Wednesday, May 16, 2012

More Ambitious Weaving

I ordered a 12.5 dent heddle for my loom, which handles 12.5 threads per inch, which will weave a much finer cloth (and in case you're wondering, the heddles for this loom will all work for a trade-up loom, whenever I get one, even though the trade-up loom will be wider). The holes in this heddle are really small, meaning that I can only warp the loom with fingering weight yarn. Luckily, I have a lot (a LOT) of fingering weight yarn on hand.
 Using a 12.5 dent heddle also means that I have to thread many many thin strands through many many little holes with a teeny tiny little crochet hook. That takes awhile. It would have taken a lot longer if I had not already learned the lesson about chaining the warp so it doesn't tangle. Still, it took me a couple of hours to get the loom warped. I now see why weavers use many many yards of warp, enough for multiple projects. I would do that myself, except this beginner loom won't hold more than about 3 yards' worth. My next loom will have a warp beam.
 I'm using some coned camel/wool yarn that I bought on eBay many years ago (at least a decade). This weaving stuff really is a stash-buster (not that this scarf will use very much yarn, but still).

Weaving plaid is tricky because not only do your selvedges have to be even, your stripes have to be even too. This job is complicated by the fact that I only have one shuttle (The Hub will make some for me this weekend, and I have a couple of plastic ones on the way, but right now? Just one), so I have to wind it with different yarn for every section. It's not hard, it just slows me down.
I'm making progress even so.

4 comments:

Nancy said...

A shuttle can be made with a toilet paper core. Flatten the core, then cut out semi-circles from the ends. Glue or double-stick tape on the inside will help keep it flat. Of course, this will work best with narrow warps. It took 2 of us 2 hours to put a continuous warp on a rigid heddle loom yesterday, and one is a very experienced weaver, so it sounds like you're doing fine.

Mary Keenan said...

What I love most about all this is how fast you've leapt over the learning curve!

Kathleen Taylor said...

Omigod Nancy- I never thought of that! Thank you thank you! (I considered using a ruler but the ends are straight).

Maire- it's such fun! I can't wait until you get your loom out!

Kathleen Taylor said...

Nancy- check out Friday's blog entry- I took your advice!