Linen Adventures--winding and starching the warp

Linen!

Next project is linen...which terrifies me.  Why?  Because it is so inflexible.  I like a little flexibility in my weaving.  Nevertheless, I have linen in my stash, and there is no time like the present.  The Ravelry board "warped weavers" got me started as this is their weave along for Winter 2017.  Much of the information below came from the very knowledgable weavers on this board, and other sources are referenced.  But mostly I just want to write about my experience with this project.  Whatever happens success or fail I will share on this blog and learn from it.

I've decided to weave linen napkins from Carol Strikler's A Weaver's Book of 8-Shaft Patterns (Strickler, 1991, pg 194).  I have 20/1 linen fiber, and estimated the yardage at about 2000 yards.  Here is a photo of the pattern and fiber:

I then started to read everything I could find on weaving with linen.  Determined that the set should be 33-35epi, and that I should starch the warp before I put it on the loom. But first to wind the warp...you need to be careful with that as well.

Linen is interesting.  It is so strong that it will slice your fingers before it would break, even a fine linen like 20/1. It comes from the flax plant Linum usitatisissimum, which is grown in cooler climates.  Flax is the unspun fibers, flax becomes linen when it is spun into thread.

It is a very inflexible fiber...it will not stretch. So it is important to wind an even warp.  Flax is tough...it will pull your warping board off the wall.

Not exactly an even warp, but frankly I've worked with worse...so I carried on to the next step.  Made the choke ties tight, and chained it to prepare for the next step...starching.

Linen, will not break, but it will unravel and come apart under pressure, when it is folded or bent.  Starching will help the fibers stick together and keep it from unraveling.  So I purchased a standard liquid laundry starch, and mixed it for a medium starch application, and soaked the warp chain.  You do not have to soak it for long, just long enough for the fibers to become saturated, about a minute or two.  Then just hang it to dry.

So that is where I am right now...waiting for the warp to dry.  I might be able to spread the warp tonight...I plan on warping from front to back, which will allow me to even up any uneven ends to my warp...its also the only way I know how to warp.  LOL

The pictures on this blog are photographed by myself with my iPhone.  My husband happens to be a photographer, so we thought it would be interesting to see the difference professional photography can do for your weaving products.  He's going to have fun with lighting, and clearly capturing what I'm trying to describe and accomplish in my weaving...and will post his adventures from time to time.

Take care...will update with next steps on this project and others as they evolve.

This is Marty our lovable chihuahua...looks very pensive here...probably wondering if I know what I'm doing...



Strickler, Carol (1991). A weaver's book of 8-shaft patterns. Interweave Press, page 194.
The Woolgatherers (2015). Looms, Linens, Lessons. http://woolgatherers.com/FlaxHemp4Handweavers.html

Convergence

I signed up for Convergence in July. I'm sooooo excited. I signed up for the Fiber Tour on Tuesday, where I will be able to tour 3 fiber artists' studios, a 3 day weaving design workshop with Ruby Leslie, and a 2 day workshop on on dyeing fiber with natural dyes. And then of course there is the fabulous SHOPPING!! Can. Not. Wait. :-D

I am also sort of coordinating all the Santa Barbara Guild members, in regard to travel arrangements, hotels, meals etc. Not booking travel, hotel and meals mind you, :-o but knowing where everyone is and contact information so we can get together at Convergence.

Can. Not. Wait.

Already, I am a big fan of sampling...

What a difference a sample makes. It gives you time to work out snags, snafus, and gives you the opportunity to try new things. And a practice piece is a great way to really explore the weave structure.

With this project I am exploring a honeycomb weave. (Pattern by Danna LaVallee, Brighton Honeycomb from "The Structure of Weaving" by Ann Sutton.) I have some baby alpaca that I have been wanted to turn into a scarf, but I do not want to make another piece that I am dissappointed in...so I am sampling this weave structure in an inexpensive (alright downright CHEAP!) acrylic yarn I bought at a craft store. Yeah, I said acrylic.

The yarn is actually pretty soft, but has an odd hand. I love the colors, and it also kind of "grabs" onto itself, kind of like wool, and I hope, alpaca. Acrylic is not my favorite fiber, to be sure, but it works for this purpose. I am experimenting with variegated yarns and trying to do something other than a simple tabby weave using handpainted yarns. I want to try something different, something with a little more texture, and see if I still get that random crosshatching that you get with a variegated yarn woven in tabby. This yarn has a lot going on in regard to color--so much so you are not going to see the honeycomb pattern, but you can feel it. It has a nice texture to be sure.

