I know that one of our weave alongers is up and running so I am looking forward to seeing your progress photos. Post anything you like here at any stage of the process. I would love to see your looms too and how they have been put together. How are you tying up your far loom bar and how are you sitting?

Also post any problems or questions here and we will all help each other out.

 

Laverne

Comments

Fri, 09/25/2009 - 01:30

bolivian warmi

Just moving this to the top so people can post their progress here. The other thread is getting rather lengthy.

Fri, 09/25/2009 - 01:45

Anne Crowley (not verified)

Just because I am so excited to be actually backstrap weaving after 6 years of trying I am going to post my 'cute little chopstick' loom here.

For now I anchor the top of my loom by a simple cord loop to whatever I can find, a doorknob, the cat tree, a porch post.  I tried tying it to my large inkle loom, but I like to work under such tension that I found myself up close and personal with the inkle loom... eeps!  I'm hoping to find a good position in the livingroom somewhere, I love to weave while watching TV... my hands just keep weaving while my mind is gone somewhere else.  Auto-pilot while weaving is also very handy in long boring meetings.

Also, so far I am still building fixed heddles for my work, I am securing them to the heddle bar with a single wrap per loop.  I tried the continuous loop Laverne demonstrated, but I can't get the loops even... yet.

Also I am showing the 'small' inkle loom that I am taking with me this weekend to the Viking Festival.  Celtic artwork for a Scandinavian themed weave.  I built this loom for portability, it warps about 14 feet.

Have a great weekend!

Fri, 09/25/2009 - 07:31

marywareodc (not verified)

OK day 1 and I have a very smal bookmark!  A few blips to prove its a beginners piece!  One question - can I weave more than one item on a warp (spacing with cardboard)?  Is there any way of finishing the ends other than a fringe?  I can see how you start using a wire - but not how to finish unless you somehow take the back beam out and use a very thin one?

 

 

 

 

 

Fri, 09/25/2009 - 07:32

marywareodc (not verified)

I like them both! How different is backstrap weaving to inkle weaving?  I'd been hovering between trying the 2 and Laverne's article got me started here, but they look very similar techniques.

Fri, 09/25/2009 - 12:16

bolivian warmi

Hi Mary,

Thanks again for posting these. Here is a little sketch to show you how to have four selvedges-no fringe at either end.

A  Here is the warp as it comes off the warping board onto the loom bars.

B Here the warp ends are lashed to both loom bars using a needle.

C Now you have woven about 2/3 of the way up

D You turn the loom around but you can't start weaving yet because the shed rod is in the wrong place..

E You move the shed rod to the other side of your heddles.

F You weave up as far as you can replacing the shed rod with smaller and smaller sticks. You will finally have to remove it all together and just use the heddle for one shed and needle weave in the weft in the other shed. Eventually you wil have to remove the heddles too and needle weave the finish.

It works better doing this needle woven finish by turning the loom around and finishing somewhere in the middle rather than just weaving up until you reach th other end because trying to needle weave the edge will never give you a good finish. Needle weaving  a warp-faced piece is HARD! but do-able.

Of course this won't work if you are trying to get several bookmarks out of one long band-cardboard spacers and fringe.

 

Fri, 09/25/2009 - 15:58

Anne Crowley (not verified)

Ok, first it is hard to compare the two for me... I have lived and breathed Inkle for so long now.  Inkle is amazing, but somewhat restrictive.  I way like the closed loop aspect and the easy warping, I warp up most any design in about 15 minutes (depending on distractions).  I lean toward setting up for straight weaving and avoid pick up a bit because I am a caregiver and often get taken away from my loom.  However, once a weave is on and going it goes like the wind and looks great, on average I can complete 14 feet in about 5 hours.  One other aspect of Inkle that I love is that I weave on pretty extreme tension.  My first bought loom imploded on me halfway through.  It just collapsed because I wasn't used to adjusting for the lack of stretch in cotton threads. oops

In backstrap I see so much more potential.  Wider weaves for one.  The idea of being able to incorporate patterns and pictures fascinates me.  The portability is also a great feature, I have cats and dogs here... putting up the loom is handy.  I am still learning, but that old high tension bug is still with me, so I am having to find SOLID anchors to work from.  This will get better with time and experience.  As far as the difference in the work, so far I have been doing similar weaves between the two and find that a simple strap is pretty much the same... tamp, draw, pinch and set.

On the Inkle loom I have gotten pretty good at keeping all the warp threads even, occasionally I use an odd thread that stretches differently and I find my self hanging an extra weight somewhere in the middle that holds loose threads tight while I weave.  Fishing weights, bags of coins, whatever I can hook on a loop and hang near the middle of the warp will help with the stubborn stretchers.

