Razzmatazz moves along

Here is Razzmatazz as it appeared on the loom last week.  And, below, is the video of Razzmatazz I & II moving on.  Well, moving off actually.

And now the finishing process begins.  Anything hand woven needs to be inspected carefully when it comes off the loom.  We correct any small errors like skipped stitches, repaired threads, and other minor flaws.  All these things can be fixed with some needle weaving and careful inspection.  We work very hard to make every baby wrap that is sold by Lotsaknots Studio perfectly woven when it leaves here.

Once all the repairs are made, rails are hemmed (if needed for safety) and ends are also hemmed by machine.  The wrap is then washed, inspected and, if need be, small repairs are made and the wrap is shipped to its new home.

I'll continue to post as the process moves along.  Once repairs are made, the initial measurements are taken before the wrap is hemmed and washed.  It will be measured again following hemming and washing so stay tuned there is more to come for Razzmatazz.

The beginning? the end? Both.

Razzmatazz I

Our baby wraps are all plain weave so what's with the twill line?  It's the hem for the wrap I just finished.  The twill hem is a Lotsaknots trademark.  It also draws the weaving in a bit so sewing the hem without it showing at the edges is easier. When I have worked on something all week, it feels good to complete it on Friday.  

Razzmatazz aerial view

We now have a business page on Google+ for Lotsaknots.  You can find it here:   http://goo.gl/DUlXHU

I'm learning more about how to use this new option.  Any help with Google+ business pages is greatly appreciated.  Feel free to leave a comment after this post or on our Facebook page.  

Weaving Odds and Ends

This is the current view from the loom.  

When I am weaving a baby wrap or anything, for that matter, I get wrapped up in the process and forget about everything else.  Especially the computer.  Weaving is a type of meditation for me.  I enjoy every step and tune our the world.  I watch the shuttle move from edge to edge and enjoy seeing the fabric grow.   Sometimes, I listen to a book on disc and find several minutes have passed and I haven't heard a word.

The warp currently being wound 

This is the warp for the next baby wraps being woven.  Janet is busy at the warping reel winding this warp.  She does it in 4 bouts or sections of over 200 threads each.  Then, they are wound onto the back beam of the loom and threaded into the heddles to prepare for weaving.  We're still a few weeks away from that.

Tropical Delight, the sister wrap to Tropical Breezes, is available for purchase in our Easy shop.  It's 3.5 meters long and 27" wide.  It's a soft, sturdy, light and lovely wrap awaiting a home.  It's brand new, never wrapped, never worn.  It could be yours!

Tropical Delights

Tropical Delights is a brand new, hot off the loom baby wrap ready for wrapping.  Available now in our Etsy shop, this wrap is all cotton with a 10/2 mercerized cotton warp and an 8/2 cotton weft.  It's hand woven in plain weave except the hems which are our signature twill.
It measures 29" wide and 3.5 meters (136.5") long.

Created using a combination of 6 colors with 4 main background colors, this wrap is as unique and wonderful as its name suggests.  Tropical Delights has a tactile, heart-shaped, hand stitched middle marker.  

Those are all the details and the important part is it wraps like a dream.  Sturdy, soft, supple, and definitely toddler worthy.  Designed to wrap a child from 8 to 35 pounds and provide maximum strength and comfort for both mother and child.  

Feel free to contact us with any questions st lotsaknots [at] msn [dot] com.  

We've gone tropical

Tiffany and babe.  She's wearing Dark Shadows, a Lotsaknots hand woven wrap and she reports it is wonderful.  It looks like we sprinkled this one with sleepy dust.  Actually, we have several pictures of mama wearing our wraps with  babes napping inside.  This is the newest and one of my favorites.

I working on finishing Tropical Breezes, a custom wrap, and Tropical Delight which will be for sale in the Lotsaknots Etsy store soon .  Our waiting list friends will receive an email when it;s posted in Etsy.  If it doesn't sell in a few hours, I will post about it on the Lotsaknots Facebook page.  

