Thursday, May 7, 2009

Trying A Two Stick Heading

I finished my hand painted silk scarf which wove up very quickly by my poke along standard and was a real joy to weave. I have the Tencel sett at 30 epi and it seems to be just perfect for the 2/20 silk. I finished the scarf with simple hem stitching in bundles of 6 warp threads, then advanced the warp for the full 12 inches of fringe I allowed.
I really want to get this scarf in my hands so that I can start beading the fringe, so I decided to do try a new technique for me. I have had the instructions to make a 2 Stick Heading since 2002 and thought now was the perfect time to try it. First weave an inch of plain weave or as close as you can get to plain weave. Choose a non slippery yarn for this, one with lots of fuzzies, I used 2/10 merino wool.
Insert a stick in one plain weave shed, insert another stick in the next plain weave shed. I used sticks that came with my loom, but any smooth flat stick will do.
Now weave another inch of plain weave.

Being very brave I cut my first scarf off, just below the first inch of plain weave. My instructions say to leave both headings and stick attached to the loom!
As I cut the web, the warp did pull back a bit and I got a bit scared, but the 1 inch of wool kept everything in place. I removed my first scarf from the cloth beam and pulled the cloth beam back over the breast beam.
Fold the sticks against each other with the first inch of heading folded underneath.
I moved my warp forward so that the apron rod was just below my front beam and then I tied the two folded sticks to the front apron rod at about 3 inch intervals, keeping everything even. I just moved the warp threads to make small holes in the web as I needed them.
All done….perfect tension…..ready to weave in about 20 minutes!!!! I forwarded my warp to allow for my 12 inch fringe and started my new scarf. Same tie up and threadling but I’ve changed the weft. I’m now using magenta raw silk that I purchased as a single and plied together. It looks quite different and is a little bigger grist.
Do you see the almost butterfly in the pattern? I'm going to have to work on that and see if I can make it show up more.

Weaving Words


The word spin comes from the Greek word spaein, meaning to drag or draw.

16 comments:

Cindie said...

I love the tutorial on putting header/sticks/header in so you could cut off the first scarf. I did something similar in a workshop but wasn't sold on it - I'm going to try this method when the need arises. Thanks!

Susan said...

I have been such a coward to try this!
Thank you for showing it so clearly. Did you take some tension off the warp before you cut?

I also read somewhere that one weaver uses a thin row of fray check on some fibres if there is a risk of some unraveling.

Okay, I will try this method at the first opportunity and report back.

Susan

charlotte said...

This was a really smart way to cut down when the warp isn't finished yet! And you don't need to glue, I feel glueing is a bit messy. Thank you for showing, I will remember this!

Theresa said...

I did this pulling off prayer flags. BTW, Lynette, that pattern looks just like the one I have on my Carolyn loom from Twill Thrills. Pretty in the purple and black!

GABY said...

Oh, cool trick! love these blogs, one can learn so much and it's great that so many will share tips, tricks, patterns. i feel like a sponge, soaking it all up. :)
thank's

Peg in South Carolina said...

Excellent tutorial. I've done this too and it has worked well. If you are really scared, you can always bring out the white glue......

Deanna said...

Great post and lovely photos. I've done this with one stick and glue, but I like your two stick no glue method better.

bspinner said...

Great tutorial!!!! Along with the pictures the information is so well written and easy to understand.
It takes time and effort to put all this information together and like Magic Stix I'm very thankful you do. Thanks!

Life Looms Large said...

You know, after my post with 1 stick and glue a few months ago...I heard of this 2 stick method. Glad to see that you tried it and liked it!

At the workshop I attended in April, we wove just one stick in and lashed that on. No glue. And it worked fine too. So there really are a lot of ways to cut off part of your warp....and it is really liberating to know that they really do work!!

Love the colors and pattern of these scarves!!

Sue

Sunrise Lodge Fiber Studio said...

Oh my gosh....I think you may have created a monster! I'll be taking off one at a time for sure now;) Thank you so much for sharing that awesome tip!!!

Anonymous said...

Clever, very clever. I will be doing this for sure!

Fireman said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Fireman said...

Wow !!! I love this technique. Can't wait to try it. Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

I have just done this with some towels. My warp was too long so I cut off the first three using this two stick method and it worked a treat.
Many thanks

Padre Wayne said...

I decided to try this for the first time today on some 10/2 bamboo. I'd woven a sample that I wanted to examine and wet-finish before moving on to the scarf itself, so I followed memory and your instructions. I've now lashed the two sticks to the front apron rod (this is on an 8S Voyageur table loom) and woven my header to start hemstitching the edge -- and it's working!!! I knew that if necessary I could always tie the warp on in the usual way, but I think I wasted less yarn this way - and, since the tension was already good I was able to start weaving without worrying about it! Thanks!

Anonymous said...

I LOVE the 2-stick header. I'll never go back to knots. Great for cutting off in the middle too. I found a tutorial on Peggy Osterkamps too. But yours is beautiful and very thorough as well. Thanks

Tom Z. in IL