A Few of My Favorite Weaving Hacks

Most of these appeared in the various weaving FaceBook groups I belong to.  Thank you to everyone who shared these ideas.   I don't know who you are anymore, but I am grateful for the hacks. They've made my weaving life much happier and productive. 

1) Online videos and classes for weaving. 
This has been a total game changer for me.  I acquired my first little table loom in 2007 (or so).  I took a class in a local yarn / knitting / weaving store (now closed).  But for several years after that, I still needed a teacher/mentor present to help me warp the thing.     Books are fine, but if you can't remember what's what, or the movement required, it isn't so helpful.   By the time the online classes came along (Craftsy and Tom Kniesley), I felt like I had a -guide-at-my-side, and for the first time in my life, I warped my Kessenich floor loom by myself a few years ago.  Who-hooh!

• Beginning Weaving with Tom Knisely $40 on Longthread Media
• Weave a Good Rug with Tom Knisley $40 on Longthread Media 
• Floor Loom Weaving with Janet Dawson  $40 on Craftsy
• Craftsy is currently having a YEAR-END CLEARANCE: 65% OFF WHEN YOU SPEND $40 OR MORE!   USE CODE BYE2020 AT CHECKOUT

2) Beads to help keep track of treadle sequences.  Another game-changer for me.

• I posted a video about this.
• See the previous blog post about it:
  

  Brilliant Bead Markers Hold your Place in a Pattern Repeat

 

3) Cheap tarp clips from Lowe's and empty spice jars serve as a weighted temple.

4) Ribbon with inches marked out help me keep track of how much cloth I've woven.  I've also used adding machine tape -- These can be found cheap at the thrift stores now.   If you have the right kind of tape measure, that could work, too.  But the ones I have from sewing are too thick to put a pin through.    The ribbon works well because I can measure out a certain length, which is helpful when you have a target to shoot for ...  Works great for rugs or scarves, etc.  

And yes, I already have about 12 inches woven on the "new" green circles scarf.  It's coming along nicely!

 

5)  Old film canisters are great for weighing down a repaired warp thread.  You can add or subtract weight--like pennies--as needed.  If you can't find the old film canisters, bead bottles also work well.  I've also used spice jars, too.  But the glass can be heavy to start with.  You could even use old prescription bottles. 

6) iWeave It App for the iPad.  This is helpful for many tasks related to weaving -- from figuring how much yardage you need for yarn, to designing a weaving, to threading to treadling.  I bought the add-ons for even more useful tools.

 7)  My warping mill was another game-changer.  I absolutely hated running a warp on the too large warping board that came with my loom.  It hurt my back.  The tension was never right.  I didn't really have a good place to hang it to use it, nor to store it.  Then my husband made me a warping mill -- It was a joy to use, ran so smoothly.  The kinesiology of using it was smoother -- more like a dance -- gentle transition from up to down and then back up, not side to side as on the warping board.  And the tension problems were over.  Thanks to DH for building this for me. ;-)

 

8) A simple counting app for my phone helps me keep track of how many warp strings I've run.  My husband also engineered a simple little holder for my phone at the top of my warping mill.   Every time I'm at the top of the mill, I can easily touch the screen to register a new line or two. 

 

 

9) Tom Knisley's method of running a warp in color blocks also took a lot of hassle out of the whole process for me.  I could run as many lines of a particular color as needed, without stopping to start a new color for only one or two threads.  Don't worry, it all straightens out in the end.  The reed combs it all out and keeps it orderly.  It's pretty amazing how it all works out!

 

 

10) Tension Device (Angel Wings) at the back of the loom helps to keep tension even.   

Read more about it.

 

 

11) Color coding the heddles on each shaft makes it easier to keep track of what heddle you are threading --This can help prevent threading errors.

In other words, all the heddles on
     Shaft 1 are clear (not colored);
     Shaft 2 are Blue;
     Shaft 3 are Green;
     Shaft 4 heddles are Red.

I used Sharpie Markers.  If I ever want to remove the colors just above the heddle eyes, it's easy enough to do with a little rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball.  I colored only as many heddles as I needed for the standard set-up for rugs, which will make it easier next time.  There are more heddles on each shaft than I'm using currently, and more can be added or removed in future.

Farmer's Wife Blocks - 18 Century of Progress - 46 Hill & Valley - 109 Windows

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Block 18 - Century of Progress

 

Paper-pieced.  After all this time, if there's a way to put it together backwards or upside down, or guestimating how much fabric I need to cover the space after it's flipped, I've done it.

