POST# 1 Posted by bolivian warmi 7 months ago - 08/14/2009
A PROPOSAL FOR NOVICE BACKSTRAP LOOM WEAVERS-By Laverne Waddington
This is where I will post the beginner project notes-yarn recommendations, warping instructions, heddle making instructions etc...so look forward to lots of diagrams and photos soon...................
You'll have to forgive me with the yarn recommendations here as I am in Bolivia and we are not exactly spoiled for choice. I generally demo with a very heavy weight cotton which you can see on the left on the ruler-it wraps only 12 times around to the inch. For my own projects, I use 8/2 weight cotton which you can see on the right.
Your yarns need to be FIRM and smooth-nothing loosely twisted or fluffy in any way. Something between the 2 weights would be good for a beginner project. The heavy weight is good for sample bands and for getting used to handling the loom but for most projects it really is a bit too chunky. It would make a very nice belt though.
Whatever you choose to warp around needs to be VERY FIRMLY grounded. The stakes must not move or bend in towards each other as your warping progresses. If you choose to clamp stakes to a table, clamp them VERY TIGHTLY!!!!!.
And just to whet your appetites....here is one of the first finished pieces by one of our weave-alongers. Esmecat decided to warp up for all three proposals-combs, vertical stripes and horizontal bars with stunning results. You can read more about her piece on this page www.weavolution.com/node/4768.
POST# 3 Posted by bolivian warmi 5 months ago - 11/04/2009
OPTION 1-the easiest.......vertical stripes. You set up everything in the warping and no further adjustments of the warps are necessary later. This is the only example I have handy with several vertical stripes. Ignore the pick-up pattern in the middle!!-that will be for another weave-along in the future! This is a plain warp-faced weave.
WARPING-basic figure-of-eight path,tying on new colors at the start stake/post. At least two revolutions recommended for a stripe.
Short videos showing the basic warping procedure can be seen on my Flikr page here.................
This is a simple figure-of-eight warp-cut the warp and tie on new colors at the start stake. I recommend a minimum of two warp revolutions for each stripe. Finish at the start stake, tying the warp around the stake with a big loop-so that there is room to easily pass your loom bar through. If you are uing clamps to secure the stakes MAKE SURE THEY ARE CLAMPED VERY FIRMLY AND ARE NOT ABLE TO LEAN IN AS THE WARPING PROGRESSES.
MAKE SURE YOU SECURE THE CROSS BEFORE REMOVING THE WARP FROM THE STAKES.
The far/back loom bar will replace the start warp stake.All the knots will be at the far/back loom bar. Your front loom bar replaces the other stake.
The warps that pass over the cross stick on the right in the diagram will be placed in string heddles. The warps passing over the cross stick on the left in the diagram will be controlled by a shed stick or shed loop.
POST# 4 Posted by bolivian warmi 6 months ago - 09/20/2009
OPTION 2-''comb'' pattern. An additional arrangement of the warps needs to be made either on the warping pegs, or once on the loom. Once the warps have been arranged it's all plain weave with no extra manipulations required. Some options below with ''combs''- ignore the pick-up pattern in the second pic...that's for later!
Laverne
WARPING............
Step 1-wind 4 revolutions of black warp.
Step 2- cut the black warp at the start stake and tie on the black and orange. Wind two revolutions of black and orange together.
Step 3-cut the black and orange warps and tie on the orange-wind 2 revolutions with the orange.
Step 4-repeat step 2 (except that you will be tying the black and orange onto the ORANGE warp)
Step 5-repeat step 1
These are the instructions for the sample above made with thick yarn. You will probably want to use more revolutions for thinner yarn.
Once the warp is off the warping stakes and onto your loom, the warps need to be rearranged into a new cross. Only the orange and black warps that are together to form the comb pattern need to have their positions changed .
Place one orange warp on your index finger, one
black on the middle one and so on.
You will make your string heddles on the warps that are passing over the lower stick. The warps passing over the upper stick will be controlled by a shed stick or shed loop.
Note....If you are feeling adventurous you can warp up for this using 4 stakes-separating out the colors as you go- and thus eliminate the need to rearrange the warp order once the warp is off the warping board. I have a video showing this procedure on my Flikr page here.............
