A Tale of Three Looms

 

They're all dressed up (well, almost) but not ready to go! Pictured above: At top, my 16-shaft Toika Eeva, threaded for a differential-shrinkage pattern in double weave; in the middle, my 16-shaft Germaine table loom threaded with gossamer-weight silk still in the gum (which I wrote about at length in my previous post); and on the bottom, my 32-shaft Louet Megado only partially threaded (I have to thread the second back beam) for an 8-shaft differential-shrinkage pattern.

So why are they all sitting idle? Well, as you know, weaving is hard because there's lots of preparation. And sometimes you don't even know how much preparation it takes until you're in the thick of dressing your loom. (And sometimes you change your mind -- halfway through dressing your loom -- about which pattern you're going to weave. Does anyone else do this?)

Some details about what's on these three looms...

On the Toika compu-dobby (first photo), I have an 8-shaft double-weave pattern threaded and ready to weave. The only problem is that two shafts were rising when they shouldn't, so I couldn't get the proper sheds for my design. I sent a quick email to Claudia Spaulding (thanks, Claudia!), who is CFO of the Hartford Artisans Weaving Center and happens to be a Toika rep -- and also happens to be a physician. I thought the problem was humidity but her diagnosis was that the posts inside the box on top of the loom had to be adjusted. She also cc'd Bran Gardner in on her reply, the weaving manager for Webs and the chief U.S. support for Toika. Bran has put together very detailed instructions on how to adjust the posts so that the magnets assigned to each shaft are connecting properly.... My electrical-engineering in-house consultant (and husband) did the rest. He's a weaving angel, really.

The pattern uses two layers -- one layer being a yarn that is active and one being a yarn that is inactive. (The red layer is on top and the black layer is on the bottom, while the long black rectangles represent where the two layers weave together in a tied double weave.) After fulling, the active yarn draws in and causes the inactive yarn to buckle, with the tied double weave giving the fabric some stability. Here is the drawdown.

It's threaded as a double-two-tie-unit weave, which can be tied up and treadled to create a range of designs, including double weave. I learned the technique in a workshop I took with Ann Richards in London in 2014, based on her book, Weaving Textiles That Shape Themselves. The two warps are 18/2 superfine merino from Jaggerspun (no longer in business but still available from Jane Stafford Textiles) and 20/2 Mora yarn (which, unlike the 18/2 merino, doesn't full), a Swedish yarn available from Vävstuga. 

The two wefts are 20/2 Mora (in red, below) and a black wool overtwisted yarn, 52/2 nm Z-twist, from the Handweavers Studio and Gallery in London, an excellent source for energized yarns.

Here's an idea of how the design should look after finishing -- although the sample in this photo differs somewhat, using 30/2 silk and 52/2 nm Z-twist wool in both warp and weft.

So, for all intents and purposes, the Toika is dressed and ready to weave!

On to the Germaine: ah, the Germaine. It's a Purrington copy, really. And this particular iteration was pretty badly made. I'm just saying it straight. But the latest generation of Purrington Looms is very well made, back up to the traditional Purrington standards, by the Bannerman family in West Virginia. I bought the Germaine because it has 16 shafts and, at the time, our guild had a very skilled "loom doctor" who fixed it all up so it works well for me.

What's the warp on that loom? Undegummed silk, very fine, that I will also use as weft to weave a 16-shaft twill pattern with added threads for tying the fabric up warp-wise in order to create a shibori resist. My thinking is that, if I de-gum the silk when the fabric is tied up in a tight shibori "package," I should get some really interesting horizontal pleats in the cloth. I will report back on this experiment.... Here's the pattern. (The red threads in both warp and weft represent potential positioning of threads for shibori ties.)

Lastly, what's on the Megado? Only half a warp, again using 20/2 Mora. The second warp, going on my second warp beam, will be a silk noil purchased from a now-defunct mill in England many years ago. I plan on weaving the piece all in beige to emphasize the texture, using differential-shrinkage techniques.

Trouble is, because the yarns are so fine, calling for a sett of 60 epi (or something close to that) -- predictably, I didn't have enough heddles. It took me two orders from Jane Stafford Textiles to get it right!

Did you know that, when you purchase Texsolv heddles, those four little blue twist-ties on every bunch of 50 heddles allow you to place the loops directly onto the shaft bars? They're tied completely in order, so once you've got them on the shaft bars, you simply undo the twist ties and you're good to go. (I must say, with great humility, that it took me a while to figure this out.)

My second challenge with this loom has to do with my second warp of silk noil. It's typically not used as warp because it breaks easily (silk noil being made of the waste products from producing all the other kinds of silk yarn). I sprayed it with spray starch to make it stiffer, which should help avoid breakage.