Here is my first attempt--already a problem!



Can you see it? Way off to the right...there are these really long float spanning 6 of the warp strings right on the edge. What I did was try something fancy (ya see I just can't help myself!!) and try to sort of frame the piece by adding a couple of warp strings just inside the 2 outside floating selvages. My intent was to do a tabby weave with these 2 warp strings up along either side of the scarf. So I threaded these two strings on shaft 1 and shaft 2 thinking that this would create a tabby weave. It worked on the left, but not on the right. The pattern is treadled with 8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1, and the treadling for 8&7 is a float, so combined with the floating selvage, my two warp additions, and the beginning of the pattern I have this 6 warp string horizontal float.



So I unweave and re-thread these two strings. It used to irritate me to unweave, and then I read this story somewhere. (I think it was on another weaving blog...I will give credit where credit is due just as soon as I can remember!) It goes like this: There was a woman in her studio weaving, and discovered that she had to unweave to fix a problem. She came out of her studio and complained to her husband and his friend a woodcarver, that she had to unweave. Her husband's friend said to her..."you don't know how lucky you are!!" Thinking that he must have fallen off his nut she asked him what he was talking about. He told her she was lucky to be able to go back and undo her mistakes. He said "you don't know how many times I wish that I could uncarve". I think of this story every time I have to unweave. Which is pretty often as I am a new weaver :-).

In looking at the pattern, I decided that threading on shafts 7 & 8 would give me the desired tabby effect on the right. I have no idea why, but it worked. :-)


So the scarf is completed now, and I don't mind the acrylic type of fiber. Still not my favorite fiber, tencel still wins that prize. It weaves very much like wool, holds onto itself like wool, and washes a lot like wool. There was about a 6 inch recoil or shrinkage in length on the loom v.s. off the loom, but I saw that coming and wove an extra 8 inches to the length to allow for that. Makes for a nice scarf doesn't it??

(Robert took these pictures--didn't he do an excellent job? You wouldn't believe the pictures I took--blurry, blown out, and worst of all could not see anything in the weave structure. Thanks so much Robert!!)


I'll continue to explore this weave structure (honeycomb) for a couple more projects. I think it will make an excellent blanket...it has a lot of little pockets that gives it a nice thick feel, with very few floats, and I suspect it will hold in warmth nicely. Here is a closeup of the weave structure:

Next project is a baby blanket for baby Silas, a new addition to a friend's family. Then that alpaca scarf that got this whole thing started.

Wrapping the warp and spreading the baby blanket now. I am using yellow and white cotton and this same acrylic fiber. Will return with more posts on this project....

And so I begin...

Welcome to my blog about weaving.

I am a novice weaver, armed with a recent purchase of a 8 harness 48 inch weaving loom. With this blog I will share my experiences, lessons, and ruminations about weaving as I learn about this wonderful art. It is my hope and belief that by not only weaving, but also by writing about my experiences, chronicling with pictures, and sharing my ruminations about weaving as I sit at my loom I will not only learn more about weaving, but enjoy it that much more.

Having just purchased my loom, I have told many people about it. Most responses have been "a what?", as in they're not sure they heard me right. Then I say something like "a loom, as in weaving, a floor loom, maker of cloth". To which they say something along the lines of "oh." and we change the subject.

One response I received was "what are you going to do with it?" Very interesting question. My immediate response was "relax with it, enjoy it, have fun". To which they said "that's it?" No doubt they think I have to much time on my hands. I wish. But in reality it takes a conscious effort to relax with my loom. I am now starting my first project on my new loom, going slowly and methodically as I work out the kinks and solve the problems associated with bringing a loom that has been idle for 15 years back to life. I have to stop myself from setting productivity goals, such as getting all the threading done in one evening. At the same time I have to keep myself going as I work through problems that are not easy or pleasant to work through, such as solving the problems with the tie ups, which required that I crawl under the loom for a day and a half.

Learning how to slow down and enjoy a process in my life full of things that must get done is going to be so rewarding. Already I am starting to get the hang of it. My loom room is a nice place to just be and create. I look forward to the adventures yet to come.