Spinning Gold and Indigo

Picked up these beauties at the local thrift store.  Linen and rayon, according to the core.  Seems very strong, and will make a good warp on the loom someday.  There are 3 or 4 more of the neutral.  Reminds me of senne twine, but not as course.    Thanks to Karla S. for spotting this little stash at St Vinny's.

Caught the morning light on the basket for the photo.

DIY Angel Wings and Tension Device for Floor Loom

 The latest improvements and additions to my Kessenich Floor Loom include a DIY (simple) tension device  (4 wooden dowels) held up with "angel wings."   We used the "thick n thin" cherry from my Dad's woods.

Here's the full view at the back of the loom, where the warp strings run around the wooden dowels where the tension is evened out.  This can be used as you're are winding on, or later as you are weaving.   I tested a much more make-shift version with this last warp, and it worked pretty well, so we made a sturdier version with the angel wings.

Here's the angel wing on the other side.  That string is for the brake release.

This also gives a really good idea of how the strings "weave" around the wooden sticks.

 This shot shows the attachment points on my particular loom.   The piece is cut to simply sit between the back beam and the castle.  2 bolts secure it to the slot on the side of the loom that would otherwise allow it to be folded.  In other words, these angel wings will have to be removed, if and when I put the loom away.

Here's a detail shot of one of the angel wings.  The angle matches the legs of the Kessenish loom.   It's a very elegant solution that my husband devised to hold the sticks in place.  It reminds me of Roman aqueducts or bridges in Europe.  

The the 2 bolt hols down below.  

This is still in the "rough" shape.  They still need to be sanded down and finished properly. We were just trying to make sure it would work, and that I could easily install and remove them.  Check!

Sur le pont d'Avignon

O ny danse;  O ny danse

Tu son ron.

Want to make your own tension device for a loom?

There's a very simple version posted at Joy of Weaving.  

Minimal (if any) woodworking skills needed.

Pretty Colors along with Simple Innovations and Improvements to the Warping Mill

Warp for the No-Hassle Scarves

Yes-- It's true!  I've almost used up the 10-yard warp I ran just a few weeks ago on rugs.  1 more rug to go with the remaining warp, but I'm waiting for an electric fabric cutting machine so I can strip up some more rags from cotton sheeting.  Plenty of room for a longer warp, too--meaning this loom can handle a warp longer than 10 yards.

No Hassle Rayon Slub Scarves 

(Photo from Yarn Barn of Kansas)

Meanwhile, I am ready to run another warp for a no hassle rayon slub scarves kit from Yarn Barn of Kansas.  It calls for a 5.5 yard warp that will make 2 long-ish scarves.  Someone on one of the 4-shaft or rug weaving or weaving hacks FaceBook groups said he added a little counter to his warping board / mill to help keep track of how many ends he'd run.  Brilliant! [Innovation #1]

So I told my husband, and he found a simple counting app for my phone, and also engineered a simple little holder for my phone at the top of the mill.  [Innovation #2]  Every time I'm at the top of the mill, I can easily touch the screen to register a new line or two. 

I realize I'll still have to double check the number of ends before I'm done, but it will help keep me on track.



Additional Improvement :  Since this warp calls for a 1/2-yard increment, I asked my husband to drill 2 more holes in the bottom braces of the mill, so I can flip the pegs from one side to the other, allowing me to run the needed length of warp -- no more, no less. [You can't really tell from the photo that this bottom peg is on the opposite side of the box mill from the top, allowing me to save a yard on the warp.]

I'll say it gain-- I LOVE this warping mill.  Thank you Dear Hubby!  It makes what used to be a miserable and frustrating task a breeze!  The time goes so fast, and the tension stays relatively even throughout the warp.  This one is only 152 ends in total.

And because this warp is so pretty, here are a few more photos of it on the mill, where it will stay until I'm ready to warp the loom.  

The pink string is the visible guide so I knew what track to follow around the mill.  It's not actually part of the warp. 

Warping the Picture Frame Loom and Weaving

 

Here is the Picture Frame Loom all warped up with 100 meters of Noro wool yarn.  I really like the long color changes, and wondered what ti would look like woven into cloth.

The Noro Wool is not strong enough to use on the tri-loom as there's too much tension, and it breaks -- ask me how I know.  Needless to say, I had to find another project for this pretty yarn. 

 It really is Noro, even though they put the price tag right over the label.

Here's the ball of yarn ready to be wound onto the foam core dog-bone bobbin I fashioned myself.  Another nod to recycled / up-cycled goods for this project.

You need something big enough to carry the yarn, but thin enough to get through the opening between the tension bars. 

 

Yarn wound onto the foam core bobbin.  

The empty frame before warping.

We start by tieing the end of the yarn onto the lower tension bar behind the frame loom.  Then you feed the yarn down and around the lower edge of the frame, then up and over the top, down the back and around the upper tension bar; then back up over the top, and down the front, around the lower edge and around the lower tension bar.  Repeat all the way across the loom.

I have some 1/4-inch graph paper glued onto the lower bar to help keep the spacing of the weft strings even. 

 

Here is is with the warp all done.  I did this in about 1 hour with 100 meters of Noro, or 1 ball of yarn.  

Detail of the weft strings with color changes.

The frame loom on the stand is designed to spin to make the back side easily accessible.  You can spin it so that the backside is reachable from the front.

Here's another shot of the tension bars : You can see it's completely open between the bars.  You can also crank down to tighten the tension, or loosen it and roll the woven cloth and warp down to work on some of the strings running down the backside--which is a nice feature of the warping / tension bars. 

 

View from the backside, with the tension / warping bars.  

Moving onto Heddles :

 

This is a heddle jig.  My next task was to tie a bunch of these strings (heddles).  The jig helps keep them uniform -- the same length and with the knots in the same places.

These will be looped onto a heddle bar that can be used to pull certain strings up and out of the way so the weaving yarn can pass through the shed.

 

A completed Heddle.

 

Here, the heddle bar has been installed.  See the white rod with all the strings hanging off of it.  

This bar can be pulled up and set onto the wooden heddle bar blocks, so that it holds the shed open to pass the weaving shuttle and yarn through to weave the cloth.  

The other flat stick you see higher up is a shed stick, used to hold a different set of strings open while you weave.

The shed stick and the heddle stick are used to open alternating shed spaces for weaving. 

 

Here the shed stick is turned up to open the space between the warp strings.   

Here's another view of the open shed created by the turned up shed stick.

 

Here the shed stick is down, with the shed closed.

 

Another view in between of the sheds.

 

Here the heddles are being used to pull up a different set of warp strings for an alternate shed space.

 

Here is the shuttle loaded with another skein of the Noro yarn.

 

Here's a view of the shuttle passing through the shed space opened by the shed stick.

The first bit of weaving on my new loom.

The colors are emerging!

I am a little concerned about the bowing of the cloth.  On the rug looms, they use metal rods at the sides to keep them even.  I'm considering how I can add that feature (or something like it) to this design.

Read about the building of this loom.