Of Toolboxes

A weaver's toolbox will reflect the quality of the cloth they routinely weave.  A weaver who frequently weaves rag rugs will have tools/processes different from one who routinely weaves damask in fine linen.  Unless s/he does both, of course.

Because we are not stuck in doing just one kind or quality of cloth, but anything that we wish to do. 

As human beings we discovered that tools could make a task easier, more ergonomic, increase efficiency.  But tools also take time to learn how to use them effectively, and not everyone wants to do that.

I have my standard type of textile that I enjoy making so most of my tools and processes have been honed to make the job of doing those fabrics as efficiently as possible.  Even though I won't be production weaving any more, there are just some things that are physically uncomfortable enough that I'd rather do them as efficiently as possible so that I can be done with that bit.

For example, threading and sleying the warp.  I had been weaving for over 20 years when I learned about the brass hook and how efficiently I could complete those tasks once I learned to use it.

It isn't that I don't enjoy threading, because I don't mind it.  I like the meditative quality of getting the threads into the heddles.  My back and neck don't enjoy it nearly as much.  So, for me, using this tool is a benefit.

I have other tools and processes that I prefer to use that others find puzzling.  But not everyone is the same, and no one has to do anything in terms of weaving in the 21st century.  I simply share what I do and let others judge for themselves if my processes/tools are something that they might find valuable.

So I use a temple - when I need to.   There are times when using one gives me the results I desire by working more slowly.  If I need to use a temple, I get into the mindset of using it, going more slowly in terms of weaving, but having fewer problems in getting the cloth I want.  I may adjust my weaving speed in order to carefully place the weft to the fell rather than my more usual speed when I beat it into place.

I like to use the warping valet (or sectional beam) but if those tools aren't available, I know how to beam a warp without them.  While I much prefer the bamboo or wooden blinds, I can use sticks or paper.

If necessary I know how to adjust the shed geometry of my looms by shortening the distance between breast and back beam, or raising the height of the back beam.

I can adjust my shuttle throwing to accommodate a tender yarn, or a cloth that is very open - or very dense.

These are all adjustments that can be made so that I am successful at what I am aiming to achieve.

Every new tool requires an adjustment period.  The Megado certainly is requiring me to tweak my processes, and under deadline pressure I am waiting until I've crossed a few more things off my list before I go back to that loom.  While I have made progress, more tweaks need to be made, and I need inventory, not more flawed test warps while I work through the slippery end of the learning curve.

For people wanting to learn more, take a class, preferably in real life so you can get real time feedback from an instructor.  If that isn't possible, then on line classes are available.  If you learn by reading, there are rafts of books (including mine) which will shed light.

There is no one correct answer in anything related to weaving.  It depends.  Fill your toolbox with as many different processes/tools as you can afford.  Know when to use a tool or tweak your process.  Keep learning.  Keep digging.  Keep peeling the layers off the onion of knowledge.

Those Pesky Numbers

Super Lamb, made from Superwash treated Merino Lambswool, offers the best of both worlds.  The special qualities of worsted spun*** wool are combined with the convenience of being able to machine wash and dry without fading or shrinking.  Garments made from our solid and heather shades of Super Lamb 2/24 retain their softness, resilience and durability after countless machine washings and dryings.  (taken from the Jaggerspun website)


When it comes to yarn, there is much confusion about how to tell what size it is.

This seems to have gotten even worse since so many people have come into the craft of weaving from knitting, where they don't generally use numbers at all but word descriptions.  It becomes even more confusing when weavers and spinners start using terms like 'worsted' and 'woolen' which mean something quite different to knitters and crocheters.

Add to that the fact that not everyone who weaves spins, and they may not understand 'worsted' and 'woolen' in terms of how fibre is spun into yarn either.

(Although I have it on good authority that those terms don't necessarily mean what most people think they mean anyway, but let's go with a simplistic explanation, ok?)

So getting fibre twisted up into yarn is a spectrum.  At each end of said spectrum are worsted and woolen.  Roughly speaking, worsted generally refers to having the fibres all lined up nice and parallel while woolen the fibres are every which way.  And then of course all the degrees along the spectrum, but let's go with the above.

How the fibres are prepared and spun will affect the yarn, as will how many twists per inch, both in the singles and in the ply.  The direction the fibre is spun and then plied can also affect the yarn.