I guess that's one way to learn.

Block 46 - Hill & Valley

This one was NOT paper-pieced, although it looks like it could have been.

Because it was NOT paper-pieced, it is my favorite block this week.

The triangles were all cut from a large block, cut on a diagonal.  

 

Thought you might also be interested in seeing the color map, so I know what color to put where as I'm building the blocks.

Block 109 - Windows (aka Duck Blind)

A simple block to finish up this week's set.  The grassy border makes me think of a duck blind.

I'm getting pretty good at the hour glass and half-square blocks.

 

Tutorials from Handmade Karma for Week 15.

See Handmade Karma's full set of Farmer's Wife blocks and tutorials.

 

Back on the Weaving Saddle Again : Beginning the Evergreen Circle Scarf

Starting the Evergreen Circles Scarf

At long last! I am weaving again.  It's taken me a few weeks to get up the gumption to tackle the threading error I knew was there.  I have to wait for the weekend because I work during the week, and need the natural light to assist with clear vision.  Black warp is hard to see ...

Turns out I was missing 1 set of 4 threads and heddles on the left side.  That's why the circle in the first sample looked a bit off.  Hail to sampling and testing!   That also let me see that the yarn with a gradient wasn't going to work for this very precise pattern.  It took a good part of the afternoon to set things right -- and just a little bit of swearing, but ...   Now we're back on track and I love the way this looks so far. Whoo-hooh!  It is a very satisfying pattern once everything is set up properly.

 

Treadle Tracking Beads

Once again, the beads keeping track of the treadle pattern have been a godsend!  There are 72 steps to a single pattern repeat on my 4-shaft loom with 6 treadles -- and I use every one!

It's fun to weave once the loom has been warped and threaded--correctly.  It's still not my favorite part of the process, but I've made my peace with it.  If you are going to weave, you have to understand that warping and threading is part of the whole package.    I know enough now that I can fix the problems that come up -- though sometimes I have to sleep on it for a few days to figure out what to do, and the best way to approach it.   Like quilting, weaving is a good exercise in project management start to finish!

 Detail of Evergreen Circle Weave Scarf 

Yarn is alpaca and highland wool, dyed by me.  

 

Warp strings running through the tension device at the back of the loom -- nice and orderly!

Also satisfying!

Farmer's Wife Blocks - 4 Basket Weave - 20 Churn Dash - 111 Wrench

 

Block 20, Churn Dash

No complaints about the blocks this week: No paper piecing!  Just half-square triangles and strip sets.  That's how I like to piece blocks.

The three blocks in this weeks set were relatively simple and quick to piece, compared to other weeks.

The Churn Dash and Wrench blocks are essentially the same blocks.  The only difference is where you put the colors.  That makes all the difference!

The block below looks much bigger than the one above, and the only difference is color placement. 

 

Block 111, Wrench  

 

 

 

Block 4, Basket Weave 

 Another simple block for this week. 

 

Tutorials from Handmade Karma for Week 14.

See Handmade Karma's full set of Farmer's Wife blocks and tutorials.

 

Farmer's Wife - Blocks 7 Birds in the AIr - 13 Buckwheat (Lucky 13) - 19 Checkerboard

 

 Block 7 - Birds in the Air

NOT paper-pieced.  Multiple Half-Square Blocks.  Most of the points came out sharp -- although I see 1 that got nicked off. 

"Lots of sh**in' little pieces" this week, as my Gramma would say, which means extra time to execute.  Up at the ironing board and down at the sewing machine for every little seam.

 

 

Block 19 - Checkboard

Paper-pieced. Scrappy blues and 1 lovely green.

This one went pretty well for paper-pieced.

 

Block 13 - Buckwheat (Lucky 13)

Paper-pieced.  This one must have taken about 4 hours to make.  The colors are not quite where they are supposed to be.  Those dark blues should not be next to each other.  As I was transcribing the color scheme I'd settled on, I must have inverted some of them.

 This block was a royal pain.  I flipped a few things, had to unsew more times than I care to admit because the piece to be flipped up wasn't big enough to cover the area it was meant to,or things were just backwards and upside down. A very frustrating block.  And for all that, not worth doing over again.  I'm not that much of a perfectionist!

      

One neat thing about it is that it looks like a different block if you turn it 90 degrees.

Completely different look and feel with those dark blue points pointing up and down vs. east and west.   Something to do with the flow of this block.

