Category: Tips

Life History of a Scarf: Day 1 - Inspiration

2/6/2016

This scarf was inspired by the project I did for the 2015 Triangle Weavers Guild Weaver's Challenge. For that challenge, I drew 4 slips of paper that told me I had to weave something with the following criteria:

Use bamboo only
Use dark and bright colors
Use 2 different weave structures
Use hemstitching

Now, these challenges are usually, well, challenging. But this one seemed pretty manageable for a change. I decided to weave a scarf with mostly teals and reds, using a mixture of 8/2 and 10/2 bamboo, and using a combination of plain weave and point twill. I sett the bamboo at 27 epi. And to make a long story short, I loved the results. The scarf had a gorgeous hand, and my only concern was that the scarf may have looked a little like a Scottish plaid - nothing wrong with that - it is just not what I had in mind when I started.

The inspiration scarf

The challenge scarf was really quick and easy to weave. Plain weave selvedges - so nice clean selvedges with no need for floating selvedges. Easy treadling pattern - so nice easy rhythm of weaving. So I decided to do it again with a few changes:

Different colorway
Slightly wider warp
Weave 2 scarves instead of 1 (why not?) with 2 different weft colors
8/2 bamboo only (because that is the only size I had on hand in the new colors)

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Life History of a Scarf: Day 1 - Inspiration

2/1/2016

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Use bamboo only
Use dark and bright colors
Use 2 different weave structures
Use hemstitching

The inspiration scarf

Different colorway
Slightly wider warp
Weave 2 scarves instead of 1 (why not?) with 2 different weft colors
8/2 bamboo only (because that is the only size I had on hand in the new colors)

Stay tuned to this thread (Life History of a Scarf) for more on the planning, weaving and finishing of the new scarves that were inspired by the challenge scarf. Check out Life History-Day2 for the next installment.

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A Blanket a Day

10/7/2014

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I few weeks ago I put on a multicolored pearl cotton warp for 9 baby blankets. These are blankets I have been weaving for years, and I always enjoy weaving them. They are kind of "design as I go" blankets, and for that reason it takes a little while for me to get going with them once they are on the loom. So... they stayed on the loom for about three weeks before the weaving began.

Now that I have jumped right in, I have promised myself that I will weave a blanket a day until they come off the loom. Because the blankets are woven with 2 shuttles they are "slow cloth", and each blanket takes about 4 or 5 hours to weave.

Colors chosen for a teal, blue and white blanket

They are all woven in plain weave with one shuttle of pearl cotton and one shuttle of a nubby cotton. Each one will be different. I plan ahead for where to change the colors of the nubby yarn for each blanket before I begin, but the many color changes in the pearl cotton are done "on the fly" as I weave the blanket. Decisions, decisions. That's part of the fun.

Tip # 1: In order to keep track of my plan for the length of the baby blanket, I mark up a length of grosgrain ribbon with hash marks to indicate where I want to make my color changes in the nubby cotton yarn. I keep this ribbon pinned to the cloth as I weave. I do NOT allow the ribbon to wind onto the cloth beam - it is just removed from the loom when the blanket is finished. I will save the ribbon in case I want to weave another blanket with similar color arrangement in the future.

Tip # 2: Selvedge Control. When weaving plain weave with two shuttles it is important to interlock the weft yarns to get neat selvedges. Positioning the shuttles correctly is the key. Pay attention as your shuttle exits the shed. If the edge thread is up, place your shuttle near the fell of the cloth. If the edge thread is down, place your shuttle near your body. If you do this, the wefts will always interlock.

The green weft exits under the edge warp thread, goes over the white weft, and then enters the shed under the edge warp again. The wefts are interocked.

On my warp, the left selvedge thread was up when I threw the green shuttle above, so I placed the shuttle near the fell of the cloth, and I then placed the white shuttle near my body

The green weft exits over the edge warp thread, goes under the white weft, and then enters the shed over the edge warp again. The wefts are interocked.

On my warp, the right selvedge thread was down when I threw the green shuttle above, so I placed the green shuttle near my body, and I placed the white shuttle near the fell of the cloth

When the blankets are done, I will post pictures of them in the Gallery.

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paper quills: The Good, the bad, and the really, really ugly

9/26/2014

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I tend to weave with fine yarns, and when I do, I weave with an end-feed shuttle and pirns. Yet I still find using paper quills invaluable.

They can be used instead of a bobbin in a boat shuttle, and I do use them that way when I have to fill lots and lots of paper quills for weaving demos, and I simply don't have enough plastic bobbins available. I use them instead of plastic bobbins for heavier yarns when the end-feed shuttle won't work

In my studio, I use them for storing leftover yarn that comes off of bobbins and pirns. When I am done with a project, I wind yarn off of my pirns onto paper quills and rubber band them to the cones they belong to. That way a) I free up my pirns and plastic bobbins, and b) I keep the leftovers strapped to the parent cone so I don't get dye lots mixed up.

So how do you make a paper quill?
First I make a template out of card stock. This is oval shaped and about as long as my plastic bobbins and about 2/3 as wide. I trace 2 of them onto a piece of 20-lb or 24-lb copy paper or brown paper bags and cut out the 2 quills. I can usually stack 3 or 4 pieces of paper and cut several out at a time.

Winding a paper quill:
I use a Swedish bobbin winder to wind the paper quills, but any winder should do. First wind the piece of paper tightly around the pirn of the bobbin winder (I start the paper behind the pirn and wind it towards me - see picture). After you get it wound on about half way, stick the end of the yarn in there and keep winding. Once the paper is fully wound on, Start cranking and wind with firm tension on the yarn, forming little bumps on each end and then filling in the middle.

TIP #1: To get that paper started winding on tightly, it sometimes helps to lick (yes, lick) the edge that you are wrapping onto the pirn.

TIP #2: Use a little piece of thin leather around the yarn to help you get good tension of the yarn without getting "rope burn" on your fingers.

The Bad and the Really, Really Ugly:
Okay, so it doesn't always work perfectly. Tip #3 is this: when you wind the paper quill, do NOT wind too close to the ends of the quill. It might look okay at first, but trust me, it will end up looking like this:

And that is when you spend 30 minutes with the paper quill on the floor while you try to rewind it onto another paper quill. NOT fun!

But all in all, paper quills can free you from the money pit of buying endless bobbins and save you the headache of not knowing which leftovers go with which cones of yarn.
Try it!

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Life History of a Scarf: Day 1 - Inspiration

Life History of a Scarf: Day 1 - Inspiration

A Blanket a Day

paper quills: The Good, the bad, and the really, really ugly

Pattie Lamb

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