Enjoy a video of the Tropical wraps coming off the loom!

Weaving Along

Currently on the loom, Tropical Breezes baby wrap!

Here are a couple of close up photos of the wrap in progress:

July was a very busy month!  We had a nice vacation in New England and I bought a new loom!  It arrives the end of September and has 16 shafts!  This will be quite a learning curve.  It is also a computer controlled loom and I will be using Weave Point software to create drafts and control the loom.
The computer controlled part is that the computer tells the loom which shafts to raise and lower for each pick as I weave.  I create the drafts and still warp and thread the loom like any other 16 shaft loom.  Here's a picture of the Toika Eeva computer controlled loom

Now, it's time to return to weaving on my lovely 4 shaft Glimakra Standard.

More news soon and in the meantime, happy weaving.

Stormageddon and Dark Shadows All Done

Stormageddon middle marker

I enjoy taking of video of the wraps coming off the loom when they are done.  Here is the most recent custom wrap and a sister as they exit the loom.

As I say in the video, this has become tradition for me.  The weaving is done, the loom is empty.  Now, on to the finishing touches.

Happy weaving!

Got my roller skates on now!

Dark Shadows is the current baby wrap on the loom.  I haven't left time in my day for writing our blog and it's been quite a while.  I try to weave as much as possible and finished weaving Stormageddon

over a week ago and moved right into Dark Shadows, the sister wrap on the same warp.

I had a brief set back and spent 3 days recuperating from a spasm in my lower back.  My physical therapist, Jo, is a fabulous practitioner and got me back on my feet quickly.  Thanks must go primarily to Janet and David for forcing me to remain on the couch or in bed early so I could heal.

Janet has completed the mock up for our next custom wrap and sister.  We don't have a name yet and are open to suggestions.  Here is a picture of the mock up for the warp:

It's showing up darker on my computer screen than it is in real life.  It's several colors warped randomly with 4 basic background colors.  It's been a challenge and we purchased a creel to assist with the warp winding.
Here is a picture of the creel or cone holder we purchased from Fiber Artist's Suplly Co, LLC

TO THE LOOM!!!

Handwoven baby wrap

For those of you who follow our blog, here's a preview of Dream Time as listed for sale in our Etsy shop.

It's now available in our Etsy shop HERE.  

And a few more pics.  

This last pic shows the hand embroidered middle marker.  It's visible and tactile.  It's easy to find when you are wrapping your child.  And, it's easy to ignore if you are wrapping in a way that does not require the middle marker.

More news coming on the next custom wrap, Stormageddon and it's sister, Dark Shadows.

Be well and enjoy Spring!

The Dream is Over

The warp has now been woven into web which, when wet finished, will be 2 baby wraps.  Dreamland is a custom wrap designed by Janet and based on this photo.

Dreamland wrap inspiration

We wound a warp long enough to weave 2 wraps and they are now off the loom.  Here's a brief video showing the wraps coming off.

The finishing phase has begun.  The hems have been sewn on both wraps and Janet is examining them very carefully for any errors that can be repaired.  Once she completes the repairs, the wraps will be measured and wet finished in the washing machine and dried in the dryer.  We will give them a hard press, measure them and post the sister wrap for sale in our Etsy store once the custom wrap has been sent to our client.

The next warp is wound and I will take photos while I prepare it for beaming on the loom.  

One warp ends and another begins,  On to Stormagedden!  

Dreamland Centered

Today was an exciting day as I reached the center of Dreamland, the wrap that is currently on the loom.  It always seems like the first half goes slower than the second half, especially the first wrap of the warp.  This warp has 2 wraps on it.  The first wrap is for our client who provided the picture that Janet used to create the warp.

Janet has this amazing ability to translate photos into warps.  I love what she has done with this one.  It captures the colors and the feel of Dreamland.  She saw this as a dreamscape and named the wrap Dreamland based on that.

