Towel Rich

Spent the better part of 3 hours at the annex pressing. I'd forgotten I'd left a pile of tea towels up there, so not only did I press everything I brought today, I tackled the stack of towels that were already there, too.

Which reminded me that I am tea towel rich. So, given that the need is great, here is one more chance to get a tea towel in exchange for a donation to Doctors Without Borders.

Details here: http://laurasloom.blogspot.com/2010/01/banding-together-to-do-good.html

If you have already received a towel for a donation, yes, you have to make another donation to get another towel. :)

And one more quote from the book I'm reading by Daniel Tammet:

Without our individual talents, we would all be blank slates, slaves to whatever environment we were born into. Instead, every person can have confidence knowing that, by our very humanity, we each have something unique and beautiful to contribute to the world around us. In the end, it is not the size of our brains that matters, but the depth of our spirits.

Amen, Daniel. Amen.

Why I don't FTB

I seem to be in 'beige' mode...

Sharon asked why I don't dress the loom front to back.

The truth is that I dressed the loom that way for several years when I was first learning to weave. Since I was slow at everything associated with weaving, neither process seemed faster or slower than the other. Front to back seemed, at the time, to be a more direct logical process.

And it worked - within the parameters of the cloth I was constructing.

Unfortunately it stopped working when I pushed beyond those parameters......

In my experience those parameters in which ftb works best are:

Using a yarn thicker than a 2/8 or 2/10 cotton grist

Using a yarn that is strong - not fine or singles or highly textured

Warps that are less than about 5 yards in length

Warps that are narrower than about 20 inches in width

Warps that are not densely set

One of the reasons ftb stops working is that once you cut the loops at the end of the warp it is extremely difficult to tie the individual ends back together and now have slack - or difference in length - introduced into the warp chain.

This slack or length difference then has to be eased the entire length of the warp to the other end. Not a big deal if the warp is less than 5 yards, but starts to become a nightmare of gigantic proportions if it is longer than that, wound from fine/tender/textured yarns, or is a wider warp.

I have found that warping back to front easily deals with every situation I have confronted - very fine threads, textured yarns, long/wide warps.

It is now my default process. If I can beam an 11 meter long warp in less than 20 minutes with minimal combing, tangles, headaches.....I'm all for encouraging people to at least consider learning it.

I also want to share a comment from the book I'm currently reading because it seems so appropriate:

The learning curve shows us that, while practice will always help improve performance, the most dramatic improvements happen first, with diminishing returns thereafter. It also implies that with sufficient practice individuals can achieve comparable levels of performance in a wide range of tasks, but only if the learner does not relax as soon as an acceptable performance is reached. Rather, expertise comes solely from a continuous process of structured, diligent study. (my italics)

It is a philosophy I have followed for over 30 years. Analyse my results. Am I happy with those results? Can I change my process to improve my results? My latest tweak in the process of beaming has given me a small but significant improvement in how much time it takes to do that stage of the process. Why would I do something more slowly than it needs to be done, given that I'm trying to earn an income from my efforts?

I do understand that not everyone has the same goal of generating an income. I also understand that Life is 'busy' for most people. Time is precious. We can never make more of it. If we 'waste' it by choosing to use processes that are artificially slow, that is the choice we make. But often times, people don't know that there are different choices that can be made. My message is that there are choices. Choose what you want, don't just do it because that's the way you learned originally.

OTOH, if people are happy, nothing more need be done. But for those people who are not happy, who are finding that they are pushing beyond the parameters of a process, look around. You may just find that there is a different way of doing something that will bring greater satisfaction than what you are currently doing.

I'm just saying.....

Weaving Efficienies, part II

option #2 treadling/tie-up


Last night I dressed the small loom with a placemat warp and kept an eye on the clock to see if my new tweaked process was going to be faster than my previous method.

I dress the loom back to front, using a reed to rough-sley the warp. When I got an 'ordinary' smaller loom with plain beam a few years ago, I didn't have all the usual equipment needed - i.e. no raddle. I borrowed a raddle from the guild and found that it really didn't do the job for the 2/20 merc. cotton I was using. Just way too many threads in the 1/2" sections.

Remembering that Scandinavian weavers just rough sley a reed, I took the borrowed raddle back to the guild room and have been using a reed ever since.

The 11 meter 2/8 cotton warp had been rough-sleyed (four ends in a 5 dent reed) the night before so I just timed the actual dressing of the loom.

My process consists of the following steps.

>Insert reed with rough-sleyed warp into the beater.

