Hands that weave

Meg put up a post on her blog, 31st July, "Calling all Hands".

I remembered it today, whilst making an alteration to my inkle loom warp.  This is what Meg said in her post:

"Anytime on Saturday, August 13, take a picture of your hand/s; spinning, knitting, weaving, baking, reading, holding your child's/grandchild's/long-time-love's hand/s, whatever. It doesn't have to be craft-related...."

Above is my inkle loom, originally made by Michael Crompton (best known for his tapestry weaving) but recently modified to make the tensioner and pegs stronger.

Below is the warp, which was slightly more assymetric than intended.  I wanted to put in two more of the darkest green threads.  I have found that starting off with three little sticks in the warps helps to spot problems before I start weaving (acting like the header row on my floor loom) and also enables me to bunch the warp threads tight so I start weaving the band at near to the width I want.

Tying tight knots for my inkle loom warps is a little tricky, I use one finger to hold a slip knot, whilst manipulating the threads for another to make a knot that will hold tight, and then I tighten the second knot without shifting the finger that holds the first knot from slipping.  I'm lucky to be ambidextrous, but having double-joined digits doesn't help.

Today there was someone else around to take photos (thank you Bob!) so you can see both my hands.

I'm happy with the way this band is weaving.  I drew the edges in a bit tighter in the first few inches, when it is finished I will take out the first two inches of weft (possibly then using the free warp ends as tassels).

Resting in/on the warp you can see my homemade thread bobbin and separate shuttle that I use only as a beater.  I can't work as fast or get as neat results without the separate beater.  I used to wonder if this was because other people are better weavers, or more practiced at working with the shuttle/beater.  But today I had a new thought - is it because other people are not ambidextrous?

Meg asked for some words too:

"Also, give me a title or description of yourself; whatever best describe how you saw yourself as at the moment the photo was taken, i.e. "Mama, Yarn collector, Weaver, Neighborhood Weaving Teacher"."

A description of me? I don't know how to do this. I was so absorbed in what I was working on, there was just me and the threads and the loom.  So quite simply:

Dorothy, weaving a linen inkle band on her 44th birthday.

Testing

My Mike Crompton Band Loom has a new tension block in place and I'm weaving a trial band, this is the new block -

It's longer, and a better fit in the width than the original -

With a warp on the loom and the tension wound up tight, there is minimal sideways twist now,

We are also testing a guide plate on the side of the block, to counteract the tendency it had to tip forwards under tension, if it works this will get replaced with a smarter piece of wood that will extend behind (as well as before) the peg.

I'm also testing out a new bobbin. This is based on a bobbin photographed in the Swedish book I mentioned before,"Weaving Bands" by Liv Trotzig and Astrid Axelsson. You can see a similar bobbin used in this video by skapaegna on YouTube. This prototype is made from a scrap piece of Sycamore wood, using a spoke shave. (We'd like a woodturning lathe, but have no where to put one at the moment!)

I was going down with a cold on Friday when I wound this warp, and although I tried to follow a warping diagram I managed to make it asymmetrical, the main error was that the pale strip on one side is a blue thread and on the other side lavender, I quite like the result.

Here's a couple more links for band weavers, Laverne on her backstrap loom has uses selvedge techniques that are useful for band weavers, see the videos in her Weavezine article, and Ruth McGregor has a video demonstrating much the same method on YouTube.

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I've also been enjoying testing out the latest addition to my collection of spinning wheels. This is a trusty, dependable little Ashford Traveller of which I am the third owner. My first spinning wheel, an Ashford Traditional, went to a new owner a couple of years ago, and I have often recalled wistfully how easy it was to use for anything I wanted to spin, how easy to carry and what an honest, simple design.

This wheel is a few years old, but has seen little use and is in beautiful condition. I particularly wanted a single treadle wheel and they are no longer available new from Ashford. I love the way I can carry it about with one hand, and it is the only wheel I have had which fits beautifully in the boot of my small Fiat car - it lies down flat behind the seats and I don't have to dis-assemble it at all, although it needs wrapping up and tucking in snug with a bit of packaging for safe travel. As I found that the Majacraft Suzie Alpaca was no lighter nor easy to carry than the Timbertops wheels, I'm particularly pleased to have a Traveller.

The cotton tape dangling from the tension knob holds the original Ashford threading hook. I think it would look prettier hanging from a new inkle band, maybe orange and red threads to match the rich colouring of the varnished Beech. wood?

Inkle weaving news

I did eventually got a warp onto my Mike Crompton inkle loom. It's actually easier and quicker to warp up than the smaller Ashford inkle loom, because it's less fiddly. I can stand next to it and wind the warp as easily as using a warping board. I also found it comfortable to sit at for weaving, and light enough to move from one room to another depending where I want to work.

The photo in my previous post about this loom did not show this hand tray in the loom's frame.

