Reply Guys

 

I'm no stranger to 'reply guys' trying to 'teach' me things.  Mostly I ignore them.  Mostly.

Recently one replied to a short answer I wrote in an online group to 'teach' me because my answer 'wasn't entirely correct'.  Of course it wasn't. It was a very brief response to a specific question  - a question that would require a chapter in a book  (perhaps - ahem - above) to fully address, with all the 'it depends' factors.  He implied that I was ignorant - or purposefully obfuscating.

It was obvious he had little to no idea of my background in educating new weavers, or the leeway I allow for personalized solutions based on the weaver running the experiments, weaving the samples, figuring out what the hard and fast facts are, and which rules can be mangled to create something specific.  So, no, I didn't cover all that in a short paragraph.  No, my answer wasn't 'complete'.  But my goal was not to be complete, because I tried to come close(r) to complete in The Intentional Weaver.  If he had read it, he may have been able to see more of my very targeted message to a new weaver, struggling with a very specific issue.

Because until the weaver has laid down a solid foundation of knowledge, it is hard to begin to understand the underpinning mechanics and physics of the craft, and then tweak what you do, and how you do it.  Until that understanding is solid, the new weaver stands on a shaky foundation.

But I took some time to reflect on my career.  I thought about my approach, how I talk to very new weavers, trying to work out what their current issue is, give them enough information to move forward, to grow their knowledge base, learn for themselves the dynamics at play.  This cannot (imho) be whiffed away because I am not 'completely correct' about the craft as a universe, I am merely trying to bring each individual forward by one more step on their quest to learn.

As for 'breaking' or 'bending' the rules, I am constantly pushing, tweaking, tugging here, there, finding out where those actual boundaries are.  Of *course* my answer was incomplete.  New weavers cannot be confused by all the variables or they (most of them) collapse in confusion.  It is too frustrating.  Too difficult.  You don't talk to a 5 year old (usually) about calculus!  Or if you do, you use appropriate language.

So, I stand by my brief answers on chat groups.  That doesn't make me 'wrong'.  It makes me a thoughtful, considerate teacher, trying to answer the explicit question.  

I told the reply guy that I prefer to teach 'best practices', but he took exception to that, too.  

It was just another reply guy in my 50 year journey of exploring the pathways and boundaries of this craft.  

I will never forget the day when I answered a question on a chat group, from someone who wanted to set up his AVL in a very specific way.  Since I used my AVL* in specifically that way, I decided to answer, because all the replies had - to that point - told him he would 'ruin' his loom abusing it that way.  I probably should have answered privately, but I was on a quick break from the loom and needed to get back to it because I had a deadline - and weaving was how I earned my income.

So I quickly explained what I did, and went back to the loom.

A while later I came back to see if the OP had any further questions, and was met with a dog pile of several 'reply guys' all calling me ignorant, that I was abusing my loom, I was going to destroy it, and I needed, post haste, to hie myself to Chico and take classes so I was using the loom 'properly'.

Since I had been using the loom in precisely that way for literally 20 years, and no sign of damaging it, I closed the desktop and went back - to abuse my AVL some more.

When I went back later, Allen Fannin had responded to the reply guys saying (I paraphrase) that we (Allen and me) had agreed to disagree on a number of things, but when I said something people need to pay attention because I knew what I was talking about.

I was stunned at the public support from someone as knowledgeable as Allen Fannin (who had very firm opinions) and I have never forgotten the vote of confidence from him.  (Yes, we agreed to disagree about a number of things - but I respected where he was coming from and the knowledge his opinions were based upon - but change one thing and everything can change...)

So, while I have never articulated this before, here is where I stand - I have learned a great deal about this craft.  I have learned (generally speaking) how most people learn.  I have learned that you don't do an info dump about all the levels of complexity onto a brand new weaver.  I try to build their foundation of knowledge by adding the complexity in stages and letting them fit that information into their foundation of knowledge when it begins to make sense.

And I am not afraid to bend and mangle the 'rules' when I need to do so to create something specific.  But I will continue to try to teach 'best practices' and *then* remind them that when one thing changes, everything can change, and try.  Weave the samples.  Examine them.  Learn from them.  Do what you need to do.  FAFO, as they say.  But don't just throw out the 'rule book' without considering *why* there is a 'rule book'.  

Learn as much as you can about your materials, and your equipment.  I have made many modifications to my equipment over the years.  When people recoil in horror, I reassure them that I understand the basic principles of the mechanics involved, the physics, and have an in-house woodworker who *also* understands mechanics and physics and has the workshop to do quite extensive modifications if we both agree that is the best thing to do.

So no, my 100 word (at best) answer to a question on a chat group was not meant to cover the entirety of the possibilities that were available, but to give a new weaver having problems an answer.  An answer that they could grow their foundation of knowledge further and more usefully with.  Set down some 'boundaries' - for the now moment.

My knowledge is far greater than I generally share with new weavers.  It is too overwhelming.  Too confusing.  But I'm delighted when I find someone who wants to go forth to discover those complexities and we can talk subtleties.

It depends on which 'hat' I am wearing in the moment.  

