Tottie Talks Crafts Blog » weaving & handwoven

Can you weave tapestry on potholder loom? why, yes!

tottietalkscrafts — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:32:35 +0000

One of my Ravelry buddies just shared photos of a lovely little tapestry loom that he’s built.

He then commented that Noreen would probably say that you can weave tapestries on her beloved potholder looms.

And, of course, I chirrupped up: “Funny you should mention that, but Y E S you can! “

Last year, after the devastation of the earthquakes and tsunami in Japan, I was very upset, and sat down with my sketchbook.

I did a little drawing that made me sit up and say: “I could weave that!”

So, I whipped out my Harrisville potholder loom (Link to Harrisville) and cut a square of cardboard to fit inside it.

I made a cartoon of the basic elements of the drawing: A circle inside a square, and taped it to the cardboard.

I decided to use all Harrisville yarns and fibers in this piece, so I warped up with warp yarn from Harrisville.

I used a table fork to beat the weft strands:

When I was finished, I wove an inkle border on my Schacht Inkle loom

I saw how the circle could become a face, so I warped up, again, and wove this:

And, this face made me think of the sun, so of course, I had to weave a companion,

‘Song to the Moon’: woven with yarn from my stash

Normally, I dislike fringes, but this piece demanded them, so I faithfully added them.

I was intrigued by weaving the expressive little faces (remember, the potholder loom yields a woven piece that is 6 inches square)

so…. with handspun yarn and stash yarn, I wove this little tapestry:

I have been meaning to block these little tapestries, but have been busy with so many other things that I haven’t gotten around to it.

But, when Misha joked about me weaving tapestries on the potholder loom, I thought…

“Well, they’re not blocked, but so what! I’ll post a note about them anyhow!”

So, when my ‘to do’ list calms down a little, I ~~will~~, um…. I might get them blocked!

Until then, keep on weaving! I am….

And, don’t forget to check out my other potholder loom weaving on my website: LINK

Please remember that this post is copyright protected, so please don’t copy the images etc! Thanks so much~!

Weave a Mermaid with the stick weaving loom

tottietalkscrafts — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 23:05:09 +0000

I love mermaids, and I never get tired of finding new ways to create more of them.

And, now, my newest mermaid is woven – on only 6 sticks!

Weaving sticks are probably the easiest loom ever – but that doesn’t mean that there is ANY limit to their creative potential.

I have been having a wonderful time, designing all kinds of magical dolls with them.

I have just released the first of a series of VERY fun patterns for them-

The Mermaid….

I’ve woven these mermaids with hand spun yarn made by my beautiful daughter in law,

using the Weaving Stick loom kit from Lee Valley:USA Link Canadian Link

If you are in Europe or England, you can get gorgeous weaving sticks from Suzanne in her etsy shop: LINK

The pattern is available on my website at: MERMAID

By the way, there’s a wonderful group on Ravelry that is all about weaving with sticks and pegs: LINK

Here’s to Mermaids, and here’s to weaving, and, of course, here’s to sticks and string!!!

Free pattern for a woven elephant

tottietalkscrafts — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 02:56:52 +0000

The pattern has gone live for the
Woven Elephant that I designed for Lion Brand on the Martha Stewart loom
HERE’S THE LINK TO IT

She’s a cutie!

I love elephants…..

happy weaving!

More little looms from recycled stuff part 2

tottietalkscrafts — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 19:24:31 +0000

If you are teaching a child to weave, or just want an impromptu, no cost small loom for sampling yarns and colorways, this little loom is very handy.

The project on the foam food tray loom is a bookmark, but you can weave amulet bags, rug mugs, small dolls and toys, doll house rugs or squares that you stitch together to make larger projects.

It’s great for traveling, as it’s light, and if you use a plastic darning needle for weaving, it’s fine to take through airport security.

Yesterday, I posted part one of the recycled and upcycled looms: Here’s the link: PART ONE

I think that one of the most accessible looms for beginning weavers is the weaving stick loom.

