Rocky Top Weaver

Towel #4 is what I call, Mellow Yellow.  The name of the color is really Spectra Yellow.  It is a hard pattern to see, since the yellow pretty much blends in with the white. Closer ? Think the next color I will do will be black.  Easy,  but would show pattern definition better than the yellow.

Towel #3 is a Cinnamon brown.  Didn't think I would like it, but the more I weave I do.  For the color palette that I have chosen, it fits in nicely. Up close and personal....

One towel down, 5 to go.  The first towel done in a Mediterranean blue was a better color as a towel, then on the spool.  So, on to the next color Lime green.  So far it doesn't strike me a much as the blue, but I will continue with it.  Color variety is part of this project.

Finally, I have gotten another project going.  They are cotton 8/2 towels from an old pattern from the 1940"s.  It is simple in the treadling, but the pattern is very eye catching and is all in accurate threading of the heddles. Below is the mess that it takes to get it started....warp, warp and more warp. 8 yards of white 8/2 unmercerized cotton for the warp, then the weft will be a variety of colors that I have on hand and think would look good with this pattern. Then after all the setup the towel starts to take shape and color.  :-) Close up.... Now, there are 6 of these to make (if I measured right) so I better get busy.  Stay tuned.

After much time and hesitation, I have finally gotten the scarves done !  It has been a learning experience since the treadling was on 8 harnesses and I was using Alpaca and Silk. But the end results are beautiful, if I don't say so myself. Thought it would show up better on the white chair. Never having done fringe before, it was fun to find out there are many ways to do fringe. Now, on to the next project....

This week I have been working on getting my loom dressed with the warp for a winter scarf.  The warp is Silk Noir and the weft is Alpaca/silk.  Having never worked with Silk before for the warp, I found out very quickly that it is not as strong as the 8/2 cotton I worked with on the towels.  Only 2 broken warp threads so far and that happened when I was dressing the loom.  The scarf will have a 6 inch fringe on each end and the scarf itself is 7 1/2 inches wide.  The pattern calls for a total woven length of 72 inches.  It will be a while before this is finished. As you can see,  12 inches so far...lots to go ! Fringe at the beginning with cardboard insert.

The towels are finally done.  What an experience!  The total were 3 towels, 1 small placemat, 2 samples for my sample binder.  The first two towels were using just the variegated weft, then I got bored with the one pattern that I added a solid Egg Plant purple in the weft at each end of the towel.  This allowed for a balanced look with a horizontal stripe for some color. This was a quick post and will add more detail this weekend.

Now the count is up to 3 towels on the loom.  I will have just enough warp left to make a dish cloth or two and a sample.  One of my friends (who shall remain nameless - you know who you are) told me to start a binder with samples and information of the pieces I do.  That is such a good idea,  so along with my blogging I will have an actual sample of the project that was done. Lot's of weaving. They are almost ready to come off the loom.  A couple more passes with the shuttle and this project will be done.  

More progress and beautiful results at that.  The variegated yarn is making a beautiful pattern of stripes, much to my surprise.  Just starting to see how it will look. Wider than I thought it would be. Enough for tonight....back at it tomorrow :-)

The war is finally over !!  I have been fighting tension since I rolled my warp onto the back beam.  Just keeping things even was a chore.  After much fussing with it, I decided to unwind it all to the front beam and then beam it back onto the back beam.  With alot of luck and "my sword" I was able to keep the tension on, little by little getting it back on the beam.  This is my first time warping Back to Front so it has been a challenge.  Since I have done 2 samplers and one project all warping Front to Back I was learning things all over again.  It did prove to be more tangle free, but I think more tedious.  Leaning into the loom to get the heddles threaded from the front proved painful (my arms) but very organized.  Below are some pictures of my feat. "I think I got it !! " Looks good from afar..... Warp from the back side with the lease sticks still in. The Sword - life saver - sanity saver. So I am ready to weave in a header...

Starting another project to learn the waffle weave pattern.  At the studio, I have been assigned to a wonderful teacher that I call the "Obi One Kanobi" of weaving.  She is a complex accomplished weaver, so needless to say my brain is working overtime to keep up.  My project at the studio is waffle weave kitchen towels.  I am duplicating this home so I can practice what I learn on the same exact project.  Might end up with alot of towels, but they can always be used :-). The colors for this project at home are an 8/2 Eggplant warp (not brave enough to bring more than one color for the warp yet).  Then am using a variegated 8/2 Mixed Berry for the weft.  So here it goes..... Warping back to front with the raddle...mysterious device but sure organizes things well. It spreads the threads out to start tensioning nice.  This is a very easy was to get your warp on the loom without alot of effort. From the inside of the loom it start...

My first official project is done !!  The samplers towels are off the loom, hemmed and ready for use.  Though they looked better on the loom, because of some errors I discovered early on in the weaving process.  Oh well,  that is part of the learning process.   They are very heavy towels, compared to the 8/2 and 10/2 cotton towels I have seen in the past.  Overall, I am very pleased with the outcome.  Now on to the next project.  I have no idea what it will be, but I have enough 8/2 unmercerized cotton to create what ever I want.  Below is a picture of the sampler towels from Weaver's Craft Magazine. This was my goal. Think I got pretty close. These are the towels after hemming, before washing. This is a look at all the towels on the loom before I am ready to take them off. Towels in progress on the loom. More color and lots of counting! Towels in progress..... Now, time for some research on what I would like t...

