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Weaving day
Jul. 11th, 2010 09:19 pmMuch of today got spent on weaving. Next Saturday is another demo day for me. I have to sit in the spinning guild booth at a regional fiber art fair to demonstrate hand spinning that morning. In the afternoon I am scheduled to sit in the weaving guild booth to demonstrate or discuss weaving with passers by.
The spinning is easy, as I always have projects that are portable enough to take somewhere like that. Weaving is a different matter, as looms are not very portable. Or at least, the ones I use most often are not. I do, however, have two small looms that can be carried easily. One is a home made tapestry loom, but I confess I am short on the patience required for tapestry weaving. It's always been a "someday I'll try it" thing for me. The other is a rigid heddle loom.
Rigid heddles are weaving tools that date back at least as far as the middle ages, and they were typically used to produce ribbons and fastening tapes. In the last 50 years or so, they have been expanded to become much more flexible and capable, and recently a number of loom makers have introduced or revived their rigid heddle loom lines. Mine is a cheap one that was sold at one time in craft stores for use primarily by children, but it is quite capable. It lacks some of the flexibility of today's latest versions, but it does weave up to 14 inches in width and with the addition of a pickup stick is able to work some fairly complex weave structures rather than just simple plain weave. It also has the advantage of being portable (the whole loom is about 18 x 24 x 5 inches in size, and weighs less than two pounds. Compared to my large floor looms, it is much more efficient in its use of yarn, with very little waste. That's an advantage when you are using your handspun yarn for warp and weft. You really hate to throw away any significant amount of thrums. (Thrums are the leftover ends of the warp threads that remain in the loom after the fabric has been removed. Large looms may waste as much as three or four feet of each warp thread. Small looms usually limit the waste to a foot or two, or sometimes a matter of inches.
Anyway, I've had a project on tap for the rigid heddle since last fall. It will use my own handspun for both the warp and the weft, and should be suitable for exhibition before I give it away to someone. The yarns are merino wool with some bamboo fiber added, and are very soft and luxurious. Today I put the warp on that loom, so I can take it along to the fair for demonstration in the weavers' booth.
I've chosen a textured pattern called "barleycorn" that I expect will set off the colors of the weft (a whole rainbow) against the soft creamy white of the warp. I'll try to take some photos as things progress.
Sarah is doing well, getting around quickly on three legs and even jumping up onto the furniture (which we aren't supposed to let her do for a while, but it has always been allowed so there's no way to prevent it if we aren't around.) With any luck, her lab results will be negative and once the stitches are out it will be business as usual for her. Right now she's on an antibiotic and a mild pain relief. And no crunchy food for two weeks because of the teeth cleaning. I think this last is what bothers her most. She's used to begging for things and getting them, including ice cubes (a favorite, but she crunches them) and the carrots we cut up for the ponies. She also likes toast or crackers, and normally we let her have some if we're indulging. All those are forbidden now, plus her dry kibble has to be soaked before she gets it, something she never cared for in the past. She had to fast for 24 hours on the day of the surgery, though, and has been acting starved ever since, so absolutely anything we put in her dish is OK with her.
The spinning is easy, as I always have projects that are portable enough to take somewhere like that. Weaving is a different matter, as looms are not very portable. Or at least, the ones I use most often are not. I do, however, have two small looms that can be carried easily. One is a home made tapestry loom, but I confess I am short on the patience required for tapestry weaving. It's always been a "someday I'll try it" thing for me. The other is a rigid heddle loom.
Rigid heddles are weaving tools that date back at least as far as the middle ages, and they were typically used to produce ribbons and fastening tapes. In the last 50 years or so, they have been expanded to become much more flexible and capable, and recently a number of loom makers have introduced or revived their rigid heddle loom lines. Mine is a cheap one that was sold at one time in craft stores for use primarily by children, but it is quite capable. It lacks some of the flexibility of today's latest versions, but it does weave up to 14 inches in width and with the addition of a pickup stick is able to work some fairly complex weave structures rather than just simple plain weave. It also has the advantage of being portable (the whole loom is about 18 x 24 x 5 inches in size, and weighs less than two pounds. Compared to my large floor looms, it is much more efficient in its use of yarn, with very little waste. That's an advantage when you are using your handspun yarn for warp and weft. You really hate to throw away any significant amount of thrums. (Thrums are the leftover ends of the warp threads that remain in the loom after the fabric has been removed. Large looms may waste as much as three or four feet of each warp thread. Small looms usually limit the waste to a foot or two, or sometimes a matter of inches.
Anyway, I've had a project on tap for the rigid heddle since last fall. It will use my own handspun for both the warp and the weft, and should be suitable for exhibition before I give it away to someone. The yarns are merino wool with some bamboo fiber added, and are very soft and luxurious. Today I put the warp on that loom, so I can take it along to the fair for demonstration in the weavers' booth.
I've chosen a textured pattern called "barleycorn" that I expect will set off the colors of the weft (a whole rainbow) against the soft creamy white of the warp. I'll try to take some photos as things progress.
Sarah is doing well, getting around quickly on three legs and even jumping up onto the furniture (which we aren't supposed to let her do for a while, but it has always been allowed so there's no way to prevent it if we aren't around.) With any luck, her lab results will be negative and once the stitches are out it will be business as usual for her. Right now she's on an antibiotic and a mild pain relief. And no crunchy food for two weeks because of the teeth cleaning. I think this last is what bothers her most. She's used to begging for things and getting them, including ice cubes (a favorite, but she crunches them) and the carrots we cut up for the ponies. She also likes toast or crackers, and normally we let her have some if we're indulging. All those are forbidden now, plus her dry kibble has to be soaked before she gets it, something she never cared for in the past. She had to fast for 24 hours on the day of the surgery, though, and has been acting starved ever since, so absolutely anything we put in her dish is OK with her.
