Loopers to the Rescus

Here is another example of using loopers. This was a post from October 10, 2013.

I have used my nylon potholder loopers to help me while threading the heddles. They don't slip or slide. Maybe we should change their name to 'weaving nylon choke ties that also help when threading the reed and heddles'. 

 

view from behind the beater

view from in front of the beater

Rep Workshop Prep

Trying to set up my loom for an April Rep Weave Workshop. Kelly Marshall is going to come down to our neck of the woods to help us understand this weave structure.

I have a 12 dent reed and have 4 threads per dent. Of those 4 threads I will thread them through the heddles as two working ends.  Because I am using my Baby Wolf for the workshop, I can thread the reed and the heddles as I go. I hope this keeps me from making too many errors!

I am using my handy dandy cross holder. This lets me have both my hands free to thread  the reed and heddles. I found this tip in an old Handwoven. (Sorry- don't know what year- maybe 1980's.)

This is showing that I have two working ends (4 threads) in each reed slot.

I am threading the heddles as I go along. I have two  ends in each heddle. 

Another way to dress the loom: My friend, Becky, is going to wind all the background ends and sley the reed, then wind all the pattern ends and go back across the reed and sley the pattern ends. Then she will thread the heddles. Either way should work! 

Heddle Eye

The next phrase of this advancing twill adventure continues. I have begun to thread the heddles. This may take a day or two, or three.

It is interesting to me that at first glance this yarn is smooth, but get close up and it's fuzzy. My heddles are showing their age, but since they work just fine, I will keep them as is. 

Weaving Prep Work for Snowflake Twill

So I finally finished the warping and now I have the threads pulled through the reed. I am using 8/2 cotton sett at 18 epi. I have dented 1-2-1-2 in my 12 dent reed.

Looks like I need to replace my ruler on my shuttle race. 

Another thing I need to do before I can throw that first pick is to count out my heddles and get them balanced across my heddle frame. My Macomber loom has hanging heddle frames, so it is important to get a balance on it. 

I have started counting out the heddles I will need for this project. Here I am using a paper clip to hold back the heddles not needed. 

Overshot and Weaver Rose

Found some time to work on the loom. I have the threading about half way through the heddles. I am excited to get weaving on this to see how the two weft colors are going to interact. Overshot is one of my favorite weaves.

Through the Heddles

This Bamboo is really yummy! It feels like butter. This isn't a very wide warp, but it has taken me a while to get it this far. Hopefully I will get it beamed tomorrow and tie up the treadles so I can start throwing the shuttle. I think I should have enough to do some major sampling and get one scarf.

This is a single two-tie weave (summer and winter).

I hope you can see the two different colors in this photo.

Finished the Heddles For Fustian

It took a while, but I now have all 720 threads of this fustian project through the reed and the heddles. Now I will need to tie onto the back and "warp-er on".

A good thing about writing your own blog, you can make up words and the word-police do not really care. This warp is 32 inches in the reed, so I think I will use my raddle to help get a nice smooth warp onto the back beam.

Fustian continues...

Fustian became, in the 18th century, a well-developed fabric in Northern Europe where it was woven on a linen warp and a cotton weft using many different threading's. I am using cotton as warp and will be using linen as weft.

Tied Weave Heddles

I am now starting on threading the heddles. I have two inches of the twelve and one half inches pulled through. This part will go quickly once I get going. I hear the sun will be shinning.....soon... Now just why did I pick a black warp? Why, for the fun of it! I like this part of the weaving process.

Heddles, Books, and Weaving Friends

Got a little threading of the heddles done. I am working on the Weaver Rose draft "Ladey Washington".

For the most part, I have been reading my new book. What an awesome organization. Makes you want to move to Boston and get involved with the guild there.

I belong to two weaving guilds in my general area. I drive an hour to one of the meetings and about 15 minutes to the other, both meet once a month. One guild is mostly four and eight shaft weavers, the other has some sixteen shaft weavers there. Always exiting to see what other weavers are doing. Both guilds have programs given by guild members. And sometimes we bring someone in to do a workshop.

Threading the Heddles

Now onto threading the heddles.