For anyone at all who wants to know more, you are welcome to this blog, or my social media.  You are welcome to email me with specific questions.  laura at laurafry dot com

My books are still available at blurb.

My classes are still available at:

School of Sweet Georgia

Long Thread Media (classes and articles in back issues of Handwoven)

And if you *want* more subtlety, more in-depth knowledge:  WEFT Magazine

Now that I'm 'retired' (and dealing with health issues making life...challenging) I am finding solace and, indeed, therapy, by continuing to weave.  Continuing to ask why.  Continuing my personal journey of learning and exploration.  WEFT seems interested in what I look at, and my journey of learning while I do.  And they don't insist I have definitive answers but accept that it is huge, this craft.  And it may take more than just one person poking at it to bring more information forward for all of us to benefit from.

(now descending from the current soapbox...there's a loom that wants setting up...)

*Jon Violette told me just before he left AVL for other pursuits that Doug and I had essentially beta-tested the AVL Production Loom - me by using it *as* a production loom, and Doug by making changes TO the loom to make it work better.

Superweaver

 

throwing the shuttle

During my four decades as a professional weaver, I ran into some...interesting...attitudes.  I was reminded of several times I ran afoul of the then Weaving Police as I upgraded my equipment in order to earn an income from my efforts.

I have shared - frequently - some of these anecdotes and challenges and my efforts to help people weave so that they don't injure themselves.

Last weekend I talked about looms and equipment with one of the study groups I lead, and realized that people might take offence at my 'bragging' on how fast I used to weave using the most efficient equipment I could afford.

Thing is, I don't really care how anyone else weaves so long as they are happy with their results.  My goal for the past few years has been to help people understand how their bodies work so that they can continue to weave without sustaining injury.

Weaving ergonomically means NOT working to the point of injury.  So there are approaches to weaving that will aid in being able to weave for many years.  BUT, a person has to know that there might be a 'better' way, a way that will reduce stress to muscles and therefore limit fatigue, which can lead to inflammation, which can lead to injury.

My goal, right from day one, was to earn money from weaving.  My approach then became to figure out how to do that without establishing inflammation in my body.  Because without my body, there would be no weaving at all.  And inflammation takes way longer to heal than a person might think.  So best practice?  Don't get injured in the first place.

My first 'obsession' was with how I sat at my looms.  Developing good posture and position was paramount.  Then shuttle handling.  Once I had those firmly settled, I began looking at my equipment.  I bought - and sold - several looms, none of them quite what I needed.  As I wove more and began selling my work I was aware of the tendency of weavers to 'copy' the work of others.  No big deal, except I was trying to sell unique designs and not have others do essentially the same thing and then undercut my prices.

So I was on the lookout for a more efficient multi-shaft loom when I found dobby looms, then scraped up my pennies so I could attend a conference and shop for a loom better suited to my needs.  I rejected a lot of the looms at the conference, but then sat at an AVL 16 shaft dobby loom with a single box fly shuttle.

The sales person told me that it could be ordered with a double box fly shuttle and an auto cloth advance.  

At that same conference I purchased two books - Production Weaving on a Fly Shuttle Loom by Laya Brostoff and Handloom Weaving Technology by Allen Fannin.  I read both on the bus home and decided I had to find the money to buy the AVL.  Using 16 shafts would mean less copying because at the time most weavers had four or maybe 8 but very few had more than that.  Not to mention I loved fancy twills and was drawn to the idea of being able to peg long treadling repeats and weave more efficiently.

That was 1981 and I got the loom in Feb of 1982.  At which point a whole lot of weavers - all of them older than me (the 'elders' in my community) informed me I could no longer call my cloth handwoven.

By this time though I was dependent upon earning enough money to pay for the loan to buy the loom and every time I took a 'real' job I would find myself in tears as I dealt with doing a job I didn't want to do, doing it just for the money I could earn.  I reapplied myself to designing new textiles, figuring out how to sell them, price them, and continued to call my textiles handwoven - because they were.  My customers weren't other weavers, they were members of the public and what I was actually selling were my designs and my skill at producing them.

I got pretty good at doing it, enough that at times handwoven textiles were our only income.  And I wove.  A lot.  And I continued to refine my processes and equipment.  And I got very, very fast at weaving.  So fast that when I would tell people how much I could produce, they either didn't believe me or thought I was bragging.

The very first time I posted a video of myself at the loom weaving - on a regular handloom, not the AVL - the first comment was 'well, that was interesting but I don't understand why you speeded up the video.'

Um, I actually slowed down my weaving rhythm so that people could more easily see what I was doing.

Some people felt I was trying to brag, or claim some kind of superweaver status, or make out like I was trying to claim some kind of notoriety for being Speedy Gonzales or something.  Like I was trying to make others feel bad because I was 'better' than they were.

That was not - and never has been - my intent.  The very last thing I want to do is make others feel bad.  I just want to show that people do not have to work artificially slowly just because they are using equipment that isn't designed well, or for them.  Looms come in different sizes, and there are looms that are simply impossible for some weavers to comfortably work on.  A very tall person is going to need a different loom than a very short person - or else accommodations are going to have to be made. 

