My first warp on Avril is a No Tabby Crackle scarf. I warped the AVL in the same method that I used for the Minerva. Unfortunately most of the photos that I took have disappeared into the ether, but you can see my method here. 
This AVL loom has to be kept in balance, so the heddles are kept half on the right and half on the left. To keep track of my centre heddle on each shaft my Mum came up with the following idea that she used on her previous Scandinavian countermarche loom. The centre heddle on each shaft has a pink knot added above the heddle hole. To make sure that the knots stay where I want them I added a drop of Fray Check to each one. When I take the scarf off the loom I will be able to just push the pink knot to the right side and won’t have to count to get the heddles to keep them even on the shaft.
The warp is 2/10 Tencel in Olive and the weft is Lemongrass! I am going for a tone on tone iridescent look. When I was tying on the warp to the front apron I noticed that the warp touched the bottom of the beater bar. The problem with that was the reed has a rough edge from the tape and it was rubbing and wearing the warp. Doing a little reading I found that AVL looms are supposed to have the warp sit very low in the reed so I didn’t want to make any permanent changes without working with the loom first. My temporary solution was to lash a warping stick in front of the reed, which lifted the warp off the reed but didn’t really change the shed.
I also noticed that metal pins at the end of each shaft, which keep the shafts stable, were wearing a groove into the wood. The solution that I came up with is to add a bead. I was hoping for pink to match the pink knots on the heddles but the only beads that we had that worked were large white pony beads. They look neat and tidy and well, they match the texsolv heddles!
When I was looking for my first project on Avril I looked through Alice Schlein’s book on Network Drafting and she had a chapter on how to make a peg plan. My stomach dropped looking at the instructions I wasn’t sure that I could do it. Then after some thought I realized that a peg plan was just a lift plan and our computer program does that for me, thank goodness. I was soon happily pegging a way then I realized that with a lift plan the numbers are for the shafts that are lifting. I was putting a peg where the number were so the dobby would hold that shaft down, darn; I was going to weave the scarf upside down. No matter, I will remember for next time (actually I won’t, but I have resigned myself to the fact I will be weaving everything upside down from now on!). The second thing that I did was put the chain on back to front and well I wasn’t going to fix it. So I am now weaving the scarf upside down and the pattern is going in the wrong way. Thank goodness it’s Crackle and you can’t tell!
It was the Guild’s summer break pot luck last week and I brought a dessert. It was darling little tartlets filled with lemon curd cream and topped with Dianthus and Johnny-jump-ups. Very pretty as well as yummy! 
This AVL loom has to be kept in balance, so the heddles are kept half on the right and half on the left. To keep track of my centre heddle on each shaft my Mum came up with the following idea that she used on her previous Scandinavian countermarche loom. The centre heddle on each shaft has a pink knot added above the heddle hole. To make sure that the knots stay where I want them I added a drop of Fray Check to each one. When I take the scarf off the loom I will be able to just push the pink knot to the right side and won’t have to count to get the heddles to keep them even on the shaft.The warp is 2/10 Tencel in Olive and the weft is Lemongrass! I am going for a tone on tone iridescent look. When I was tying on the warp to the front apron I noticed that the warp touched the bottom of the beater bar. The problem with that was the reed has a rough edge from the tape and it was rubbing and wearing the warp. Doing a little reading I found that AVL looms are supposed to have the warp sit very low in the reed so I didn’t want to make any permanent changes without working with the loom first. My temporary solution was to lash a warping stick in front of the reed, which lifted the warp off the reed but didn’t really change the shed.I also noticed that metal pins at the end of each shaft, which keep the shafts stable, were wearing a groove into the wood. The solution that I came up with is to add a bead. I was hoping for pink to match the pink knots on the heddles but the only beads that we had that worked were large white pony beads. They look neat and tidy and well, they match the texsolv heddles!When I was looking for my first project on Avril I looked through Alice Schlein’s book on Network Drafting and she had a chapter on how to make a peg plan. My stomach dropped looking at the instructions I wasn’t sure that I could do it. Then after some thought I realized that a peg plan was just a lift plan and our computer program does that for me, thank goodness. I was soon happily pegging a way then I realized that with a lift plan the numbers are for the shafts that are lifting. I was putting a peg where the number were so the dobby would hold that shaft down, darn; I was going to weave the scarf upside down. No matter, I will remember for next time (actually I won’t, but I have resigned myself to the fact I will be weaving everything upside down from now on!). The second thing that I did was put the chain on back to front and well I wasn’t going to fix it. So I am now weaving the scarf upside down and the pattern is going in the wrong way. Thank goodness it’s Crackle and you can’t tell!It was the Guild’s summer break pot luck last week and I brought a dessert. It was darling little tartlets filled with lemon curd cream and topped with Dianthus and Johnny-jump-ups. Very pretty as well as yummy! 
