Category Archives: Loom & looms & small loom weaving

November 13, 2010 · 1:03 pm

A little woodworking with my tapestry weaving

Weaving and woodwork are completely interwoven at our house.

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

I am working on an ongoing series of woven tapestries.

 

(In amongst working on a new book and a million other things… never a dull moment!)  🙂

I love weaving on frame looms, and find them to be a joy for tapestry weaving.

One problem with frame looms – especially a BIG one like my Goodwood (no profit in saying how much I like their work, just a happy customer) 13 inch frame loom (actual dimensions are close to 16 inches wide by about 32 inches tall) is that it’s waaaaaaaaaay too big for working in my lap.

So, I went out to the workshop and made an easel for it.

I get the heeby jeebies at the thought of drilling holes into a gorgeous loom.

But, it was essential to have holes in the sides for attaching the folding stand.

So I got Jim to drill the holes! LOL 🙂

 

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

 

While I was out in the workshop, I couldn’t resist making myself a couple of small tapestry beaters and some funky tapestry flat bobbins.

Why do tapestry bobbins need to be round and turned on the lathe?

They don’t.

I saw a photo of a flat tapestry bobbin somewhere on the net, and had a huge ‘aha’ moment!

And have discovered that I really quite like the little one of a kind carved ones.

They are slow to make (which is why machines are used to whip out the commercial ones) but are a treat to use.

And, will I be selling them? Nope…. too much work to make them.

Will I continue to make more for myself?

Intermittently…. I am deep into working on my new book, and there aren’t enough hours in the day…..

I have a tiny beater that I use for the miniature tapestries that I have been working on, but haven’t been able to find my full size beater.

So, it was a good excuse to play with some lovely walnut wood that we were given years ago, and make myself some Goddess shaped tapestry beaters.

 

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

The new beaters and bobbins are a treat to work with.

The tapestry is moving along nicely, although the ‘hours in the day’ issue is a hard one to get around!

One of the other tapestries that I am working on is on ‘wait’ mode…. but I hope to get back to it soon.

But, the new book is first and foremost, so that’s my focus right now.

As I make progress on it, and as we get the technical problems we’re having resolved, I’ll post more about it.

🙂

I have been having a very frustrating time with technical problems on my blog lately, and we have spent a ton of time trouble shooting. I haven’t been able to upload pics, so have spent hours and hours fiddling around with deleting old posts, in case that is the issue…. hopefully, we’ll get to the root of the issue soon!

All material on this blog is copyright protected and may not be used without permission from Noreen Crone-Findlay

 

 

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October 23, 2010 · 12:39 pm

October just pranced away on us!

Whoops…  October has shot by without a single blog entry from me….  which has been brought to my notice by getting emails from friends and relations asking, ‘Why?’

One of the reasons is that I am having trouble with uploading photos and I get so fed up that I just stomp off and go humph.

 

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

 

Oho! I just discovered that I am too close to having used up all my allotted space on this blog- so that’s why it didn’t want to accept the photos!  I went and did some ‘housecleaning’ and will delete some more stuff so that I can carry on.

The photo that I ~finally~ figured out how to upload is of one of my new looms.

It’s a lovely little loom from Goodwood Looms – one of their mini inkles. (No profit in me telling you that I love their looms, just a satisfied customer. And, I did use one of their frame looms in my book: The Woven Bag.  I always feel odd saying “No affiliations”, as I do get very fond of my looms, and so I do feel ‘affiliation’ – so it’s more honest to just let you know that I don’t make profit by singing praises of the things I love).

I ordered another frame loom, too, as I love the one I already have, but it appears to have gotten stuck to the desk of some bloke in Customs.

Aw, c’mon! I want my loom! Puhleeeeeeeeeeeeeze  release it!

I have been weaving up a storm….  I am working on some new pieces that I will be making a gallery page for on my new website (which I haven’t managed to get done, oh my…. oh my)

I  also have just bought a couple of wonderful new weaving books- I am now working my way through Laverne Waddington’s  ‘Andean Pebble Weave’ book  (Link)

It’s awesome.  I had done pebble weave on my Inkle loom, based on Helene Bress’s book, and it’s a very different kettle of fish than the way Ms Waddington presents it. I am soooooooooo excited by the possibilities of working with the Andean Pebble weave.