If a person is not aware of these things, they can wind up with a less than satisfying experience, simply because they don't know why something isn't working and they can't then make the necessary adjustments.

Over the years I have repeatedly gotten Doug to make adjustments to my equipment.  From changing brake systems on the Leclerc Fanny to re-engineering parts of the AVL.  When some people find out these adaptations have been made they are shocked and in some cases express concern that we would drill holes to add extra spacers to keep the beater away from the shafts, for example.  A loom is a wooden machine and holes can be filled.  Or maybe the next owner will find the adjustments helpful and will leave them.

I no longer publicly tell people just how fast I was able to weave (I'm much slower now, but I'm 'retired' and old, and injured) because I'm tired of people being offended as if that was my intent.  But I do share that information with my students.  I also make clear to my students that I'm not telling them this to make them feel bad, but to let them know that they can be just as fast if that is what they want.  Because I share everything with them.  Everything that I do, everything that I have learned.

This morning I said on Twitter that I do this, not because I am throwing down a gauntlet, but letting them know that the gauntlet exists and if they want to pick it up, it is completely up to them.  There is no virtue is being able to weave fast.  It is just a skill.  But it is a skill anyone who wants to, can learn.  

Skills are acquired through mindful practice, not by buying a silver bullet or planting magic beans.  If people want to be more efficient, I can give them guidelines.  If they don't want to weave faster, they don't have to.  But frequently the side benefit to weaving more ergonomically, weaving so that injury does not happen, is more productivity.

If people want to interpret my attitude as arrogant, that is going to be their perception.  It is not, never has been, my intent.

Maintenance

Normally I weave on the AVL pretty reguarly.  Unfortunately with the way Life Happened over the last six months, I barely got to the studio, never mind the AVL.  

Since the AVL is a wooden 'machine' with lots of added bells and whistles, it needs maintenance.

When I'm weaving on it during the winter, I run a humidifier to prevent the build up of static charge in the warp.  As a consequence, the additional humidity keeps the wood from drying out and shrinking.  Since I didn't get to the loom for months, the humidifier didn't run and consequently...the wood dried out.  And shrank.  Significantly.

When I sat down to the loom earlier this month, the loom frame had gaps where one piece of wood met another.  The first order of business was to go round the loom and snug all those loose 'joints' tight.  

I couldn't reach all the bolts, but figured I'd gotten the worse culprits.  Except that shaft two started dropping when it was supposed to be up.  It was reasonably noticable, but it meant I had to back up, make sure two was up, then throw the pick again.  If it was just once in a while, I just fixed things.  But over the past few days it had been getting more frequent.  When I quit weaving last night I determined I needed to deal with the situation.

Forgetting that I was in the 'middle' of a panel.

So I checked the sweep arm, loosened the bolt at the 'elbow', re-positioned the arm a wee bit, which is usually all it takes.  But it kept happening.  So I checked and sure enough, the bolts holding the sweep arm to the loom itself were also loose.  So, back to re-positioning, then tightening those bolts.  

Now shaft one wasn't rising.  At all.  So I messed with it until I got some light into the dobby head and realized that in the act of re-positioning the sweep arm, the cable for one had popped out of the 'finger' altogether.  No wonder it wasn't going anywhere!

By that time I'd given up on getting a usable panel.  What the hey - they are eventually all going to get cut apart into towel blanks.  I've just gotten a head start, right?

So, resetting the dobby chain to '1' allowed me some room to make sure everything was behaving properly before starting on the next towel.  That blue bit in between the pink and yellow is my 'practice' area - you can see how badly the loom was behaving before I got things re-adjusted.  The yellow is the new cut line.  And that turquoise towel is now done.

And it's lunch time.  Not sure if I will do another towel after lunch, or dress the small loom.  I have five place mat warps wound, too...

Process Path

A while back I offered to make cloth for 'sister' wraps for a couple of young women I know.  Katie sent me a photo when I asked what colours they liked and Carol pretty much said - what Katie said.

This photo was taken by Katie near Telkwa, BC and I was given free rein to design something inspired by it.

First things first.  Baby wrap cloth.  Right now I know most hand woven wraps are being woven of 2/8 cotton so I looked at the Brassard colour card.  Their cotton comes in about 80 different hues/shades so I just looked through what they had and ordered a bunch of yarns in the various greens plus some blues, a dark brown and a russet and a few purples for the fireweed in the grass.

I also ordered some greys/blues based on the colours in the sky.

When the yarn arrived I had already number crunched, working out width, length, epi.  At first I intended to weave in plain weave as many of the wraps are done, but after some mulling decided that a very simple twill would help the cloth drape.  I had also decided to use 2/16 cotton for weft instead of 2/8 in order to make a lighter, thinner cloth, because both wanted the 4.6 meter length and I felt that using 2/8 for both warp and weft was going to make a too heavy/thick cloth to wrap well.

Fortunately I had some options for weft in the studio already.