Above, my warp chain of silk noil after it's been sprayed with starch and dried. 

That's my story of three looms, just one of them ready to go. Hopefully you'll see photos and read updates in upcoming posts. (I'm keeping my fingers crossed....) Until then, may the weaving goddesses be with you -- and me!

Thanks for reading.

How Many Samples Does It take to Get It Right?

Answer: As many as it takes. 

Which is kind of discouraging but, as they say, the truth hurts ;o)

The sample above is the best one, but it's the final one: it took me five other samples to get there! It's a 6-shaft Deflected Double Weave design that I'm working on. I want to weave what I'm calling a "Puzzle Scarf," just because it looks like a lot of fun.

I love the complexity of it and the mystery of how this can be done on 6 shafts. I also love the texture of this piece: It starts out as gauze on the loom, but when you full it with hot water, soap and agitation, it turns into a pretty indestructible piece of cloth.

Here's what it looks like on the loom:

And here's what it looks like before fulling:

The process of fulling for this is fairly detailed, as you have to take the piece out of the water, wring it out and lay it out flat about every half minute in order to make sure that none of the "puzzle parts" stick together. You really want to define the image of three intertwining layers in the cloth. 

So what about all the sampling? Bottom line, it's really necessary for some pieces. I believe that, if you take your work seriously -- that is, if you aim for certain results and you're intent on achieving them -- you have to do what it takes to get there. 

Still, sometimes you have to fight the discouragement that comes with yet another bad sample, yet another re-sleying, yet another re-threading.... I think, as a weaver or a fiber artist, you do understand!

OK, the first sample. I wound a warp of 18/2 superfine merino from JaggerSpun in three colors, as you can see: red, burgundy, and purple. My sett was 24 epi in a 12-dent reed but I had to sley the reed with empty spaces between the colors to get the effect I wanted.

In the case of my first sample, I sleyed 6 ends per color and left 2 empty dents between each color. Which, after fulling, was too dense for my taste, giving the cloth the hand of a jacket fabric rather than that for a scarf.

Too dense

For my second sample, I overcompensated: I again sleyed 6 ends per color but then left 4 empty dents per color in a 12-dent reed. 

Looks like a confusing but colorful fishing net.

The trouble in this case was that my motifs were elongated (if you look carefully at the red warp and weft, for instance, you'll see long rectangles rather than squares). So my beat was off. And the cords that formed after fulling were way too thin, which meant that I had to re-thread from 6 ends per color to 12 ends per color.

Which I did, and came up with this.

OK, so we're looking better, but still the motifs vary in shape.

My next thought was to re-sley so that there were just 3 empty dents between each color. And to try to beat more steadily so that each color formed a square (looking at both warp and weft together).

Better yet, but the cords are still too thin for me.

Back to the heddles, re-threading so that I would have 18 ends per color, still leaving 3 empty dents between each color.

Now we're getting somewhere -- but the cords aren't fully fulled ;o)

Understand that, with each sample, I was learning a lot and I was gaining practice. I realized through this process that -- because this cloth is kind of a messy-looking fabric, with organic shapes and spaces in between the plain-woven blocks -- I had to finesse some of the details. I had to make it as tidy as possible, you might say. To me, this meant fulling the cords till they were solid (which involved sometimes cutting a wayward thread or two after fulling). 

I think the results are worth it. But I have to confess, now I'm at the end of the warp! I have no warp left to weave that scarf I was planning, which adds yet another step to the project: re-winding another warp and re-dressing my loom. I'm not entirely unhappy with this, as I want to try different colors next time.

Thanks for reading!

Still More Collapse Cloth -- This Time on 8 Shafts

This summer, for me, will be all about collapse fabrics: I'm teaching a workshop at MAFA and a workshop at the Hartford Artisans Weaving Center, plus I will give a lecture on the topic to the New York Guild of Handweavers.

To prepare, I have been weaving up lots of samples and learning A LOT from the results. (Re-learning a lot, too -- for example, that sett can make the difference between a good fabric and a wonderful fabric. We all know this, but we need to be reminded, particularly if a project should be re-sleyed at a different sett and we get -- well, lazy....)

Anyhow, the samples I've blogged about to date have all been on 4 shafts, because that's the focus of my first workshop at MAFA. In Hartford, we'll be working on both 4 and 8 shafts, so now I've begun sampling on 8. Here are some photos. 

I call these "Before" and "After" shots. The photo above is a "Before" shot of fabric just off the loom. I got the draft from a workshop I took a few years ago in London with Ann Richards, author of Weaving Textiles that Shape Themselves. The warp in this case uses both wool/stainless-steel yarn (the taupe-colored warp, available from Lion Brand and from Habu) and 16/2 bamboo (in red and orange). The weft is 72/2 linen (to give the fabric stiffness) alternating with the wool/stainless yarn.

