Designing at the Loom with a Raddle

I am working on some pretty spring coloured tea towels.  They are mainly periwinkle blue with nine colourful stripes in pale blue, lilac, green and peach.  But there was a little problem while pulling the warp.  I ran out of the pretty green.

I knew that the green was going to be tight so I pulled the warp in batches starting from the edges working my way into the middle.  I have used this tea towel draft before and I have the weight of the warp broken down into each coloured stripe.   I measured all the cones and subtracted the empty cone weight and I thought I had just enough.  But I forgot that I changed the draft from 5 stripes to 9 stripes so of course I was short!

I needed a new stripe pattern for the three stripes left in the middle of the warp.   I replaced the green with the peach and this makes the stripes brighter.  When I put all the mini warps together on top of the loom in preparation for pulling on the warp, I thought that the peach stripes stuck out in the middle of the warp.

So I decided to move the stripes around in the warp.  The edges were pulled with two green stripes each and I also pulled two small warps of a single green stripe.  So I really started designing on the loom!  I kept the edges the same but moved a peach stripe between the single green stripe.   So the sequence is two green, peach, green, peach, green, peach and two green.

First thing that I did was pull apart the three peach stripes into separate crosses but I kept the 5 yards of warp together. 

To warp the back beam of the Louet Spring the warp is separated into the five dent raddle on the top of the loom.  On the top of the loom you can see the warps crossing over each other because of the moved stripes.  There was no trouble pulling on the warp due to the raddle and it took less than five minutes.  

I used to have a Leclerc Minerva (wish I still did, love that loom!) and one of the improvements for that loom was a removable raddle that could be lashed onto the castle which was made from a five dent reed cut in half.  I really think that warping with a raddle makes a huge difference to how well and fast a warp can be pulled on.

If anyone is interested we have a raddle chart that we have compiled and that Mum and I use it has common epi’s and how to warp them on a five dent raddle for the Louet Looms.  A Pro Tip is if you are pulling a warp from two cones keep the two thread group together because the threads have a twist added to them and if you separate the double threads in the raddle you get a twisted mess.  I've attached a JPEG of the raddle chart below.

Garden Picture is Sweet Box (Sarcococca) it blooms in January/February and has an absolutely stunning fragrance of vanilla.

A Second Spring Loom

There have been big changes in the studio in the last two months. We decided to put the AVL Avril up for sale, as it did the same job as the Leclerc Minerva. We also felt that the amount and weight of the dobby bars really limited the length of pattern repeats we could do. So the AVL sold and I was getting used to the Minerva again, back to 8 shafts.

 













On the Left is the LeClerc Minerva and on the right is the AVL Mechanical Dobby.

On the last day that Susan (Thrums) was here on her visit she received an email about a Louet Spring for sale on Vancouver Island. Mum phoned the lady and bought it within 10 minutes of Susan receiving the email!

So we have a new addition to the studio . . . Lola, Lily’s (Mum’s Louet Spring) older sister!
There are some differences between the two looms. Lola is older as she has a lovely amber honey colour. She also has silver screws instead of the black ones that Lily has.
The front brake is different also.

 

On the left is Lola and on the right is Mum's Lily ~ Lola has two warping beams and dual back beams. The second back beam has a tape measure attached to it, a really handy thing even though it’s a bit faded.

Every lamm, both upper and lower had a piece of Texslov attached, it took three people an hour to take them off, and they had to come off because the lamms needed to be moved. Also it was really confusing to know which lamm to button up to the treadle since there were two for each.
The loom was set up to weave as a counter balance system with a sinking shed, I wanted to put the loom back to a countermarche as it was intended. Thankfully I had Mum’s loom to use as an archetype so after some measuring I knew that I needed to move the shafts up about 4 inches, the upper lamms up 4 inches and the lower lamms down about 6 inches.

On the left is the previous set up and on the right is the new set up.

It was really painful to move all the pegs, there was 4 per shaft with 12 shafts, plus 2 per upper lamm and 2 per lower lamm making for a total of 96 and two painful days and completely swollen fingers and thumbs!
The new loom is already in use and it has been a delight to learn the workings of a 12 shaft countermarche loom. Sadly to make room in the studio we’ve had to sell Minerva. She will be going to a new home in Washington State on Orca Island.

Can't Get Going!

Not too much happening on the weaving front for me this week. It seems that summer and the long sunny days in the garden are taking priority right now! I’m overwhelmed with French filet beans at the moment!
I thought I’d show you how the studio looks today.I have one inch woven on the Jane loom, this is yet another rug sample that I don’t want to do! I just can’t seem to get enthusiastic about this warp at all! I’ve made a promise to myself to get it done by the end of the month….mmmmm, well, maybe! This is the warp I've pulled for placemats sitting on Lily Louet. I have never tried weaving placemats in 4/8 cotton so this should be interesting. I’ve chosen this lovely warm yellow for the warp and a sweet milky chocolate for the weft. The pattern promises to look something like a sunburst or a sunflower – wish me luck! This should be up and going in a few days; but not too soon as I’ve given Ngaire the use of my warp protector for her yardage warp….need to source another 36” length of cardboard for her!I am actively working on yet another Overshot piece. This is a modification from my previous Overshot and is working out splendidly. The LeClerc Minerva jack loom allows me to get a really good strong beat to push all that wool down and make a 50/50 cloth. If you remember I moved the 2/8 cotton warp from the Spring loom to the LeClerc a few weeks ago and it was a very good call. Ngaire, my daughter, and I did a crazy day trip to Vancouver last Thursday; we drove to Vancouver (373 km) and back again in one day; trading the driving between us, it wasn’t bad at all! My son popped home for a surprise visit and using it as an excuse we decided to drive him home to save him airfare. Well, it wasn’t completely altruistic…I got to hit Maiwa and pick up a few bits and pieces at the same time. I was in a real rush so just bought every Procion MX dye colour that they had in stock, some Urea, Synthrapol and Soda Ash. Now I’m really ready to take advantage of the summer weather and get some dyeing done.I also found two lovely hand carved wooden print blocks at Maiwa. I’m hoping to try them out on the natural silk scarves that Ngaire wove.