>At the back of the loom, insert the apron rod into the warp loops, centering the warp onto the apron.

>Gently pull any pigtail curls out of the warp loops

>Go to front of loom, grab warp at the choke tie and gently ease the warp forward. Slide the lease sticks back and forth to encourage the warp ends to even out from the choke tie, around the apron rod and back to the choke tie. There should be no slack apparent in the loops

>Drape the warp chain over the warping valet. Give the warp a couple of tugs and attach the water jug to the chain to provide tension as the warp is rolled on. Remove choke ties.

>Move the lease sticks up the warp chain as high as they will go.

>Begin rolling the warp onto the warp beam. After one complete revolution of warp onto beam, insert bamboo blind.

>Roll on until water jugs reach warping valet or lease sticks reach breast beam

>Re-hang water jugs lower down the chain, move lease sticks up to valet removing ties as encountered

>Repeat until warp is beamed, inserting additional bamboo blinds as required (5 for an 11 meter long warp.)

>Keeping the water jugs (and therefore tension) on the warp, transfer cross to behind the reed, inserting sticks into Angel Wings.

>Remove water jugs.

>Cut loops, remove reed from beater.

Warp is now ready to thread.

From the time I began to insert the reed into the beater until the time I finished cutting the loops at the front of the loom less than 20 minutes had elapsed. I also answered the phone and had a short conversation during this time.

It took longer to type this blog out than to beam the warp. :^)

One of my students sent some comments I'd like to share:

Being Laura's student changed my life as a weaver, changed how I think of myself. But I don't do some of the things I learned from Laura. Is that blasphemy? I don't think so. I'm pretty sure Laura wouldn't think so, either, since the things I don't do are things that would make the process take longer, or be more uncomfortable, or not work in my space. There is so much I DO use - and learning to be more efficient also taught me to be more flexible.

And that's the thing. There is always - ALWAYS - something that can be improved. Things will always keep on changing and all the evidence points to the resiliency of human endeavors, spirit, and creativity despite change. Weaving has been around for at least 20,000 years and changing how you do some little thing or another won't ruin it all. Just try - try long enough to get good at the technique and then if you don't want to use it, well, at least you know that you can because someday your circumstances might change.

Thanks Sharon. I don't think I could have said it better!

We all have to work within our own particular circumstances. Our physical abilities and *dis*abilities. Our budgets. Our available time. Our space. Our equipment.

There are some items of weaving equipment I would not use if it were given to me. I don't find them efficient, and I refuse to work artificially slowly due to poorly designed or manufactured equipment.

But others don't find them a problem, and in fact, quite love them. Each to their own.

My message is that there are options. There are different choices for equipment, and processes. If you don't like the results you are getting, perhaps it isn't you, it's your methods, or your equipment. But a new weaver who doesn't know that there are options will struggle on, thinking it's all operator error.

While it's a bit early, I have received confirmation that I will be (possibly!) presenting seminars at NEWS next year on weaving efficiently. The paperwork is also underway to present a 5 day workshop at the John C. Campbell Folk School. If you have any interest in learning how I do what I do, there are two opportunities on the eastern seaboard of the US next year.

I'm also supposed to be teaching at the Ozark Folk School in Joplin, MO this May. One of the classes is a "beginning" weaving class. I'll present all my hints and tips there.

Currently reading Embracing the Wide Sky by Daniel Tammet

Weaving Efficiencies

Industrial cone winder - winding off of large mill cones to smaller re-sale cones.

From time to time people will comment to me about how productive I am. I'm sure that some of them think I'm chained to the loom for 14 hours a day. :}

The fact of the matter is that - since choosing weaving as a career in 1975 - I have spent a lot of time learning the most efficient (to me) and ergonomic ways of doing the various tasks associated with weaving. Not to mention purchasing efficient equipment - like the industrial cone winder.

I rarely spend more than 5 hours a day at the loom, usually much less - especially since all my health challenges. :(

What I do I do efficiently and effectively. The biggest investment in the creation of hand woven textiles is the labour so I have spent a lot of time analyzing the movements and refining them so that my body works as ergonomically and effectively as possible.

I have adopted with alacrity new techniques when I find them, constantly working out where the bottlenecks are and how I might minimize them - a la recently tweaking how I dress the small loom using the warping valet. A very minor change that has reaped enormous rewards in significantly reducing the time it takes to beam a warp.

But I am not unique in this. Anyone - and I do mean anyone - can learn to be more efficient.