I am doing a lot of designing for it – here’s my post about the mermaid to weave on the stick weaving loom: LINK

Happy Weaving!!!!

Little looms from recycled things for teaching weaving or sampling etc part 1

tottietalkscrafts — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 05:13:53 +0000

Yesterday, I posted about teaching children to weave Link

One of the pleasures of weaving is that it can be done with tremendously complex machines, but, can also be done with small bits of this and that from around the house.

Today and tomorrow, I am going to be posting little how to’s on making recycled and upcycled looms that are great for teaching kids how to weave, or just for noodling about with sampling yarns and weaving little bags, or hacky sacks or bookmarks….

So, here’s today’s installment:

If you make each grid square 1/4 inch, then the loom is business card size, which is a charming size to work with, and to pop into a pocket or bag.

If you weave 2 tiny rectangles on the loom, and stitch them together, then add a beaded fringe, it makes a very pleasing little amulet bag.

I think that one of the most accessible looms for beginning weavers is the weaving stick loom.

I am doing a lot of designing for it – here’s my post about the mermaid to weave on the stick weaving loom: LINK

Happy weaving!

When should a child start learning how to weave?

tottietalkscrafts — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:21:57 +0000

It’s never too early, (or too late!) for a child to start learning how to weave.

I bought my daughter her first loom when she was 6 weeks old. It was a little Spears loom #2 from England.

And, when my daughter and son were little, I had several looms set up for them to weave on, whenever they felt inspired to weave.

And, now, my grandson weaves with me:

He’s been sitting in my lap at the loom since he was born, and he really gets what weaving is all about.

He’s helping me weave his Grampa’s Saori shirt:

He’s two now, and he KNOWS about the shuttle!

He demanded the shuttle, and put it into the shed, and helped it across with his beautiful little chubby hands….

He LOVES the bobbin winder:

His grampa will certainly feel the love that has been woven into this shirt!

What do I recommend about teaching children to weave?

You don’t need a loom to start teaching a child to weave- cardboard looms and foam meat trays are great.

(I’ll post some patterns and instructions for them)

Child friendly looms are great- the Cricket is wonderful, as are a whole slew of small looms- ESPECIALLY,

the wonderful potholder loom!

BUT- I DO NOT recommend trying to teach a child to weave with loopers on the potholder loom.

Loops are actually rather challenging to work with.

Yarn is much more user friendly, and I have all kinds of YouTube videos to help you get children weaving.

When you click on my Potholder loom weaving page on my webiste: LINKIE

and scan down to the bottom of the page, you will find all kinds of YouTube links for my video tutorials.

I recommend the book: 1,2,3 Easy as Can Be Critters to weave on the potholder loom

and Weavagarumi for beginning weavers.

So, go ahead, and get those kidlets weaving!

It’ll be the gift that keeps on giving, as they will be embarking on a magnificent voyage of discovery that will last their lifetime!

Happy Weaving!

My learning curve with the double hole rigid heddle continues

tottietalkscrafts — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 18:47:46 +0000

This morning, an email came in, explaining that I am STILL not getting the double hole rigid heddle weaving right…

She pointed out that I am doing weft face weaving here, while the double hole rigid heddle are normally used to create WARP faced bands…

oops.

She also told me to not pick up the background threads on the even rows when the pattern threads are all in the up position.

I’ve tried that, and once again I have ugly long floats on the back of the weaving.

Hmmmm.

I really like the weft face weaving for the shirt that I am weaving, so I am going to continue weaving weft face.

And, I am stumped on the float thing.

When I did it ‘wrong’ and picked up the background threads, too, I got lovely reversible bands….

I am feeling very frustrated, so I am just going to get back to work, meeting design deadlines, and will try again later.

Update: I sent her a note in response to her suggestion to drop the background threads…. going ‘ackkkkkkkkkk’……

She sent me a note back this evening, saying, Oops… you did have it right! Just couldn’t see it in the video!

