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Weaving learning
Oct. 26th, 2023 09:12 amWarped off my first weaving experiment on the rigid heddle loom last night. Very much a learning opportunity. The result was not super impressive, and I'm trying to not be disappointed as it used 3.5 small skeins of handspun (inherited from Morgan), but I learned things and using up yarn is kind of a plus as well since I have three milk crates of yarn, mostly her handspun. It was supposed to be a scarf, in white/foresty greens combo, but it's definitely weird in texture for a scarf. Maybe that will improve when I block it (assuming you're supposed to block weaving?)
Warping learning:
- warp in EVEN groups of strings (I was doing groups of 5, which I was... problematic)
- warp in larger groups (10 would be better)
- be more careful about not missing a thread, gah. I ended up pulling out an opposite thread to avoid having two warp threads together all the time, but it's still quite noticable that there's a gap. Hopefully blocking will help even this out a little too.
- do SOMETHING to more evenly manage the tension when rolling it up. Some websites said something about using a chair back. My attempt at pressing with the heddle resulted in a varied tension from right to left, so tightening as much as I could got the right REALLY TIGHT and the left not really tight enough
Weaving learning:
- I was surprised that it came out with both warp and weft visible, though I shouldn't have - that's the standard with plain weave! But I was picturing something like my inkle loom, where one direction is basically hidden under the other (though on the inkle it's the warp that shows and the woof that's hidden, but for some reason I expected it to be the opposite here). Those warp threads were also SO close together, which I think was related. My next project, using the thick blue yarn, I want to try much fewer warp threads (every 3rd instead of every 1) and looser weft, to see if I can get it to only show the woof. This will be particularly important when the different directions have considerably different yarns.
- I also need to do better/differently about how tight I beat down the weft. Or maybe just be more consistent. The first part is all loosey goosey, especially where I was still working out the motions of up-shuttle-beat-shuttle-switch hands. Then in the later part I got the weave MUCH tighter which I thought would be a good thing (and it does look considerably more square), but it makes such a thick fabric that it's all wrong for a scarf, it's too rigid. Again maybe blocking will help? But that's not going to solve the differences between the start and the end.
- I ALSO also struggled with the appropriate tension on the woof. I was very used to the inkle, where you shuttle-leave a loop-beat-pull through to eliminate the loop. But that's part of what makes the inkle only show the warp, having the weft that tight. Various tension problems here mean the whole thing is kind of weird on the sides, an inconsistent total width, sometimes there's a bit of extra loop on the outside, and there was a section where I WAS pulling it too tight and I got a stripe of warp that always got pulled to the front (on the left side where the warp was too loose anyways)
So next time I get a chunk of time for fun crafting (probably not for a few weeks), going to warp it up with a wide spread, tight warp in the blue cotton (I think? It was Annie's), and then weave in the thick blue yarn. The goal will be like a warm single piece shawl.
Warping learning:
- warp in EVEN groups of strings (I was doing groups of 5, which I was... problematic)
- warp in larger groups (10 would be better)
- be more careful about not missing a thread, gah. I ended up pulling out an opposite thread to avoid having two warp threads together all the time, but it's still quite noticable that there's a gap. Hopefully blocking will help even this out a little too.
- do SOMETHING to more evenly manage the tension when rolling it up. Some websites said something about using a chair back. My attempt at pressing with the heddle resulted in a varied tension from right to left, so tightening as much as I could got the right REALLY TIGHT and the left not really tight enough
Weaving learning:
- I was surprised that it came out with both warp and weft visible, though I shouldn't have - that's the standard with plain weave! But I was picturing something like my inkle loom, where one direction is basically hidden under the other (though on the inkle it's the warp that shows and the woof that's hidden, but for some reason I expected it to be the opposite here). Those warp threads were also SO close together, which I think was related. My next project, using the thick blue yarn, I want to try much fewer warp threads (every 3rd instead of every 1) and looser weft, to see if I can get it to only show the woof. This will be particularly important when the different directions have considerably different yarns.
- I also need to do better/differently about how tight I beat down the weft. Or maybe just be more consistent. The first part is all loosey goosey, especially where I was still working out the motions of up-shuttle-beat-shuttle-switch hands. Then in the later part I got the weave MUCH tighter which I thought would be a good thing (and it does look considerably more square), but it makes such a thick fabric that it's all wrong for a scarf, it's too rigid. Again maybe blocking will help? But that's not going to solve the differences between the start and the end.
- I ALSO also struggled with the appropriate tension on the woof. I was very used to the inkle, where you shuttle-leave a loop-beat-pull through to eliminate the loop. But that's part of what makes the inkle only show the warp, having the weft that tight. Various tension problems here mean the whole thing is kind of weird on the sides, an inconsistent total width, sometimes there's a bit of extra loop on the outside, and there was a section where I WAS pulling it too tight and I got a stripe of warp that always got pulled to the front (on the left side where the warp was too loose anyways)
So next time I get a chunk of time for fun crafting (probably not for a few weeks), going to warp it up with a wide spread, tight warp in the blue cotton (I think? It was Annie's), and then weave in the thick blue yarn. The goal will be like a warm single piece shawl.