As a dyed in the wool small loom aficianado, I love the potential for creating intensely complex patterning using this technique on small looms.

I am so grateful to Laverne Waddington for the years of exploration and study that she has immersed herself in and for her generous sharing of her scholarship and expertise.

One other thing that I just have to comment on is that she has such a lovely presence in her videos- she seems like a total sweetheart, and that comes through so beautifully in all that she does.   I hope that she will be doing more books.

I chose to go with the paper copy and I am glad that I did, as I like to be able to work at different places in the studio, and this way, I am not tied to the computer desk.

AND… a big thank you to Syne Mitchell for all the hard work that she does in bringing such deliciousness to the weaving world! Yay!

The other book that I’ve just bought is Jane Patrick’s new book: The weaver’s idea book:creative cloth on a rigid heddle loom.

LINK (and I just noticed that they also have 2 of my other all time most favorite books ever at this link: Helene Bress’s Inkle Weaving and Betty Davenport’s Hands on Rigid Heddle weaving.  They are MUST HAVES).

The Weaver’s Idea Book is also destined to become one of my treasured books.  It is stuffed full of really useful information. It’s beautifully presented, and the book itself is a sturdy piece of technology that I love: a hardcover that opens up to be coil bound inside.

Again: No affiliations, just loving both books.

What else have I been doing instead of blogging? Well, I’ve been busily designing crochet and knitted projects for yarn companies and magazines, so that has cut into my weaving time!

And, working on new book proposals… we shall see how those go….

And, a million and one other things that leave me wondering at the end of the day- ‘Who pushed the fast forward button?’

🙂

 

 

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May 14, 2010 · 8:48 pm

How to weave a square on the bias on the potholder loom

For weeks and weeks, I have been meaning to get my video tutorial of how to weave bias squares on the potholder loom posted to YouTube.

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

What with one thing and another, I haven’t gotten around to it.

One thing that was odd, was that I simply couldn’t upload videos for awhile. I just gave up on YouTube. Anyone else having trouble with uploads? Weird.

And, since it took me so long to get the video uploaded,

I decided to re-shoot it, using ‘Tarn’, since I am working with Tarn so much, lately.

Fun!

Here’s a link for how to do one kind of join with Tarn:

Tarn Join

I didn’t have a potholder loom when I was a child, so when I was introduced to it when I was a grownup, I didn’t have any preconceived notions about what it could or could not do. So… I have been designing all kinds of magical and wonderful things for it ever since (for decades, in fact- my love for the potholder loom is a long standing one!!!)

You can see some of the things I have designed for it here: Potholder loom.

Over the years, when I was designing for the Potholder loom, I realized that I needed to be able to weave different shapes and in unusual ways with the looms.  So, I have done a lot of experimenting with it.
I have worked out a bunch of ways of weaving triangles on it, and this is how I twigged to how I could weave a square on the bias on the potholder loom….  after all, a square is just 2 triangles that happen to be in love.

The pesky gaps on the potholder loom were a challenge – but I have solved the mystery of how to deal with them!

How? Well..  check out the video!

Here is the YouTube video tutorial on how to weave a square on the bias on the potholder loom : LINK

Happy Weaving!

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March 24, 2010 · 12:02 am

New video tutorial- how to weave with yarn on potholder loom

How long can it take to make a 10 minute video?  LOL…. all day!

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

First of all…. you need to plot out how many looms you need to have on the go, and then get them set up so they can be grabbed quick like a bunny to keep the video flowing.

This means that each stage of the video has to be figured out, and just ‘that much’ weaving done on each of the looms.

I had a total of 6 looms on the go for this video.

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

So… let the taping begin….

Takes 1, 2 and 3 all were about 42 seconds long as I went… flubbadubba dubba…. cut…

Take 4 :

I bang into the camera stand and send it for a spiral dance, and drop everything as it goes ‘ga-doy-yoi- yoi-yoing’…

Delete.

Start over… (which does indeed mean, starting over! Unweave whatever I did in the video, and get all the looms back to their proper starting point…. EACH TIME – for EVERY TAKE!!!!)

