corrections

Hopefully I fixed them all. Thanks for the heads up.

Bookmark Be Done

Haven't posted for a while, but I have been weaving bookmarks. I think I am finished with them, for a while, that is. I do love weaving bookmarks.

One of my main areas I had to keep an eye on was the fell line. Because I was using my 45" wide Macomber with this 2 1/2 inch warp, I had to really concentrate on pulling the beater bar back correctly. "Pull from the center!!!" my weaving grue Jeff Reynolds would say. If I didn't the fell of the cloth would slowly slant. To keep the beater true, always grasp it at the center.

I tied on with white tencel onto the silk warp, and played some more! This was the crackle draft I put on first. With some of the white tencel warp I used cotton as the weft. They were OK as bookmarks go, but the silk on silk or the silk on tencel was much better.

Then I took that off and put on some M's and W's by Mimi Smith. As a one shuttle draft, you can really fly! I used a tencel warp with mostly tencel and bamboo weft for these.

A great place to find great drafts is the COMPLEX WEAVERS GREATEST HITS edited by Judie Eatough and Wanda Shelp (ISBN: 0-9705436-0-3). I found this great draft by Mimi Smith on page 35 and used it to create these bookmarks. I was dancing on the treadles!!

Tabby Switch

Why not, while weaving the tabby picks you switch the shuttles. Then when you weave a pattern shot, you have two different colors!

Click the photo to see better when and when I changed the shuttle order.

Don't know how this one will end up looking. I am just dancing on the treadles and dreaming of ice cream! I call that multi-tasking!!

Two in One Shed

Here is the new warp with a bookmark making its appearance. You can see the 'crackle' treadling will be my focus point on this one.

Because I needed to use tabby (green) I am continuing to use both colors even though I am weaving plain weave on the rest of the bookmark. I am putting both threads in the same shed. You can do anything you want if you are weaving for fun!!

Raddle Loop de Looper

While visiting with another weaver the other day, we were discussing using raddles. I said I was working with a very narrow warp and she suggested I use rubber bands on the back beam to help guide the warp over the back beam. Well, I couldn't find any rubber bands, but used instead some nylon loopers.

This is my hand painted silk bookmark warp. It is only 3 inches wide, and using these loopers helped me get this warp on. (I went front to back) !

Tying One On

Didn't feel like I was done with this warp, so I am tying on with some 20/2 silk I painted a couple of years ago. I 'think' I used bubble gum pink and gun metal gray. It was just a small amount so it was perfect for this 95 thread draft. I have wound 6 yards so should get plenty of bookmarks! I know one of my wefts will be gray, but will decide what or if I use other colors.

My handy-dandy cross holder makes tying onto a old warp very easy. I have both hands free to tie the knots I found this in very old handwoven in their 'Tricks of the Trade" section. Sorry, can't remember what issue..

Bookmark Group Shot

Finished that warp of bookmarks. After I did get it on the loom, the weaving went quickly. And that was what I was needing. A fast project.

I took this photo outside. I wasn't out there but 5 minutes or less and I got 'tree droppings' right smack in the middle of the photo. 

They haven't been washed yet. When they do, they will be a lot softer. Right now, some of them are rather stiff. Which could be OK for a bookmark, but since I used tencel and bamboo I think I want the soft feel.