send in the post. As usual, my technical weaving notes are listed below.

♣   Weaving Notes  ♣

  • Yarn: Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud lace weight, in Carson (dark grey), Alfred (medium grey), Eleanor (light grey), and Bernard (blue). 440 y = 50g
  • Loom: Ashford 16″ rigid heddle loom
  • Warping method:  Easy direct warp method for rigid heddle, 1 end in hole and 1 end in slot.
  • Number of warp ends: 228
  • Reed: 15 dent rigid heddle reed.
  • Width in reed: 14″
  • Selvedges: I added 4 extra ends to each of the selvedges, as they tend to get pulled in, and I used a temple.
  • Sett after finishing: Warp 16 epi, and weft 16 ppi.
  • Color Pattern Warp: 20 ends each of *Carson, Eleanor, Bernard, Eleanor, Carson, Alfred, Carson, Eleanor, Bernard, Eleanor*, Carson.
  • Color Pattern Weft: Same sequence as for warp *thru*, and ending in Carson.
  • Finished: 2″ hand-twisted fringe, then washed and air-dried hanging, and lightly steam pressed. Measures 76″ long (not including fringe) and 13.5″ wide, and weighs 118g. 
  • Yardage:  Total yardage used for finished piece = 1040y, figured from weight of finished piece and not including loom waste.

An Auspicious Autumn (Scarf No. 13)

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Hi, its me Abelene,

Jen did not weave on her scarves at all this summer, and now suddenly another alpaca scarf to show for a very auspicious occasion of the beginning of Autumn. Jen rattled through this scarf in the very last days of summer, having left it on the loom since Spring, while frenzied all summer long with other creative textile pursuits, as designing tweed blends, formulating dye recipes, ikat resist patterning and backstrap warp-faced weaving. We (the crew of inanimate objects) came out of the closet for this finishing event, and Señor Mirando and I have come to the conclusion that Jen has got something up her sleeve, finishing this scarf for the Equinox.

Happy Autumn, from Abelene & The Crew

♣   Weaving Notes  ♣

Note from Jen: With this scarf and every scarf I have woven on the 16″ rigid heddle loom, I have been using this simple tensioning tool, and if you would like to see the technical information about it, I give more detail in the post Scarf No.12

  • Yarn: Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud lace weight, in Amos (green), Zadie (deep gold), and Molesley (beige), 440 y = 50g
  • Loom: Ashford 16″ rigid heddle loom
  • Warping method:  Easy direct warp method for rigid heddle, 1 end in hole and 1 end in slot.
  • Number of warp ends: 240
  • Reed: 15 dent rigid heddle reed.
  • Width in reed: 15″
  • Selvedges: I did not add extra ends to the selvedges, but did use a temple.
  • Sett after finishing: Warp 16 epi, and weft 16 ppi.
  • Color Pattern Warp: [40 ends Amos, 40 ends Molesley, 40 ends Zadie] x 2
  • Finished: 3″ hand-twisted fringe, then washed and air-dried hanging, and lightly steam pressed. Measures 82″ long and 14.5″ wide, and weighs 133g. 
  • Yardage:  Total yardage used for finished piece = 1170y, figured from weight of finished piece and not including loom waste.
  • Note to self, recipient was Eleanor

Watery

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Watery is now finished, the Guatemalan backstrap loom taken apart and rolled inside the weaving, with the maguey back strap and lasso resting on top. It was a real challenge in backstrap weaving as well as in ikat preparation, and a monster of a learning curve for a beginner like me, but I am a firm believer in the best teacher being experience. Even though I did make a proper sample “gauge swatch” and posted it in Watery Sample, I had no way to know how a larger variation would weave. I made mistakes, and had to figure out how to fix them as I progressed; the heddles had to be redone, tension problems were endless, at first I could not work the shed changes correctly, nor did I beat the weft evenly, and honestly, I was not sure even how to operate the loom. But I wove a 15.5″ x 46.5″ piece of canvas weight warp-faced fabric, and to me that is astonishing and amazing! Toward the end of my much-longer warp, as room was getting tight to lift the heddle rod, I thought I’d cleverly rearrange the shed rod, and wouldn’t you know it, I accidentally rendered it un-weavable from there forward, but I only lost about 12″ of weaving length left I figure, before I couldn’t weave anymore on it. Not bad for an ardent attempt to do a large piece!

Oh, and about the llama wandering about outside the tiny house? It is a member of a grazing herd which came down from the vineyard above us to sample the greenery, perhaps to participate in the Andean inspired backstrap weaving scene?

