What comes first, the chicken or the egg? hmmm.
The first version of our sample loom was made out of the corrugated cardboard
from nice clean boxes, courtesy of my friend Wendy.
Kim, Meagan and I tested them one frosty Sunday afternoon, each of us accomplished a reasonable sample. We discussed and developed improvements over coffee. Kim is the owner of Kimat Designs, she not only specializing in framing needlework, but is a highly skilled craftsperson in many areas of the art. Her daughter Meagan has taken hand weaving in university.
The loom dimension was good at 6 inches by 9 inches.
I added a couple of 1 inch strips glued half an inch below the top and bottom edge
so the vertical strings would be raised up off the base.
Snips were cut 4 per inch across the top and bottom of the cards to help keep the vertical strings in order. I used the classic method of figuring this out by wrapping a 1 inch by 6 inch piece of card for about 3 inches, measuring the number of wraps in the middle part and dividing the result by 2.
Using DK yarn, the spacing worked out to 8 (doubled) vertical strings to the inch,
a pair in each notch. We used 2 colours of vertical string to help make
the over and under structure of simple weaving clearer visually.
Well, white glue softened and distorted the base card, the notches became annoying very quickly and further, the darn card gradually buckled more and more as the weaving progressed. It was lucky for us we were all the persevering type when it comes to craft.
We designed a better version after this experience for you. The next post will feature the new improved loom. We are very pleased with how version 2.1 worked.
In the meantime here are some weaving words for you.
The language of weaving for knitters
Warp: vertical threads
Weft: horizontal threads
Sett: similar to gauge in knitting, number of warp threads to the inch for example 8 ends to the inch is a sett and abbreviated as 8 epi
Shed: the horizontal space where you thread the weft yarn.
Pick: one line of weft yarn,
Picks per inch: The number of weft rows in an inch. Abbreviated as ppi
Tabby: name of the fundamental weave structure - over and under one thread at a time.
Row 1: using the weft thread, go over the (first) warp thread, under the next one - repeat to last warp thread.
Row 2: using the weft thread, go under the edge warp thread and over the next one - repeat to the last warp thread.
Balanced Weave: uniform share of warp and weft in the fabric - to estimate a balanced weave epi, wind the chosen warp yarn around the shaft of pencil or dowel for a few inches, then measure how many wraps are in only one of the inches and divide that number by half
Weft Faced: Only the weft yarn is visible on the fabric surface.
Warp Faced: Only the warp yarn is visible on the fabric surface.
DK Yarn:22 stitches to 4 inches on a 4 mm needle could have 16 wraps to the inch on the pencil so a sett to try would be 8 epi.
Worsted Weight Yarn: 20 stitches to the inch on a 4.5 mm needle could have 12 wraps to the inch so a sett to try would be 6 epi
Twill: a more complex weave with many variations. Your blue jeans are typically a woven twill because it is a fabric with built in stretch.
Shuttle: carries (throws) an amount of weft yarn through the shed of the warp
Shed stick: a long smooth flat stick that helps create a clear shed for the shuttle
Reed or comb: separates and places the weft after a throw.
Extra tips:
Be sure to keep an eye on the vertical edges of your fabric as you weave, they should be nice and straight.
When you add a row of weft, arc the yarn to allow for take up, and then push (beat)it into place above the previous row (shot).
Some people add an extra thread to either edge (or a floating selvage) for added stability.
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