So here we have two yarns that are rated to having the same number of yards per pound.  Are they the same?  No, obviously not.  They are both natural white in spite of the fact the one on the bottom looks grey in comparison to the one on the top.  (I am using a black and white photo which enhances the difference between the two.)

When I began weaving, the one on the top was identified as 2/8 cotton.  The yarn was - and still is - readily available in Canada.  It is ring spun from fibre that has been prepared so that the fibres are as parallel as possible.  It is smooth, strong and works very well for warp.  It is not, however, quite as absorbent as the one below which is readily available in the US as 8/2 cotton.  It has been open end spun, the fibres are disorganized, the yarn is weaker, loftier, and more absorbent than the yarn on the top.

The 2/8 cotton would be roughly equivalent to worsted spun yarn while the 8/2 would be more equivalent to woolen spun yarn if we follow that simplistic explanation I used above.

Do the numbers tell us anything about the characteristics of the yarn?  Well, possibly, if the numbers are being applied in the way spinning mills apply them.  

When I purchased directly from a spinning mill in Ontario, which I did for quite a few years, I was asked how many twists per inch I wanted.  I had no idea so I sent them a sample.  They told me I wanted 2/8 cotton with x numbers of twist per inch.  I don't now recall how many that number was, but it was the quality I wanted so that was what I ordered.  And then just put in repeat orders about once a year - because their minimum order was something like five cases.

According to some spinners, when the ply comes first, then the count, (2/8) that generally means a worsted type of preparation.  If the count comes first then the ply (8/2) that generally means a woolen type preparation.

Which brings me to the Jagger Spun website.  They widely advertise their yarn as worsted - as in the spinning definition.  Their counts are all expressed with the ply first, then the count.  See my *** in the opening quote.

So what do those numbers mean, anyway?

2/8 cotton means that a pound of yarn has been spun into (roughly - these numbers are only ever approximates) 6720 yards per pound, then two were plied together to create a yarn with approximately 3360 yards per pound.

The value for '1' for cotton is 840.  In other words, a pound of cotton fibre was spun to have 840 yards.  Finer yarns will have the value for 1 (840 yards) multiplied by their count - be that 4, 8, 10, 16 or whatever - then plied, usually with 2 plys, sometimes 3 or 4 or 8, depending on the quality of the yarn the mill is making.  Whatever the count is, divide by the number of plys to get yards per pound for that yarn.

Other fibres have other values for '1'.  

Wool(en) is 300 
Worsted 560
Silk is 840
Linen is 300

These are all imperial but more and more metric sizing is becoming common.

Ulla Cyrus-Zetterstrom's book Manual of Swedish Handweaving has the most succinct description of metric sizes that I have found.  She gives the formulas for converting Denier and Tex to metric as well, which is very useful, especially of you have purchased yarn from an estate sale.

I highly recommend finding this book just for the few pages of this information.  It should be readily available through second hand shops or in guild libraries.

For those new to the craft, learn and understand how the various numbering systems work.  Understand that how many epi you use yarns at can - and will - vary, depending on the quality of cloth you desire as your finished result.  

This very important lesson is addressed in level one of the Olds College Master Weaver program and really unlocks the secret to choosing an appropriate number of epi/ppi for your cloth when you begin to design your own.

Other things you might consider - a McMorran balance (or equivalent) and learning about burn tests.  Both important for identifying yarns purchased at an estate sale - because usually labels have faded or fallen off.  And never ever trust the label in the base of the cone.  Cones get used and reused, sometimes multiple times.

Did you figure out how many yards per pound in that 2/24 Jaggerspun?  It's worsted spun so the value for '1' is 560.  24 x 560 = 13,440 divided by 2 = 6720.  Approximately.

Dribs and Drabs

With inventory to make and stash to use up, I designed a new scarf to use some of my rayon chenille stash.

So far it's been a qualified success.  These three shelves show the dribs and drabs of some of the solids that are left.  What I'm not showing you is the other shelves that are laden with yet more.  There is one shelf that is entirely variegated, one shelf that is solids but in a lighter weight.  The variegated is either 1450 or 1300 yards per pound; the lighter weight solids are 2000 yards per pound.  Not a combination I tend to use together in a warp in case of tension issues.  Or, if I do, I use them differently than the current design.

So I have been trying to use the 1450 and 1300 yarn for warps, then cross them with the 2000 ypp solids. 

Unfortunately I don't have enough colours in the 2000 ypp rayon chenille, so I have also been using up the 1450 as weft, too.  Which is why these colours are nearly depleted.

