Next day.... yep... figured I missed a great deal and so I wouldn't miss the NEXT deal, I thought I should sample about the loom I have. It was pretty dusty and had a large amount of cotton thread weft that was yellowed and in some cases broken/rotted. After some debate, I started pulling the weft and found that which was down a bit was in much better shape. I rethreaded the heddle and pulled the weft through until I thought the thread was in decent shape.
Just a few days prior, at work, myself and one of my staff was talking about a local lady that used to weave denim rugs. That was my inspiration, along with the pile of my husband's jeans that are past mending. I chopped the legs off two of the pairs and then used my rotary cutter to make 1/2 inch strips. The end results was a nice rug, 25" by 3 1/2 feet. I'm pretty happy with it!
NEXT STEP....
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After my little rug experiment, I kind of figured I would need to get rid of what was left of the weft threads. I was debating the next project but I figured instead of just winging it, maybe I should do some research. I went shopping on Amazon and I found what looked like a good book on the rigid heddle that I ordered. The second book, The Weaver's Idea Book, was available on Kindle Unlimited, but as soon as I started looking through it, I knew I better just go ahead and order it.
Meanwhile, there is nothing better than visiting a local yarn/fiber store. By chance, I was with my family in downtown Lafayette where River Knits Find Yarns. I don't go in very often, but I love seeing and of course touching the many yarns and fibers. As we were browsing, I noticed the lady at the desk was weaving on a Schacht heddle loom with a very fine, lace like yarn. Of course, I immediately started talking to her about her project. Another lady joined the conversation as well. My husband was amazed at how friendly and willing to share the ladies were! After talking with them, I decided maybe a nice scarf would be an interesting project.
I'm a little frugal and so for this scarf, I decided to get some inexpensive sale yarns. For the weft I chose Premier Yarns sockweight viola and for the warp, Bernat's Roving in flint. I measured my heddle and there's 8 holes/slots per inch and so I decided to shoot for a weft of 80 threads. It took me some time, but I successfully, I think, threaded the weft. I used the weft thread to start the weaving and now wish I'd left a long enough tail to hemstitch the end. I've thought about removing a couple of rows so I can hemstitch it though. (Yep, that's out of the idea book!)
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| The original heddle brackets on the side were not in great shape. My husband remade them for me, but I'm going to have him modify them when he does. |
After after a few inches of plain weave, I used the weft yarn and alternated it with the warp, making and interesting pattern. Course that wasn't good enough, so back to the idea book and I added a few beads.
I haven't decided what else will develop in this scarf, but it's at least fun! My husband keeps talking about speed but it's more about enjoying the process. Weaving, like many other textile arts is not about "production". If you want "production" go to the local mass merchant and buy some imported stuff.
Regarding the heddle supports I referred to in the picture of my loom, I'm going to have the husband recut them so the up position is just a little higher and then add a middle neutral area. The current supports do not elevate the heddle quite high enough to create a nice shed. I also think the neutral position will make threading the loom much easier in the future.
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