Take 5   went really well, until  I was baffled at why the weaving suddenly just seized up.

Oh… duh… I was standing on the yarn. sigh.

Takes 6 and 7 each had unique little moments….

I snipped the yarn on one of the squares,…… that earned me a re-start.

I BROKE the weaving hook  in Take 7…. I have NEVER broken a weaving hook before, and Clever Clogs, I managed to do it in the middle of a video take.  Throw that for a lark.

Delete.

Go out to workshop and carve a new hook.

Start over….

Take 8: The greyhound sees deer in the yard.

He yodels at deer.

He barks at deer.

He rushes to the door and pounds on it to take his barking and yelping outside.

He knocks me sideways….

Delete.

Start Over….

Take 9: Small dog decides to join the fray….

Delete.

Start Over…..

Take 10…. Brain locks up and tongue does a tap dance.

Delete.

Start Over…..

Take 11…

By this point, the light is fading and I am clenching my jaw in grim determination-

I AM GOING TO GET THIS VIDEO DONE! and that is that…..

Take a deep breath…. forget about Takes 1 – 10…. oh please oh please, may my brain stay in motion, may my hands go where they are meant to, may my feet stay off the yarn, may the dogs puhleeeeeeeeze not go daft again….

And then, it’s done…. take a deep breath… and attempt to upload the video!  Fingers crossed… and…. yes! it’s a go!

Here is the link to the video: LINK

Please note: Everything on this blog is Noreen Crone-Findlay’s original, design, concept and work, and is copyright. Please do not copy without Noreen Crone-Findlay’s permission. Thank you!

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March 18, 2010 · 12:07 am

Out takes from The Woven Bag

Yesterday, I posted pics of some of the bags that a reader said she really liked (after I posted pics of bags that she didn’t like) 🙂  Link to yesterday’s post: Link

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

I also said that I would share a few bloopers with you.

Well… I don’t know if this qualifies as a blooper, but I have to confess that I was gobsmacked by discovering that the bag in the middle of the photo above, didn’t make it into the book.   I was taking pics of the bags, and wanted to show how neat it is that the inside of a couple of the bags is different from the outside:

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

I checked the book to see what the final name of the bag on the right was (it started out as ‘Market Bag on the Square’).

I couldn’t find it… I checked again…. eh? (I’m Canadian, and yes, we actually ~do~ say ‘eh?!’ sometimes, especially when baffled and perplexed….). I went page by page…. and …. um… it’s not in the book…

Then I cracked up, because, I have done revision after revision, and re-reads, and checks and checks and proof read after proof read, and I just noticed ~NOW~?!?!?!!? that this bag got bumped? eegads and little fish.

I don’t know why that struck me as being so funny, but it did.

So, The Market Bag on the Square isn’t so much an ‘out take’ as a ‘take out’….

Now, there’s another bag that I have done some ‘take out’ on, too…

It’s the Knotted Fabric Market bag:

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

Having eco and green and upcycled components to the book was really important to me.  I am really pleased with the reclaimed fabric torn into strips, and used instead of yarn in the body of the bag.

What I don’t like, is that I was experimenting with the handles for the bag, and I don’t much like the fabric handles.

Yes, they are soft, and yes, they feel nice in the hand.. and they are in the spirit of upcycling…. but- BUT –

they just look clunky….

So… I have done some revision.

I had a pair of handles that I bought at a thrift shop- they were on a hopelessly worn out bag. I bought the bag, and cut the handles off, and have re-used them on the Fabric Strip Market bag:

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

I stitched them on with the same fabric strips that I made the bag from, and I am much happier with the look of the bag:

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

It’s still in the spirit of upcycling, as the handles were re-claimed and are being re-used, and I am much, much happier with it now.

So, there you have it… a few ‘out takes’ and ‘take outs’ from The Woven Bag!

Oh yes! I forgot to say yesterday, that I have started a group on Facebook for The Woven Bag, and people are starting to post pics of the bags that they are weaving. You are MOST welcome to join and post pics of your bags, too!