The bag was unpacked and the yarn intended for the wraps laid out on my work table where I would see it every time I went into the studio.  I find that a colour combination - especially not one of my own choosing (so to speak) - gels better if I can let it seep into my brain subliminally, catching the grouping in the corner of my eye while thinking about something else.  If there is something visually jarring it helps me to let it simmer on the back burner for a few days.

Over the course of the week I worked on other stuff and I kept going back to the table, grouping the threads in different ways, in different combinations, adding some more colours from my stash.  And I just could not make those light value blue/greys work.  Finally I grabbed the whole lot and removed them from the table.

Although there wasn't a lot of blue in the photo, I chose to use a dark blue/emerald green (mostly) stripe combination on one side, then gradually move through the colours winding up with the muted greens and purples on the other.

My loom has a one inch sectional, so it's fairly easy to gradually change out one or two ends for different colours making a gradual change.

Here the mostly dark blue/emerald green has been threaded.  Each repeat was 42 ends so I thread groups of 4, 6, or 8 depending on the threading progression, then when the entire repeat is finished slip knot those together so I can keep track of how many repeats I've done.

At the beginning I tested three colours, then let Carol choose which she preferred and started weaving hers.  This morning Katie came and we agreed on her weft colour.  I was going to change the treadling but both seem to like the design so the difference between them will be a very subtle change between the deep forest green for Carol and the dark navy for Katie.

The loom fix I did yesterday is so far holding up so I'm hoping I can finish weaving without further bodging.  Then the loom will be taken apart and inspected with parts needing replacing, replaced.

The loom is 'old' - not just in terms of years but in yards across the beam.  Nothing lasts forever and the part that gave way is metal against metal.  It was just a matter of time/use until it wore out.

Fortunately I have another loom and a dozen pre-wound warps ready to go into it, not to mention writing, lesson planning, guild room organizing and a bunch of other things that need to be done, too!

More 'Loom", More Problems

The AVL that I weave on has more mechanics than an 'ordinary' floor loom.  It has fly shuttle (which I only use when I'm weaving wider than 30" or so - otherwise I hand throw), auto cloth advance, computer assisted dobby, and the most recent addition - air assist.

When I first started weaving, I knew that I needed to invest in the most efficient equipment I could afford.  After doing some research, and test driving an AVL at a conference, I decided that was the direction I would go.

The loom was very intimidating.  It was 60" weaving width and the addition of the fly shuttle means that it takes up most of one end of the studio.  It also had 16 shafts when the most I'd had before were 8.  I very quickly realized that the more mechanical 'assistance' there was, the more things could go 'wrong'.

The AVL is set up mechanically differently from most floor looms as well.  In the photo you can see the levers that pull the shafts back down to their bottom position.  These levers are connected by chains and springs.  You might also be able to see that the chains are different lengths - one of them is dangling beside the yellow 'thing' in the centre left of the photo.

These dangling chains can catch on their neighbour's hooks, which is why the yellow 'thing' is there - it is covering the end of the chain and the hook on that shaft.

This morning I was weaving along quite nicely when the front shafts started dancing to their own music.  I looked and could not see anything amiss but as I continued to weave, the shafts continued to behave oddly.  It's a little tough when you are trying to operate the loom and see what's happening underneath.

Eventually I spotted the problem - the most obvious misbehavior was on the left hand side of the loom while it was the chain from shaft one that was catching on the hook from shaft two on the right hand side of the loom that was the problem.

There isn't a lot of space to get under the shafts, so I had to go to the back of the loom, eel myself in between the cloth storage roller and the bottom warp beam, drape myself across the roller and reach up and all the way to the front of the shafts to get the hook and chain separated.  I then taped the dangling chain back onto itself so that it would not be happening any time soon.

Ah, yes, the AVL Loom...you know, the one that does 'everything' for you, including making your mistakes???

Technology

has been kicking my butt this summer.

So far I have replaced my desktop, the computer that runs the loom, my iPad and now we are waiting to see if the boiler that runs Puff (industrial steam press) can be fixed.

I have to give thanks to Bob (Fiberworks) and Allan (computer guru friend) for helping me get the new computer talking to the Compu-Dobby I.  With the proper adapter, all appears to be well.

Thing is, the Compu-Dobby I is, in the electronic world at least, a proper 'antique'.  When I bought the new cpu, I suddenly realized the Compu-Dobby I is probably older than the sales clerk that sold me the computer.  But so far it still works, so I'm not about to invest thousands of more dollars to upgrade it, especially when I have no idea how much longer I'm going to be able to weave.

Bottom line is that by the time I'm done with weaving, this loom and the gear that makes it work the way I need it to will more than likely be worn out.

It's kind of sad in a way.  Looms used to be solidly built and passed down from one generation to another.  Now we have a society that doesn't expect anything to last more than a year or two and when it breaks or wears out, we throw it away.

I bought this loom in 1981.  I added the Compu-Dobby I a year after it was introduced (took me that long to save the money) so about 1992?  In 1998 or 9 I got Doug to install the air assist.  So all of the parts of this loom are old to very old.  And it has been used, pretty much daily.  There have been literally thousands of yards of cloth roll across the beams.

