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I love color and weave. I've finally done the finishing and got it recorded in my log book, although I wove these up a while ago. The patterns are so interesting! https://ibb.co/CQNyLX1 https://ibb.co/XLkY9Jd
I love love the design for this project and can’t wait to get tied on and going. But I know I’m in for a rough ride. My threads weren’t consistent—some looser than others as I wound the warp on. I’m guessing it’s because I didn’t do a good job with multiple threads in my hand at the warping board. I have this nightmare imagined with 200 little weights hanging off the back! Is there anything I can do at this point?
Have you wound it on the back beam yet? If not, you might have to do it more slowly, making sure that you pull out all the slack you can, bit by bit, before winding it on.
I've been warping for season 2 sample 2 and have a question about warping DDDD/LLLL with 2 ends in my hand. I understood the others but can't get this one. I know that's ridiculous but.... Can you clarify for me please? Thank you.
What you are aiming for in your cross is having 4 darks together and then 4 lights. If you are warping with 2 in your hand you would wind on 2 darks going down and then back up your warping board through your cross giving you 4 darks and then switch to 2 lights repeating the same motion. Make sense .....
Perfect! Thank you.
OR ... you could wind 1 D and 1 L for the entire warp and then just grab the appropriate colored thread DDDDLLLL when you're threading the heddles. I warp back to front and this works fine - the threads are slightly tangled at the back but only in groups of 8 and once they're thru the heddles, all is good. This was suggested by Janet Dawson for a stash buster class I attended online this past year. She called it 'borrowing from the neighbors'!
Thank you. I also saw Jane's discussion of an alternate method.
So, I warped with 1 dark, 1 light in this section because that's what seemed obvious at the time from reading the draft, but I realise now that I'm threading my heddles that it's a bit of mess...and had a little momentary almost panic. Rewatching the video, I see I've warped "not in accordance with the instructions." You're saying that the little tangles from pulling the darks out of four adjacent groups/crosses isn't going to be a problem? I was wracking my brain on how to fix this....but it'll be ok just how it is? Such a relief! 🤞
As long as you only move threads within the same section in the cross - not out of adjacent cross-sections. For example, if you wound a section 2 threads at a time - then you can switch those two around. If you wound with 4 in your hand - then you can switch around within that group of 4. Be guided by your cross and you'll be fine.
how do you wind a warp that has an even number of ends in the sequence? For example if there are 45 ends in the sequence how is it wound on?
If the warp sequence calls for 45 ends - you wind your warp until you have 45 ends in your cross. In the Colour and Weave gamp - LLD x 15 times going through your cross gives you 45 ends of LLD in your cross. You will have to tie your LLD to your 4 divider threads at the opposite end of your warp to where you started because of the odd number of ends you are winding - 45 being an odd number. Have you gone back and reviewed Season 1: Episode 1: Making a Good Warp? Jane demonstrates there how to wind with multiple ends in your hand.
If I have a heddle threading mistake of 1, 3, 4 (just caught it and am unweaving now to correct) can I just rethread the heddles to the right of the mistake back to the edge since it is plain weave? I'm thinking it won't matter that the first heddle isn't 1 as long as the sequence is maintained - correct?
I'm hoping that you have discovered that you have been able to answer your own question! Your thoughts were absolutely right!
I just wanted to share and say a huge thank you to everyone involved in School of Weaving!!
I've completed the Color and Weave gamp, and learned so many new things! I'm a brand new weaver (this is my third proper project ever...), and I have nothing but gratitude for the excellent material and helpful forum, and I'm so looking forward to continuing my learning journey.
Here's a picture of my attempt. I think I only made one mistake in the weft, goofed a bit on squaring my sections, and have lots of room for improvement in all of the steps, but I'm still calling it a success because I've learned new and fun things. 😀
Going to re-sley for the first time ever, and see if I can make a neat scarf or something now.
Well done - I love your attitude and look forward to seeing more wonderful cloth coming off your loom in the future as you learn and understand your craft! 👏👏👏
That looks wonderful!
Terrific work!
I had a blast working on the color and weave gamp! After making the gamp, I promptly made a dark, and then a light tea towel. After this, I decided to make a little sampler and see if I could double width weave on my little 4 shaft table loom, which I had never done before.
Amazed with the outcome I made myself a beautiful double width shawl, and the best part was I didn't have to re-sley anything! I simply used Harisville Shetland for the weft, and wove in double width, plain weave. Here are some pictures of my finished project.
https://ibb.co/vYDpfK4
https://ibb.co/CPPbTHh
I am a new weaver and my finished projects were far from perfect, but I am very happy with the outcome and all the new skills I learned!