So I am feeling VERY relieved. I had gone back and done more weaving, returning to my previous way of keeping the background threads in the shed, and once again, the floats disappeared and the back of the band is lovely and reversible.

Well, it’s NOT reversible and it’s a good thing that I am going to be stitching it to the shirt, because the back of the band is a progression of floatie bits and woven in bits!

Once the shirt is done, those chronicles of “the learning experience” will disappear against the shirt, never revealing their untidy little secrets!

AND… Yep, the weft face is not the accepted norm, but, I like it, and I am going to carry on in the wrong way, as I find it quite fetching

I find it just fascinating that there are soooooooooooo many variables in this intriguing technique!

Now the corrected video for weaving on double hole rigid heddle loom

tottietalkscrafts — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 23:47:54 +0000

I am so excited- I have just learned more exciting things about weaving with the double hole rigid heddle loom!

The other day, I posted a video about how thrilled I was because I had finally figured out how to weave with the double hole or 2 holed rigid heddle loom. Link to previous blog post

I had extrapolated from how I wove pickup on the inkle loom, and was, to put it bluntly, wrong wrong wrong about so much of what I was doing.

A lady on the Braids and Bands list LINK on yahoo very politely, graciously and gently let me know that there was a much better way to weave with the double hole rigid heddle.

She told me that the Latvian way is to NOT drop the background strands, but to keep them in the weaving- and ONLY drop the pattern threads when they are not called for in the pattern.

That way, they would form tabby weaving, with no long floats (Happy dancing!) with the pattern threads showing up beautifully in reverse on the back of the band! H A P P Y HAPPY DANCING!

Look at the difference! the bit of band on the left was my first way, and the bit of band on the left is the right way!

Who wouldn’t want their bands to be sturdier, and reversible?

AND here’s MORE good stuff:

I also decided to get over my attachment to the weaving stick, and to keep my hot little hands out of the weaving, and to weave it like a traditional weaver (I almost added the ‘put on the big weaver panties, but didn’t, oh wait, I just did….) and weave the band ONLY with my shuttle.

Well, of course, that speeds things up and I am now clipping along like Daisytrains, merrily weaving MUCH nicer bands!

Not perfect, but oh soooooooooooo much better!

I have deleted the first video, and have made another, showing my next stage of the journey.

Once, when I was a child, I must have said something very stupid, because my father raised his eyebrow, fixed me with a baleful gaze and pronounced that Abraham Lincoln had declared that it was better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak up and remove all doubt.

ouch.

Well, I think that Abraham Lincoln and my father weren’t ~always~ right about remaining silent.

If I hadn’t had the courage to speak up and be willing to be found wrong about what I was doing with this, I would STILL be doing it wrong.

So, I say: Be willing to be thought a fool.

Speak up and ask.

There are kind people out there who are willing to show you a different way of doing something, and that way may make a world of difference in a skill that you are learning.

BUT… you’ll never know if you don’t have the guts to say:” This is what I am working on – got any suggestions?”

Besides, when you have big ‘aha’ moments in your learning curve, it can really be useful to other people!

So, that being said: Here’s the latest installment in my voyage of discovery with the 2 hole rigid heddle loom!

The story of my Saori loom and a new shirt for my husband

tottietalkscrafts — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 19:17:45 +0000

Last year, I wove my husband a shirt to wear while his Jazz trio performed at the Jazz festival and other gigs. Link to Jim’s shirt

It’s time to weave him a new shirt!

So, I have warped up my Saori floor loom and have started weaving the yardage for his shirt, and maybe some for one for me, too… we shall see….

The loom in the photo has a neat story. Her name is Toshi-san.

I bought her several years ago from my dear friend, Terri Bibby, who is a master Saori weaver- check out her website: Link

When Terri announced, a few weeks ago, that she is hosting a Saori weaving conference in September 2012 on Salt Spring Island: Announcement

she received a lovely email from the lady who originally bought Toshi-san in Japan in 1990.