I hope that answers your question? Each loom has it's good and bad points, Inkle is pretty stable, and a bit limited, backstrap has lots of potential (potential for me to go wonky and tangle and oh, my!) for so many projects that I have in mind.  I see it as a stepping stone for larger weaves like rugs or simple tapestries... I am excited to see a world opening up in front of me!

(These are my traveling loom.  This shows the double width back board... light but with much more strength than a single board.  The pegs look silly, bent as they seem to be, but no chance of them letting go, they rock with the weave and hold quite well.  The loose looking pegs are merely me not getting the holes tight enough.  Tension adjustment is merely pull a peg, adjust the warp path and set it back over the pulled peg.)

Fri, 09/25/2009 - 16:58

marywareodc (not verified)

Thanks Laverne - that makes sense but looks a bit advanced for me as yet!  Is that how Navajo looms work too?  I remember reading something about turning it around and working from both ends.  In fact I'm making a lot more sense of the Navajo loom from this backstrap weaving.

Fri, 09/25/2009 - 17:02

marywareodc (not verified)

Thanks Anne - that's very helpful.  Wow you weave fast!  Yes, I can see that the backstrap loom offers more possibilities.  Though I learnt the hard way about tangles.  My 1st attempt at rearranging the cross to do a comb pattern went very wrong and I ended up having to undo the whole warp.  Next time I'll try using 4 warp pegs.

I also understand about crooked pegs etc as most of my equipment is home made and crooked - but its the strength that's important.  On the table loom I often hang cartons of water (or anything handy) off the back to correct loose warps.

Fri, 09/25/2009 - 17:03

bolivian warmi

Yes, I learned Navajo weaving which has four selvedges too and you weave up and then weave down and needle weave the the space between. Needle weaving a tapestry is way easier than doing it on a warp faced weave though.

Fri, 09/25/2009 - 21:55

Sharonl (not verified)

That's an awesome loom Anne. Did you make it yourself?

I'd like to work out how it was made as its perfect for what I want. I find most inkle looms are just to small for me.

Sharon

Fri, 09/25/2009 - 22:31

francorios (not verified)

To help me keep my heddle loops even, see what I did on my blog:
 
Here I am tying on the string heddle. Important thing to remember is to thread the heddle string through the shed first! Then start tying to the heddle stick. Here I am using a shed stick as a spacer to help keep a uniform length on the string heddle. I am pulling the string off the cone and through the shed so I don't have to guess how long the string should be for the string heddle.
 
 
 
It's the third picture in the article.

 

Have a good day!

Fri, 09/25/2009 - 23:54

Caroline (not verified)

hi Mary, your selvedges are AWESOME! My first attempts were quite pitiful, trying to concentrate on so many different new things, but it was my first ever woven piece. 

I'm not doing the WAL, but encouraging from the sidelines, and watching these threads with great interest.

Sat, 09/26/2009 - 00:33

bolivian warmi

Hang in there with the continuous string heddle making, Anne. Practice makes perfect! How wide is your band? It think it was an excellent idea to start off with a short warp like this. Keep going until you feel that things are stable and smooth. Experiment with different tie ups, sitting positions and warp angles. I know that you are weaving stuff that you coud do on your inkle loom anyway, but treat this as an exercise in getting acquainted with your new loom.

You may be able to move on to the double weave technique very soon-the instructions are here on another page and I will help you through them. I'll make a video for you too!-lots of freedom there to weave pictures and patterns, words etc...start planning!!

Laverne

Sat, 09/26/2009 - 00:29

bolivian warmi

Keep going with your band, Mary. It is looking great and will settle down eventually into a more consistent width. Then you will know what width to aim for with this number of warps and this yarn for your next project.  It's one of the hardest things-figuring out how wide your piece is going to be with an unfamiliar yarn. I always have to do width samples with new yarns and new techniques-OK ,you waste some yarn doing that but it is worth it in the end. Consider yourself VERY lucky if you get the width right first go.

Laverne

Sat, 09/26/2009 - 02:24

bolivian warmi

BANDS BANDS BANDS What to do with these sample bands we are making??

Some ideas.....camera straps, cell phone hangers, bookmarks, guitar straps, key fobs, belts, bag straps, the sides for a possible bag you will weave in the future..............any ideas to add?

Sat, 09/26/2009 - 02:28

jenadina (not verified)

I have progress :) I've woven 13 inches. My selvedges are a little wonky, but so far my scarf has stayed between 3 1/8 and 3 1/4 inches wide, so I'm pretty happy with that. My backstrap, which was my first project way back when, ended up drawing AT LEAST 2", so I can live with 1/8 inch margin of error for now. I do envy your beautiful selvedges, though, Laverne!

The center is slightly more warpfaced that I had hoped, but I'll survive :) Overall, I'm very happy with my progress.

The yarn (both warp and weft) is some kind of acrylic sock yarn; the label is long gone. I had to hairspray the warp heavily to get it to behave, but it's much better now.