When it comes time to 'retire' I will be sad, but that time is not here, not yet.

Currently reading The Acadians by James Laxer

Stalwart

This is a view of the AVL with dobby.  The black box is the original Compu-Dobby I - yes, I'm still using 'antique' equipment - and the silver cylinder is the piston that has opened every single shed since it was installed in...ta-DAH! - 1998.  I believe I picked up the parcels in May so pretty much exactly 17 years ago.  Of course it took some time to get everything installed, but...

Last summer the piston began leaking a bit of oil.  It didn't seem to be causing any problems, so I just cleaned it off after every weaving session and carried on.  I've had a few other, more pressing, things on my mind.

On Saturday I noticed that it wasn't leaking a little oil but the whole wooden panel behind the cylinder was drenched in it.  Doug thought it was the intake valve and replaced it, but it turns out it's leaking from the rod (piston) itself.

Naturally this revelation occurred on a weekend when there was no hope of finding or ordering replacement parts so we rigged up a 'bib' to catch the spray and I've carried on weaving.  Hopefully Doug will be able to order a new one today but the soonest it will be here (unless they have one in stock, which is highly unlikely) will be Wed.  We leave on Thursday for HWSDA in Red Deer, AB.  So I'm keeping fingers crossed that it will continue to work until it can be replaced.

The first year I had the air assist I did a rough and ready calculation of how many picks I was weaving - it turned out to be round about a million picks.  Since then I haven't been weaving as much on the AVL, dividing my loom time between the big guy and the little one.  But most of the weaving for Magic in the Water was done on this loom as well as much of my ordinary production.

A conservative estimate of total picks activated by this cylinder is very likely over 12,000,000.  Yes, that is 12 Million.  Probably more.

All in all, stalwart service.

Currently reading The Lost Abbott by Susanna Gregory

Antique

My AVL is an 'antique'.  Yes, that's right, it's number 00181.  It was probably the first loom shipped with a fly shuttle and the auto-cloth advance arrived about six months later.

This was in, oh, 1982.  So the loom is 'antique' at 32 years old.  That's 32 years of production weaving, with literally miles and miles and miles of cloth over the beams.

As the weaver using it has aged, so has the loom.  Bits and pieces of it are wearing out.  And so it happened today that when I changed the pick wheel from 26 to 28, all of a sudden the auto-cloth advance would not work any longer.

Doug came into the studio as I was tearing it apart and helped diagnose the problem.  It's hard to see but there is a lever on the underneath of the pick wheel (that thing with the teeth) that prevents the wheel from slipping when the long rod pushes against the top pawl (I think that's the correct word.)

Unfortunately the hole that the bottom lever sits in is worn.  Badly.  So badly the lever would not align properly and was preventing the mechanism from working to advance the cloth.

Doug was able to jury-rig a fix which I hope will see me through the last 5 yards of warp on the loom and then he will do a better fix which will hopefully allow the loom to continue to work as it is supposed to do.

While he is doing that I will hop on over to the Leclerc and finally deal with those painted warps for scarves.  Hopefully it won't take long to re-drill the hole and insert a bushing, but I'm not sure he can do it himself or if he'll have to find a metal worker/machinist.

I'm hoping that he can get it fixed so that it lasts the rest of my weaving life.  I rather suspect that when I'm done weaving, this loom will be, too.

Happy Birthday Canada

Doug in the office with the 'new' curtains

close up of cloth on the loom

So, Happy Birthday office.  Nearly.

Yesterday I decided that I could no longer ignore that rather long list of things to-be-done.  Doug is going to beam a new warp on the AVL and I couldn't stand the thought of the decrepit apron on that loom any longer.  So last night I fused the fusible inter-lining to one end of the new fabric for the apron and this morning dragged the sewing machine out and started working on that.  While the machine was out I figured what the heck.  Might as well start on the office curtains before the old ones simply fell off the rod...

It's not a pretty sight - it's a very quick-and-dirty job, nothing to brag about, certainly wouldn't earn me any gold stars in sewing class.  But I do know enough about curtains having worked in a custom drapery house, to hang the curtains for a while to let any stretching that is going to happen, happen, before hemming.

I rather suspect that they are going to hang for a very long time before I next get a round tuit.  Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

This afternoon I'll finish the apron so that it can be installed for the new warp, plus there are two small demo warps to be wound for NEWS.  Then the suitcase will be unpacked and re-packed for NEWS as well.  I'll put all my Magic teaching stuff into the bottom, then the day before I leave (one week from today!) the stuff for The Efficient Weaver will go in along with my personal items.

I noticed recently that some airlines are changing the maximum size for carry on luggage so I'm going to try to get friendly with my new, smaller, carry on bag and get used to having less actually with me and more in my checked bag.

Not sure I'm going to make it to the scarves today, but perhaps one scarf?  There are so many yet to do, after all....

One Step

Yesterday was amazingly frustrating and therefore stressful as I first fought with the yarns then fought with the loom.

The downside of having as much technology on a loom as I have is that when things go wrong (and they do go wrong!) sometimes it's hard to figure out what exactly is causing the grief.