Here is how I warped for Watery . . .

  1. I wound 10/2 mercerized weaving cotton, in a figure 8, around 2 warping pegs placed each end of the table at 72″ apart; 40 times, which is 80 ends per warp section when the loop around the loom bars is woven into a flat piece. The weave is completely warp-faced, with the weft hidden, and has 56 epi.  — If this were a balanced weave, there would be aprox. 28 epi, and the weaving would be twice as wide, at least 30″ — I did not understand this about backstrap weaving until after I learned balanced weaving!
  2. Five warp sections were tied with ikat resist tape (I did not photograph this part) without measuring, but fully improvised. Six were left untied (except for the skein ties to keep the warp sections from getting tangled in the dye bath) so all 11 warp sections could be dyed together, and be the same color.
  3. Five warp sections were tied with ikat resist tape (I did not photograph this part) without measuring, but fully improvised. Six were left untied (except for the skein ties to keep the warp sections from getting tangled in the dye bath) so all 11 warp sections could be dyed together, and be the same color.
  4. After dyeing them, I transferred the warp sections to the loom bars which I had lashed on to the pegs, alternating five resist tied sections with six solid sections.
  5. I spread out the warp to get ready to make the string heddles, and the sections all came together as one complete warp, tying ends together at the far-end loom bar, and lining up the cross in the middle of the length, ready to make heddles next.
  6. But first, on each of the five tied ikat sections I pulled some of the threads either forward or backward by pinching some threads in the section and giving a little tug; this is called “shifting”,  and the threads moved around the loom bars so that the straight undyed (white) bands skewed a little to create a design. ( I did not influence the apparent stripe of the non-ikat tied warp sections, so they just ended up as soft squiggly lines across.)
  7. I created string heddles with the same 10/2 cotton as the warp, but the warp and heddles were too close and got bound up, so later I reworked the heddles with fine nylon thread. 
  8. In the photos I show how the shifting works; on top warp threads you see the V shape , but on the bottom threads you see the opposite direction as I parted a V shape on the top shed of the warp to reveal below, because the threads change direction when they go around the loom bar. This is most obvious at the two rods which hold the cross, where the bottom half of the warp comes to the top, and the top disappears below.
  9. When at last the bottom and top of the shed is woven together, the interplay makes a lovely random design which looks like reflection of light on the surface of moving water…. thus “watery”.

Credit: I have enjoyed reading Lavern Waddington’s weaving blog Backstrap Weaving for years. Her experience is extensive, and her legacy is truly admirable as she lived for years in the Andes practicing the indigenous methods of backstrap weaving, as well as travelling the world to learn from other backstrap weaving cultures.  It is mostly from her helpful instructional videos which have brought me to this point, all which are easily navigated from her website.

Watery (sample)

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I have swept up all the tweed chaos from the last months and put away in baskets, recipes written, documented all the process, and now its time for a fresh start on something new, a weaving tangent revisiting the possibility of backstrap weaving (and remembering first project two years ago). First, I needed to do a sample so I can better plan a larger project, and managed to put together some loom pieces for a small weaving of 10/2 cotton. After winding five figure-eight bundles of 30 ends 22″ long onto warping pegs, two of them with ikat resist tape, and three of them solid, then dyed all of the bundles together. By the way, when weaving, the ends double as they are wound around in a hoop. Anyway, it ended up being a tangled mess, but after I managed to put them on two loom bars lashed to warping pegs to slowly organize and re-tension the warp threads one at a time, I discovered that is what was responsible for the watery effect. The ikat backstrap weaving sample I made was to test the waters for a larger piece, and I love this idea of lashing the loom bars on to warping pegs to prepare the warp before the weaving!

It ended up being an unexpected and random ikat patterning, the resist areas shifting as I adjusted tension; two ikat bundles, and three solid bundles, dyed in a light indigo blue. After woven the fabric weight is a thick canvas, the weight of blue jeans.

When I showed my best friend the photos, she said “I love that watery pattern you made on the blue” and then it occurred to me to name this ikat design series “Watery” (thank you Sorcha!)

Unassailable Spring (Scarf No.12)

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Hi, its me Abelene.

It is finally warming up, and all the insects are on the wing, and while the meadow grass grows higher by the hour, the days are rolling on like an enchanted pastoral scene in the mountains. Jen is weaving pensively through the afternoons, and the crew of inanimate objects and I are having our usual philosophical debates in the closet. All is in an easy and unfettered mood, the mood of warmth and days growing longer at long last, a glorious and unassailable Spring!