Beautifully done, Kirsten! 👏👏👏
Very impressive, an inspiration to all of us new weavers!
What was the wool/cotton fulling process like? Did the structure become stable? I haven't done this but am interested in trying the wool weft with the 2/8 cotton. Thanks, Barbara
Wool and cotton create a stable cloth and have been used together for centuries. The wool likes to curl up with the cotton and get nice and cozy - as long as you don't over-full it. Try it in your sample ;-)
I was nervous about all those thread “bundles” and couldn’t imagine them staying untwisted enough to get through the warp. It’s like mysterious weaving magic! Only one broken warp thread and that was because it got separated from its family in the raddle. I enjoyed this lesson so much after showing my completed work to my sister she convinced me to make a scarf for her with the same gamp.
I used purple, natural, and light plum, and added a little more to each threading sequence to allow for wider towel/samples. Also for all the threading sequences made sure that I started and ended on dark threads. 400 warp ends in total
Well done, Lisa! 👏👏👏
Here are the pictures
I have just finished the sample. It turned out really well. I used several different colours and counts after the initial sample. It really was the story of a warp. I counted wrongly and had too many threads, made threading mistakes, made denting errors. The worst effort at warping in my 10 years of warping. I preserved and ended up with a lovely piece. I am going to take it to my weaving group. Well worth the effort.
I’m glad you persevered - you’ll find opportunities to use what you’ve learned through this sample as inspiration in your weaving from this point on 😁
I just finished about 6 yards of my 8 yard warp. These first 5 samples are all at 18epi/18ppi and turned out very well. I had made my warp with 2 extra tiles, one at each side. These tiles were 1/2 light & 1/2 dark threads. I like it very much. I took out the extra threads at the end tiles in the original instructions because they were there for the take-up, to add symmetry. The warp was about 25" in the reed.
Once finished, I zigzagged between my 5 samples. I then washed these samples in about 130F degree water and dried to "ironing" dry moisture, and ironed. I will hem after I cut them all apart. They turned out great and are about 21.5" wide now.
In the mean time, I re-sleyed the warp and it is about 36" in the read - remember I have 9 tiles across instead of 7. I am now weaving at 12epi/12ppi, with the 2/8 warp and cotton boucle in the weft. I am not sure if I like it. Its loose-y and I don't know how it will wash up, with this open weave. I have fulled wool with great success, but I've not done this with cotton boucle. This is the first time I've used boucle. I don't want to cut this wider project off yet, to see how it washes up, as I don't want to lose more warp length. And I don't want to start the last project on this warp with boucle without knowing the answers to the following questions. I would be very grateful for information on cotton boucle and finishing.
Questions:
Will the piece stabilize once washed in very warm to hot water?
Is there an episode that addresses fulling cotton? I couldn't find it.
Will the boucle soften up once washed?
Alternatively, I could use wool. I have a hefty supply, and I really like the picture posted above by Kirsten B. I could make a wide shawl....hummmm
This is why Jane encourages us to sample! This is the way you will learn how different combinations will work together. If you are weaving with 100% cotton in your warp and weft - including Bouclé - you can throw it in the washing machine, after you have secured the ends of your cloth with a zig-zag stitch. It does soften up and make a wonderfully absorbent cloth. Do a sample with it for future reference, and weave the rest of your warp with wool as a weft - since that is what is appealing to you. You'll need to full that final piece on your warp by hand because of the wool content and you have to be careful not to overfull it or you will create a board rather than a nice soft shawl ;-)
FWIW, I opened up my sett to 12 epi and used cotton boucle to make a lovely shawl with this warp. I wet finished it in the washing machine, and it is marvelous.
Nan, My weave at 12epi cotton with weft cotton boucle is done and hemmed. It is a nice weight, light and soft. It is the size of a baby blanket. I can visualize the blanket as a summer weight blanket for a baby.
Good to hear about your success with your Shawl. The last section of my warp was woven with Jaggerspun Heather. I changed the orange strips out for a light salmon strip. It is not wet finished yet, as I have to finish the tassels. I did make it long enough for a shawl. It came in good used when I stopped at a Resturant for lunch on my way to my weaving group. The weave was in the car; not finished, but felt good from the air conditioned chill that was in the restaurant.
Thanks for the info Sandra, especially the last bit about not over fulling.
I’m weaving the color and weave gamp with open sett at 12epi. I’m now using wool, heather jagger spun. I have woven a section at 10ppi. Would it be better at 8ppi? To allow more drape?
ETA, I'm using 8ppi. and things look good so far. I like the openness of the weave at 8ppi.