On to next week ... 

Tutorials from Handmade Karma for Week 13.

See Handmade Karma's full set of Farmer's Wife blocks and tutorials.

 

In the Dye Pot - In Search of Evergreen

 

Remember that apple green from the other day?  It was beautiful, but not quite what I was going for.  My heart wanted evergreen.  So I gave it another go in the dye pot-- this time over-dyed with Procion Teal. 

On the left: Teal Blue over-dyed leaf green on alpaca and highland wool yarn.  This one has a nice glow and depth to it -- as I often see with over-dyed items.  The teal blue did a nice job of taming that apple green.  This is a definite contender!

On the right: As an insurance policy, I also dyed another batch of alpaca + highland wool yarn with Procion Evergreen, since I found a jar of it in my stash.  It's a little bit bluer, but still green.

Still trying to decide which one I'll use in the next circle scarf.  I still need to fix the heddle threading.

 

Just as a reminder, here's that leaf green I started with.  Just a little too bright!

 

In the Dye Pot - More Preparations for Weaving

 Knit Picks Fingering Gloss (merino wool and silk) dyed with Procion Grape and Cerulean Blue. 

Dharma has a method for using fiber-reactive dyes (using vinegar, salt  and heat in place of the soda ash) on wool.  I've had good success with it, as you can see!

Turns out, I wasn't all that enamored of the 'spensive cashmire yarn I bought to make more circle scarves.  So I looked through my stash to see what I could dye myself that was a comparable fiber type (not cashmire, but soft) and weight.  

I had some alpaca and some Knitpicks Merino and Silk that look to have the same weight (1 or laceweight).

It's my usual comfortable color pallet:  Blue, Green, and Purple.

 

Procion Cerulean Blue (Knitpicks Gloss: Merino and silk)

 

Procion Cerulean Blue in the dye pot. 

 

Dyer's notes.

In the Dye Pot:  Bring water to just below simmering.

Add the following:

• 1-1/2 T Salt
• 1/3 cup Vinegar
• 1/4 cup Dye Stock (I could have used more.  These feel a little too pastel-y.)
  
• Add pre-soaked yarn.
  
• Simmer until dye has been taken up by the yarn.   (About 2 hours or so.)

  It came out a nice sky blue.

Yarn label.  Knit Picks Fingerling Gloss. 

Procion Grape (with a little extra Cerulean Blue) on Knitpicks Gloss: Merino and silk.

 

 Dyer's Notes.

Procion Leaf Green on alpaca yarn. Looks almost black!

 

Dyer's Notes.  I thought I might have to mix the color myself.  Greens and purples are tricky to get "just the right color." 

 

Yarn label with specifics. 

 This is how it came out -- much lighter than I expected. More of a Granny Smith apple green.  Gorgeous under normal circumstances, but not quite what I was going for here ...

All of these came out pastel-y.  Will another round of dye deepen the colors?  

What if I use the Wilton's food coloring dyes this time?

Preparations for Weaving: Running a Warp and Winding It On and Threading

A few weeks ago, I wound a new warp to make more circle scarves, using the new black alpaca and silk, rated for weaving.   This task is so much easier with my warping mill, than it ever was on a warping board.  I'm so glad I made the transition.  I am much happier, and so is my body!  Now instead of sheer frustration, aches and pains that come out in a warp plagued with tension problems, using the warping mill makes it an even flow meditation.  Nice and easy!  And the click counter app on my phone helps me keep track of how many ends/strings.   Read more about making your own DIY warping mill.  [Thank you (again), CL, for making this for me. I LOVE it!]

The specifics of this warp:

This is about a 5-1/2 yard warp with 146 ends (10 extra in case any break and need repairs, mid project). 

Laceweight alpaca and silk.  It's strong, but just a little "sticky."

The pattern calls for 134 ends and a 3-yard warp.  I am hoping to squeeze 2 scarves out of this warp, so I added a little extra. 

 

On to loading the warp to the loom.  This stage always takes longer than I ever think it should.  So many starts and stops here.  My first thought was to tie onto the ends of the old warp, since I'd be making more of the same circle scarves.  So nothing about the general set-up of heddles or treadles would change.  So I had the picture showing how to tie a Weaver's Knot in front of me as a reference, and began tying the new warp ends onto the old.   It started out very awkward, but eventually, I found a groove and developed a system -- or so I thought ...

