New test - Log Cabin Weave and Using a Warping Board

Flush off the triumph of the hounds tooth table runner worked in 3/2 mercerized cotton yarn in red hot and garnet, I yearned to try a more complicated pattern - - Log Cabin.  I also wanted to try and use the Kromski Harp's built-in warping board rather than direct warping the loom as I had done with the hounds tooth, as direct warping takes forever (for me at least, because my warp threads keep getting tangled). 

This time I watched a very instructive video from Craftsy - - Rigid Heddle Weaving with Angela Tong.  The step by step instructions in this video helped me overcome my fear of using the warping board, and I have to say that running the yarn around the pegs was much faster than my first attempts at direct warping. 

Even better, threading the yarn through the slots from my hand was amazingly quick and easy.  I was frankly stunned with the difference in time - - I suspect that I will be using the warping board from now on. 

I followed a pattern for a Log Cabin Weave posted on Craftsy in the video Rigid Heddle Weaving - Beyond the Basics with Deborah Jarchow.  I found this video as clear and easy to understand as the Angela Tong video, and I learned a lot about working with colours from this video.


I warped up my loom with the same 3/2 mercerized cotton yarns in red hot and garnet, not necessarily because I thought these had the best contrast (they had virtually none), but because these were almost the only yarns I had that would work on my 10-dent heddle.  As you can see when the loom was loaded up and ready to go, the difference in the two colours was very subtle indeed.

I was not thrilled with the way my yarn was crossing over itself on the back beam.  The Craftsy pattern called for the following slot order, with L representing the lighter yarn, and D representing the darker yarn:

L D L D L D L D L D L D L D L D L D L D L D L D L D D D L D L D L D L D L D L D D D L D L D L D L D L D L D L D L D 

This resulted in 116 ends, 31 pairs of D yarn and 27 pairs of L yarn.  Once the slots were threaded, I then had to rethread the heddle in the following pattern, with the upper row representing the holes and the bottom row representing the slots:


Left side of heddle      D D D D D D D D D D D D L L L L L L L D D D D D L L L
                                  L L L L L L L L L L L L D D D D D D D D L L L L D D D D


 D D D D L L L D D D D D L L L L L L L D D D D D D D D D D D D
L L L D D D D L L L L D D D D D D D D L L L L L L L L L L L           right side of heddle


It was this rethreading that resulted in a lot of crossed warp threads.  Deborah Jarchow's technique to deal with these is to push them to the back beam as the work is wound forward.  It seems like there must be a better way to manage this. 

I began following the pattern printed in the Craftsy class, and the first part of the pattern went well.  Things started to spiral off the rails quite quickly however - - I broke a warp thread, which, although easy enough to fix, was a supreme pain in the butt initially when I kept getting caught on it.  Second, it soon became clear that I could not really see the log cabin pattern at all:

There is just the merest hint of a pattern using these two yarns - - they are simply too close in shade to give the real pop of contrast demanded by this pattern. 

I see just the barest, most subtle pattern there, but it certainly isn't doing Log Cabin any justice.


And because mistakes come in multiples (at least with me), I began to lose the pattern - - the change between the first couple of pattern blocks worked fine because the pattern called for two picks of the darker colour so that both of my shuttles ended up on the same side - - when I started the next change the pattern only called for 1 pick of dark colour so my shuttles were on either side of my loom - - I'm not sure that was intentional. 


The pattern seemed straightforward enough, but I just didn't understand the colour changes and I couldn't see the colour changes, other than as the merest suggestion, so when I went off plan I had no real way of knowing.

As a test swatch, though (and only my third real project), this was still a useful exercise because I learned how to use my warping board, and I learned that contrast is everything with a Log Cabin weave.   The good news is that I finished up the sample piece quickly enough, and I am going to try the Log Cabin pattern again, only with a much more contrasting yarn next time. 

Work 2 - Houndstooth Check Table Runner

Work 1 - - the primitive childlike weaving of incredible unevenness and unintentional loops - - went much better than expected, actually.  Along the way we discovered that part of my issues with keeping an even tension in my work were because our pawls were on the ratchets backwards so the gears kept slipping.  Good thing to discover on a piece of scrap work.

For work #2 I wanted to try a simple houndstooth check using a 2 x 2 pattern (2 warp threads of each colour and 2 picks of each colour, alternating one after the other).   I also wanted to try getting the tension right this time, so I really took my time setting up my warp.  I switched to a 10-dent heddle because the 8-dent heddle was very very airy using my 3/2 mercerized cotton yarn - - I kept the fiber the same as in work #1 because I liked the colours and thought that the red and garnet combination would still have an adequate contrast for the houndstooth. 

I used the single warping peg again this time to help set up the warp, because I thought that trying to play with tension, colour, and a completely new warping method was one innovation too many. 

I am almost certain that I set up my back end of my warp in the most labour intensive way possible, tying off knots on each end of each colour, all the way along the warp assist dowel.  This took literally hours.  I started on Saturday evening and finished Sunday around lunch time.  At first it just felt like it took forever, and then I started to get into a rhythm and the time seemed to pass faster.  Don't get me wrong - - it still took hours, I just didn't mind it as much.