POST# 5 Posted by bolivian warmi 7 months ago - 08/16/2009
OPTION 3......horizontal stripes. There is a handy way to warp for this using 4 stakes instead of two but if you don't have a way to set this up, the warps can be re arranged on the loom. Once arranged, it's all plain weave......This first photo will give you a good view of the cotton yarn that I am using-super thick-good for demos and samples-only thing they only bring it here from Brazil in 5 colors-hence the monotony in these posted samples! I warped this up quickly this morning. In the second pic you see that I don't even need a shed stick or heddle rod. I am using a loop of cotton in place of the shed stick and the same thick cotton for my heddle string.
Laverne
WARPING........
OR VICE VERSA......red warps on the top stick and tan on the bottom.
The border warps do not need to be rearranged.
Place one red warp on your forefinger, then one tan warp
on your middle finger and so on across the width of the warp.
You will make your string heddles to control the tan warps and the borders on the lower stick. The red warps and borders on the upper stick will be controlled by a shed stick or shed loop.
POST# 9 Posted by bolivian warmi 7 months ago - 08/17/2009
Hit this link and scroll down to just past half way on this page and you will see a beautiful band woven with the ''comb'' design I have proposed here.
Thanks for the incredible instructions Laverne! I'll be getting back to my project tomorrow or Thursday. I put stripes in the warp and have been experimenting with color change stipes in the weft. It sounds better than it looks!
A lot of people like to use NYLON THREAD as it is slippery and less abrasive on the warps-therefore causing less pilling. I am not a big fan of nylon thread as it doesn't hold knots well. The crochet cotton I use has always worked fine for me-there is minimal pilling.
Below are a few pics showing how to make string heddles across a narrow warp.
Pass your heddle string throught the shed. You will be making heddles around the warps that are pasiing over the lower cross stick.
Anchor the string with your left thumb Pass the string up and around your hand
and pull the heddle string up from
between the first and second warp.
Anchor the string with your left hand Continue in the same way for all the heddles.
and pull up the string from between Pass a string through the loops and make an overhand knot
the second and third warps. Add the two heddle string tails to the red string and tie another ovehand knot.
than you so much for all of this Laverne! i'm having a blast and learning a lot!
i got ambitious and planned out a 3 color pattern with some old stash crochet cotton... red pink and green. not the colors i would have picked if i wasn't stash diving. (and these were even free from a friend when they came into the stash)
i'm combining all 3 options into my sampler piece... vertical stripes, combs, and a center section of horizontal stripes. i've warped it all up and done the rearranging and it's all working out great! now to make my first ever set of string heddles....
POST# 16 Posted by bolivian warmi 7 months ago - 08/19/2009
A WORD ABOUT WIDTH.............
This is a warp-faced weave so you need to push your warps together so that they are just touching each other before you pass the first weft. Judging the width of your piece-especially if you are using a yarn which you are not familiar with-is very hard.
The weaving will settle into the width IT wants to be once you have woven a few inches so you chances are you will have a start that is either too narrow or too wide.
You have two options....take note of the width once it has settled, pick it all undone and start again!!
OR....................take note of the width for your next project and consider this one a sample. You may find some clever way to use this piece so that the width variation is not noticeable-sew it into a small coin purse or something like that.
Consider yourself lucky if you get the width correct right from the start.
I started this too narrow-didn't want to unpick it!!
I am using a shuttle made from a wooden ruler. The sides of the ruler are slightly beveled and makes it usable for a beater as well as a shuttle. I was using a credit card as a beater, but found that the ruler/shuttle works just as well as a beater. So stopped using the credit card beater. Once less thing to keep track of while weaving.
I'm using a string for the upper shed. I will replace with a shed stick (pencil) tonight. The string tends to bunch the warp together, making it difficult to pop the string heddle shed down. So I lift up the string, push my finger under, spread the warp, pop the string heddle shed down.
When I use a shed stick, the warp is already spread out. That may save some time.
Other thing I'm noticing is time. I'm used to weaving with worsted yarn. This crochet thread takes a long time to weave six inches.
I am the opposite to you, Franco. I am weaving the double weave with a very heavy cotton-13 wraps per inch which I am not used to and it is weaving up super fast. Being DOUBLE weave it is a super thick and chunky piece. If it were wider it would make a great backstrap.