Yesterday I got the blue warp dressed and today managed to get one scarf woven with a darker blue weft.  This run of scarves is being woven longer at 80" in the loom, in part because people were asking for longer lengths.  My standard length in previous years was 72" in the loom, but that wound up about 66" in length after wet finishing. 

Unfortunately I don't have enough of the darker blue to weave a second scarf, but I found a partial tube of the lighter blue.  It doesn't have enough for 80" in the loom, so it will be shorter.  It will be as long as it is when the tube runs out. 

Not everyone is tall and wants a longer scarf as a friend just pointed out.

Currently reading Unto Us a Son is Given by Donna Leon - the latest Guido Brunetti mystery

Change/Confluences

Now that the brain fog is lifting and there are merely tendrils, not full scale fog, my brain is starting to work again.

This morning as I wove another rayon chenille scarf, only surface attention was required so - as I am wont to do - thoughts that had been buried or ignored began to bubble to the surface.  I kept thinking about Abby Franquemont's keynote at our conference in June, about how confluences can be turbulent.

Life is full of ups, downs, detours, confluences, but most of all, life is about change.  And yes, change is stressful, uncomfortable.  It is sometimes driven by confluences that we didn't see coming, didn't realize they were even on our particular road map.

As mentioned previously, I'm stubborn - or determined, if you prefer.  When turbulence hits my life I tend to put my head down, shoulder firmly to the wheel, and keep pushing towards my goal.  Apparently though, when I am going in the 'wrong' direction things will get more and more difficult, more and more challenging, until I have to stop, take a step back and realize that I need to go in a different direction.

This is sometimes an easy decision.  Other times?  Difficult.  Very, very difficult.

My plan, my goal, was to keep my business open and continue to participate in craft fairs for another two years.  Doug is reasonably healthy, and I have a pretty good grasp of my physical limits.  Or did.  Until I took the last cancer drug, which seems to have lasting effects in a negative way.  I had hoped that the muscle and joint pain would ease - which it has, to an extent.  But not entirely.  I hurt.  I am in pain most days.  I can still weave, but at no where near the pace I used to be able to do.

I had been paring back my teaching but thought that I could still do the craft fairs.  The past few months have made it abundantly clear that no, not even with the new loom, am I going to be able to production weave any longer.

Since coming to that realization in July, I have initiated efforts to begin closing the business of the studio down.  At the same time, I am dealing with the emotions of doing something I did not want to do just yet.  There is grief wrapped up in the burying of my goals, my dreams.  But I also realize that I have been incredibly blessed with all that I have experienced in this life because I made that fateful decision (with Doug's full support) to become a professional weaver in a society that frequently doesn't value hand made any more.

I was extremely fortunate in that I was able to work to make a niche for myself and find customers who were willing to pay a premium for my hand woven textiles.  I also found other craftspeople at the fairs who I enjoy spending time with, who will no longer be in my social circle because I won't be there myself. 

There is a daily push/pull of emotions as I find myself realizing that something else has to go.  But I also have moments when I spy a benefit.  Like this morning when I suddenly realized that I won't need to buy a city business licence any more.  It's not a huge amount, but still.  No business, no licence required.  Other things are more obvious - like giving up the annex and no longer needing to pay the rent on that.  Or the insurance on that location.  I'll still carry a rider on the studio because I have way more stuff than would be covered under a general household contents policy.

I won't have to carry business insurance on the van any more because we won't be transporting a van heaped with inventory and booth apparatus on winter roads.  The business telephone line - and the incessant spam phone calls - will go.  I won't have a business chequing account any more, just a personal one.  And I won't need to collect and remit sales taxes anymore because I won't be doing retail shows.  When I sell on consignment the shop does that.  Weaving will become my hobby, which it never was before.

There won't be critical rolling deadlines.  I will make time for other hobbies - reading, puzzle making, bobbin lace.  And of course continue to share my journey here with anyone interested in riding virtual shot gun.

Change happens.  Time to embrace this one.

Stubborn

Stubborn:  unreasonably obstinate; unyielding; obdurate; inflexible; refractory; intractable.  (The Concise Oxford Dictionary)

So many negative connotations to the word 'stubborn'.

My mother called me pig-headed, saying she didn't know where I got my stubbornness from.  I so much wanted to tell her to look in the mirror!