I have a video of the middle marker for Dreamland.  The client chose to have a weft change as the middle marker.  It's more subtle than I expiated.  The colors in the video are more intense than in person.  

Have a great weekend.  I'll be back next week with finished wraps.

Technical difficulty delay

We wished a fond farewell to Haleakala and Awakea.  They are both off to new homes far, far away.  One is taking a long trip to Alaska via Ohio and Michigan.  I encourage everyone to keep their address on their Paypal account current.  It helps businesses, like ours, to send your purchases to the correct address.

The sample is completed for Dreamland which is the next wrap on the loom.  It will have one sister wrap.  After completing the sample weft for the client to choose her favorite and decide on a middle marker, we ran into several problems.  The most difficult issue was the front apron bar which had
gotten caught in its own strings which run over the knee beam and attach to the cloth beam on the front.  This caused all sorts of tension problems and the 2 feet that had been completed were removed, the apron rod was attached more effectively and weaving has begun again today.

We hope to make good progress now that all technical difficulties are repaired.  We lost a few inches of warp which means the sister wrap will be 3.3 or 3.2 meters in length.  We'll do a hand embroidered middle marker on the sister wrap.

I'll keep you posted on progress.  I get wrapped up in weaving and don't get to the computer to post very often.

Happy weaving!

One ends and another begins

Hale akala and Awakea are all done and I am currently working on Dreamland, the next custom baby wrap.  Here is the inspiration photo for Dreamland.

And, the mock up for the wrap

Finally, here is a collage from beaming the warp onto the loom and getting ready to thread it.

I couldn't resist taking a video as I removed Hale akala and Awakea from the loom so here it is:

Awakea (morning) middle marker

I finished weaving Haleakawa and am halfway through the sister wrap, Awakea (Hawaiian for morning).  I hope you enjoy this video of the middle markers.

Janet is busy winding the warp for the next wrap, Dreamland.  Here is a photo of the mock up she completed.

The next video will be Dreamland being beamed onto the loom.  I'm looking forward to being snowed in on Monday so I can get more weaving done.   Planning on finishing Awakea and hemming and wet finishing (washing) both wraps.  

A hui hou kakou - until we meet again.

And the weaving goes on and on, oh oh oh...

This was the view at sunrise.  Perhaps it will be a baby wrap one day.  For now, it's inspiration to get dressed and go walk.

On To baby wraps.  Here is my Glimakra Standard warped up and working hard to complete Hale Akala, the wrap inspired by an Hawaiian Sunrise and an African painting depicting the Masai at the beach.  You can see both photos in my previous blog post.  

 I have moved beyond the center and wanted to share the middle marker since it's a bit unique.  The idea for this tactile center marking came from the mama who will be receiving this wrap.

 I did a short video so you can see it more clearly.  I have a few important comments to make following the very brief video.

After removing the middle markers and trying once more to place the supplemental weft for the middle marker, I realized that the effect I am hoping for is best done by needle weaving over the weft at the center of the wrap once it is off the loom.  The weaving has continued and the middle marker will be added later.  

Coming soon.....

DREAMLAND

Weaving Hale Akala

When we agree to weave a custom wrap, we work closely with our client(s) to create a wrap from a photo or painting or idea they want to see in cloth.  We have been working with a mama in Hawaii and she chose these two inspiration photos

This is a photo of the Hawaiian sunrise.  It's a favorite from our client and she wanted us to use the color scheme in this photo along with...








.
This one which is from a painting she purchased while in Africa.  The first mock up expressed what Janet saw when combining the two photos. The mama indicated she wanted a graduated color scheme using yellow, pink, salmon and purple.  So, Janet did another mock up which our customer liked and we wound the warp.

Last week, I showed a short video of threading the loom with the warp our client named Hale Akala( house of the sun in Hawaiian).