As for the alpaca scarf, it appears to be a Freudian Slip of weaving, as these colors turned out completely Autumnal, being Jen’s absolute favorite season, none the less, it is exquisite, even to be woven in Springtime.

Abelene & The Crew

Note from Jen: A few months back I made a discovery that I really want to revisit, for it has developed and I want to make sure to bring it to the fore, so that others may benefit from it. The improvised wooden piece that I came up with in the post Ikat No.1 ; I have developed its use in every weaving since, essentially becoming a loom “breast beam” as well as a fine tensioning tool. I wrote —

“When I was more than halfway through the weaving, and the front cloth beam was getting pretty packed with woven fabric and cardboard I found the cloth beam to have a certain amount of “squish”, the selvedges conforming to the curve of the cloth winding on irregularly, and not really producing a perfectly flat weave. This I assume is one of the things about rigid heddle weaving, the cloth beam builds cloth and as it does the woven cloth distorts in shape, as well as effects the stability of the tension.“

I have found several reasons why this simple fine sanded wood slat board has made a difference:

  • It is a fine-tuning for tension I found in rigid heddle weaving very much needed, as the tension changes in the down and up shed of the reed. The board moved forward (toward the weaving) loosens the tension – and moved back (toward the weaver) tightens it. This fine tuning of the tension allows better weaving , but also so that I can position a temple, or add cardboard warp separators, and a pulling back of the board tightens the tension, which helps open the sheds significantly.
  • It offers the crisp edge of a proper breast beam, such that some rigid heddle looms do not have as part of their simplistic design, Ashford being one of them. This is especially necessary if using a temple to stretch the weave the full width of the rigid reed, also I have found is necessary for a well balance weave with neat and tidy selvedges. Without a temple I find the selvedge warp threads get frayed-to-breaking, as the cloth can narrow and the selvedge threads rub against the reed, and it is a disaster when a warp thread breaks, especially the selvedge warp threads.
  • My tensioning board is 1/4″ thick and 2″ wide, it should be as long as the weaving width of the loom, so that it easily can support a maximum width warp. I will be making one of these for all of the rigid heddle looms I have.

♣   Weaving Notes  ♣

  • Yarn: Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud lace weight, in Dashwood (med brown), Zadie (deep gold), Molesley (beige), and Lydia (brick red). 440 y = 50g
  • Loom: Ashford 16″ rigid heddle loom
  • Warping method:  Easy direct warp method for rigid heddle, 1 end in hole and 1 end in slot.
  • Number of warp ends: 240
  • Reed: 15 dent rigid heddle reed.
  • Width in reed: 15″
  • Selvedges: I did not add extra ends to the selvedges, but did use a temple.
  • Sett after finishing: Warp 16 epi, and weft 16 ppi.
  • Color Pattern Warp: [30 ends Dashwood, 30 ends Zadie, 30 ends Molesley, 30 ends Lydia] x 2
  • Pattern Weft: Gold & Red dominant pattern: 2″ squares of [Zadie, Lydia, Dashwood, Zadie, Lydia, Molesley] rep length of warp.
  • Finished: 3″ hand-twisted fringe, then washed and air-dried hanging, and lightly steam pressed. Measures 72″ long and 14.5″ wide, and weighs 120g. 
  • Yardage:  Total yardage used for finished piece = 1056y, figured from weight of finished piece and not including loom waste.

Inescapable Spring (Scarf No.11)

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Hi, its me Abelene.

The Inescapable Spring is upon us, and breaking through the rain clouds are streaming in colors of the most vibrantly rich tones imaginable, the colors of apricots ripening on the tree, the gold sun kissed fruits soon to ripen to perfection before being plucked and bitten into. Señor Mirando and I think the Inescapable Spring weaving is definitely speaking of apricots. March has come in like a lion, and with cool breezy days full of beautiful weather still blowing through, Jen says she is going to warp another in the alpaca scarf series, because the mood is still on!

Abelene & The Crew

♣   Weaving Notes  ♣

Note from Jen: What I love most about this piece is that the colors melt into each other, with low contrast on the grey scale. I want to repeat this , the colors really surprised me in the end, I thought it was going to be too much color, but it all gets toned down in the intersection of the colors. This time I was careful to set the loom up correctly for direct warping, and it was easy, and it was the perfect length. The second alpaca lace-weight I have woven on the 16″ rigid heddle loom, and I just love the balanced plain weave, the sett, the drape, and the light buoyancy to the fabric, I still absolutely am loving weaving this series.