Weaving Words
Diaper – is any turned twill as long as it is not proper damask. Thus both dimity and dornick are diapers.

Moving Warp From Loom to Loom

Seems that everything I touch lately becomes an ugly problem! Lily Louet, my Spring Loom, just doesn’t have the ability to take a very hard beat. A hard beat is paramount to weaving good overshot and Lily just can’t take it, so what to do with the remaining Overshot warp? I decided to move the 2 yard warp from the Louet to my good old faithful Leclerc Minerva which is a much sturdier loom and to weave another piece.I still had the warp through my reed and well secured, so before I did anything else I put Minervas’ least sticks in the warp and tied them well to the Spring loom. Then I pulled the remaining warp off the back beam to the front of the loom so I could get to where it was attached to the Spring loom back beam. I pulled the Leclerc loom back to back with the Spring loom and inserted Minerva’s back rod next to the one on Lily Louet capturing the warp, luckily, I wind on back to front so there was a lovely loop to catch. I then pulled Lily’s rod out. Then crossing my fingers and toes, Ngaire and I started to wind the warp which was still through the Springs’ heddles and reed onto the Minerva’s back beam. Surprisingly, it went very smoothly. I stopped just before the warp got to the lease sticks. After untying the lease sticks we flipped them from the Spring Loom over to the Leclerc and tied them to the castle and I was ready to start threading again. I decided to take a break from Overshot at this point and here it sits! Since my lovely Lily Louet was bare now I decided to try something completely different! I have pulled 935 ends of 1 ply fine linen for a 20” runner…..yup that’s 48 epi! I used 4 different 16/1 linen yarns which I blended on the warping board. I have had these kicking around my stash for yonks and they were looking a bit sad, so I thought that now was the time. Oh crap…..they bridge like crazy!!!! I’ve now got 2/3 of the warp through the heddles and hopefully I’ll finish today and have some weaving to show for the next blog.

Attaching a Raddle to the Castle and Mommy Mummified

What is the first thing that should be done with yardage? Well if it is a +30 C day, you wrap your Mum in it to see how much yardage you have woven! I will always remember my first yardage now!
So to start at the beginning . . .

Last time I warped the Minerva I used a large dent raddle from a larger loom which worked but it could have been better. Therefore this time we tried something a little brave. Mum had an extra 5 dent reed so it was cut in half to be used as a raddle. First we placed it on the back of the castle, but the threads got caught between the wood and the raddle which just made a mess. Then the raddle was placed behind the castle (like in the photo) and it worked like a hot damn!
The yardage is intended for napkins and is a 1,3 twill on 8 shafts and reminds me of grapes. The warp is a 2/8 cotton in plum and the weft is 2/8 cotton in dusty rose. I ran out of weft so the last quarter is 2/8 Orlec in a similar dusty rose except it has a fantastic shine that the cotton doesn’t. I used a temple as the fabric pulled in; but since I like to use a temple it was not an inconvenience and made the selvedges great.
It was an easily remembered treadling and so I was able to sit down for hours with my iPod on and just weave (and sing along). It was great fun, it had a fabulous rhythm and each pattern repeat was an inch so the 6 yards seemed to go fast.

Waiting to Weave

Lily Louet sits there all warped and ready and I’m not starting! I still have a warp on my little Leclerc Minerva and for some reason unclear to me, I’m driven to finish the shadow weave I have on it before I will allow myself to start on the Louet. I really, really want to start the beautiful tea towels, but I fear it will be like ice cream. You know you buy vanilla and when it’s only half consumed you crave chocolate, so you get it and find you really want strawberry. In the end what you have is a freezer full of half used ice cream. My fear is that I’ll do that with weaving and end up going in a vicious circle and never accomplish or really enjoy any project.

Don’t get me wrong, the Minerva is a sweet little loom, 24 inches wide with 8 shafts and 2 sectional warp beams. My friend Susan told me that this loom was for sale about a year ago and when I called the owner I found that it had been bought new in 1979 and never used. Needless to say I snapped it up and it is like all Leclerc products a wee workhorse that does everything she promises. The only disadvantage that I have found so far is that it’s a bit squeaky on the beater movement and the metal heddles clack. That’s both a good and bad thing; good because I have a bit of an audible beat to work with and bad because so does everyone else!

Last night while I was weaving on the Minerava with the burgundy and grey shadow weave ‘flowers’. I was thinking about the tools I was using. My Glimakra temple and 2 Schacht end feed shuttles. The temple is a love hate relationship, I love the fact that my draw in is minimized when I use the temple. But, I dislike the fact that I can’t see the fell of my cloth as well as I’d like when I’m weaving. The other little foible I’ve found is that on the first one or two picks closest to the temple there is a tendency to catch your yarn on the teeth and not realize it; and of course the fact that the tenterhooks can be a bit hard on very fine yarn. I still feel that there are more benefits than not and whenever I can I use the temple. The Schacht end feed shuttle are just plain wonderful. I’m still not winding the perfect pirn yet, but that too shall come. I do love the smooth release of the weft.