Scarf Kit Sample

We sample all the kits we offer on our Etsy site and we have received requests for a scarf kit.  I began work on this new kit with a project plan and measured the yarn for the warp, threaded my Schacht FLIP rigid heddle loom with the warp and started weaving with a measured amount of weft.  The scarf was quick to weave, I used variegated washable sock yarn for the weft and cotton for the warp.  I finished the weaving today and will tie the fringe and wet finish it tonight.

Looks like a new kit is on its way to our Etsy shop along with several new table runner/towel/placemat kits.  Last step is to write the instructions which we include with every kit.

I am pleased with the scarf and will take better photos when it's done.  We have purchased several different colorways in the sock yarn and will offer the new scarf kit in each.

The Wrap Whizzes off the Loom

I have filmed several of our completed wraps as I remove them from the loom.  I've enjoyed watching the fabric come off the cloth beam and seeing it piled up on the floor in front of the loom.  This time is a bit different.  I admit, I've never worked this quickly in my life OR I may have pushed the wrong button when I filmed myself removing the baby wrap from the loom.  Once it's off there are no "do-overs".  Before I began filming, I spent 15 minutes testing the camera and making certain I positioned it correctly on my new tripod.  Then, I pressed the wrong button or something when I set it to record.  Actually, I think it's more fun this way.

Let's go back to the beginning.  This wrap, which we have titled Home to Oregon, was designed from a poem written by our client.  You can read the poem here.  She explained more about the poem in her blog post.  

The center of the wrap is marked with blessing threads that represent the flight of the mallard ducks over a pond.  The color yarn was chosen to represent that vibrant turquoise that appears on the mallard's head.  You can scroll down on this page and see a nice color photo.  

                            

The wrap is almost done.  Janet is taking a close look at every thread to check for any minor treading errors.  Once these are repaired, the wrap will be hand washed, hemmed and mailed to our client.  I will be sad to see it go.  This one is a beauty.

Weaving, traveling and having fun

I was very surprised to see it's been 2 months since I last posted a blog note.  I keep writing posts in my head that never make it to the computer.

We have a beauty on the loom currently.  I just finished designing the blessing threads and will have a picture of them on our Facebook page next week.  The wrap was designed by Janet from a poem written by our client.  The poem, Home to Oregon, can be found here.  Here is a photo of the wrap on the loom.

The colors are a delight to work on and the weft is a beautiful 2/18 Merino wool which flies off the shuttle.  I am looking forward to placing the blessing threads.  We refer to the wrap as Home to Oregon since it is based on the poem of the same name.

Twilight is a beautiful all cotton wrap that is available in our Etsy shop here.  

The stunning blues and purples of this wrap are difficult to see on the computer.  We have a few good pics in our Etsy shop.  

In addition, we have towel/table runner/ market bag kits that have pre-wound warps and weft yarn on bobbins ready to weave.  We have received great reviews for our kits and will begin offering scarf kits in the near future.

That's all the news from the studio for now.  I'll be back soon.

Time Does Not Pass Slowly

Gramma's Garden

Currently on the loom is Gramma's Garden,    I love the way plain weave allows the warp colors to shine.  The red/orange weft brings an unexpected warmth to the whole warp.

This custom baby wrap represents many firsts for us.  Until now, Janet has designed every wrap we have made from a photo and/or working closely with our clients to develop the design.  She creates a mock up by wrapping the various colors of yarn on a 1" wide piece of cardboard.  She then winds the warp based on the mock up and any changes the client may have requested.  Here are a couple of mock ups and final wraps.

Awakea

Dark Shadows

Dreamland

Mock up for Gramma's Garden

The design for Gramma's Garden was created by our client.
In addition, she chose a wool/tencel blend yarn for the weft.  This is a departure from our usual all cotton baby wraps and has been welcome change.

The mock is the beginning and the finished wrap is the end.  There are many hours of work in between.  Janet winds the warps which are usually 12-14 yards long and over 800 threads.  She divides the warp into 3-4 bouts or sections and winds each separately.  From there, we wind the warp onto the loom and I thread it, sley the reed and weave a sample using various colors of weft for the client to choose the color they prefer.  This sample is removed from the loom, measured and wet finished.

In the case of Gramma's Garden, I wove a small sample, removed it from the loom as usual and measured it carefully.  I divided it into 4 separate pieces and wet finished each piece differently.  Two pieces were machine washed, one in cold water and the other in warm.  Both were then dried on the low setting in our dryer.  They had the greatest percentage of shrinkage but it was not a huge amount.
Next, I hand washed two samples, one in cold and the other in warm and air dried both.  I expected the hand dried sample that was washed in warm water to also shrink a great deal and it did not.  This experiment indicates how I need to wet finish the wrap when the weaving is complete.