Now for photos:

Here's a super-close up:

Sat, 09/26/2009 - 02:35

bolivian warmi

Great colors! Everyone should be told that this a BALANCED weave on a backstrap WITHOUT a rigid heddle-this is quite an achievement!! Congratulations! It's lovely.

What about those beautiful shaped loom sticks-where did you get those?

Laverne

Sat, 09/26/2009 - 03:10

jenadina (not verified)

I made my loom sticks with my handy dandy Dremel and some dowels :) Easy peasy...I just used the little sanding attachment!

Aw, shucks...thanks! It's not quite balanced, though...it's somewhat warpfaced in the center. I did *order* a rigid heddle, but it's backordered so I won't see it for another 2 or 3 weeks.

That reminds me...anyone who hasn't tried Laverne's heddle method yet needs to! It's fabulous! My loops don't change in size at all, which means I get a nice shed! I can't believe how well it's working with my hairsprayed sticky warp; I can only imagine how great it will be with a better-suited warp!

Sat, 09/26/2009 - 05:15

Caroline (not verified)

As an alternative to those lovely shaped loom sticks, I am using the bars from a Semco tapestry frame, with the cloth taken off, and well sanded down. They look almost identical and keep things under control. They are made to work under tension so are light but strong.

Tue, 09/29/2009 - 02:49

jenadina (not verified)

Progress report:

 

I decided my weaving was too warp-faced, so I broke the weft and started again. I didn't cut anything off, just left some empty space on the warp. I haven't had much time to weave; I didn't weave at all last Fri. or Sat., or today either. I can't weave after dark because I tie up to my window bars and once the mosquitos come out I have to stop

 

Does anyone else have any progress to report?

 

 

Tue, 09/29/2009 - 03:17

bolivian warmi

I think everyone took the weekend off! Or they have their heads down and are weaving. Silence seems to indicate no problems anyway.

Laverne

Tue, 09/29/2009 - 21:43

Aquinnah (not verified)

 wow! so much stuff going on! Must get to it, but there's always a risk I neglect something else, so get the real serious stuff out of the way first and then come back to this. Lots to learn from!

Wed, 09/30/2009 - 01:14

jenadina (not verified)

I've gotten 32 inches woven :) It's gotten more warpfaced than balanced again, though :(

Wed, 09/30/2009 - 01:54

bolivian warmi

Phew! 32 inches!  Is it like last time with the overall width consistent but with the outer warps going warp faced?

Wed, 09/30/2009 - 02:33

jenadina (not verified)

My inner warps go warpfaced, actually, but yeah. The selvedges are plain weave. I'm thinking that maybe I don't bubble my weft enough. Don't wanna change it now, though, because I'm not starting over again!!

Wed, 09/30/2009 - 02:50

bolivian warmi

Maybe you could try arcing the warp like a big rainbow (which is probably what you are doing now) but then scalloping it, that is, pushing it down with a pointed stick in the middle and then once more on either side of the middle so you end up with four mini arcs, or rainbows. That was the way I was taught when I learned Navajo tapestry type weave. I know that this is not tapestry but it might help laying in the weft just that little bit more loosely and consistently. Or maybe try pushing the weft arc down just twice and forming three arcs first to see if that helps.

You will probably have to weave a while like this before you can see if it makes a difference. If it works and you have discovered ''the secret'' you might feel inspired to unpick and try again!

Laverne

Mon, 10/05/2009 - 12:57

Anne Crowley (not verified)

Too much to do and so little time!

I am so excited to focus on my weaving that I find frustration.  Tomorrow I leave on a one week trip to our local SCA Great Western War.  While there I hope to pick the brains of several weavers.  Alas, my experimental weaving got short circuited by the passing of a beloved member of the group.  I was asked to weave bands with her colors to be worn in memory.  Needless to say, all other projects (except packing) are set aside.

I will be back soon and then the brakes are off and I should have most of the winter to get tangled up in all the weaving I could desire!  With fresh ink for my printer and empty looms I will be off and running!

Have fun!

Mon, 10/05/2009 - 13:06

bolivian warmi

Have a safe trip and learn a lot. We'll miss you here!

Laverne

Tue, 10/06/2009 - 13:26

jenadina (not verified)

I'm done! Just need to twist fringe :)

Tue, 10/06/2009 - 13:32

bolivian warmi

Excellent Jen! Looking forward to seeing it.

Tue, 10/06/2009 - 23:00

Caroline (not verified)

Great, Jen! Please post photos!

Sat, 10/10/2009 - 00:35

jenadina (not verified)

Here's my finished scarf:

 

Sat, 10/10/2009 - 01:37

bolivian warmi

Good job! Are you going to put it up on the Projects Page?

Sat, 10/10/2009 - 02:14

jenadina (not verified)

It's been there since I started, though that's not the thumbnail photo :) Keeping track of my projects is something I've never done and I like it!