With the pawls on facing the right way and using warp sticks I was able to maintain a nice tight tension on my warp while I wound the warp onto the back beam.  The next step was figuring out how to tie off my warp threads onto the front warp assist dowel.  The first time I set up my loom I used a giant loose bow because I couldn't figure out the knot that would permit me to adjust the tension. 

This time I watched more Tim Horchler videos on warping my loom and I called in an expert: the Nerd.  He was able to figure out the first knot, and he showed it to me.  It was really head smacking time - - it was so easy, a simple overhand knot!  D'oh!

These half knots permitted me to adjust the tension on my warp across the groups of warp threads, ensuring a much more even tension across the whole width of my warp.  It will come as a shock to no one when I tell you that these little knots have a much lower profile than big loopy bows (!), so they caused less bumpiness when I began winding the work onto the front beam.

Speaking of the bumpiness of winding over the knots on the front beam, this time I actually used warp sticks to help hold the finished weave up over the knots as I wound the fabric around the beam, and it helped keep my work much flatter in the working portion. 

With the warp nicely set up it was time to begin weaving, and this is where the fun began.  I am sure all practiced weavers will nod their heads when I say that it took me as long to set up the warp as it took me to weave the entire work. 

I loved the way that the houndstooth pattern wove up.  Once again the boat shuttles and preloaded bobbins work a treat - - it was so easy to swap out empty bobbins for preloaded bobbins as required. 

I started weaving just after lunch and finished weaving the length of the warp and knotting up the fringes by 10.30 pm.  I set up my warp initially across 12" of the heddle, 6" on either side of center.  Coming off the loom the finished work was about 11.5" wide x 45.25".  After washing the work shrunk up by about 8%, so that the new dimensions were 10.25" x 41.5".   

I wasn't trying to achieve a specific width or length because this was still a test project so it was a bit of a surprise to see the dimensions both when the work came off the loom and after washing.  I am beginning to see why we always need to add inches on the warp and weft to accommodate shrinkage and tightening of the woven fabric.

I am more convinced than ever than my next test work needs to be warped using the warping board rather than a single warping peg, to create a longer work.  I also found this work was still a bit airy so I might use a 12-dent heddle the next time I use the mercerized cotton yarn, or I may change to a different fiber. 

All in all I was extremely pleased with the result for work #2.  For another largely test project I thought it went pretty well.  My selvedges were pretty straight and even, the tension regular, and the pattern showed up nicely.  I wished the finished work had been a little bit longer, but that is the limitation of direct warping the loom. 

My first test swatch woven on a Kromski Harp rigid heddle loom

Understanding that I have impulse control issues (read: I have no impulse control), it was only a matter of time - - a very short amount of time - - before I had to take the new loom out for a test ride. 

For my first foray into weaving I simply used the basic 8-dent heddle that came with the loom, and some 3/2 mercerized cotton fiber in garnet and red hot.  I tried to choose a fiber with a gauge that would work well with an 8-dent heddle, but the fiber turned out to be a bit finer than I anticipated, which resulted in a very airy piece.

Detail of my first test swatch - - lots of space between the fibers

After watching numerous helpful videos on direct warping a rigid heddle loom using a warping peg, I was able to warp my loom, after a fashion.  Although I knew that it was important to get the tension even across the width of the warp, I was a little hazy on the recommended knots to use to tie the warp to my front dowel and hence the front beam, and I also failed to ensure that my dowel was parallel to the beam - - as a result, the tension on my first piece was very wonky to say the least. 

What worked?  The general manner of direct warping the loom by running the yarn around the dowel and through the heddle slots around the warping peg.  Also, the general mechanic of passing the boat shuttle back and forth worked very smoothly.  Loading the bobbins using the bobbin winder also worked really well. 

What didn't work so well?  First and foremost, my tension was all over the place in part because the back dowel was not parallel to the back beam when I began winding up the warp, and in part because the knots I used to tie the warp to the front dowel and thus the front beam were raggedy ass bows.  This created very uneven tension as between groups of warp threads as well as huge lumps in the fabric as I began winding the completed weaving onto the front beam. I also was too tentative when changing colours of weft thread, and as a result I had huge loops on my selvedge. 

 The result?  A delightfully primitive test swatch that shows off my almost complete lack of technique, but also shows promise -- the piece is definitely smoother and more consistent the farther along it goes as I got increasingly comfortable with the loom.

Although it really looks like my 10 year-old nieceling wove this piece, I am quite proud of it.  I found weaving to be easier than I expected, and I figured out how to do several things that had puzzled me when I saw them on videos or in books. 

Working on this swatch also made me very keen to try something more tricky (but still simple) - - a houndstooth check.  But that is a story for another day.  

The new loom arrived! Step by step assembly

I ordered my new Kromski Harp loom from Paradise Fibers in Oregon, and I have to say that I was extremely pleased with their selection and service.  I ordered the loom and some extra accessories on October 12 and 13 and the loom arrived by October 17, even with delays in customs. 