I decided that my outdoor dining set needed a revamp and this funky 70’s inspired fabric was just the thing! I’m not the worlds’ fastest seamstress by any means, so making the cushions for six chairs took me a week. My poor wee Janome sewing machine was really put to the test as the outdoor weight fabric and the heavy gauge thread really tested its’ limits. I’m pretty happy with my groooooovy cushions! 
My evenings were spent knitting this fun shrug. I used my own handspun merino in a lovely coral colour. The yarn was spun around the time I was asked to take early retirement from my job; a stressful time to say the least, so the yarn is nowhere near perfect, this piece was destined to be mine. Here it is being blocked on my ironing board.
The shrug was constructed by knitting the sleeves first, then the back. The sleeves were sewn together and added to the back on circular needles. Then the fun part began, the collar sides and back frill were knit in the round, finally the frill was added to the sleeves. This was a really fun project! 
I took it to the end of the season Ponderosa Pot Luck Dinner on the 10th and it received rave reviews. I told my tale about why the spinning was not up to standard and was stunned when the hostess came up to me and asked to buy it! I was thrilled to see it go to a good home! I found this pattern free on the net at 
I recently received a nice big 12 pound order of Tencel; lovely for me, but sadly I made this large (for me) order as my supplier will no longer be carrying it! I’ve stocked up for a good long while, and have plenty of ideas for future shawls and scarves!
I do have a short warp on Lily Louet….another GCW Test piece…..Overshot with Borders is next on my agenda.
The AVL came with a couple of issues that needed to be fixed before I can weave. The treadles had come off so just needed to be bolted back in. Of course some bolts needed to be tighten after five years in storage. But the main thing was the top pulley had split in half.
I had never seen an AVL before let alone a mechanical dobby so I didn’t know how integral the pulley is to the loom. It is the connection between the dobby system and the treadles without it the loom doesn’t work. Thankfully, my Dad is handy and so he was able to come up with a solution. He laminated oak to the sides of the pulley; the grains are running in opposite to give extra strength. By using the original piece it fits perfectly and there is no change in the tension of the system. We call his solution the Hamburger!
The aprons on the loom had some holes in them so my Mum cut off the worse off it and re-sewed the aprons. They are really pretty now! Also the front apron was much larger then the back apron, at least twice as large, so they got swapped. 
The loom didn’t come with lease sticks, or what I recognized as lease sticks. There were two sticks of maple that I asked my Dad to drill holes in so I could use them as lease sticks. But what I got back was amazing; he had used my Mum’s Louet lease sticks as a template and reshaped the maple into proper lease sticks. The Louet lease stick is on the bottom and my new knife edged stick is on top.
I am endlessly fascinated with this loom so here is a closer look at the dobby system. There are trestles or bars that move around a cog. The trestles are held in a chain with either C rings or with plastic strips. When using the plastic strips a half peg is needed if the shaft is to move so it can hold down the strip but not interfere with the pattern, you can see it on the far left in the picture. Behind the cog are thin strips of metal that correspond to the shafts. When the trestle is even with the strips the pegs hold down the shafts. So where there are no pegs the shafts go up.
Mum and I have taken turns pressing the treadles so the other person can watch the system work! One of the many things that I didn’t know was about the treadling. It turns out the right treadle does all the work of lifting the shafts. The left treadle clears the shafts and moves the system to the next trestle. So the right treadle is much heavier then the left, I wonder if my right leg is going to be much larger and stronger than the left!
There was an interesting ad in the guild newsletter this month for an AVL mechanical dobby. Mum and I were talking about it so when the lady called asking Mum about donating books to the Ponderosa Guild library, Mum asked about the loom. We mulled it over some more and Googled it. Then we went to see it! Here she is being released from her former home in the storage locker.
The loom was built in 1981 and is one of the prototype mechanical dobby looms made by AVL, its’ production number is 217! It has 12 shafts and the weaving deck with the cloth and back beam swing upright for easier warping, threading and storage. It is a little smaller then Mum’s Louet Spring but has the same weaving width and shafts! Avril came with 90 bars and lots of pegs so lots of ideas are bouncing around in my head for the first project!