I will sit at the back of my loom when I do this. This is the part where you want to really pay attention. I like to take my time with this part and not do too much at a time. It keeps the mistakes down.

I usually tie bundles of 15 ends together when I am doing 30 epi. It's another way to try and keep the heddle threading in check. If I were doing 20 epi, I would tie bundles of 10. This will also help me when I tie onto the back beam because it is a sectional beam and the slots are one inch slots.

(I am sure they are not called 'slots', but that is what I call them.) If you know the correct word, please let me know.

Reed Work Done

 

OK, now I have the reed threaded, 30 epi in a 15 dent reed.
It's time to count out the heddles.

 

 I am using paper clips to hold back the heddles that I do not need. Can you see that my loom has been well used and well loved.

Thinking Heddles

OK, it's a good thing I thought about all the heddle moving and/or joggling... I think it would be 'way better' to just use the Macomber. I have lots of heddles on shafts one through four. I even need to move some off to the side out of the way. Whew! I wasn't looking forward to all that moving or joggling or thinking...

I only have 320 more ends to wind before I can start threading the "Ladey Washington" draft. Don't you just love how Weaver Rose has spelled 'ladey'? He and I must have gone to the same Spelling School.

Help from a Weaving Friend

I had to enlist my weaving friend to help me. She will get me moving in the right direction.

I think I am nearing the middle of getting the threads through the heddles. This is just a six yard warp, so you would think I would have it beamed by now! Once I get this on the loom, the weaving should go pretty fast. Overshot is one of my favorite weave structures.

A Few More Heddles

Getting a little more of the heddles threaded for this Weaver Rose draft #156. I have two full repeats threaded...... only five more repeats to go! Maybe I am not as fast getting this on the loom as I had hoped!!

418 Heddles To Go

Yes, only 418 heddles to thread. I have added eight threads on each edge in 2/2 twill in hopes it will make it so I do not have to use floating selvages. With a pattern repeat of only 62 ends, maybe this will go fast!! (famous last words?)

The traditional blocks for overshot are: 1-2, 2-3, 3-4, 1-4. As you can see, each block shares a shaft with it's neighbor. The blocks can be as wide as you want, as long as the floats are not to long for the intended project. There are different ways of treadling overshot: rose fashion, star fashion, or on opposites. Or, if interested in creative overshot you might want to try and find Shuttle Craft Guild, Monograph Thirty One, by Margaret B. Windeknecht: Creative Overshot.

Progress!

 am making progress.........

Eye Candy for the Eyes!

I have picked a dark green as warp for my next adventure into more overshot. It's a good thing I have a good light, as this is kinda hard to see. And I hope the color is going to work since I put on eight yards.

"What was I thinking?" she said.

"Oh, you will want some to play with." she replayed to herself.

"Oh, yes, that's true. Thanks. Sample-sample-sample!"



This looks like Eye Candy to me!



Setting Up The Loom

Now that I have my warp off the warping board, I take it to the loom and use my loopers attach it to the breast beam. I will sley the reed and thread the heddles.



Reed is a 15 dent reed with two ends per dent for 30 epi.




Heddles have been threaded.



Math Class

Before I begin my next project, I need to do a little math. I have entered the draft into my computer weaving software and it tell me how many heddles I need on each shaft. The loom I will be using needs to have the heddles be balanced to work correctly. So, I do a little math to make this easier.

I have counted the heddles on each shaft and posted it on the wall in my weaving/computer room. That way I have counted once and don't need to do that again, unless I have shifted heddles. Then I just count again and post that. Now, here is where the math come in.....

I take the number of heddles on shaft 1 on my loom and subtract the heddles needed for the project.
example: 153 - 66 = 87
I have 87 heddles I will not need, so I need to divide and put half on each side on the heddle bar. So I only need to count 43.5 heddles on one side. (either add an extra heddle or one less when you have an uneven number). I repeat this for each shaft.
1. heddles on loom_____
2. minus heddles needed____
3. divide this number by two____
4. gives you the number of heddles to push out of the way (on each side)

Now I am ready to thread the heddles from the right or left side.... which ever side you have done your counting on. When I thread the heddles on my Baby Wolf, I thread sitting at the front of the loom and thread from right to left.