POST# 19 Posted by bolivian warmi 7 months ago - 09/01/2009
Here are a couple of more variations on the basic stripes. If you have tried the warp rearrangements on the above proposals,you should be able to see how these are done.
POST# 20 Posted by bolivian warmi 7 months ago - 09/01/2009
A WORD ON EDGES...............
Once of the hardest things as a novice weaver is keeping the edges straight and even. The weaver either pulls the weft through the shed too hard or too loosely. This photo shows how your weft should look up against the edges. I used a different color weft to the edge warps so you can see clearly how each weft is positioned. I got this idea fromTiia who is using a contrast color weft in the double weave weave-along.
To stop yourself from pulling the weft in too hard and bending the edge warps out of shape, you should pinch the edge hard with one hand as you draw the warp through with the other. This pinching will not let the warps bend out of shape. When you feel the weft just bump up against the edge warp you can let go and the weft should be ideally positioned.
it also helps a lot to give the weft a tug at the edge BEFORE you pass the shuttle through.
Note....If you are feeling adventurous you can warp up for the above horizontal stripes option using 4 stakes-separating out the colors as you go- and thus eliminating the need to rearrange the warp order once the warp is off the warping board. I have a video showing this procedure on my Flikr page here.........
POST# 22 Posted by LoomMonkey 6 months ago - 09/24/2009
This is awesome :)
And quite funny actually. Last year I was staying with a friend in Scotland, no crafting supplies with me, I lasted a whole week and a half before I cracked. Bought some embroidery thread, a cheap picture frame and some clamps and proceeded to make a loom to weave a strap. The frame ultimately cracked (in my bag when visiting another friend) which was somewhat disappointing, but I had made string heddles very similar to these used in backstrap weaving (actually, more like sewing-thread heddles!), and soooo wish I had thought about using person-tensioned sticks instead of the frame-and-clamps arrangement.
Time now for me to grab some pencils and, er, warp up the Bolivian way :)
POST# 24 Posted by LoomMonkey 6 months ago - 09/26/2009
Heh. Well my first project, a pretty blue-and-white band, is off the sticks and has for some reason been tied around my husband's head! Does that count as me joining the weave-along?
I'm trying to mentally set up a striped bag, using my handspun wool. I should be able to start tonight if I can find something to use as a heddle stick. Pencils are too short :(
Where's the camera? Can we see it?-with or without husband's head. What yarn did you use? You were FAST!
Using your handspun-remember that you will probably need to overspin it-it needs to be very firm and have a good hard twist so that it kinks back on itself when at rest. Opening sheds with wool is a different experience! The fibers tend to mesh and the sheds open with a weird tearing sound. Don't expect the sheds to just pop open-you wil need to help things along. when you go to open the heddles you will need to push down the warps behind the heddles with your other hand and check carefully that the shed has completely cleared. When you want to open the shed rod shed, you will probabaly have to get your hand in there and lift the warps and help ease them through the heddles down to the weaving line. This is all normal and worth the effort to have alovely piece made form your own handspun.
As for pick-up tehniques. There are instructions on the ''back to school'' page for warp float patterns-they look basic but the designs can be as simple or as complex as you like. I have a picture in Tidball's monograph of a large piece with peacocks and other birds and animals made with this technique-wish I could post it here.
Also we did an intermediate weave along a while back for double weave................
POST# 26 Posted by Caroline 6 months ago - 09/26/2009
The peacock photo is still in copyright, but if you check this article out by Mary Meigs Atwater there are some pretty cool animal motifs, and the charts to go with them, and they make a nice challenge:
which demonstrates what you can learn to do with the info Laverne has given us already.
The Spanish word for loom is "telar" so if you add Peru, or Bolivia or Guatemala etc after it, you can find some great images of woven cloth and patterns. However a "telar maya" is a knitting loom.
Most of the best images and photos are in the older books that you can find at handweaving.net, and many of the books and articles there discuss the techniques used in the WALs, and have patterns that we can use.
I am pretty sure that wedding belt is from Taquile Island on Lake Titicaca and is WAY more intricate than the belts they sell to the tourists-the designs are done in double weave-and there's a rabbit there-did you see? Have to try and copy that for Franco! Nice find Caroline.
Moh Fini in his book ''The Weavers of Ancient Peru'' gives an explanation of a lot of the Taquile Island motifs.
