Yesterday, I posted about:
Ready - Set - Weave Part 1: Step-by-Step Warping the Loom for a New Project
Now -- after all that-- we're getting closer to actually weaving!
Once the loom is warped, it's a good time to check for crossed threads. I do this by opening the different sheds (depress the treadles) and looking to see if it's truly an open shed, or if any thread seem hung up and crossed in between. No problems this time around!
If there were crossed threads, this would be the time to make corrections, re-thread and retie onto the apron.
Spreading the Warp
The next step is to spread the warp. I use a junk yarn here, similar to what I'll be weaving with. It helps to make this a completely different color since I'll be pulling it out once the cloth is cut from the loom. Having it a contrasting color makes it easier to distinguish from the actual project. In this case, I used a bobbin and yarn left over from a previous project.
Testing the Modified Plain Weave
This pattern for bath towels says to weave 3 inches of modified plain weave for the hems. This is another time to look at what your are weaving. Does anything look out of place? If so, this is another good time to make any corrections before proceeding with the more complicated pattern.
This looked good to me, so I wove on for the required 3 inches. I got to use my brand new apple wood shuttle commissioned last fall from a local wood worker out of wood from the local apple orchard. We have since added a beeswax and mineral oil finish to it that really brought out the lovely character of the wood. It was very pale and white before the finish. I like this finish because it feels good, and allows the wood to breathe. It is NOT a plastic finish.
Testing the Pattern
I had never heard of a modified plain weave, and the tie-ups for the pattern didn't make a lot of sense to me for that ... The pattern also said it was an advancing twill, though the draft didn't look like anykind of advancing twill I'd seen before. So I thought it might be a good idea to plot out the draft onto my iWeaveit app on the iPad to see how it would play out. I thought there might have been a mistake in the draft - which would mean a mistake in how everything was set up - which would mean hours more of re-work to get it right.
So I plotted out the draft for the 4-shaft pattern, which is how I set up the loom. I wanted to see how it would weave out ...
The 1s and 2s at the top and bottom of the drawdown show how the plain weave would look. That's just for the hems. You can ignore that on the bottom. The pattern shows up in the 3s and 4s 5s and 6s. But in my mind, this in no way simulates an advancing twill, and there isn't even a hint of the circle pattern that got me to put this kit.
Then it dawned on me: The finished towel they showed for the kit was probably 8-shaft, and of course it would be more complicated -- fancier than a 4-shaft pattern. But I had just finished a very complicated but do-able overshot pattern that yielded some lovely circles, so I knew it was possible ...
This is the draft for the 8-shaft pattern along with an idea of how it will weave out. There are lots of places in the pattern where the structure makes kind of a basket weave and pulls the yarns into a 3D circle effect after it's washed.
That's the 8-shaft pattern. When I purchased it, I made sure it was suitable for a 4-shaft loom because that's what I have. I was assured it would work fine for the loom I have -- with a few adjustments for the weaving width.
For a little while, I was convinced the 4-shaft draft wouldn't really give me the towels I wanted, and since I was not going to go out and buy an 8-shaft loom (not yet anyway!), I even started looking at other patterns - esp. Huck Lace that would give me what I was looking for on 4 shafts.
Eventually I settled down and decided to just go with what was written .... I could weave 1 towel as written. If I didn't like it, I could re-thread and do something else for the rest of the warp.
y husband gave me an old cordless drill to wind shuttle bobbins.
A pencil stuck in the drill bit works well.
Every project has different requirements. Although the smaller apple wood shuttle worked for the modified plain weave for the hems with a lighter thread, I decided I needed a bigger shuttle for the actual work of weaving the pattern part of the towels.
So I auditioned several of my larger shuttles:
The 11-inch Shacht kayak shuttle was too light for this job.
The older vintage 1980s shuttle would have worked, but it was difficult to get the wire out to replace bobbins without a pair of pliers. I decided I did not want to be held up with that complication everytime I had to change bobbins.
The darker Bubinga wood Hockett Shuttle was too heavy.
I had also considered using a ski shuttle because I could put more yarn on it than a bobbin.
In the end, I chose the Hockett maple wood shuttle. It was just the right weight and length, and seemed easiest to throw through the length of the shed to the other side.
So I wound multiple 6-inch bobbins for the larger maple Hockett shuttle.
Finally ready to go ...
Once I chose the right shuttle for the job, I started weaving in earnest.
So far so good. What is weaving out looks basically like what I see on iWeaveIt above.
The good thing is that as it sat for a little while, and got used to living in this weave structure, it looks like there are slants and the 2-up part of the texture hat will shape the circle pattern I was after once it's been washed and dried ... Maybe?
With 1 bobbin, I can weave about 10 inches. It actually goes pretty fast. I don't think this will be another year-long project on the loom.
Here's I'm trying to show how it looks from a distance ...
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