  • Yarn: Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud lace weight, in Zadie (deep gold), Bernice (warm pink to apricot), and Amos (moss green), 440 y = 50g
  • Loom: Ashford 16″ rigid heddle loom
  • Warping method:  Easy direct warp method for rigid heddle, 1 end in hole and 1 end in slot.
  • Number of warp ends: 240
  • Reed: 15 dent rigid heddle reed.
  • Width in reed: 15.5″
  • Selvedges: I did not add extra ends to the selvedges, but did use a temple.
  • Sett after finishing: Warp 16 epi, and weft 16 ppi.
  • Color Pattern Warp: [40 ends Zadie, 40 ends Bernice, 40 ends Amos] x 2
  • Pattern Weft: [2.5″ Zadie, 2.5″ Bernice, 2.5″ Amos] repeated length in sequence.
  • Finished: 3″ hand-twisted fringe, then washed and air-dried hanging, and lightly steam pressed. Measures 76″ long (not including 3″ fringe) and 15″ wide, and weighs 121g. 
  • Yardage:  Total yardage used for finished piece = 1065y, figured from weight of finished piece and not including loom waste.

vernal influences

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Number two in my alpaca scarf series, warped and started to weave the first few color changes, just enough that I could photograph the color sequence before March arrives, and obviously in a colorway that is very typical for springtime. The color choice was difficult for me; I was considering gold and green , gold and apricot (it looks pink, but it is more like apricot), or even green and apricot… but all three together? Possibly too frolicsome and feminine. I mean, where’s the calming and staid neutral in the mix? My reason is that I figured I would never improve as a weaver if I didn’t start getting outside my comfort zone and make bolder choices, and so I did. It is evident there is a vernal influence going on here, as I’ve noticed all the wild plum trees have exploded in blossoms, and the intense fragrance of it all is amazing. Weather is high drama this time of year; one day the bees come out and everything is all abuzz with temperature in the 70’s, and the next day it could snow and bring everything to a frigid halt. I absolutely love March, and the last stretch of winter.

Scarf No.10

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Hi, its me Abelene.

I’m wearing the first finished weave in Jen’s latest series of alpaca scarves; she apparently got a lot of lace-weight alpaca yarn to weave a pile of them, in various colors and patterns, so obviously she’s feeling optimistic for a new adventure. Believe me when I tell you that this weave is so sheer and light and lovely to wear, the alpaca creates a depth of richness that cotton, linen, or even wool, simply cannot, and Jen thinks this is because of the natural luster of the ‘hair’ structure of alpaca, and the color saturation of dyed protein fibers. Hopefully there are still a couple of weeks left of winter in Paris, because that is where this alpaca scarf is heading next, as Jen wants to rush this off to her sister-in-law as soon as she photographs it … on moi!

Ta ta, Abelene

♣   Weaving Notes  ♣

Note from Jen: This time I tried placing pegs around the table, so I didn’t have the warp taking up the whole room, which turned the table into a warping board! I believe I could improvise this way for any amount of warp length within reason. As it was, without having the reference of warping this way before, I accidentally made the warp a little too long … oh well, I’ll do better next time. The very fine lace-weight knitting yarn weaves up into a beautiful light and buoyant draping fabric, I absolutely love it!

  • Yarn: Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud lace weight, in Elizabeth (deep red) and Lydia (brick), 440 y = 50g
  • Loom: Ashford 16″ rigid heddle loom
  • Warping method:  Easy direct warp method for rigid heddle, back to front, double threading from back apron rod through reed, then around pegs on table (a warping board). Wound on to back beam and finally tied off on to front for weaving. Rethreaded to have 1 end in hole and 1 end in slot. I forgot to measure the warp…oops!
  • Number of warp ends: 240
  • Reed: 15 dent rigid heddle reed.
  • Width in reed: 15.5″
  • Selvedges: I did not add extra ends to the selvedges, but did use a temple.
  • Sett after finishing: Warp 16 epi, and weft 16 ppi.
  • Color Pattern Warp: [40 ends red , 40 ends brick] x 3
  • Pattern Weft: 5″ red, 2.5″ of brick, repeated length in sequence.
  • Finished: 3″ hand-twisted fringe, then washed and air dried hanging, and lightly steam pressed. Measures 98″ long and 15″ wide, and weighs 140g. 
  • Yardage:  Total yardage used for finished piece = 1232y, figured from weight of finished piece and not including loom waste.