She went to the first international Saori weaving conference in Kobe, Japan, fell in love with Saori weaving, and bought a loom.

They took Toshi-san apart, and shipped her to Canada in little pieces, which she then re-assembled.

Later, she sold Toshi-san to a weaving dealer in British Columbia, who sold Toshi-san to Terri.

When I walked into Terri’s studio not long after Toshi-san arrived, it was love at first sight, and I bought Toshi-san on the spot.

I wove like mad on Toshi-san for a couple of years, but then got involved with other looms and she sat empty and neglected.

I felt guilty about her being abandoned, so I thought that I might sell her.

Luckily, my daughter-in-law said- DON’T!!!! And she took custody of Toshi-san.

She wove merrily away on Toshi-san for awhile, but then spinning and making roving with her hackle and combs became more and more of a passion. She discovered that she’s not a weaver, but is a passionate spinner.

So, Toshi- san sat unused again…. but I was feeling sooooooooo called to her…………. so, now, she is happily ensconced back in my studio!

Yay! Toshi-san! Welcome back!

and…. now, I am having soooooooooooo much fun, weaving Jim’s new shirt.

I have a fondness for weaving inlays, so Jim’s shirt is going to have a lot of random squares and other shapes inlaid:

I love the philosophy of Saori weaving- it’s based in the belief of generosity of spirit, and exploring creativity and freeform expression.

It’s completely meditative and contemplative.

I follow my inclination to work with this color or that, and place shapes here and there, and allow the weaving to grow in a very organic way.

The bands for the shirt, and the cuffs and collars are also coming along on my Cricket loom-

I posted about my excitement in mastering the double hole rigid heddle loom yesterday: Double hole rigid heddle

All in all, it’s a complete expression of love and delight and a celebration of my adoration for my soul mate, the wonderful man that has been my beloved husband for more than 3 decades

Here’s a picture of Jim (wearing his last year’s shirt) and his trio. You have to look hard to see the bass player- he’s wearing black and it makes him kind of invisible.

I was holding our gorgeous grandbaby, who fell asleep while Grampa and the guys played.

Yep… that’s one of my Saori Gypsy jackets that I wove. Link

How to weave narrow bands on the 2 hole or double hole rigid heddle loom

tottietalkscrafts — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 22:38:55 +0000

I love weaving narrow bands, and have been hooked on pickup techniques on the inkle for more than 20 years.

Last year, I became fascinated by Sami bands -thanks to the online workshop taught by Susan Foulkes on the wonderful Yahoo groups: Braids and Bands Link and Band Snoddar Link

I loved the workshop so much that I bought Susan’s book, and I highly recommend it – when you click on the blurb link, you’ll still have to type in Sami band weaving.

I wove my husband a shirt last summer, using the Sami rigid heddle technique for the bands: Jim’s shirt LINK

One thing lead to another, and I became obsessed with the double hole rigid heddle.

I bought one on etsy, from Grace and Fred Hatton’s shop: LINK

(I drew and burned the bunnies on- it comes without decoration) and then couldn’t figure out how to weave with it. ARGH!!!!!

BUT… this is what I do! I am a professional designer, with small loom weaving being my special area of expertise…

so I just wasn’t willing to give up on it.

SO!!! I am THRILLED! that my dogged determination to figure it out has paid off!

I am now happily weaving away on the 2 hole rigid heddle loom.

And, I decided to make a video so that you can weave on the double hole rigid heddle loom, too!

Full of excitement, I made a video, showing what I was doing, but a kind weaver on the Braids and Band group gently pointed out to me that there is a MUCH better way of weaving the bands.

So, I went back to my loom, did it the way she said to, and VOILA! I now have beautifully reversible bands with no ugly floats!

I have deleted the first WRONG video and have made a new video, showing the much better way of weaving!

I love it- the internet wins again- I get to learn a new technique and be mentored by people half a world away!