She stubbornly worked tirelessly to take care of her family, make sure they had health care, food, clothing and shelter.  She went back to school in her 40s to get an early childhood education degree.  No small feat for someone who had English as a second language and grade 8 schooling.

I am, in large part, who I am because of my mother.  She modeled how to survive in a frequently unfriendly world. 

If one believes in such things, my astrological symbol is Cancer (the crab).  As a water sign, I long ago learned that water can overcome most obstacles.  If I couldn't go around them, there was always below, or in extreme circumstances, over them.  Water wears away even the most...stubborn...rock.

Drop after drop, I kept at it.  Until I achieved some rather large goals - GCW master certificate, bringing in enough money as a weaver to survive, or at least enhance our lives.  (Always with the support of Doug who for 9 years was studio assistant and sales force and VP in charge of assembly.)

Eventually (nearly) 1000 copies of Magic in the Water with actual before and after samples were created.

Co-chairing not one but several weaving conferences.  Teaching.  Writing.  Most of all...weaving.

Just like the drop, drop, drop of falling water wearing away the stone, pick by pick, thread by thread, weaving.

More recently, another book.  This one was different and I needed extra help to get it finished.  If anyone needs a good technical editor who also does textile arts, I can recommend Ruth Temple as a gentle and sensitive editor.

But I find that I am no longer driven like I used to be.  I commented to a friend yesterday that I have no more adrenaline.  That well ran dry some months ago.  But I stubbornly clung to my goals, my dreams.  I wanted very much to continue working/weaving for at least another couple of years.  But events conspired against me and finally I had to admit that I was done.  As in 'stick a fork in me' done.

Tuesday I went to the doctor and asked for anti-biotics for my sinus infection.  Today I'm feeling better and my brain is functioning again.  And I made the decision that becoming friends with the Megado is going to have to wait until the craft fair season is over.  It will be something to look forward to once the deadlines are all in the past and the pressure to produce inventory is history.

I may be stubborn, but I'm flexible.  Sometimes it just takes me a while to remember that I need to bend, before I 'break'.

One Step. Two Steps.

I love this photo of a swan, serenely swimming on a calm lake.  I wish I felt half this serene at the minute.

With three weeks to the first sale, I am woefully 'behind' where I had hoped to be.  But I'm also struggling to deal with shutting down my business (in very small steps, and it won't be shut down until year end but I needed to deal with some stuff before then).

I'm also dealing with a distinct lack of energy with which to propel myself at what actually needs to be done.  And so I have had to revise my goals and accept that almost none of what I wanted to accomplish between the conference and the first sale of the autumn will happen.

How little I mind gives me the clue that I am well ready to close my business!

To that end I met with the bank today and got some questions answered.  Things are now set up so that come January I will be able to close my business chequing account, then close my two sales tax accounts as soon as I've filed the taxes for those.

This morning I took 'off' and met a friend for coffee where we vented at each other, collected our energy and headed off for the rest of our days.  I even managed to knit a couple of rows.

This afternoon I have business administrivia to deal with.  Report and remit sales tax for GST (I did manage to get PST done the other day), go through my VISA bill and then see if I have enough money to pay it off.  With three shows coming up, I'm hoping that I can pay off my VISA bill and still have a little left over for the insurance and the rent for the rest of the year at the annex.

The local consignment shop has been notified that I will be bringing inventory in after the shows are over.  And I may try a Christmas sale via this blog.  The guild also has a sale in the guild room and I usually heavily discount discontinued lines or orphans.  That will happen Nov. 30/Dec. 1.

Last night we moved six bins of tea towels from the annex here, plus five boxes of yarn have been tagged to go to one of the local thrift shops.  But there is still a huge heap of stuff that will need to come here - somewhere.

The Woolhouse will get shipped today or tomorrow.  Doug has been working on the shipping crate and it's almost ready.  That leaves a fairly large space at one end of the studio where boxes or bins can be stacked.  I still have all my teaching stuff, because I need a lot of it for the Olds program.  I've committed to teaching at Fibre Week in June and offered to teach at one of the satellite programs.  If they'll have me.  There is also the heap of stuff for bobbin lace, which I hope to get back to.  The spinning fibre is already here.

I hear rumours that students are getting close to being ready to send in homework for marking.  With three in the Calgary area, who knows, maybe I'll bring home boxes again?  Or not.

We are beginning to claw our way out of the gigantic mess the studio devolved into as we re-arranged things, threw things away, sold things.  There are still AVL parts, but I have no time or energy to try to detail what they are so they continue to sit. 

