Weaving the Blazing Shuttles Sherwood Forest Warp

Weaving The Sherwood Forest Warp from Blazing Shuttles

OMG - It is such a JOY to be weaving again!  

I am thrilled with the way this is starting out!  Why did I wait so long to get started?

 

Here's another section showing the color changes in this warp.  I love it! 

 

From the top, the thinner black weft thread is the focus here. 

From the bottom, the hand-dyed warp is the star.

 

 

 

Why is the real show underneath?  Because I have an 8-shaft jack loom with rising sheds.  I could have set it up to show this side on top, but I'd be raising too many sheds with each treadle.  The way it's set up now, I raise 3 sheds with each treadling.  

I can be patient and wait to see this when it's all done. 

 

Here's a shot from when I was just getting started, testing different colored weft yarns.  

I know it looks kind of clumsy.

From the bottom (after the white), is charcoal (kind of a light gray, hematite color), forest green, quarry, and navy blue. 

I went with the Navy 10/2 Perl Cotton. 

This also gives me a chance to practice the treadling sequence before I start on the actual piece.  I learned not to slam the beater down for this project, or the pattern gets too squashed.  It's enough to lightly set the weft in place. 

I can do the whole 104 treadle sequence in about 20 minutes which results in about 4 inches of woven fabric, under tension. 

The plan is to work up a 72-inch scarf with fringe, then work up the rest as yardage.  It's too narrow for towels, but I'm thinking of patching a section onto a tote bag or a jean jacket or vest. 

Getting Ready to Weave Again: Sherwood Forest Hand-Dyed Warp by Blazing Shuttles

Sherwood Forest Hand-Dyed Warp by Blazing Shuttles in 3/2 Cotton 

 

I have been missing the physical motion and the clack-clack sounds of weaving.  It will be good to be back at it again.  Soon ...

I admit to weaving paralysis when it comes to this gorgeous hand-dyed warp by Blazing Shuttles because I didn't want to ruin it.   I've had this warp since 2022!  To me, these are the colors of Scotland in early spring.  Before things turn that luscious green, they are red ...

• 2 3/2-cotton warps in Sherwood Forest 
• 100 ends each = 200 ends total 
• 4.5 yards 

This weight of yarn is said to be suitable for towels or heavier outdoor fabrics.   So perhaps, I will get some towels out of it, or a scarf, but also have some left to patch into a jean jacket, or some other wearable.  

I plan to use this twill draft for 8 shafts as shown here.  

I can tie on to the ends of the last warp, as it is already threaded in a point twill.  That should save me oodles of time threading heddles.

• 16 ends-per-inch for a twill  
• 15-dent Reed with 1 thread per dent 
• or 8-dent reed with 2 threads per dent [This is the one I went with ...]
• or the 10-dent reed with 1-2-1-2-1-2 threading
• 12.5 inches wide in the reed 

 

 

I combined / split the warps like so:

        Warp 1 50 ends | Warp 2 100 ends  | Warp 1 50 ends 

 

There are multiple steps to getting set up this time around, though fewer than if I had to thread heddles, and run a warp myself.

Step 1: Swap out the reed and re-thread 200 ends.  

Step 2: Work out the treadling.  

Step 3: Program the draft into iWeaveIt to make sure there are no mistakes in it.  Make adjustments as needed.
Step 4: Tie the new warp onto the old strings.  Gently pop the knots through the reed and heddles, then wind on as normal.  [I learned the hard way NOT to wind on before the knots have passed through the tight spots.  Too many strings break that way!]
Step 5.  Tie onto the front beam.
Step 6: Set the treadles to the shafts.
Step 7: Set up Treadle Beads.
Step 8: Do a test weave to check threading, treadles, etc.   

Step 9: Decide on a weft color / thread.  What will work with this gorgeous warp? [I'll have to order this and then wait a week to actually weave ... Sigh!]

Step 10: Begin weaving cloth again! 

 

Here are the initial test weaves.  Only 1 set of crossed threads in the reed.  Easy enough to fix!

Ignore the color, I am just trying to ascertain the right yarn size for the weft.  

10/2 top white

3/2 middle white (same as warp, though it looks much thicker)

or a very fine black at the bottom.

 

I have not been able to get a good look at how it comes out on the other side.

I put in an order at Yarn Barn of Kansas for 4 mini-spools of 10/2 cotton in dark colors:

 

Evergreen - Quarry - Navy - Charcoal

 

Something from that list should work. 

Colors of Scotland

I ordered this 3/2 cotton Sherwood Forest warp from Blazing Shuttles.  She's an amazing Dyer who's been at it since the 1970s, so she's honed her craft well.  Usually her stuff sells almost as soon as she posts it to her shop website (or in live classes).  This set stayed up on her website longer than usual ...  [I get why she doesn't put much in her shop -- The documentation to post a product takes a lot of time and effort.  I have seen photos of her at her live workshops with tables piled high with painted warps.  I suspect that is where she sells most of her wares.  And many weavers have multiples of her warps in their stash.]

Fairy Glen by Gerry MacDonald Artist [Photo from here.]

The colors kept haunting me -- There was something familiar about it, and then I realized it reminded me of Fairy Glen on The Isle of Skye when we visited in May a few years ago.  Yes-- much more red than I expected.  Kind of like this Sherwood Forest Warp!   You don't really think of the rust / red as part of the Scottish landscape, but there it is ...

This photo does not show the colors as I remember them that day.  I seem to have lost a bunch of my own pics from that era.  Alive only in my memory now.  ;-(

I wanted to get a Blazing Shuttles Warp in part to study it:

• How far apart are her color intervals?  
• How do they move across the warp?
• How do the colors transition?
• What should I use for a companion warp?
• What weaving pattern should I use to highlight the warp (not lose it).