Rug No.1

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My first woven rug came together rather fast, from six old shirts of Jeff’s (one which I made for him years ago, and five LLBean shirts) made custom for a space in our bedroom in front of an old dresser which was given to us by a weaver (hi B!). The rug was woven on my 48″ rigid heddle loom, with the Freedom Roller attached, and I used a temple but kept it back a few inches from the fell so I didn’t whack it with the Schacht weighted beater.

Its been raining steadily for a few days, and I hemmed the rug sitting at the window, in the low light of the afternoon, admiring the Autumn color outside with the black oaks that have completely turned gold.

I am really surprised I could weave an *actual* rug on a rigid heddle loom! The rug is 28×50 inches, and I figure I could have had double the length with the Freedom Roller attachment; I reckon I could warp up to 48″ wide, so in theory, I could make a monster rug of 4×8 feet. After I finished weaving it I hemmed the edges to the under side, and carefully took the labels off and chose one to sew on the hem for a little artful whimsy . . .

Juno was the warping and cutting supervisor!

♣   Weaving Notes  ♣

General Notes: I had to get around the fact that the rug is not made with a proper floor loom, with a heavy swinging beating reed, and so I had to beat hard along each weft with the Schacht weighted beater, but the end result was good enough. I thought of a clever way of cutting long strips; figured since the strips of cut fabric are getting scrunched into the warp anyway, it does not matter if they are on the bias or on the grain, I cut about 2″ wide strips, starting at the bottom, between button bands, following the shape of the shirt tails, zig-zag cutting back and forth, using up as much of the shirt as possible, and very little was cut on the grain. The sleeves were mostly spiral cut. When about 1.5″ from the button band I stopped, then from beneath cut a wide turn back the other direction over of the previous cut, snipping across side seams as they come. I was not particularly neat with the cutting either. I cut all the ends angled, and overlapped the beveled ends instead of sewing edges together, which would be way more work.  I wove one shirt completely before starting the next, in segments rather than stripes, so we could recognize the old beloved shirts in their sequence.

Additionally, the rug is fairly sturdy and thick and the woven “cloth” builds up fast on the cloth beam, so the Freedom Roller (Ashford’s add-on cloth beam for their rigid heddle looms) is absolutely essential in my opinion to weave a rag rug that is thick and substantial, as is the weighted beater. But perhaps the most essential thing that I overlooked (never again!) is the importance of using warping yarn that can withstand the punishment of the hard beating. 

  • Yarn: Maurice Brassard 8/2 cotton, double threaded (2 in hole, and 2 in slot) emulating 8/4 warp yarn. Approx 80″ from apron rod to pegs. Should have bought heavier warp yarn and waited for it to arrive before starting the rug! 
  • Weft: Cotton flannel strips, about 2″ wide, taken from old shirts. Beginning and end 3″ same as warp, woven wide enough to make a turned hem below the rug. 
  • Loom: Ashford 48″ Rigid Heddle Loom (the beast!) with Freedom Roller attachment
  • Number of warp ends: 210, double threaded = 420.
  • Reed: 7.5 dpi (30/10cm) dent rigid heddle reed, about 28″ width in reed.
  • Finished: 1 inch turned hem, sewn against the underside of the rug. No washing/drying. Measurements finished are 28″ x 50″. I planned for 60″ length but made a mistake when measuring warp distance and somehow didn’t factor in the correct amount of loom waste! Gaw!!!  
  • Yardage: Who knows…. 6 shirts using as much as I possibly could. 

Scarf No.9

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Hi, its me Abelene.

In the end, it was impossible to photograph, the colors could not be grasped by the camera. Even after trying a hundred shots, in different areas of lighting, only these few worked out. But Jen told me how amazing this one was to be weaving freely with no measured blocks of color, just changing quill bobbins randomly, and she has a lot to say about the whole project in the weaving notes below, so I’ll just smile and wave. I personally think the Marigold Scarf (no.9) is so beautiful, in its deep and rich gold tones, and I wish you could see the colors as they really are, but this photo out of all the many, captures the colors best . . .

♣   Weaving Notes  ♣

Note from Jen: Yes, this project was difficult, and I must confess I am not all that encouraged about dyeing cotton but am gaining perspective in the concept of “slow cloth”. After the many steps of scouring, mordanting, dyeing, then finally washing and rinsing, the actual yarn, and that is before the loom is even warped. I must ask myself is it worth it? I ponder this because I really love weaving, but maybe the added overwhelm from dyeing the cotton yarns first did add a new level of complexity. I have tried indigo, madder, pomegranate and marigold, and in every yarn the results were dull and almost unappealing as the sheen of the undyed mercerized cotton was lost after all the processing through the steps, the luster was gone. I will not give up, I just need a small break, in order to be fresh for learning again. You can see all posts for this project here.