The first indication of trouble was when the cable for shaft 16 kept jumping out of the finger that controls it when rising.  I worked around that by changing my tie up so that when it didn't rise it would be obvious.  In the end I decided I liked the 'new' weave structure better anyway, given that I am planning on cutting the cloth on the bias.

Then shafts started lifting that shouldn't be lifted.  Usually this is an indication that the sweep arm has slid out of alignment, usually towards the front of the loom.  So I loosened the bolt, nudged the arm ever so slightly towards the back of the loom and commenced weaving.

Now shafts that lifted started to fall down.  This is generally an indication that the dobby box isn't quite close enough.  Since the errant shafts were all towards the back of the loom the box was nudged ever so slightly towards the loom, but only the back 'half'.  (IOW, we only loosened the back bolt, not the front.)

Once all that appeared to be under control the picker on the left side of the loom started to malfunction.  Eventually we realized it probably wasn't getting enough oil through the system.  That, sitting idle for about 2.5 months, the air hoses and switches had probably dried out.  Doug cranked up the oiler and things seemed to improve considerably.  I turned the oil back down, but apparently too much because just before I took a break a few minutes ago the left picker started acting up again.  I've turned the oil up slightly and hopefully after my break it will be the right amount and the loom will start to behave nicely again.

While these issues are teeth gnashingly frustrating when the loom is working properly it's a whiz.  So while I'm stressed about it not working quite right, the cloth I'm weaving is for my own purposes and a few 'flaws' here and there are not going to be a huge issue.  I'll either cut around them, or lacking the ability to do that, remember that it is through the 'cracks' (i.e. flaws) that the light gets in.

Thank you Leonard Cohen.

The Warp From....

...purgatory?

To be honest, I have had worse warps.  Truly.  But I'm under critical deadlines and having to fight with not just the warp but the loom, too?  Not fun.

Weaving is supposed to be fun and enjoyable.  This warp is turning into everything but.  More like grit-teeth-and-bear-it.

But the cloth is so nice and I just know it will sew up into some really comfortable summer tops.  And I love the colours.  They are all my favourite clothing colours and will go with everything in my closet.  Since I have two conferences to teach at this summer, I'd really like to have something handwoven that actually fits me, and with a sewing tutorial from Kerstin, I just know I would be a happy camper.  If I can just get the cloth woven!

So I have persisted.  Last night I gave in, realizing that no matter how much I pulled the slack warp ends up they must have gone onto the beam much looser than the rest.  So I started isolating the culprits and hanging weights off of them.  I think I've got them all now and they should not be a problem for so long as I continue to weave on this 30 yard warp.  I'm being entirely honest here - I may not make it through to the end.  I've already warned Doug that I may just cut it off and sacrifice the yarn to the loom gods.

But the loom has also been giving me fits.  It started out with the cable for shaft #16 jumping out of the finger and my weaving several inches with no 16 in the tie up.  Twice.  At which point I changed weave structures to something that would show up if 16 didn't engage.

Then 'extra' shafts started lifting.  Or wrong ones.  At that point I gave up last night.

This morning, refreshed after a decent night's sleep, I watched the loom carefully and extra shafts started lifting again.  Since the loom had been idle during the time of year when the humidity changed, I knew the loom may have 'shifted' somewhat and made a tiny adjustment to the sweep arm.  Usually it 'backs up' from the force of the lift so I just nudged it ever so slightly toward the rear of the loom and tightened the sweep arm down again.

And then shafts started to lift and drop (mostly towards the back of the loom) so the black box got tweaked ever so slightly towards the loom, just at the back.

Since doing that the shafts appear to be behaving so I've got fingers and toes crossed that it is now a happy camper.  I'm nearly finished sufficient fabric for one summer top.  Just trying to decide if I ought to weave another couple of feet to be on the safe side.  This cloth does have flaws and I need enough length that I can cut around the worst of them....

The good news is that I've gotten some of the information I need for the upcoming events/projects and can go ahead with planning for them.  It means more administrivia but I've managed to get some of the pile on my desk dealt with so I can start to focus on the new things coming down the pipeline.

Currently reading An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear

Technology Woes

Nice, no?

Actually no.  The cable for shaft 16 keeps popping out of the 'finger' (equivalent to a tie up cord coming out of a treadle) so even though I really like this fabric and would have loved having it for a summer top, I'm going to change the tie up to one that more readily shows when a shaft falls 'out' of the tie up.  The cloth woven so far is insufficient for a top and I don't have the time to fiddle with the loom so I give up.  Uncle!

Broken technology wins.  Weaver submits.  Cloth so far woven can be used for samples for a guild newsletter or something.

On the last warp it was shaft 1 that kept doing this but so infrequently that I got enough fabric woven for my purposes.  This is happening so often that if the new tie up doesn't at least temporarily fix the problem I am going to have to get Doug to watch while I'm treadling and see if he can't spot the problem.  The loom has sat idle for several months so it may have shifted due to humidity changes or it's just having a tantrum.

For now I'm going to forget about it and go meet with my lace making buddies.