This is my first loom so when I received a bunch of accessories I was really excited! 2 AVL end feed shuttles with 13 pirns and one long bobbin style shuttle, I don’t know who made it but it has a jumping stick figure one it. If anyone can identify it please let me know.
Three reeds and a raddle.
A bunch of tools – McMorran Yarn Balance, a Linen Tester, a corduroy slasher and the much needed peg wrench!
A bench from Woolhouse Tools with a nifty little box in the bottom.
Two different sizes of Texslov heddles, some work for Avril and the little ones work with Mums Louet Jane which is lucky!
A Leclerc 14 yard warping board, there is some missing pegs but I also got some doweling that can be cut down to replace the missing pieces.
The last picture is of the lease sticks, warping sticks and some metal doweling which I am not sure what was intended for but I will be using them for the aprons so I was really happy to see them.
I am really excited by this loom all the possibilities for projects are dancing through my head (and Mums!). The one thing I am missing are the instructions which will probably show up in the next couple of days if they can be found, but if anyone out there has information on how to operate a mechanical dobby and is willing to share the information, I would be most appreciative.
Here is the final selection for the two orange and red scarves. I’ll not be using all the beads but it is always good to have a choice.
I really like to use quilters pins with extra long shanks to test drive the bead arrangements and it is also a good way to make sure that there is enough beads for both sides, because there is nothing worse then running out and having to pull out all that hard work out!
All the scarves have a similar beading arrangement to reinforce that they are part of a design line. I really love the silver bees and bronze stars! 
There was one scarf from the beginning of the year that Mum never got beaded so since I was already beading four scarves; what’s one more?! 
Beading is time consuming but the finished product always looks worth it.
These are the colours I’ve chosen to work with. I’m doing colour blending for each Ghiordes (pronounced yor-deez) knot, so I have pre cut my wool to 4” lengths. The length is necessary as the tail of the knot must be longer than 1-1/8” and up to 6” and must lay flat to fall into the rya category; a shorter tail would make it stand upright and it would then fall into the Flossa category.
After doing a weft protector, which in my case was Weft Twining which I demonstrated 
Then you bubble the weft to ensure good warp coverage. I’m using a wooden needle for this job, but a knitting needle will work as well. I've woven in a 2 inch wool border before the first row of knots, the large border is due to the fact that the knot tails will cover about 1-1/2” of the border and only ½” will show. 
This is one variation of tying a Ghiordes knot; by the way the knot is named for a town in Iraq and is also known as the Turkish knot and the Smyrna knot (another town in Iraq). In this photo the yarn is placed over two warp threads and then the tails are tucked between. In my actual woven piece I am tying the knot over three threads. 
When pulled downward the knots tighten and remain in place, the more you tug on it the tighter it gets.
Rya knot rows are set quite far apart as traditionally the edge of the new row of knots should only just cover the previous row of knots. I have decided to overlap by ¾”; consequently I am weaving 10 picks of background wool between each row of knots. The shaggy appearance is normal, but I've got to admit that I'm not a big fan....
If you tie knots right up to the edge of the piece it will tend to curl under, so 2 sets of doubled warp threads are left unknotted at the selvedge. These warp ends are filled in after the knots are tied by winding the weft in a figure eight between the two sets of ends to build it up and to keep them in line with the knots. This treatment is known as ‘argatch’.
To join the background weft I unply both ends and splice them seamlessly together.
There are 5 stripes in the rose colour and 4 stripes in the pink; each is one inch, making the scarf 9 inches in the reed. The structure of the scarf is that the stripes are either 1/3 or 3/1 twill so one stripe curves up and the other curves down. After washing the scarf is 2 ½ inches wide.
The colour combination is really pretty, a lot more subtle then the black and white one.
I am having a little problem with this scarf, it is really wrinkly. To dry the scarf it is pulled length wise to help encourage the pleats and it should be flipped about halfway through the drying process. Well, I dried it outside on a 30 C day and forgot to flip it and now it is wrinkly. So I am going to wash and dry it again hopefully it will come out better.
But it may be the cotton, the scarf is much stiffer then the black and white one, which is a Tencel/cotton blend. The drape of this scarf is quite funky, very stiff so I am hoping that washing it again will help.
I wish that I had read my post about the first pleated scarf because I said that next time I should try the stripes at ½ inch. I think that maybe the cotton would have worked better with shallower pleats. I am going right now to my record sheet and writing that observation down!