Post #3159: Tie-ups and tackling the big loom

Last week was one of weaving and getting ready for weekend guests. Twenty-three for a sit-down dinner on Friday, and a couple of friends from the city until Sunday. You can see up above what I’ve been working on – it’s a sample of an overshot pattern from Handwoven magazine. I’ve now worked the pattern in three different fibres for the weft – and I have enough silver and copper to make a small zip bag as well. That’s three pieces of cloth for my sample book, and enough fabric to make a small thing!

This is overshot, a weave structure I have long been fascinated with but thought would be a bit complicated to weave as it requires two shuttles. Since the whole purpose of sampling is to learn new things, I decided to start with something that really caught my eye and have really felt rewarded by my choice. While it has taken me a bit to really get in a rhythm, I am finally there and confident that if I did warp the loom to make a scarf, I’d get into the flow and be able to get it done without getting bogged down. While it’s tempting to do that, I’m going to be moving onto my next sample shortly in preparation for making a wool blanket.

The friend that was visiting this weekend brought his new partner along – a ceramicist with an interest in knitting and fibre arts. As I was showing her the studio I uncovered the big loom (which sadly, I most often use to hang other projects on). After they left I fixed some cordage on the back I’d been meaning to replace and then left it uncovered. I’ve got a warp that I chained ages ago and I’m going to put it on now to practice warping that loom since it’s been ages – and then once I’ve woven that off, I plan to weave a 36-inch wide blanket out of cotton weft and wool warp.

I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with the big loom because on the one hand I sense its tremendous potential, while on the other it doesn’t have a working brake (I’m using weights instead) and I find it a bit daunting to approach due to its size. As with the rest of my sampling practice, I am going to approach this loom in a few different ways and discover how to make it work best for me. This will involve re-doing the treadle tie-up.

And speaking of treadle tie-ups, I just redid the tie-up on the Julia loom and employed the Vavstauga method and wow – that is a game-changer. Note: I did not buy their kit only because shipping to Canada the last time I checked was a tad expensive – but I would highly recommend this tie-up on any countermarch that can be fitted for it.

I’m back to being weaving obsessed – though I still have many spring sewing plans I plan to take to the machine in the next few weeks which is making me feel pressed for time to work on all the projects!