Link to Facebook group for The Woven Bag; Link

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March 17, 2010 · 12:03 am

Show us some more bags she said

Last week, I got the nicest letter from a lady. She said that she had pre-ordered a copy of The Woven Bag…. BUT….

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

When I showed

some pics of

a few of the bags

on the late hankering blog,

she didn’t like them.

So….

she canceled her order.

Eegads and little fish!

THAT’s not good!

Then…

she noticed on

Amazon,

LINK

that you can search

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

inside the book

and take a peek

at some of the

other bags in the book.

So, she did that,

and loved what she saw.

She ordered the book,

and when it came,

she was THRILLED!

She loves all the neat

techie stuff in the book

and that it’s like having

a workshop at her fingertips.

I asked her if I should

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

try this again,

and show more pics

of the woven bags.

She said, ‘YES!’

I asked her which ones

she thinks I should

show, and she listed

off these ones,

so I pulled them

out of the trunk

where I am storing them,

and got the camera out….

so, here’s another look inside the book!

woven-bag-patchwork-princess copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

woven-bag-happy-dancer copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

woven-bag-tandem copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

woven-bag-woven-roving-posy-bag copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

Tomorrow, I am going to share a couple of little blooper secrets from the book… stay tuned….

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December 31, 2008 · 4:37 am

Inkle Loom Dimensions

Recently, someone asked me about the dimensions of my inkle loom.

So, I’ve taken pictures of my loom and measured it, in hopes that this helps her husband in building her inkle loom.

My husband built mine from reclaimed wood from pallets, and it’s VERY hard wood.

You need hardwood for an inkle loom, as you put so much pressure on it.

I have woven everything from rugs to garments to bags to bookmarks on this loom. I love it.

inkle-loom-6

I am not alone in loving my inkle loom…. my cats LOVE to help me warp it!

inkle-loom-1

inkle-loom-2

inkle-loom-3

inkle-loom-4

inkle-loom-5

All images and content on this blog are copyright and not to be reproduced without permission.

Image source: Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

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December 24, 2008 · 12:13 am

Weaving Words

I love weaving words into inkle woven bands.

tottie-and-dame-julian-3

In this picture, Tottie Tomato is wrapped in the words of Dame Julian of Norwich’s prayer:

And all shall be well

and all shall be well

and all manner of things shall be well…

tottie-and-dame-julian-1

tottie-and-dame-julian-2

I love this prayer and say it allllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll the time……….

To pay homage to Dame Julian and her wonderful prayer,  I wove the bands that I used to shape her body (and her banner) on my inkle loom. I crocheted her hands and head, and wove the remainder of the elements of the sculpture on various other small looms.

I use a simple pickup technique for weaving words.

A picture is worth a thousand words, so I think I should put ‘do a video of  weaving words’ on my to do list!

The images in this blog entry are copyright and not to be used by anyone else for anything else….

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December 16, 2008 · 6:20 am

What’s on your loom for Christmas?

christmas-08-weaving-3

It wouldn’t be a proper Christmas without at least a little weaving!

My daughter and I are co-creating a present for her husband.

I warped up my Cricket (love that loom!) and am weaving up the bands that she is going to use to make him a pair of suspenders.

I wove about 20 feet of really nice bands…. I’ll show you pics when she’s got the suspenders done….

christmas-08-weaving-2

By the way, my husband made me that shuttle one year for my birthday. Isn’t it gorgeous?

He also built me my inkle loom, which I am working with to weave bands that say different things for different members of the family:

christmas-08-weaving-1

That’s for my son’s camera bag…. hope he likes it.

I love doing pickup techniques on the inkle. It’s slow, but satisfying!

So, what’s on your loom for Christmas?

Happy Weaving!

Image source: Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

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November 19, 2008 · 5:10 am

Another healing/prayer shawl made with the mitered loop method

healing-prayer-shawls-qs-4

Last week, I wrote about weaving healing and prayer shawls on my Cricket Loom, using a method that I have developed (the mitered loop shawl). Here’s the link to the tutorial

healing-prayer-shawls-qs-5

This is one of the shawls that I have just woven for my daughter. The colors didn’t show up at all well… sigh. It’s much prettier in person! Much more turquoise-y.

Image Source: Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

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