Schafenfreude

I think this project is the perfect example of why it’s important to actually weave something and not just read about it. It also continues to reinforce that sampling is good. I’d been muddling over how to play with color and texture in overshot and, in searching for some interesting references, found my way to Bonnie Inouye’s article in the now-defunct WeaveZine on Networked Twill. I read it. I read it again. I got out my laptop and fired up Fiberworks and played around. Regardless, I just couldn’t wrap my head around it so that left me no choice but to wind a warp and fire up the loom. Project Notes:

• Warp: 8/2 BFL from Ashland Bay (this is very loosely plied – I’d prefer a higher twist and may well run it through the wheel first next time)
• Weft: 8/2 Mill Ends from WEBS
• Sett: 20epi – 2 ends per dent in a 10 dent reed

Woven off at 20 ppi for as balanced a fabric as possible. I hemstitched at the beginning and after weaving off 75″, left some room for fringe and then wove off a bit more as a sample to keep. I gave the finished scarf a bath and also gave it a vigorous rubbing. I may well run it through the wash next load to see if the whole thing will full even more. I’d like it to be just a hint softer. The big learning here was how to manipulate the treadling to get curves – both slow, sweeping ones as well as sharp, zig-zaggy ones. It’s all about how slowly or quickly I work my way across the treadles. The threading is based on a 4-shaft twill, so a “closed” repeat is four picks. If I stop short, then I work “left” two treadles from the last (e.g. – if I end on 5, then I start again on 2; end on 7 and start again on 4, etc.). Now, I can extend the repeat to five six or seven picks, that just changes where I start for the next segment. It took about 18 inches of weaving before I started to feel confident about where things would go – and then it became fun!

The other thing that happened was a noticeable rippling in the cloth. You can see that a bit in the picture above. The tie-up was a 3/1/1/3 so the cloth was “faced” and that, I think, is what helped give the added dimension. I was a bit worried about tension problems but as long as I kept moving those curves around, all was well. Bonnie’s original piece was done in silk and I did wonder how much of my tension stuff got absorbed by the wool. BFL is far from elastic, but it does forgive.

And, of course, I wove a bit of the sample at the end in my (continuing) favorite yarn. Yup, that’s the Dead Weaver Blue. I like the contrast so much more than the natural brown and, when I get to the real project, I’ll probably go for a darker weft. An inky black with hints of yellow and green (think asphalt) with white nepps. Should be fun. I’m going to fess up and say that I’m behind on my January list – I’ve not yet sewn the vest but I have been thinking about the fabric I plan to sample for next month. So, this weekend is for sewing and firming up sampling. I do think I’ll be able to get it all done. Just need to get off my (proverbial) duff. Post this weekend to recap on where I am against the list.

In the “January” department, I had three things to do – two were vest related and the third was to weave a selvedge rug. Because I’m a contrary person, I started with the last one first. I got a big bag of selvedges from a “Dead Weaver’s Stash” on my last trip to Palm Springs and that was my excuse to give this kind of weaving a try. They’re the high end version of the selvedges that you can get from Pendleton. In my case, earth tones – browns, coppers and neutrals with the occasional splash of green. After poking around the web, I chose 8/4 carpet warp for the warp and threaded at 12 epi on the Gilmore. This was driven as much by which reed I had (either 8 or 12) as anything else. And, since the selvedges were so cheap, I didn’t have anything invested in this other than time. I wound a warp three yards long and 36″ wide. Nothing special on the selvedges – not even doubled. Threaded straight twill on four shafts, warped back to front as per usual.

I wove a header using tripled 8/16 cotton left over from the rep weave placemats for a few picks to ensure that my threading was correct, spread the warp and to give me some fabric to hem, if I chose to go that route. I wound the selvedges on a rag shuttle and started weaving.

This was, to say the least, a challenge. The selvedges make for a HUGE shuttle and the Gilmore doesn’t have the world’s largest shed. My compromise was to wind some of each selvedge length onto the shuttle and then to manually pull the balance of the weft piece through by hand. That cut down on the number of times I had to wind a shuttle and the weaving would have been super slow-going no matter what. The Gilmore can put very heavy tension on the warp, and I can beat heavily, but after about 18″ of weaving, I was knocking the pawl off of the back brake! This lead to a long pause while I had a look at the loom itself – and now I’ve a call to make to Stockton to discuss spare parts/rehab of this loom. Suffice to say the previous owner (at some point) made some mistakes with this loom and they need to be rectified. I don’t think anything is damaged, and if I’d never woven a rug I’d have been unlikely to run into trouble, but now I’ve got work to do. During the weaving, I felt pretty sure that I had sett this far too closely. The ends weren’t sticking up at all, but from what I’d read, this would happen as part of the finishing process so I forged ahead.

With the help of a clamp and a hefty dose of patience I finished the weaving with only three strips of selvedge left over. I wove a wider header on the back end and then tied a Damascus Fringe (ala Collingwood) on both ends. I really, REALLY liked the finish this provides and makes for a clean edge to the rug. Then the whole thing went into the washer with a hope that those little ends would come springing out and I’d have a lovely, shaggy rug. That, however, is not what emerged from the washer.

Rather, the rug is more like a super springy version of a rag rug. The selvedges fulled into squishy tubes and the ends are locked down. It’s wonderful to walk on – just not what I’d been aiming for. Also, the headers shrank up more than the rug, so they’re drawn in a bit, but I’m not bothered by that either. The rug has been holding down the fort in the kitchen for the time being but it’ll end up out in the studio shortly. It’ll also need some kind of non-skid mat underneath.

Project “Lessons Learned” and points for the next time around:

• Make sure the loom is fixed before I try this again.
• Sett at 6 epi. Either single or doubled, but wider sett for sure.
• Read Collingwood further and construct a better header row.

Amazingly, I do think I’ll make more – but that’ll wait until later in the year. Chris really likes the rug and it’s wonderful underfoot but there are other things to be done. Like my vest!