And, then I get to share the learning curve with you! Wheeeee!

I am now weaving ONLY with a shuttle, and not inserting my hand into the shed, and I have stopped using a pick up stick.

These are the shuttles that I prefer to work with. I made them from old rulers that I found at the thrift shop.

POINTS TO REMEMBER WHEN WEAVING WITH THE DOUBLE HOLE RIGID HEDDLE LOOM:

Disclaimer: I offer this chronicle of my learning curve with this technique humbly, with the best of intentions, and with a fair amount of delight and excitement at finally being able to weave nifty bands on the double hole rigid heddle loom.

NOTE: Many weavers choose to use backstrap looms for narrow band weaving, but I find them too painful for words, so I use my Cricket loom Don’t have the tension set too tightly. You need a little give with the tension. You’ll find the perfect tension on your loom.

1: When you thread the heddle, take all your pattern strands through the upper set of holes.

2: The pattern threads should be heavier than the background holes. I also like to have the weft strands be a little heavier than the background strands.

3: The selvedge strands can be heavier than the background strands of warp, if you wish.

4: The selvedge and background strands are threaded into the slots and lower set of holes. Threading the double hole rigid heddle is deliciously quick and easy. I do use a warping board to make my warp chains first, but you don’t necessarily have to do that. See: warping board link

5: It is a really good idea to add extra length to your warp strands for sampling and experimenting.

6: Traditionally, wool is used to weave decorative bands, but I prefer to work with cotton. I use one strand of cotton for the background strands, and 2 strands for the pattern strands, and depending on how beefy I want the selvedges, more than 2 strands of warp for the 2 outside selvedge strands.

7: Each square on the graph paper represents one set of warp strands. I copied out a 15 strand pattern from Susan’s book, but traditional knitting patterns often work really well for band weaving. I clip my pattern to a metal board and use a magnetic strip to keep my place.

8: You will be following the pattern, slipping warp strands onto your shuttle, and will drop the pattern strands below to the bottom of the shed when your grid square is white. The background strands are always woven in every row, forming a tabby weave. When the background strand is dropped, it forms the reverse pattern on the wrong side of the band. Nifty, yes?

9: Look carefully at your pattern to decide if your odd or even rows will be the ‘up’ position of your heddle. The ‘UP’ position (heddle lifted, which brings all the pattern threads to the surface) is the best choice for rows that have the most pattern strands in them. The pattern that I am using in the video happens to have the most pattern threads in the even rows, so I chose to have the ‘Up’ or lifted position be the one I’ll use for the even rows.

10: Start weaving with the shuttle at the left hand of the band, with Row 1, of the pattern revealed on your chart. Cover the rows above it.

11: The odd rows will have the heddle pushed down. The slot threads are on the surface, and you can see the pattern strands below them.

In the photo above, the background threads from the slots, as well as the border strands, are in my hand.

The odd rows are lovely to weave. The shed is open - slide the border strands onto the shuttle, then, read the pattern, block by block. If the grid is white, pass the shuttle further into the shed, allowing the background strand to stay on the shuttle, but if the square is colored, pick up the pattern strand and put it on the shuttle.

Push the shuttle against the fell line (the last woven row) and tap it to beat it into place. Pull the shuttle all the through, and it is now on the right hand side of the weaving. You are ready to weave an even row.

12: On the even rows, lift up the heddle. The pattern strands pop up to the surface.

Read the pattern, block by block. If the grid is white, put the background strand onto the shuttle while passing the tip of the shuttle over the pattern strand, which will push it out of the shed.

If it’s colored, move the shuttle through the shed, picking up both the pattern thread, and the background strand that is in the lower hole of the same vertical bar as the pattern thread. And carry on across….

Bring the shuttle to the fell line, and tap it to beat the last row in.

Pass the shuttle all the way through and Voila! another woven row!

And, here’s the NEW video showing a MUCH BETTER way of weaving with the double hole rigid heddle loom: Happy weaving!!!!