POST# 28 Posted by Aquinnah 6 months ago - 09/30/2009
Wow!!!! all thisn is just fabulous! I am reluctant to give it a start right now, as I would (again) side track and not get on with what I nedd to get on with. however, I am back in Sweden again in November and I think I have made a promise to myself to bring a back strap weaving loom along. I like the quiver idea someone mentioned. And before then I must study all the above very closely and LEARN!!!!!
Glad you found this and find it motivating. Well if you are back in Sweden in November you have the whole month of October to try this out. Are there weavers you will be seeing in Sweden who can teach you things if you take a backstrap loom?
POST# 30 Posted by Aquinnah 6 months ago - 09/30/2009
No, don't think so at all. There are weavers (comparatively pretty common in Sweden), but I won't see more than one or two at most, and they are into proper big floor looms. I think it is a matter of me getting on with it myself.
POST# 31 Posted by Aquinnah 5 months ago - 10/22/2009
Well, slowly I am getting there: I have cut up lots of dowel, but not strung it up yet. Tried to do a good job, so made suitable grooves to stop things slipping and sanded. It is all looking rather good! Have also made a piece of wood to put up on a specific wall to attach hooks to, but haven't done that yet,a s it involves drills, drilling, mess and noise. Have done it many times before, but remains a non-favoured activity. In the meantime I am re-eyeing up our main, small, sitting- and -TV room to see if I can spot a good tying on spot that I haven't so far noticed. The thought of sitting on the floor with legs outstreched still make my eyes water! If that were an option it would be easier.
Comments
A PROPOSAL FOR NOVICE BACKSTRAP LOOM WEAVERS-By Laverne Waddington
This is where I will post the beginner project notes-yarn recommendations, warping instructions, heddle making instructions etc...so look forward to lots of diagrams and photos soon...................
THESE ARE WARP-FACED WEAVES.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A WORD ON YARN.
You'll have to forgive me with the yarn recommendations here as I am in Bolivia and we are not exactly spoiled for choice. I generally demo with a very heavy weight cotton which you can see on the left on the ruler-it wraps only 12 times around to the inch. For my own projects, I use 8/2 weight cotton which you can see on the right.
Your yarns need to be FIRM and smooth-nothing loosely twisted or fluffy in any way. Something between the 2 weights would be good for a beginner project. The heavy weight is good for sample bands and for getting used to handling the loom but for most projects it really is a bit too chunky. It would make a very nice belt though.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A WORD ON WARPING.
Whatever you choose to warp around needs to be VERY FIRMLY grounded. The stakes must not move or bend in towards each other as your warping progresses. If you choose to clamp stakes to a table, clamp them VERY TIGHTLY!!!!!.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And just to whet your appetites....here is one of the first finished pieces by one of our weave-alongers. Esmecat decided to warp up for all three proposals-combs, vertical stripes and horizontal bars with stunning results. You can read more about her piece on this page www.weavolution.com/node/4768.
Laverne, you are awesome!
many many thanks for all you are doing to make this happen!
OPTION 1-the easiest.......vertical stripes. You set up everything in the warping and no further adjustments of the warps are necessary later. This is the only example I have handy with several vertical stripes. Ignore the pick-up pattern in the middle!!-that will be for another weave-along in the future! This is a plain warp-faced weave.
WARPING-basic figure-of-eight path,tying on new colors at the start stake/post. At least two revolutions recommended for a stripe.
Short videos showing the basic warping procedure can be seen on my Flikr page here.................
www.flickr.com/photos/39560980@N05/sets/72157620403266756/
This is a simple figure-of-eight warp-cut the warp and tie on new colors at the start stake. I recommend a minimum of two warp revolutions for each stripe. Finish at the start stake, tying the warp around the stake with a big loop-so that there is room to easily pass your loom bar through. If you are uing clamps to secure the stakes MAKE SURE THEY ARE CLAMPED VERY FIRMLY AND ARE NOT ABLE TO LEAN IN AS THE WARPING PROGRESSES.
MAKE SURE YOU SECURE THE CROSS BEFORE REMOVING THE WARP FROM THE STAKES.
The far/back loom bar will replace the start warp stake.All the knots will be at the far/back loom bar. Your front loom bar replaces the other stake.