Just signed up for mobile blogging!  So now when I am working and wishing I was weaving, I can post my thoughts. This could be dangerous!

Finally, after much anticipation about getting the loom dressed as best I could it is time for some color ! I am starting with a sampler towel kit with a 5/2 Pearl cotton.  The warp is a Natural 5/2 Pearl and the weft is a variety of colors, all in 5/2 Pearl.  I started with a normal knitters yarn to get the header (if that is what you call it) started for about 1 1/2 inches.  Just to get a firm straight line.  Wow, that worked great.  There is a huge difference in the Mighty Wolf loom and the small table loom when it comes to the way it weaves.     So, after weaving a couple of hours last night I was able to get almost 3/4 of a towel done!  I expect to finish it this morning and then on to the next one.  There are three in the sampler kit.  After finishing the towels, I will have to stitch them and wash them up.  I am intensly curious how they will look after they are washed and pressed.  The colors that I will ...

In continuation from earlier, I got my loom dressed.  The warp is on the back beam and the front is tied off on the apron rod for the front beam.  Yippee !! If you look closely...really close, you will see that I forgot something.  The paper that goes between the threads when it gets rolled onto the back beam.  Not sure how I am going to get myself out of this one.  Beginner's luck. Then tieing it on the front apron rod.  That was tedious but eventually got it done.  My back did not like sittting so long but can't be a wimp about this. So, it probably isn't the prettiest nor done correctly but it is a start.  Tomorrow night I will see what I can do to get the paper on the back beam without destroying my warp.  Then ready to tie up the treadles and wind some bobbins!  Can't wait to get weaving!!

This weekend I didn't get to play on my loom due to family visiting.  My loom called me every morning and I felt like I was ditching my new best friend.  But family first!!  After the busy weekend, I was able to verify my work on the sleying the reed and then last night I was able to thread the heddles.  It is a simple 1, 2, 3, 4 thread pattern but it is a start.  Tonight, I will check my threads for any that are crossed.  Also, this pattern calls for 2 threads per dent.  So keeping all of that straight too.  I hope to get it beamed tonight and tied up tonight to be at a good starting place tomorrow. Well, back to my friend.  More later!

Time has just flown by for the month of September.  October is half over and I am just getting comfortable with dressing my new loom.  September was a time for vacation (away from computers, cell phones and anything associated with technology).  Then when I came back, I got the flu.  2 weeks of misery to say the least.  Now I am back full force and ready to weave. My first project just got sleyed (if there is such a word).  Just got done checking the thread count and number of threads per dent (2).  I am just trying a sampler kitchen towel project.  Hope to make 3 towels.  So far the pattern says 14" wide in the reed and I have 14 inches !!!  The secret for me is music (ipod).  I have always enjoyed music and would prefer it over TV anytime.  Also, having the TV on in the background makes me lose count.  I have not been a math fanatic so I need all the help I can get.  The music is perfect for warping on the warp...

Today was an exciting day!  I was able to get to the studio to work on my sampler piece that I have on my loom.  It is a basic sampler with 4 shaft setup.  The piece is about 72" long and 10 inches wide.  The goal is to weave about 50 different 4-shaft treadle tie ups.  This will help me get familiar with the tie up process and the look of the weave because of the new tie ups.  The colors I chose were not the best either, but they will do for a sampler.  I used a Natural 8/2 unmercerized cotton for the warp and the weft started out with a Sunflower yellow, then switched to a Moss green.  The green is a better contrast choice.

My new Mighty Wolf loom is beautiful!  It is the natural maple wood and it sits so proud in my office that is day by day becoming my "loom room".  I was able to get my smaller loom to the weaving studio last week and get setup to start my Friday sessions. Excitement is a good way to term this adventure.  I can't wait to be able to produce quailty weaving projects, along with explore the different possibilites that weaving can bring into my life.  I haven't gotten too far on the setup of the loom, just because life gets in the way.  The strollers are on so what is left is floor work with the tie ups.  Then the heddles which I already think I will need to order some more.  The loom came with 1000 heddles but with 8 shafts that is only 125 per shaft.  We will see.  Another yarn order came today.  I splurged and ordered a scarf kit with Alpaca fiber that is dyed in beautiful blues and purples for the weft and then black silk to use for ...

It has been a while since the last blog entry, but I am back on track again. My life this last few weeks has been devoted to finishing a major house project and a bathroom renovation. They are done and now to more important news. The last post was about getting my new spools of yarn. Well, since then I have ordered even more yarn but the BIGGER news is that I purchased a Mighty Wolf loom (new) and it came this week !!! It is beautiful! This will allow me to take my Leclerc table loom (with treadles) down to the studio and get busy with learning how to weave from the professionals. The Mighty Wolf will be my home loom with full intention of becoming a professional myself someday. The loom came mostly assembled but I have a few things to still attach to it. At the recommendation of my girlfriend who has a Baby Wolf, I bought the stroller kit so that needs installed along with the tie ups for the treadles and also the heddles. There are 1000 heddles, WOW!!! Also, bought a Wolf Tra...