This week I have a video of the first foot of weaving I have completed using a light gray weft.  Prior to beginning the weaving, I sampled 6 different weft colors including natural, black, light and dark gray.  Our customer chose the one she liked best and off we go.

The first wrap to be woven is the custom wrap which is 4.6 meters long.  I plan to weave 182 inches which will allow for take up in the weaving and shrinkage after wet finishing.  I checked my calculations by measuring the sample off the loom before and after wet finishing and found I needed to beat less firmly.  My ppi (picks per inch) were greater than my epi (ends per inch).  Plain weave structure requires an equal number of each or the web or cloth will be either weft or warp faced if you  have too few or too many picks.

Here's the video:

I'll be back with the middle marker early next week.  Back to the loom for now!

Introducing Hale Akala

Here is a short video after beaming Hale Akala (Hawaiian for house of the sun)

Once beamed, the threading begins.  From there, it's sley the reed and start the weaving!  This is the first warp we have done that is totally Brassard yarns.  The beaming went beautifully and the threading is going very quickly.  I'm looking forward to weaving this warp and trying a couple of different color wefts to show off the gradient.
The name Hale Akala mean house of the sun in Hawaiian and is pronounced "holly ah kah la".  It was named by our customer who lives in Hawaii and provided this photo as the inspiraiton for the wrap

I could stare at this photo all day and dream about how warm and lovely it must be in Hawaii right in this photo.  Certainly beats the 12" of snow we got this week.  Hmmm.

It's a blessing!

I enjoy weaving baby wraps and feel lucky we have a waiting list of mamas who want custom wraps from Lotsaknots.  We have worked out our own little "production line".  Janet, who has an amazing innate sense for color, does the initial design and works on a mock up of the wrap.  The mama chooses a photo or picture for inspiration and Janet works with her on the warp design.  Here is an example of a mock up and the final wrap.

Janet winds the warp and together we beam it onto the loom.  

I take over and thread the warp, weave a sample and consult with the mama on the weft color.  I do the weaving and the finishing.  Janet jumps in at the end to correct any weaving errors such as a skipped thread, and I do the wet finishing and ironing.  We have it worked out and it's going well.

I was recently asked to add blessing threads to the wrap that is currently on the loom.  It's the sister wrap to the Wizard of Oz Competition of Weavers wrap.  This one is called "Follow the Yellow Brick Road".  Here's a video of the wrap and the blessing threads.

See you soon,

Claudia and Janet

The Lotsaknots Team

It's a threesome!

In my last post, I removed three baby wraps from the loom.  It took a couple of weeks to complete the repairs, sew the hems, wet finish, iron and repair again all three baby wraps.  Two wraps were 3.7 meters long and one was 3.4 meters.  We go over each one very carefully, several times to be sure we find and repair all weft skips or weft threads that erred in the path from one side of the wrap to the other.  It's tedious, time consuming work.  But our wraps do not leave here until they are as perfect as possible.

Well, the Sedona/Solace triplets were boxed and sent to their homes yesterday.  Here is a short video of one of the completed wraps.

In addition, we entered a Facebook Competition of Weavers where everyone wove a wrap inspired by the Wizard of Oz movie.  We chose to make a fibonacci sequence representing Dorothy's trip along the Yellow Brick Road to the Emerald City.  Janet wound the warp while I was busy weaving the previous 3 wraps.  We beamed Yellow Brick Road and I finished weaving the day before the wrap was due.  Thirty three people entered the competition in the fall and we were 1 of 11 who completed their wrap in time for the anonymous judging on the Loom to Wrap page on Facebook.

Here's the completed Follow the Yellow Brick Road:

 We've been pretty busy and now the loom is prepared with the sister wrap to Yellow Brick Road and Janet is winding the next custom wrap.  I'll be posting about that one as it goes on the loom.''We have a new system for beaming the warp and it's working much better.  Ten years of weaving and I'm still learning!!