The warps that pass over the cross stick on the right in the diagram will be placed in string heddles. The warps passing over the cross stick on the left in the diagram will be controlled by a shed stick or shed loop.
OPTION 2-''comb'' pattern. An additional arrangement of the warps needs to be made either on the warping pegs, or once on the loom. Once the warps have been arranged it's all plain weave with no extra manipulations required. Some options below with ''combs''- ignore the pick-up pattern in the second pic...that's for later!
Laverne
WARPING............
Step 1-wind 4 revolutions of black warp.
Step 2- cut the black warp at the start stake and tie on the black and orange. Wind two revolutions of black and orange together.
Step 3-cut the black and orange warps and tie on the orange-wind 2 revolutions with the orange.
Step 4-repeat step 2 (except that you will be tying the black and orange onto the ORANGE warp)
Step 5-repeat step 1
These are the instructions for the sample above made with thick yarn. You will probably want to use more revolutions for thinner yarn.
Once the warp is off the warping stakes and onto your loom, the warps need to be rearranged into a new cross. Only the orange and black warps that are together to form the comb pattern need to have their positions changed .
Place one orange warp on your index finger, one
black on the middle one and so on.
You will make your string heddles on the warps that are passing over the lower stick. The warps passing over the upper stick will be controlled by a shed stick or shed loop.
Note....If you are feeling adventurous you can warp up for this using 4 stakes-separating out the colors as you go- and thus eliminate the need to rearrange the warp order once the warp is off the warping board. I have a video showing this procedure on my Flikr page here.............
www.flickr.com/photos/39560980@N05/3938364050/in/set-72157622418517902/
OPTION 3......horizontal stripes. There is a handy way to warp for this using 4 stakes instead of two but if you don't have a way to set this up, the warps can be re arranged on the loom. Once arranged, it's all plain weave......This first photo will give you a good view of the cotton yarn that I am using-super thick-good for demos and samples-only thing they only bring it here from Brazil in 5 colors-hence the monotony in these posted samples! I warped this up quickly this morning. In the second pic you see that I don't even need a shed stick or heddle rod. I am using a loop of cotton in place of the shed stick and the same thick cotton for my heddle string.
Laverne
WARPING........
OR VICE VERSA......red warps on the top stick and tan on the bottom.
The border warps do not need to be rearranged.
Place one red warp on your forefinger, then one tan warp
on your middle finger and so on across the width of the warp.
You will make your string heddles to control the tan warps and the borders on the lower stick. The red warps and borders on the upper stick will be controlled by a shed stick or shed loop.
Thank you for these pics and diagrams.
Lovely step by step instructions Laverne!!!
Laverne,
Thank you so much for these clear instructions!
Carolyn
Hit this link and scroll down to just past half way on this page and you will see a beautiful band woven with the ''comb'' design I have proposed here.
www.turkotek.com/salon_00090/s90t2.htm
This link courtesy of Virag. Thanks Lisa-I am going to weave this!
Laverne
Thanks for the incredible instructions Laverne! I'll be getting back to my project tomorrow or Thursday. I put stripes in the warp and have been experimenting with color change stipes in the weft. It sounds better than it looks!
Jan
MAKING CONTINUOUS STRING HEDDLES........................
Here is a link to my Flikr page which shows how to make continuous string heddles across a wide warp on a heddle stick.
www.flickr.com/photos/39560980@N05/sets/72157621462362178/
I am using 8/2 cotton to make the heddles.
A lot of people like to use NYLON THREAD as it is slippery and less abrasive on the warps-therefore causing less pilling. I am not a big fan of nylon thread as it doesn't hold knots well. The crochet cotton I use has always worked fine for me-there is minimal pilling.
Below are a few pics showing how to make string heddles across a narrow warp.
Anchor the string with your left thumb Pass the string up and around your hand
and pull the heddle string up from
between the first and second warp.
Anchor the string with your left hand Continue in the same way for all the heddles.
and pull up the string from between Pass a string through the loops and make an overhand knot
the second and third warps. Add the two heddle string tails to the red string and tie another ovehand knot.
Using Option 3 Horiz Stripe, I started my weavealong last night. I'll post pictures later
Using pencils for loom bars. I made a warping bar with yardstick (36 inch/91.4cm) and pencils lashed on for warping sticks.
Warped a 30 inch long piece. Red and white cotton crochet thread.