First they have to realize that they are not working as efficiently as they might. Then they have to find out what part of the process needs to be changed. Finally they have to spend the time to unlearn deeply embedded muscle memory and make a purposeful effort to learn new motions, taking the time to make those motions their new default.

What I do is not magic; it is simply the determination to streamline the process so that I don't waste any of my time, or injure myself with repetitive motions.

When I'm teaching workshops I always offer to demo to the students. Many times I hear muttered comments "Oh I can't do that." Well, yes, you can if you want to. I understand how painful it is to wallow at the low, slippery end of the learning curve. But I don't have time to spare to do something slowly if I can do it efficiently. So I am willing to stumble along feeling fumble fingered for the 5 or 6 or 7 warps it may take for me to learn a new physical task.

It was heartening to watch the 5 private students who have come to me in the past while - all determined to learn how to be more efficient. All left after their 3-5 days having made significant progress in the areas that concerned them most. (If any of you are reading this and want to comment, feel free - if your comments are too long for the comment section email me and I'll do a guest post.)

I have been approached to teach seminars on working efficiently. As soon as I have signed contracts those events will be posted to the Schedule page on my website.

In the end, if you are happy with the results you are getting there is no need to change anything.

Another Aspect of Selvedges

Finished weaving runner number one and decided to use a textured rayon/linen weft in plain weave for number two.

I'm really liking how it is turning out but...oops! Can you see the flare at the selvedge? The difference in width between the two fabrics is nearly 1.5 inches. This is going to potentially cause a problem with the selvedges as the wider fabric won't wind onto the cloth beam properly on top of the narrower fabric roll.

In a case like this I add packing - sticks to be precise. The bamboo blinds aren't that easy to wind onto the cloth beam because they will get in the way of treadling.

And yes, I sell the rayon/linen textured yarn. I think it will make great towel weft, but the towels I wove up late last year still need hemming...

Selvedges

Selvedges.

Such a fuss about selvedges at times.

What I've found over the years is that there is no one thing that will guarantee good selvedges.

First of all, the warp must be evenly wound onto the beam with good tension. If it isn't, selvedges are likely to be terrible. The warp must be well packed too. A cigar shaped warp will mean poor selvedges. I use bamboo blinds between layers of the warp on the small loom. On the big loom with the sectional beam, each section is wound under tight tension so that threads cannot cut down into lower layers.

A good rule of thumb is that the warp should have equal to or slightly greater tension as it is being beamed as will be applied during weaving. It can be a little less, but any slack left in the warp as it is beamed may show up in the woven cloth in the form of uneven fell line, uneven beating, excessive draw in or poor selvedges.

The weaver must then throw and catch the shuttle well, leaving a good angle on the weft and not trapping the weft into the opposite selvedge with too little slack on it to allow it to seat properly into the cloth.

Watch my videos (click on video clip label below) for hints and tips on how to hold, throw and catch the shuttle.

Adding a plain weave selvedge to a weave structure with much fewer interlacements will make a smily fell line - unequal build up of the cloth at the selvedge. This will result in bad selvedges.

A floating selvedge is not necessary when weaving an ordinary fabric. A float length of 2 or 3 picks at a set of 24 epi/ppi is not going to result in a poor selvedge.

Picking at the selvedge will just elongate the yarns, resulting in worse and worse results. Don't touch them (unless the weft gets jammed, as with the pesky linen, and then don't pluck the warp threads but open the shed releasing the trapped weft as I showed in a previous post).

Keep your hands out of the shed. Shoving your hand and arm into the shed at regular intervals will elongate the threads causing uneven tension - and poor selvedges.

Currently reading What Remains of Heaven by C. S. Harris

Challenges

One of the challenges in weaving for sale is - at times - weaving the colour choice of the customer, not one's own.

The warp for this table runner is a sort of kahki green and a greyed brown. The weft is a greyed beige.

These would not be my first choice for colours, but they are the choice of a client. Since she'll know what she likes when she sees it I put on a long warp and will weave several table runners, each with a different weft for different looks and she can choose the one she wants. The rest will go into inventory. I'm very low on table textiles, so making some extra runners is probably A Good Thing.

The pattern actually shows up better in the photo than in real life - it's one of my favourites - Wall of Troy. The two colours in the warp were threaded randomly. The warp is 2/8 cotton, and for this runner I'm using 2/8 cotton weft. The others will possibly be cotton flake - I've got some in natural and some in a warm beige which may - or may not - go with the very subdued colours in the warp. Only a sample will tell.