(the red is to mark where I'm going to change over and the other thing sitting on the web is one of my padded gloves that I wear when using the fly shuttle.  They help to reduce - somewhat - the impact of the beater)

Modifications

On Weavolution, Kerstin posted some of her loom modifications and asked if others had similarly modified their loom.  The short answer to that is yes.

For me a loom is a tool and if it isn't working the way I want it to, it needs to be changed.

Peg also posted on Weavolution about the position of her underslung beater.  It was too far away from her and her fingers kept getting caught in the heddles.  I had a similar problem with my rescued Leclerc Fanny.  You can see the original beater 'bumper' on the castle upright and the new bumper Doug installed to hold the beater further away from the shafts.  He had some high impact plastic, screwed that into the loom upright, then got a new 'bumper' and screwed that into the plastic.  Now, instead of the back of the beater top resting on the bumper, the sword does, which holds the beater out just enough that I can grab the beater without getting entangled with the shafts/heddles.

Works like a charm.  :)

One of the things I found when I got my AVL (lo, these many decades ago) was that the heddle keepers jumped up when the shafts came down and very quickly started drilling holes into the shafts.  After thinking about it for a while I grabbed a bag of small (1"?) elastics I had hanging around and looped one end around the metal pin, under the shaft and over the pin again from the other side.

The elastics aren't 'perfect' as they do tend to dry out and break, but when that happens I grab another elastic, drop it onto the pin, under the shaft and over the pin again.  Takes a few seconds and it's done.  And it's cheap.

Now there probably isn't another person on the planet who has the same problem but if I'd left them, the heddle keepers would have drilled themselves right through the shafts and then I would have had a much bigger problem.

So, if your tools aren't working as well as you'd like them to, there may be a very easy and simple solution to hand.  A little creative thinking - outside the box, as the saying goes - and things might go much more smoothly.  And that's always A Good Thing, right?  :)

Equipment Modifications

Jean asked for more info on the modification to the AVL tension box.  Remember that cutting the top off the reed will weaken it and leave sharp pointy bits that will scratch unwary arms and hands. 

The top photo shows the gate partially open.  Doug made a wire that pivots on the closed side of the box and fits into a hole in the base of the tension box.

This photo shows the gate closed with the wire in the hole in the base.

This photo shows the tension box from the end.  You can see how the tines have shifted and moved at the top but they are still in the correct alignment at the bottom, which is where the yarn travels.  The wire is anchored and swivels around a nut/bolt.  The gate is closed and you should be able to clearly see it near the base of the reed.  Click to biggify.

Finished weaving the warp on the small loom this afternoon.  This photo shows the hem area woven in plain weave with a couple of twill picks to make a cut line so that I don't have to stop and grab another shuttle with a contrasting yarn.  Click the photo to see more clearly.  In this photo I've partially cut the two mats apart.

Inching Along

Finished off the light green Fox Fibre cloth and started the light brown.  Got about 18 inches woven before stopping for dinner.

This is another variation of Wall of Troy.  I'm very happy with the subtle undulations happening in the cloth which help to break up the very rigid stripes.  Not that I don't like stripes, but sometimes it's fun to have something 'other' happening visually to add interest to the cloth.  Especially for the intended purpose of this fabric.

(Still not ready for the big reveal - waiting for feedback from an end-user.)

Weaving has been progressing more slowly than I'd like, but the text edits for Magic are 95% done.  All that's left is the bibliography - and the bio, which I'd totally forgotten about and still need to do.  The rest of the pages have gone off to another pair of eyes because I'm not entirely trusting mine - nor my brain - at the moment.  :)  Besides, someone else always sees the typos more clearly than the person who wrote the text in the first place - their brain knows what it meant to say!

Yes, I'm using a temple on this cloth.  I tried without but wasn't entirely satisfied with the situation.  I finally broke down and ordered a temple last week and Maurice Brassard et fils and Canada Post co-operated in getting it to me on Monday. 

The really good news is that the loom is fixed - and as near as I can tell, no oil on the cloth.  I'll find out for sure once I cut it off the cloth storage roller.

Currently reading Monster in the Box by Ruth Rendell

Equipment Fail Part II

Turns out my adventures with the loom were not over once the fly shuttle was working properly once again.

As part of the diagnostic process Doug had turned up the oil flow on the oiler and while following hoses hither and thither I guess the routing of the exhaust hoses got disturbed.

All of that is to say that when I started weaving in earnest yesterday, I noticed that there was a great deal of oil all over the right hand side of the loom.

A very great deal.  In fact, it was fairly dripping off the metal rollers and loom cross members, although it looks like it missed the cloth.  I'll find out when I take it off the cloth storage beam.  If there is some oil on the cloth I'm hoping that I'll be able to scour it out in the wet finishing.  :(

It would appear that one or more of the hoses actually wormed its way out of the jug used to catch the exhaust so that the oil was simply spraying out into the air.  Either that or it was spraying out of the jug itself.   Or both.

Needless to say I did not weave today at all as Doug was working today.  He got the hoses sorted out tonight, turned down the oil flow and tomorrow I'll start weaving again, this time watching to see if there is further spray back from the exhaust hoses.