Once the samples are dried, tested and measured, the weaving begins.  When the weaving is done and the wraps are removed from the loom we inspect them for skipped threads, small flaws, etc.  Every thread, warp and weft, is carefully inspected and any small flaws (mostly skipped threads) are repaired.

The final steps are the hem the wraps and wet finish them either in the washer or by hand.  We iron every wrap, inspect it again for any skips, repair the skips we missed earlier, iron again and the wrap is DONE!

Yes, it's a long process and we never tire of doing it.
Thanks for your support, thanks for reading this far into the post and have a great day!

Claudia and Janet
The Lotsaknots Team
Our Facebook page
Our Easy Shop (we have 2 wraps for sale)
Our website

I'm back but from where?

Yes, it has been two months and I could spend the entire page explaining why I haven't posted anything.  Here's the flash version of where I've been and what I've done.  We celebrated Christmas, did a whole lot of cooking, sent the last batch of brownies to Afghanistan, ate lots of good food, enjoyed a brief snow fall and spent a week eating and walking in New Orleans. And now it's time to talk about spring.

I am really excited about spring because I am expecting 2 Schacht Matchless Cherry special edition spinning wheels in April.  These are phenomenal spinning wheels!  I can speak from personal experience.  This is a great opportunity to own a fabulous wheel that is a true one of a kind.  The special edition Matchless Cherry wheel will be the only Matchless with a unique design by the manufacturer, Schacht, which will differentiate this wheel from any other Matchless.

I have ordered 2 wheels and with a deposit of $500 it can be yours.  Feel free to contact me at lotsaknots@msn.com or weaveonstudio@me.com for more information and to schedule a time to try spinning on this wheel.   The remaining payment will be $950.  In addition, I have ordered the matching Spinning wheel cart to make it easier to transport your wheel.  The cart is $65 and if you purchase both you will receive the cart for $55.

Here are all the details on the Special Edition Cherry Matchless double treadle spinning wheel:

The Matchless Spinning Wheel is the most responsive spinning wheel available today. With the double treadle you will appreciate this wheels' matchless capabilities. 

Also included with each wheel: 4 bobbins, threading hook, matching cherry Lazy Kate and a carrying strap. 

The Schacht Matchless Spinning Wheel offers double drive, an updated tension system, and bobbin lead modes of operation. Wheels come with two flyer whorls (medium and fast); four additional flyer whorls offer spinning ratios from 4:1 to 22:1. This limited series run will also have a special marking (though what it will be exactly has not yet been announced). 

The 19 1/2" drive wheel and flyer shaft are supported by self-aligning bronze bearings for precise action. Each flyer is individually balanced and the bobbins and flyer whorls are trued on center for long and superior service.

Treat yourself to the only spinning wheel you will ever need or want, the Matchless special edition cherry wheel.  

I'll be back next week with lots of weaving news.

Website Woes

Several months ago we realized we were needlessly running two separate businesses and it was time to combine them.  I had started Weave On Studio to teach weaving and spinning.  For almost 10 years Janet and I have owned Lotsaknots and sell our hand crafted wearables under that name.  Since I was now teaching and selling Schacht spinning and weaving equipment and accessories, it seemed logical to combine all the business efforts as Lotsaknots.

One problem.  Combining the two separate websites proved beyond my abilities.  Well, it was beyond the capabilities of the people working for mydomain.com.  They were polite and did their best, I think.  They just never got the job done.  So, I went the logical route today and cancelled hosting for Weave On Studio and hosted only Lotsaknots.  Simple, direct, straight and easy.  Not so fast.  It took all day to sort things out and now you will see only Lotsaknots where it has always belonged HERE.

In celebration of sorting out the mess, I will be editing our new and improved site.  But not today.  I'm saving that for this weekend when I plan to add many more photos and a better selection of the handmade items we offer for sale.  

For now, it's time to join our friend, Jordan, in a happy dance (wearing a poncho Janet and I made).

From the shameless commerce division, purchase this poncho at our Etsy shop.

Spreading the Love

Here I am in Columbus, OH to spread the love of spinning and weaving. Why Columbus? It's the annual TNNA (The National Needlearts Association) Trade Show and Spinning and Weaving is a fledgling group in this land of yarn, needlepoint, counted thread and accessories. We (the Spinning & Weaving Association) joined TNNA almost a year ago and need 100 members of our group to become a voting member of the association. We have 97!

