Weaving – Page 7 – Measured Threads

February 25, 2014October 26, 2015

Honey for Waffles

I taught a rigid heddle weaving class the other day at the Weavers Guild of Greater Cincinnati where we focused on “Waffle-Weave on the Rigid Heddle Loom”. In this class we learned about 3 different pick-up stick patterns that approximate a waffle weave fabric. The waffley fabrics are produced with only one pick up stick to make warp and weft floats. To end the class we topped off with a little bit of the pattern known as Honeycomb, since you always need to top a waffle with a sweet syrup. The Honeycomb pattern uses 2 different pick-up stick patterns. In class we took out the stick between patterns A and B since I had only asked people to bring one stick for the waffles, but if you actually have 2 pick-up sticks (or a an adequate substitute) you can leave one stick in (pick-up stick A) while making the “B” pattern. In this particular pattern called Honeycomb, we don’t use the pick-up stick on its edge at all, so a knitting needle can even make a good substitute. In the case of a small loom like a Cricket this actually works very well since there is less space behind the heddle than there is on bigger looms.

I made a little video to demonstrate. Please excuse the shoddy video quality, I shot it with my phone which I attached to the castle of my floor loom with a GearTie. (I just love those things!)

October 31, 2013October 26, 2015

Everyone in the Pool!

Sometimes you see a beautiful skein of hand-dyed sock yarn that you just have to have, and it knits up looking like rainbow pony barfed on it. The colors pool into blobs instead of blending nicely in the sock. But in weaving, having the colors pool in a scarf creates an effect similar to that of a warp dyed for ikat without all the mess of dying it yourself. With a rigid heddle loom like the Cricket looms I teach with, you can direct warp that skein of yarn in less then an hour and have a scarf with a few hours of weaving. I made this colorful scarf with a 50 gram skein of Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock yarn and some red 8/2 tencel (laceweight). It’s just plain weave, but far from a plain scarf.

I made this as part of the Rigid Heddle Study Group that I lead at The Weaver’s Guild of Greater Cincinnati. Next month we are going to continue our study of hand-dyed knitting yarns and help each other with this technique. This scarf itself is destined for our guild sale on November 8, 9 and 10 as a donation to the sale from the Rigid Heddle Study Group. If you are interested in weaving, starting with a rigid heddle loom is a good way to begin. You can get started with small amounts of knitting yarns, a relatively small investment in a little loom that is portable and a minimal amount of equipment. Although they are simple looms, you can create quite complex looking textiles that anyone would be happy to have. If you are interested in learning to weave, check out my classes at Silk Road Textiles or look for some to be posted on the WGGC website that will begin after the first of the year. If you want this scarf, go to the guild sale, hire me to teach you how to weave it, or I can take a commission if the price is right.

April 6, 2013October 26, 2015

Weaving for Knitters

I had a great class this morning at Silk Road Textiles teaching Rigid Heddle Weaving. It is another terrific way to use luscious knitting yarns and you can quickly make a scarf or other item. Here are two students threading the heddles on the Cricket loom you get to use as part of the class fee. They will take the looms home overnight to weave some more, and come back tomorrow to take the scarf of the loom and learn about finishing. It’s a great way to get a taste of weaving and using a Rigid Heddle loom before buying one.

February 19, 2013October 26, 2015

M&Os?

Weaving Ms & Os is almost as addictive as eating M&Ms. This is my first really wide project on my loom. It takes almost the full width at 34 and 1/4 inches and is going to be a small blanket. The project is so wide. I had to take over 100 heddles off each shaft to have enough room for the warp. To think I spent days getting heddles sorted so I could put 200 on each shaft is a little ironic now.

February 5, 2013October 26, 2015

Now I’m Cookin’

Waffle weave is a heck of a lot of fun and fast to weave. The hems are slow as molasses though. They are made in boundweave and I need to use a fork to pack the weft in to fully cover the warp. So I guess I have breakfast: waffles with molasses using a fork!