8 thread red border, 16red/16white, 8 red border
I arranged it just like showan above and it's working just like described.
Have a good day!
Great Franco!! I knew I could rely on you to get the ball rolling. Let me know if you would like to learn the 4-strand braid I told you about.
Happy weaving!
Laverne
than you so much for all of this Laverne! i'm having a blast and learning a lot!
i got ambitious and planned out a 3 color pattern with some old stash crochet cotton... red pink and green. not the colors i would have picked if i wasn't stash diving. (and these were even free from a friend when they came into the stash)
i'm combining all 3 options into my sampler piece... vertical stripes, combs, and a center section of horizontal stripes. i've warped it all up and done the rearranging and it's all working out great! now to make my first ever set of string heddles....
thank you again!
string heddles made! yea!!
(very proud of myself at the moment... why isn't anyone else in the house up to come look and ohh and ahh with me??)
i used your flickr instructions, laverne, to make the heddles onto a stick(pencil) with the hitches to secure them. worked like a charm.
A WORD ABOUT WIDTH.............
This is a warp-faced weave so you need to push your warps together so that they are just touching each other before you pass the first weft. Judging the width of your piece-especially if you are using a yarn which you are not familiar with-is very hard.
The weaving will settle into the width IT wants to be once you have woven a few inches so you chances are you will have a start that is either too narrow or too wide.
You have two options....take note of the width once it has settled, pick it all undone and start again!!
OR....................take note of the width for your next project and consider this one a sample. You may find some clever way to use this piece so that the width variation is not noticeable-sew it into a small coin purse or something like that.
Consider yourself lucky if you get the width correct right from the start.
I started this too narrow-didn't want to unpick it!!
4-strand braid sounds good.
I'm still weaving along, no pictures.
I am using a shuttle made from a wooden ruler. The sides of the ruler are slightly beveled and makes it usable for a beater as well as a shuttle. I was using a credit card as a beater, but found that the ruler/shuttle works just as well as a beater. So stopped using the credit card beater. Once less thing to keep track of while weaving.
I'm using a string for the upper shed. I will replace with a shed stick (pencil) tonight. The string tends to bunch the warp together, making it difficult to pop the string heddle shed down. So I lift up the string, push my finger under, spread the warp, pop the string heddle shed down.
When I use a shed stick, the warp is already spread out. That may save some time.
Other thing I'm noticing is time. I'm used to weaving with worsted yarn. This crochet thread takes a long time to weave six inches.
Have a good day!
I am the opposite to you, Franco. I am weaving the double weave with a very heavy cotton-13 wraps per inch which I am not used to and it is weaving up super fast. Being DOUBLE weave it is a super thick and chunky piece. If it were wider it would make a great backstrap.
Here are a couple of more variations on the basic stripes. If you have tried the warp rearrangements on the above proposals,you should be able to see how these are done.
Have fun with these!
Laverne
A WORD ON EDGES...............
Once of the hardest things as a novice weaver is keeping the edges straight and even. The weaver either pulls the weft through the shed too hard or too loosely. This photo shows how your weft should look up against the edges. I used a different color weft to the edge warps so you can see clearly how each weft is positioned. I got this idea fromTiia who is using a contrast color weft in the double weave weave-along.
To stop yourself from pulling the weft in too hard and bending the edge warps out of shape, you should pinch the edge hard with one hand as you draw the warp through with the other. This pinching will not let the warps bend out of shape. When you feel the weft just bump up against the edge warp you can let go and the weft should be ideally positioned.
it also helps a lot to give the weft a tug at the edge BEFORE you pass the shuttle through.
Note....If you are feeling adventurous you can warp up for the above horizontal stripes option using 4 stakes-separating out the colors as you go- and thus eliminating the need to rearrange the warp order once the warp is off the warping board. I have a video showing this procedure on my Flikr page here.........
www.flickr.com/photos/39560980@N05/3938364050/in/set-72157622418517902/
This is awesome :)
And quite funny actually. Last year I was staying with a friend in Scotland, no crafting supplies with me, I lasted a whole week and a half before I cracked. Bought some embroidery thread, a cheap picture frame and some clamps and proceeded to make a loom to weave a strap. The frame ultimately cracked (in my bag when visiting another friend) which was somewhat disappointing, but I had made string heddles very similar to these used in backstrap weaving (actually, more like sewing-thread heddles!), and soooo wish I had thought about using person-tensioned sticks instead of the frame-and-clamps arrangement.