Here is the "After" photo:

In this case, you have two elements that make this a dimensional fabric: structure and energized yarns. The structure is plain weave with floats alternating weft-wise and warp-wise, so that the floats make room for the fabric to pleat in and out. The wool/stainless draws in and twists when washed, which encourages the pleats to form. Finally, the stability of the linen weft adds crispness to the fabric. Pretty clever, huh? All thanks to Ann, who approaches her art with the mind of a scientist.

Another fabric, this one an 8-shaft double weave, pictured in its "Before" state, showing both front and back views:

The red sections are 18/2 superfine merino from JaggerSpun, which fulls beautifully when hand-washed. The black is 24/2 superlamb from JaggerSpun, which resists fulling because it's a superwash wool. Here's what it looks like, front and back, after hand washing in warm water and agitating with dishwashing soap:

To be honest, the black squares on the front of the fabric don't "pop" the way I had hoped. I was looking for a real dimensional "pouf" in the cloth -- but still I think it works.

Here's another structure from the same warp, before washing, front and back, same yarns.

And after washing:

This sample had a lot more texture, thanks mostly to the floats on the back. It's very thick, suitable for a warm jacket or coat.

If you're interested in any drafts, let me know. It's great add texture to your fabric! And here's one parting shot, of another sample just completed, using the same warp and weft as the first sample in this post but with a different treadling. (This is the sample that you see in the close-up photo that begins this post.)

Happy shape-shifting, y'all!

Just Off the Loom: 12-Shaft Double Weave from Stubenitsky's Echo and Iris

A while back, I wrote about how to re-work a 12-harness double weave pattern that had a LONG lift plan. What to do when you have just 14 treadles and the drawdown calls for 24? Basically, I shortened the treadling -- using the same twill pattern but ending it at treadle 14 -- and it worked just fine. The photo above shows the piece on the loom.

To back up: the pattern was from Marian Stubenitsky's book, Weaving with Echo and Iris. On page 163, she shows a multi-color double weave pattern with four colors in the warp and two in the weft. Since I had a lot of 18/2 superfine merino in my stash, I wound a warp and beamed it on, mainly because I had never woven anything like this before and I was excited to try.

There were problems, of course. (Need I say this? I think of every warp as a journey and I always have to work the kinks out at first, even when I have woven the same pattern before.) For instance, the treadling was on a curve, ascending and descending to create the diamond shape you see above. Trouble is, when you're weaving double weave, you have to "skip" a treadle as you reach the point where you reverse order -- otherwise, you repeat a pick and it looks like an error. So, where you would normally weave 6-5-4-3-2-1-2-3-4-5-6, for instance, you can't do that with double weave. The reason being that the odd-numbered treadles are weaving one side of the pattern and even numbered treadles are weaving the opposite side -- and that means the even-numbered side would have a repeat: 6-4-2-2-4-6 with nothing in between the 2's. So you have to skip a pick on that side, weaving 6-4-2-4-6.

If you don't follow me on this, suffice it to say that I had to adjust the treadling a bit. And then there were the selvages.... It took me maybe 12 inches of weaving before I got those right. Not easy.

And finally, there was the problem of not being able to see the underside of the fabric as I wove. This isn't a problem unless you're weaving double weave, where the bottom layer is different from the top. Many weavers recommend using a mirror attached to the breast beam so that you can see the bottom layer as you weave. Which I should have done. It's a lot easier to correct a treadling error on the loom instead of stitching in a new weft with a tapestry needle once the piece is off the loom.

Enough complaining. Here's how it turned out, after plying the fringe and washing (and fulling it slightly).

The blue side

A closeup

The black side, with an iridescence 

that reminds me of oil in a puddle

Thank you, Marian!

'Patience... and the mulberry leaf becomes a silk gown'

This old Chinese proverb comes to mind when I weave. It seems like such a long journey from winding a warp to finishing a garment.

Well, at least I am not reeling the silk from the cocoons... to make the strands of fiber... and then to spin and ply them into yarn.

Here are some photos documenting my latest project: a vest and jacket made of deflected double weave fabric, finished for differential shrinkage, using two painted warps. The photo above shows the fabric on the loom: an 8-shaft deflected double weave structure using two warps painted in two different color palettes. The "background" layer is 18/2 merino painted in a range from burgundy to orchid purple to gold to rust, while the pattern layer is 20/2 pearl cotton painted in turquoise, yellow, lavender, and pale green.

What I enjoy most about working with the merino is that it fulls beautifully, making a sturdy and forgiving fabric and emphasizing the pattern made by the cotton. Here's a detail photo.