 Weaver's Knot

When I thought I was done, and pulled them through the reed and heddles to the back of the loom -- It turns out about 1/3 of my weaver's knots failed [YIKES!] and let go before they got through the obstacle course I'd set for them-- through reed and heddles.  It was such a mess through the heddles that I finally decided to pull them all and just start from scratch with threading the heddles.  That way, I could keep track of the pattern and what was supposed to be where.    That didn't take so long as I thought it would.  Happy me!

I always have to do this in stages over a couple of days (even weekends), so I can be fresh for the next step.  I have my Guide-at-the-Side with me: The Tom Kniesley weaving videos on Interweave on my ipad to lead me through every step of the warping process.  Today it was tieing onto the back, and winding on the warp.  Again-- you'd think it would be quick and easy-Zip-Zip--but no!  

I pulled it all through once, got the tangles out--I am always amazed that the snarled mess on the front side eventually resolves without too much fuss and bother.  But the tension was pretty bad and I broke 3 strings in the process.  So I repaired the 3 broken strings, grateful I'd run a few extra in anticipation. 

 

Angel Wings Tension Device at the back of the loom.

Then I pulled the entire warp through again -- this time, nice and straight, no tangles.  This time I used the tension device at the back of the loom -- it's just 4 rods to help even out the tension as I'm winding on.  This helps immensely!  Things wound on much easier this time, with much better tension.  Whew!  But I broke 2 more strings this time.  So I fixed those ...

And tied onto the front.  This time I used a cord like my weaving friend Lynda Collins showed me. TK has you tie on to the apron with knots just like you do at the back.  The cord makes it much easier to adjust tension as things shift.  

 

 

Next, it was time to check my work.  "Let's see how we did." -- as Steve Reichlin says on Barbecue U on PBS.  

Open Shed from the side. Nice and clear!

I checked the sheds for shafts 1+3 and 2+4.  This is the basic common weave /plain weave configuration.  So far so good!  No strings out of place, or hanging loose (except for the floaters on either end) which are expected, as they are not tied to any heddles.  This alpaca silk yarn is kind of "sticky," so I'm also hoping that the tension bars at the back will also help keep them separated so that they behave by the time they get to me on the weaving side at the front.  

Next it was time to spread the warp by weaving some waste yarn to get things started--see the blue weft above.  So far so good!  All the ups and downs for plain weave look good so far.  No missing strings.  Nothing mis-threaded.  Yeah!  Progress!

Time to start weaving the first real shots.  What to use for warp?  

• The alpaca/silk?  
• Or the remainder of the black merino from the red circle scarf?  Do I have enough to finish a scarf?  I wound the remainder of the black merino from the last project.  5-1/2 bobbins.  I should have kept better records, but I didn't think that was going to be enough to finish a whole scarf, though it would be easy enough tot get more Jaggerspun black merino if I needed more.
• I went with the new black alpaca silk mix.  Same as the warp.  That wove very nicely for the first band of plain weave.  So far so good!

 Black Bobbins - Black alpaca and silk. Same as the warp. It has a little sparkle to it. 

The Weft:

Turns out I wasn't crazy about the 'spensive cashmere yarn I bought  a few weeks ago to make more circle scarves.  I think I'm going to return or exchange them ...  The colors were not true to what I thought I'd be getting.  Maybe they'll work for some other project?  In my mind, this scarf pattern calls for a solid dye job.  Even though the gradients were pretty, I don't think they'll work for this pattern -- there's too much going on with the pattern, and the color changes will not add to it. So I fired up the dye pots!

Treadle Tracking System made easy with beads. I would never be able to keep track of where I am in this long and complicated pattern without this ingeniously simple system.  Read more about it.

 

Neptune green cashmere yarn ball and sample weaving.

After I knew the plain weave worked, it was time to test the pattern, so I ran through 1 cycle of the pattern (72 treadlings!).  See the 2 rows of circles in the green/blue gradient.  The pattern looks like it's working as far as threading goes -- sort of -- I need to check the heddles on either edge to be sure ...  

 

 

But the coloring of this yarn (beautiful though it is in and of itself) is not appropriate for this project.  The pattern gets lost ...  See the comparison with the crisp and clear red version above.  

I'll put this down to sampling, and unpick it, by running the beads/treadles in reverse.

Ugh!  I think there's still something wrong with the threading through the heddles.  I'll need to check that in daylight -- which means I won't get to it until next weekend.  Getting ready to weave takes as long as it does to actually do the weaving!