Time now for me to grab some pencils and, er, warp up the Bolivian way :)
Does this mean you are going to join our weave along? Come on!!
Laverne
Heh. Well my first project, a pretty blue-and-white band, is off the sticks and has for some reason been tied around my husband's head! Does that count as me joining the weave-along?
I'm trying to mentally set up a striped bag, using my handspun wool. I should be able to start tonight if I can find something to use as a heddle stick. Pencils are too short :(
I'm ACHING to know about pick-up techniques too!
Where's the camera? Can we see it?-with or without husband's head. What yarn did you use? You were FAST!
Using your handspun-remember that you will probably need to overspin it-it needs to be very firm and have a good hard twist so that it kinks back on itself when at rest. Opening sheds with wool is a different experience! The fibers tend to mesh and the sheds open with a weird tearing sound. Don't expect the sheds to just pop open-you wil need to help things along. when you go to open the heddles you will need to push down the warps behind the heddles with your other hand and check carefully that the shed has completely cleared. When you want to open the shed rod shed, you will probabaly have to get your hand in there and lift the warps and help ease them through the heddles down to the weaving line. This is all normal and worth the effort to have alovely piece made form your own handspun.
As for pick-up tehniques. There are instructions on the ''back to school'' page for warp float patterns-they look basic but the designs can be as simple or as complex as you like. I have a picture in Tidball's monograph of a large piece with peacocks and other birds and animals made with this technique-wish I could post it here.
Also we did an intermediate weave along a while back for double weave................
www.weavolution.com/node/4611
But take it easy ok? Just get acquainted with your loom first. Work on getting good selvedges and opening the sheds smoothly and efficiently.
Laverne
The peacock photo is still in copyright, but if you check this article out by Mary Meigs Atwater there are some pretty cool animal motifs, and the charts to go with them, and they make a nice challenge:
www.handweaving.net/DAItemDetail.aspx
and an amazing Peruvian wedding belt here:
essellesbabble.blogspot.com/2006/12/peruvian-wedding-belt.html
which demonstrates what you can learn to do with the info Laverne has given us already.
The Spanish word for loom is "telar" so if you add Peru, or Bolivia or Guatemala etc after it, you can find some great images of woven cloth and patterns. However a "telar maya" is a knitting loom.
Most of the best images and photos are in the older books that you can find at handweaving.net, and many of the books and articles there discuss the techniques used in the WALs, and have patterns that we can use.
I am pretty sure that wedding belt is from Taquile Island on Lake Titicaca and is WAY more intricate than the belts they sell to the tourists-the designs are done in double weave-and there's a rabbit there-did you see? Have to try and copy that for Franco! Nice find Caroline.
Moh Fini in his book ''The Weavers of Ancient Peru'' gives an explanation of a lot of the Taquile Island motifs.
Wow!!!! all thisn is just fabulous! I am reluctant to give it a start right now, as I would (again) side track and not get on with what I nedd to get on with. however, I am back in Sweden again in November and I think I have made a promise to myself to bring a back strap weaving loom along. I like the quiver idea someone mentioned. And before then I must study all the above very closely and LEARN!!!!!
Glad you found this and find it motivating. Well if you are back in Sweden in November you have the whole month of October to try this out. Are there weavers you will be seeing in Sweden who can teach you things if you take a backstrap loom?
Laverne
No, don't think so at all. There are weavers (comparatively pretty common in Sweden), but I won't see more than one or two at most, and they are into proper big floor looms. I think it is a matter of me getting on with it myself.
Well, slowly I am getting there: I have cut up lots of dowel, but not strung it up yet. Tried to do a good job, so made suitable grooves to stop things slipping and sanded. It is all looking rather good! Have also made a piece of wood to put up on a specific wall to attach hooks to, but haven't done that yet,a s it involves drills, drilling, mess and noise. Have done it many times before, but remains a non-favoured activity. In the meantime I am re-eyeing up our main, small, sitting- and -TV room to see if I can spot a good tying on spot that I haven't so far noticed. The thought of sitting on the floor with legs outstreched still make my eyes water! If that were an option it would be easier.
I