Here's the draft, showing only one repeat. There are lots of variations, and the back of the fabric is just as interesting -- but very different -- from the front. This is characteristic of deflected double weave.

I won't bore you with the problems I had at the start, aiming to weave at least 10 yards of fabric in deflected double weave as a collapse-weave fabric. Well, then again, maybe I WILL bore you a bit. When you're weaving with two different yarns -- which is necessary, if you want to achieve a collapse weave -- the selvages can be an issue. You have two separate layers because it's a two-shuttle weave, leaving the ins and outs of two very different yarns on the selvage. Even when you add a section of plain weave on the selvages, you still have the problem, because of the two different yarns. I struggled with this, and finally added fishing line about 3 inches away from each selvage, affixed to the front and back beams (so it did not advance with the warp). I wove around the fishing line and, every time I advanced the warp, I cut the loops around the fishing line, creating a fringe along with weft. Problem solved!

So, days or maybe weeks later, I had about 9 1/2 yards of fabric to wash and then full. I started in my bathtub, stomping on the fabric much as I would do if I were stomping on grapes to make wine ;o)

Then I put it in my front-load washing machine, on a rinse, drain, and spin cycle only. That's all it took to become a nicely fulled fabric, making the cotton pucker into an interesting pattern.

The photo doesn't show the color shifts with the two painted warps, but you get the idea. Here's a somewhat blurry photo showing the yardage as it dried -- indoors, of course, since it's wintertime. You can see the fringe along the selvages.

It's hard to cut into fabric that you have spent hours (seems like years) weaving, but it is essential if you want to create a garment. Unless you want to make a toga, I guess. I adhere to the Nike slogan, "Just do it." One suggestion: it helps to weave way more than enough yardage, so you know that you have extra fabric in case you make an error.

Suffice it to say that I wove enough fabric for a jacket, using a wonderful pattern by Marcy Tilton (Vogue 8693). (Applause here for Marcy, as her patterns work so well for handmade fabrics.) I won't show the photo yet, because I am entering it into a juried fashion show and I don't want to tempt fate!

But -- at the top of this post and below -- here is a glimpse of a simple vest I made, using my leftover yardage. The pattern -- this one is Vogue 8713 -- is so very easy that I sewed it up in an afternoon!

Deflected Double Weave for Collapse Fabrics

In the immortal words of Yogi Berra, "It ain't over till it's over." This phrase is true not just for baseball, but also for achieving texture in your fabrics. You plan and warp and weave and cut off -- but the fabric isn't finished until it's finished, because it looks entirely different after washing.

Here's an example. Below, the fabric on the loom.

And after washing -- after "fulling" by agitating and scrubbing by hand with soap in hot water, to be exact.

Now THIS is cloth with character! Lots of wriggling shapes, thanks to "differential shrinkage," in which one fiber (wool) shrinks while the other (cotton) doesn't. And lots of strong color, thanks to deflected double weave.

I wove this on my trusty little 4-shaft Structo loom, pictured here.

I have always wanted one and finally purchased one this year. I took it on a trip to Chicago -- and simply packed it in my suitcase. Portable weaving studio!

For those who are interested, the pattern is an adaptation of one designed by Madelyn Van Der Hoogt, featured in the January/February 2007 issue of Handwoven magazine. I altered the threading slightly and substituted 18/2 Superfine Merino by JaggerSpun for the white sections and 20/2 pearl cotton for the black.

Here's the drawdown:

All of this was in preparation for a workshop I recently taught at the Weaving and Fiber Arts Center. The idea was to use an 8-shaft pattern, threaded with 18/2 merino and 20/2 pearl cotton, and create a sampler using lots of different treadlings. The sett is very important for collapse fabrics. For differential shrinkage, you want a loose sett for the yarn that will shrink and a normal (plain weave) sett for the yarn that will not shrink. So I set the merino at 18 epi and the cotton at 36 epi. Same for the picks per inch: I wove the wool at 18 ppi and the cotton at 36 ppi.

This is what the main pattern looked like, before washing.

And here's what it looked like after.

Lots of interest and bold graphic designs. I apologize for the lack of color in these samples -- this blog is named "Random Acts of Color," after all -- but I wanted to create samples that very clearly illustrate what was going on. Deflected double weave is an easy structure to understand, once you get the basics down.

Again,  for those who are interested, here (below) is the draft for the threading and tieup.

The sample above was woven tromp as writ -- but if you're interested in the different treadlings I gave people in the workshop, here they are. (The blue horizontal lines are there simply to visually separate the different treadlings.)

Weave it up, try lots of different treadlings, and remember, it ain't finished until it's finished!