  • Yarn: Yellow , dark gold , green gold overdyed 10/2 yarn (see this post. )
  • Loom: Ashford 16″ rigid heddle loom.
  • Additional tools: I used a temple and the board I rest against the cloth beam to stabilize and lengthen the weaving surface.
  • Warp:  Direct warp set-up, 1 end in every heddle/hole, and 1 in every dent/slot –drawing out from apron rod to peg is approx 110 inches from apron rod to warping peg.
  • Number of warp ends: 239.
  • Reed: 15 dent rigid heddle 15.5″ in reed. (The loom says 16″ weaving width, but there is only the capacity in the reed for 15.5″ .
  • Sett on loom: Warp = 15 epi,  weft = 15 ppi
  • Sett after finishing: Warp 16 epi, and weft 16-18 ppi.
  • Color Pattern: Warp =  random pattern.
  • Finished: 3 inch twisted fringe, then washed and dried in machine, then pressed. Measures 78″ long (not including fringe) and 14″ wide, and weighs 135 g. 
  • Yardage:  Total yardage used is approx 1250 y, figured from weight of finished piece and not including loom waste.
  • Note to self, recipient was eventually Camille, although it was intended for Nina.

Ikat No. 1

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This piece is my first attempt at ikat, even though it is only a simple random ikat. I saw a short film on Japanese Kasuri, and wanted to try working with ikat, posted in Knotty. But natural dyeing to me is tricksome, particularly dying cellulose fibers like cotton and linen, and particularly indigo which works in an alkaline solution, which cellulose fibers require. To add, alkalinity is the enemy of wool, which is the only fiber I have significant experience with and possibly the most desire to work colors into. Dying cellulose fibers, such as commercial weaving yarns, involve scouring extremely well, mordanting properly, dying, then neutralizing and rinsing till the cows come home … requiring many chemical ingredients and meticulous measured steps which are very complicated and a lot of work. And if scouring is not done properly a thing happens called “crocking”, where instead of the dye imbedding fully into the yarn, some of it hangs out on the surface ready to rub off on things and ruin them … on to your favorite weaving equipment, on to the clothes worn while weaving, and after being washed the dye gets into the other colors in the weaving itself, which happened to this piece regretfully.

I wish I knew this about the pH issues and limitations before jumping in, and think at this point I need to put the dyes away for while and release myself from self-imposed expectations of dye mastery! I have learned that both commercial dyes and natural dyes have their pros and cons, and I will likely go back to my old favorite reliable powdered Jacquard dye with wools, which are protein fibers, for it needs only a splash of vinegar in the dye bath, a quick scalding, and the dyebath exhausts beautifully if done correctly. Maybe I will again try ikat weaving with wool and Jacquard dyes next.

Going forward, and I have asked myself this: Why spend so much time, money, and resources on the things I am a rank beginner at, while falling behind and not bringing to fruition the things I have a bit of and skill (dare I say talent) with, and really should aspire to become better at? There are a lot of things I want to do, but at this point in my life, I must narrow down the possibilities, eliminating distractions is essential.

♣   Weaving Notes  ♣

There are no technical weaving notes in this post, but I want to document something remarkable I discovered for rigid heddle weaving ! When I was more than halfway through the weaving, and the front cloth beam was getting pretty packed with woven fabric and cardboard I found the cloth beam to have a certain amount of “squish”, the selvedges conforming to the curve of the cloth winding on irregularly, and not really producing a perfectly flat weave. This I assume is one of the things about rigid heddle weaving, the cloth beam builds cloth and as it does the woven cloth distorts in shape, as well as effects the stability of the tension.

I had an idea of propping a piece of wood against the wound cloth on the cloth beam, right at the edge, creating a sort of breast beam setting on top of the wound cloth. I found a piece of board which I had used it for separating the shed wider in backstrap weaving, so I positioned it on the cloth beam so that when I tightened the warp, the tension held it in place, creating a very stabilized and firm straight edge for the weaving, and I found I gained quite a bit of extra space on the weaving too, especially for the temple. The more cloth on the beam, the further back the stabilizing board it sits, creating a longer weaving area in front of the reed! I am going to explore this idea in the future, for I am very excited!

Note to self, recipient was eventually Rosanna.

Scarf No.8

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Hi, its me Abelene.

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″
  • Recipient: Sorcha