I will be meeting yarn and fiber wholesalers to invite them to join us and introduce them to the joys of spinning & weaving. I have 3 days to find 3 or more new members and help demonstrate weaving and spinning on the Trade Show floor. Sounds like a great way to spend a few days.

Meanwhile, back home, I am working on new samples for the upcoming class. I plan to expand the curriculum to include lace weaves, warp and weft floats, and other pick-up stick tricks for the rigid heddle loom. The next class starts July 14th and meets for 3 Saturdays, July 14, 21 and August 4. We'll spend most of that time working on planning projects, warping and dressing the loom. These are the most important pieces to being able to weave on your own. Weaving is the "easiest" part. I put that in quotes because learning a new craft is never easy. It takes practice and a certain amount of devotion to learn to weave. But there is so much more. To get to weaving, you must be able to calculate how much yarn is needed and determine if you have enough. Then, you need to get the yarn on the loom properly and thread the heddle, tie it on to the front apron rod and then the weaving begins. What can you expect in a class? We start with weaving and learning the language of weaving the first day. With shuttle in hand you throw the weft pick across the warp and begin to create your sample. Once we spend some time learning how to place that weft pick in the shed (several new words for some), I demonstrate the planning process and work with each student to plan their first warp. Unlike using a floor loom, you direct warp a rigid heddle loom. A very different and faster process. You create the warp right on the loom, wind it on the warp beam and then thread it through the holes in the heddles. The direct warping is done through the heddle slots and, once beamed, we need to thread through the holes. The tension needed to weave is created by tying the warp onto the front apron rod which is tied to the front beam. All this is covered in the first class.

Weaving is a complex craft. It is not easy to learn but it can be very rewarding. The cloth you weave can be a scarf or shawl or you can use it for fabric to create a top, jacket or skirt. You are weaving fabric and can do so on any size loom. A 15" rigid heddle loom can produce 13.5" wide fabric which can be used for fabric to create a jacket. Sew two 13.5" pieces together and you have the jacket back. Two more lengths of fabric and you have both fronts. Add two more pieces for sleeves. All on a rigid heddle loom. You can make a jacket as easily as you can make a few scarves. It's just that simple. It's all in the project planning which we will cover in the first class.

I hope to keep reporting from Columbus. I believe it will be very busy starting later today so my posts may be short. There has been a big increase in weaving and spinning. Schacht has 21 looms each with a different scarf placed around the trade show floor. Each scarf was made using the yarn from a different wholesaler and can be found at that wholesaler's booth. I will take pictures and share them here.

Be back soon. Claudia

Destination Poolesville (Maryland)

Destination Poolesville is a local event sponsored by the Poolesville (MD) Chamber of Commerce to highlight local businesses.  I will be there with Weave On Studio and Lotsaknots on Saturday, March 10 from 10am to 2pm.  Stop by and try using a drop spindle, a loom or some knitting needles.  Sign up for a class and buy a hand made scarf or two!  Over 30 vendors will be there to showcase their products and services.

Saturday was the last class for my current group of rigid heddle students.  I demonstrated indirect warping and we enjoyed sharing the completed projects.  Everyone seems to have enjoyed the Cricket loom and learning to weave.  Joyce has rented a loom for the next month and Claudia and Jackie are looking forward to trying out the 15" Cricket when it arrives in early April.

Jackie wove a small rug using cotton warp and blue jeans for weft.  It's a bit difficult to see the jeans but they're there.  The warp is yarn she purchased at the annual Guild yarn sale.
Rugs are a bit difficult to weave on a rigid heddle loom since the heddle doesn't give you the opportunity to beat the weft in very firmly.  It was great she gave it a try because she learned a lot about the loom and her materials.  Since I am currently weaving a rug with Pendleton selvedges for weft, this gave us a chance to talk about floor looms and rug weaving.  In addition, I demonstrated how to weave on my Glimakra Standard.

Joyce started this scarf in class last week.  The warp is 3/2 cotton sett at 8 ends/inch and the weft is a thick and thin rayon in turquoise, white and black.  The finished scarf has beautiful drape and the color is wonderful on her.

At the right is a close up of the scarf.  I apologize if it's a bit blurry.  I wanted to show off the colors.

Jackie made a wool and rayon shawl that looked lovely on her!  The blue warp is very light and soft and the chenille weft gave the shawl a little body and maintain the beautiful hand that only chenille and wool provide.  She did a lovely job weaving and finishing the shawl.

Class this week should be titled BLUE because everyone did their project in a shade of blue.  Claudia did blue stripes on a blue striped warp.  She measured and counted very carefully to have the scarf come out in a tartan looking plaid.  Kudos to her for such fine work.  

Well, I have lots to do to prepare for Destination Poolesville.  Hope to see you there.