New classes, new videos and new resources.

I have scheduled a Next Steps class for anyone who has taken a beginner rigid heddle weaving and can direct warp their loom independently.  In Next Steps we will learn to create exciting patterns using a pick up stick and we will weave designs with 2 heddles.  Class will meet for 2 weeks, Saturday, March 24 and 31, Please contact me at weaveonstudio@me.com for further details and to register.  Class size is limited and first come, first served. 


A Warping Refresher class will be held on April 21st and 28th.  Don't remember how to warp?  Need a refresher?  I have scheduled this class for those who weave on either rigid heddle or floor looms.  We will focus exclusively on warping, that all important skill.  We will warp and weave samples for two  weeks on Saturday, April 21st and 28th.  All weaving classes are small with individualized instruction so sign up soon by contacting me at weaveonstudio@me.com

My current class just completed week two of three and we took some videos this week of techniques for tying your warp to the front beam.  Here is the method I teach and use most often.

Here is a picture of Jackie finishing tying her warp to the front apron rod on the Schacht Flip loom. 

Calculating a project for the first time can be daunting.  There are several tools available to perform the math for you but you must know some basics first.  Follow along with me as I calculate my next project on my Cricket rigid heddle loom.  I have chosen to weave a scarf with a huck weave pattern which I will create using pick up sticks.  The final scarf will measure 6"wide and 66" long.  I am planning on doing an 8" sample to see how the huck pattern works before I make an entire scarf with it.
The yarn I'm using is a light blue rayon/silk blend yarn that is 1000 yards/lb (that info is on the label) and the wraps per inch (wpi) equal 12.  I wrapped the yarn around a ruler to find all this information out:  Divide that in half to determine the epi or ends per inch which tells you what size heddle to use   In this case I have chosen a size 5 dents per inch heddle.  To determine the number of ends in the total project, you need to allow for draw-in and shrinkage which total about 15% of the width so I added 1". Multiply the epi times the total width of 7" and you need 35 ends.  I also add one extra end on each side for a total of 37 ends.
Now for the length.  I want my finished project to be 66" plus 4" at each end for fringe and 20% allowance for take-up and shrinkage.  That totals 87" to which I add 12" for my sample and 12" for loom waste.  Added together, my warp will be 111" or 3 yards.  
I wound my warp and threaded my loom yesterday.  I finished my sample a few minutes ago and it looks like this while still on the loom.

 This is what it looks like on the loom.  Huck weave changes drastically once it is wet finished.  I'll post another picture when it's done.

There are very long floats now and those will shrink up to create the huck weave structure I am planing for this scarf.  Weaving a sample and cutting it off the loom gives me the opportunity to check the design before I start the final project.  We'll have to see how it looks once it's wet finished.  Stay tuned.

Ready to roll

Actually, I'm all set and ready to teach the next weaving class.  The looms are warped and ready, the handouts are printed and the samples are on the table.  Now, all I need are the three students who will arrive tomorrow morning for class.
I like having everything out and ready and then I can face whatever comes along.  There are always problems or typos I missed or something.  That's to be expected.  I am looking forward to class tomorrow and hope to sleep tonight.

I also put out my collection of books about Rigid Heddle weaving; Betty Davenport"s Hands On Rigid Heddle Weaving and Patterns and Textures, Liz Gipson's Weaving Made Easy, Jane Patrick's Idea Book.
You may notice the business cards on the left, they are brand new, and the brochures for Weavolution, which I helped co-found and ran for 3 years.
I am pleased with the business cards and recommend Vistaprint for their good service and reasonable prices.  I wish I could have added the QR code for my website and blog on the back but will do that next time.

Here's a photo of the business card.

Front and back.

All the looms are busy!

Broken twill wool fabric

I am enjoying three very different projects on the 3 looms I use most often.  First, on my brand new Julia (8 shaft countermarche) I am working on a broken twill wool fabric that is almost finished.  I think it will be a small handbag.  It started as a sample, hoping to be a scarf but fabric seems like a better idea because it is very coarse and has little drape.

Pendleton selvedges rug

On my Glimakra Standard (8 shaft countermarche) I am weaving 2 rugs using 8/4 cotton warp and Pendleton selvedges for the weft.  I am loving the way it looks and can't wait to get it done and off the loom to see it on the floor.  I hope to sell these.

Cotton placemats

On the Schacht Flip rigid heddle loom, I am weaving new placemats for our home.  The yellow yarn is a supplemental warp.  I had hoped to do something different with the supplemental warp but the sample came out awful so I regrouped and decided to weave it in over the brown yarn underneath.  The supplemental has longer floats than the rest of the placemat.  I am using 2 heddles so it's slow going.  The line of 4 weft threads is the cutting line for the 2nd placemat.
Happy weaving!

Three day weekend

That's sounds nice, right.  A 3 day weekend.  Unless it's three days spent trying to get my website online. I use a Mac and they have this nice program called iWeb that allows you, as a Mac owner, to create a website.  It used to include hosting but when they decided to trade in MobileMe for iCloud, they decided to do away with hosting.  Truth is too many people used it for business and then wanted to hold Apple responsible when things went wrong.  So, Apple decided to get out of the hosting business as of June 2012.
Meanwhile, you can no longer publish a site to MobileMe because there is no MobileMe.  Just the cloud.  The illusive cloud.
I bought hosting with the same company I bought my domain name.  Keep it simple.  Then, proceeded to try and add all the required paths, server names, and new passwords to the publishing process.  No luck.  I tried everything and finally called Apple (love Apple Care) and they referred me to the hosting company for the technical ftp information.  The domain/hosting folks only work Monday through Friday and this is Saturday.  Some of us work on the weekend.  After all, I spent almost all week re-creating my website.  How silly of me to imagine someone might be around on Saturday.
Come Monday, call the hosting people, change a few settings, spend 45 minutes eating up cell minutes and NOTHING!! It won't publish.  It doesn't like the assigned password.  I finally realized I knew as much as the dude on the other end of the phone so I hung up and kept trying new things.  Something finally worked!  Eureka! Website!
Please visit my updated website at:  weaveonstudio.com and feel free to leave a comment here or on FB and let me know what you think!
Happy Monday.

News and views

I am working on a new version of my website, Weave On Studio , which is the studio where I teach weaving, knitting and spinning.  I also sell the many items my friend, Janet, and I make on Lotsaknots.net.  Both websites will be refreshed and I am planning on blogging here weekly.
I hope to connect my blog with Google+ but haven't figured out how quite yet.  I'll have to work on that a bit further.
More news and more frequent blog posts starting next week.   It's a good day for new beginnings, February 1st.