While winding the warp, I found it more convenient to hang my scissors from the front of the loom tray. I think I should weave a band for them to hang from as my next project!

The next photo shows my current favourite band weaving tools. For weaving a narrow band I used a Schacht 10" stick shuttle, and my favourite cake knife as a beater. I know many weavers use the shuttle to beat, but I prefer a separate shuttle. I'm not sure why this works better for me, possibly because I use both hands equally and I know not everyone does, partly because I use the beater to open a sticky shed and this is easier if it doesn't have thread wound around it.

When I came to weave a wider band I found that the cake knife was too small, so I used the cardboard bobbin (a cut down boat shuttle bobbin that I can wind on my mechanical bobbin winder) and used the Schacht shuttle as beater.

After the first warp, I made the small addition to my loom of a drawing pin in the end of the first peg. I can catch the thread behind when I start to wind a warp loop, and as the pin is angled it sits securely and I can pick it up when the loop is complete to tie a knot. I don't use continuous warps because I found that the warp waste is increased when a loop that doesn't pass through the heddles becomes one that does.


This photo shows part of the tension device - a peg set into a block that winds along a nylon screw (you can see the screw on the right of this picture).
The knob for adjusting the tension is under the tray.


I like the fine adjustment that is possible with this device, however, I have woven two bands now and unfortunately found a problem. The block that the tension peg sits in is loose in it's channel and also 1mm narrower at one end than the other. With the high warp tension needed for inkle weaving, the force on the peg pulls the block sideways, so the peg is then at an angle which means the outer threads are looser than those near the frame. When I wove my second band (approx 2" wide) this was more noticeable than on the narrow band, and so for a temporary fix I used a plastic plant label to wedge in the gap (left side of the block), and a rubber band on the end of the peg to stop the warp loops slipping off when I slackened the tension to wind on.

Fortunately we happen to have a suitable piece of mahogony wood that can be used to make a better fitting block for the peg. It will be longer and have guides to keep it straight in the frame, so this loom is in the workshop for now.

Here is the warp plan for the first band off the loom, and the band itself shown below Once again, I was using linen and linen mix yarns from GTM Sales.


I was interested to discover that I get about 20-25 cm loom waste, which is actually the same as on my Ashford loom. This is how close I can get to the heddles at the end of the warp, I estimate that's 10cmmore than if I used continuous warp threads.


To finish the ends of a narrow band I stitched the weft back through the last couple of rows of weaving.


I have found that the ends of the wider band need a bit more attention, such as over stitching the end or tying knots to make tassles in the warp ends.

The band below was one I wove before on the Ashford loom, but as I wanted to weave another band with a similar design, and I hadn't made an acurate warp diagram, I had to go back to it, count the threads and draw the pattern out. I need to be more systematic about my inkle bands and keep good records if I want to repeat things!

Based on that, here's the plan for the second band off the Mike Crompton loom:

I'm really pleased witht he way the pattern worked. The same evening it came off the loom this band went into service as a dressing gown belt.

Having discovered that I really enjoy weaving narrow bands, and with the challenge of my new Henning Loom, I decided it was time I joined The Braid Society. I was able to go along to their A.G.M. in Manchester a couple of weeks ago to attend the afternoon talk and deliver my membership application in person. It's an international society and the list of members has various people whose names I know as experts who have written books.

Their biennial exhibition was on at the same venue as the A.G.M. and I saw some stunning pieces of work, I'm not sure if I am more inspired or challenged by them, but one thing is certain, I need to keep practicing and get my edges neater. I do want to improve my basic band weaving skills before I start using the Henning Band Loom for fancy patterned work.

My Braid Society membership pack arrived in yesterday's post, and I wore my new badge all day long! I'm enjoying reading the newsletter, Strands magazine, and bundle of information about the society and it's members. They have an online discussion list enabling all the international members to participate, so maybe I'll learn some tips for improving my edges.

Yes the floor loom is sitting by neglected, I'm having to do exercises to strengthen my feet and ankles before I warp up again, but weaving a few bands and indulging in weaving books are keeping me amused. I'll tell you about the books another day, there's a small library on the floor around my sofa and I have plenty of thoughts for book reviews.

Mike Crompton Inkle Loom

Here is my new Mike Crompton floor standing inkle loom, purchased from Frank Herring & Sons. I included a stool to give an idea of height, and where you sit to weave on a loom like this. It has a screw tensioner and all the pegs are removable, handy for storage and also for changing the loom layout to suit a different warp length.

I know... it would look better with a warp on, and you'd like to see some weaving. I've not had time yet! The weekend has been busy, with a trip out on Saturday to collect a Henning Band Loom that was free to a good home, and Sunday I was recovering as I'm still not back to full strength after my long illness. I hope to get a warp on soon, I'm really looking forward to using this beautiful loom.