While I am becoming friends with the Megado, there are still issues I want to refine/fine tune.  That is just going to take time and I've run out.  So last night I beamed and started threading another rayon chenille warp.  There are scarves to be fringe twisted.  And more to weave.

But I also have more hemming to be done and Doug will go on the weekend to deal with the last load of mats/runners - and then another two dozen mats and two runners will have to be done.

At least we have a sunny day today, which has helped my mood enormously.  Somehow things always look less fraught and more manageable when the sun shines.

I had thought I would be picking up my two reserves at the library today, but the parking lot there was horrible and after trying to park, gave up.  I'll try again tomorrow when it might be easier.  I'll be grateful when the construction to the entrance is done. 

For now?  I need to tackle the administrivia.  Then see about threading, sleying and tying on that scarf warp. 

Goals.  Working towards at least the bare minimum of what I'd hoped to get done.  Progress is progress, even if it is just one or two steps.

Seven Warps

I share with students that when I learn a new technique/process, I give myself seven warps to learn it so that it becomes my new default. 

Becoming friends with the Megado is going to also take several warps, maybe that entire seven, before I tweak my processes so that we can work together well.

There are many things to love about the Megado.  For one thing it's a lot quieter than the AVL.  It's much lighter in terms of the physical effort required to treadle and move the beater.  Partly that's because I skipped the fly shuttle.  I rarely weave more than 36" wide in the reed and I can throw that distance without too much effort.  It is physically smaller taking up less space in my studio - a really important consideration as I try to move All The Things out of the annex and back here.

Now that I've got my laptop set up and can use Fiberworks to drive it, I'm much happier.  Still have to get a proper height table to put the laptop on, but Doug has been busy with other jobs of higher priority, so I'm making do for now.

All of my reeds fit into the generous beater so I can use all of my reeds, including the 9 dent which is taller than most.  I got it from Allen Fannin who routinely bought up mill equipment and just happened to have one when I asked.  (this warp is 2/16 bamboo/rayon at 36 epi with four per dent in the 9 dent reed)

Doug will add mounts to the loom so I can add my supplemental lighting.  With baby cataracts I need to have lots of light shining into the heddles so I can see them to thread.  This warp was a bit of a challenge because it is really dark hues - navy, black, green. 

I like the AVL tension box for a number of reasons but I'm still working out how best to use it.  The second warp went on much better but not quite 'perfect'.  The beam is very small so I'm having to get used to cranking multiple times to beam a - for me - relatively short warp.  Still have some tweaks to try on the next.

There is no auto cloth advance on the loom so I'm having to get used to using the brake release and advancing by hand.  Not a big deal, just needing to get used to it.  The loom also has a quite generous sweet spot so I can weave easily 2" or more before I weave out of the sweet spot.

Since Doug got the dobby solenoid sorted out the loom is working well in terms of reliably opening a correct shed.  Something the AVL was no longer doing and the final straw in my deciding to get rid of it.  Plus the noise.  Plus the physical effort to use it.  Something my aging body was no longer wishing to do.

The weft on this scarf is a slightly slubby rayon.  Because both the warp and weft are slippery, I'm not beating as such, but carefully pressing the weft into place.  That means I'm weaving more slowly than my 'usual' rhythm, but necessary for this cloth.  Sometimes you just need to adjust your rhythm and go more slowly to get the results you are aiming for.

This test warp was wound at just under 7 yards - enough for some sampling at the beginning and two scarves.  Enough even if I felt I needed to cut off after one scarf and re-tie.  But the tension seems to be ok so I'm going to carry on and weave the second scarf.

After this warp I will decide if I try the Louet tension box for two more scarves, or use the AVL again but tweak my process and try to beam a warp long enough for three scarves.  Things are different enough that I feel scaling up slowly is the best approach right now.

It's kind of like getting a new car with completely different features.  It takes a while to figure out where the window wiper lever is, the back window defroster, the sound system, get used to where the mirrors are, etc.  I had just hoped to be further along in the process, but being away so much, then coming home sick really put the kibosh on getting going.  And of course not feeling well, I was having trouble thinking and processing what needed to happen.

And now I suspect I have another sinus infection.  Much as I loathe taking anti-biotics, I think I am going to have to go have a chat with my doctor.  Plus I need to talk to him about the surgery on my foot, get forms filled out, get labs done.

Getting old is not for sissies...