The photo above isn't in focus - it was really hard to crouch down beside the loom and get a photo of the tangle of hoses on the right side of the loom.  The black hoses are the air supply, the white/clear ones are the exhaust hoses.

Again, this photo doesn't tell the whole story as there are yet more hoses at the front of the loom too.

When the loom is working properly it's a joy to weave on.  But when you add this much mechanical and pneumatic assistance, there are times when it does go wrong.  Unfortunately I'm not a very patient person so the process last week of figuring out what was wrong and then having to wait while Doug found the correct parts and fixed it was very stressful for me.  :(

However rather than fret about it today I went pressing, then came home and worked on Magic edits, did some spinning, read for a while, visited with my friend across the street and even did a bit of fringe twisting.  So it wasn't an unproductive day - just one without weaving.  Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to finish the first Fox Fibre cloth and start on the next one.

Mechanical Assistance

I wanted to show the rat's nest of hoses and fittings of the air assist system, but this photo really doesn't do it justice - it all looks quite tame and tidy here.  Believe me, it is much more tangled and complex than this photo actually shows!


Currently reading Ghost Story by Jim Butcher

One Step Forward

Now that the wool/bamboo/silk yarn is all used up, I've turned back to the silk gimp warps.

I dyed about 2/3's of them a few weeks ago so I've got lots of warps to weave - although there are still 10 left to be dyed (I think).  That will have to wait until later in June.

After mulling over the stash situation, the next warp on the AVL will be another red 2/20 mercerized cotton, this time with some of the singles 6 cotton for weft.  I'll likely put 30 yards on and play around with some twills based on an extended Wall of Troy over 16 shafts.  With this theading I can do fancy twills, lace, twill blocks, waffle weave and more likely.  But for tea towels twills, twill blocks and waffle weave will likely wind up my choices.

Doug has spent hours trying to track down why the fly shuttle picker is working poorly.  It has not failed catastrophically - it would likely be simpler if it had!  He's changed the O ring in the foot switich - the usual suspect.  Then he changed the piston.  He checked all the air lines to make sure none of them are crimped impeding air flow.  Next he'll try changing the solenoid, but he didn't have the correct one on hand and has to order it in.

I continue to load stuff into my suitcase - I'm choosing my 'wardrobe' (I use the term loosely - very loosely) and getting my personal stuff organized.  The teaching materials go in first and my clothing has to fit into what space is left. 

At least I don't have to bring everything for the Alberta leg of the trip.  Doug suggested I pack another bag and he'll load that into the van and bring it with him.  Which really helps a lot!

A friend came today and visited while I threaded and sleyed the shawl warp on the Leclerc Fanny.  After she left I wove it off and may dress the loom again after dinner.  I've still got one more day, after all.  :^)

Currently reading The Crime Machine by Giles Blunt

Unforeseen Circumstances

So now my worktable is acting as a surgical gurney.

The 10 minute fix has turned into several hours of loom downtime.  It's been a few years since one of the fly shuttle foot switches required repair and it took a lot longer to remove the switch from the protective housing under the loom than anticipated.  And then Doug got called away to work for a couple of hours. 

I'd gnash my teeth at the delay except that he promises that it should be functional again by around 2 pm which ought to still give me sufficient time to finish weaving both shawls today.  And if not, tomorrow for sure.

So I'll drag my suitcase out and start packing for Quebec, something that was on my job list for tomorrow.

I'm practising flexibility......

Coral Warp

The coral warp is actually quite bright but today is a dull day and perhaps my camera just couldn't cope with the bright coral - who knows.  It looks rather subdued in the photo in comparison to real life.

Anyway, the warp was bright enough that I wanted to tone it down a bit.  I'm not really a 'brown' person but I had quite a bit of a natural brown singles alpaca that was about the same value or slightly deeper than the coral that I thought would do a good job.  I've also got a wool/angora in natural white that I'll use on this warp as well.  The white will also serve to 'dilute' the bright coral.

The challenge on this cloth is that the weft wants to pack in at 17 ppi while the pick wheel choice is either 16 or 18.  I've gone with the 18 which means that every few inches I have to 'catch up' to keep the fell line in a good position for weaving.  I could have used the 16 ppi option but I was thinking that would make the cloth a tiny bit sleazy.  Even though there is a good percentage of wool in the yarn, there are enough other fibres included that fulling will be compromised somewhat.

My AVL has been pretty heavily modified which means that it doesn't have quite the same tolerance for the fell line moving out of the optimal position as an unmodified AVL would have.  However, the incentive to use up this particular yarn is very high - both the warp and the weft - so I'm willing to fiddle a bit to weave up fabric that will not only use the yarn up, but make a nice quality of fabric while so doing.

On the reading front I've started and rejected two books.  It used to be that if I started a book, even if I wasn't enjoying it, I'd grit my teeth and finish it.  No longer.  If I'm going to spend that much time with a book it has to engage my interest and not insult me with silly errors of time line or characters that just are plain nasty or boring.

Currently reading Cut to the Chase by Joan Boswell