The full loom kit includes all the parts of the loom plus accessories like a 8 dent heddle, a pick up stick, heddle hook, a couple of stick shuttles, warping pegs and clamps. 

The down side is that the loom arrives unassembled.  The good side is that the loom is actually quite easy to assemble, with one minor hiccup around the direction of the gears (that was readily fixed). 

Step 1 was to attach the little tooth gripper things that fit into the gears on the loom that keep the beams from spinning uncontrollably.  I am sure those things have a technical name, but I sure as hell don't know it.  Ah well. 

Step 2 is to lay out the loom parts in position, then attach the bottom braces and beams. 

 

Then comes the time to attach the handles onto the ends of the front and back beams.

Once the handles were attached, it was time to attach the heddle holder. 
 

Save for attaching the front and back warp assists, the loom was complete and ready to start weaving.  From start to finish it took only about an hour to assemble the loom, which is less time than I expected. 

The base loom comes with stick shuttles, and I picked up a couple of Leclerc boat shuttles (size slim and size small to fit through the shed in a rigid heddle loom).  The boat shuttles are made of Canadian Maple and are beautiful and they feel lovely in the hand.  Having spent the weekend weaving with these shuttles, I have to say that they are a wonderful addition to my tool kit.

Because I am inherently lazy I also picked up a Leclerc bobbin winder and extra bobbins so that I could quickly load up several bobbins in each working colour, which was a tip I picked up from a video on the Paradise Fibers youtube channel.  This definitely made weaving quick and easy, with little time wasted when changing bobbins and/or colours, and I really recommend these.

After watching one of Tim Horchler's very informative videos on warping the loom using warp sticks to keep the warp threads separated I also made sure to order a set of warp sticks.  I used these when weaving my first and second sample projects and they really help keep the tension even.

The Kromski Rigid Heddle loom comes with an 8-dent heddle, and I ordered a second, 10-dent heddle for finer wools.  Having played with both heddles on my sample cotton yarn last weekend, I have just ordered a 12-dent heddle.  The new heddle is not just because my sample projects turned out spacier than I anticipated, but also because a 12-dent heddle is called for by some of my pattern kits.

Anticipating bringing the loom with my on the road to family visits, I also picked up a loom bag.  The nice thing about the Kromski Harp loom is that it can fold up with the work on it and be tucked away into the loom bag.  I have tried folding the loom without work on it, and it works perfectly.

Because I have impulse control issues, I have already tried a couple of test swatches.  My next post will describe my trials and tribulations playing with my new loom.
 

Time for some weaving...soon

I have thought about doing some weaving for a long time.  Back in the day when I was 5 or 6 my aunt had a giant floor loom that she used to make the most godawful "artistic" wall hangings and table runners.  As an indicator of her style she used to weave her dogs' hair into many of her creations (Old English Sheepdogs).  I can't really fault her too much, though - - it was the 70s, after all, and everyone was into self-expression in those days.

I have always loved fiber arts.  My mother, the Matriarch, used to knit the most beautiful and intricate things - toys, sweaters, coats, mittens, scarves - - you name it, she's knit it.  I am lucky enough to still have a couple of her handmade sweaters and I can see and feel the love she knit into each stitch. 

Loopy Bear made by the Matriarch, 1979

From the Matriarch I picked up my love of knitting.  I never had her skill or her patience, and I am proud/ashamed to say that I never once knit a tension swatch before starting a project.  Yes, yes, I know.  I kind of like the excitement of the mystery of whether or not the garment would fit the person for whom it was intended when the project was done.  I don't know if I was living a virtuous life or not (hint: not), but I never had a problem with my garments fitting. 

Entrelac shawl made by Magniloquent, 2009

Sadly, though, along the way I managed to give myself knitting-related carpal tunnel in my left hand.  It's not usually a problem because I have switched many tasks to my right hand, but when I knit for any length of time I lose the feeling in my left hand.  That's probably not good, and knitting isn't on my dance card for the foreseeable future.

I still love crafts, though, and fiber crafts in particular.  If I can't knit, I still want to do something related - - plus, I have all this leftover wool from my knitting days. 

So I took another look at weaving as an option - - less direct stress on the hands because weaving doesn't require the same fine motor control in my left hand as does knitting. Weaving is also ideally suited for using up leftover wool stashes.

I've taken a look at a bunch of different table looms and finally settled on the Kromski Harp loom in the 32" size.

Kromski Harp table loom

The pros of the Kromski Harp are its cost (relative to other looms), its integrated warping board and ease of use for the beginner to advanced weaver.  The loom can also be folded with the project on it for transport, and the loom can be used either with or without a floor stand.  The base model comes with a single rigid heddle, but the loom can be readily adjusted to take a second heddle to permit more complex patterns.

I am very excited to see the loom and its various bits and pieces, and I will post more once I receive it.  There will need to be an unboxing / assembly video/photo set, of course.

I can't wait to play!