Jan 2004 - Finnväv

I first read about this pickup double-weaving called Finnväv (or Finnweave) in an old Handicrafter issue article written by Mary M. Atwater (Vol VI, No I, Part II).

I probably had to read it at least 10 times to understand how it works. I won't explain it here but may write about it later.

To operate each shaft independantly, I had to convert my loom once again but this time into a counterbalanced. This picture shows the top roller holders, the roll itself (an old curtain wooden rod) and the horses I made. I recycle whenever I can.





I don't think I could built all of these devices without this old friend found through the local ads ;-)



















Bonnie is our inspector on duty today!











And I now have a place to keep my shuttles.

Dec 2003 - Goose Eye towels rerun

I am making another set of goose eye towels in another colour scheme as a Christmas gift for my best friend.








Here's another printout for the details.








And now real pictures of this project. I find the colours so vibrant.








Someone better appreciate their present!








Notice the hand made shuttle and "temples" from which are hanging weights to prevent drawing-in.

Nov 2003 - Mom's towels

I took this huck pattern from the May/June 2003 Handwoven issue. I think Mom said she wanted pink in her dishtowels but I'm not sure. I wish she had asked for another colour, pink is definitely not my favourite. The taupe stripes seem to attenuate it a bit at least.





Too late for changing my mind, the warp is ready to be put on the loom.











I find threading much easier with string heddles as it doesn't require the use of a hook like with metal heddles, just my fingers.







The idea for the "template" comes from Sara Von Tresckow's web site.








A complete view.










The nice border stitching pattern is made by weaving in a metal rod, which will be removed later.







Once the rod removed, threads are hemstitched in groups making pretty openings. And I still don't like the pink ;-)








No more warp, I'm done with the weaving!







The usual quality inspection. Approved!








The final hemstitching operation.








The final product! Done with my this Christmas gift.

May 2003 - Countermarch transformation

I am converting my loom into a countermach loom but I'm affraid of not having enough room to fit two levels of lamms. Joanne Hall suggested that I try putting both marches and countermarches together on the same pin due to the lowness of the breast beam on this loom.




Instead of getting pre-made string heddles, I decided to tie my own. I bought rolls and rolls of Seine twine from the hardware store and I tied more knots than I ever did in my life.









I made the shaft bars and lamms with regular kiln dried pine wood.







The results are great! Countermarch is such an amazing mechanism in which the whole harness is balanced by the weight of the treadles.






When you step on a treadle, you break this balance: all others treadles raise, some shafts go up and the remaining ones go down according to your tie-up and you obtain a clean shed.






Please remember that I am here voluntarily experimenting and therefore learning the hard way, which is absolutely not necessary to anyone interested in weaving. Do not let yourself get influenced negatively by my sharings. I have always had by nature as much fun fixing up things than using them, if not more ;-)

Mar 2003 - Goose Eye twill towels

I did not plan on my previous Fibonacci towels shrinking so much. I should have cut them longer.

Third weaving project will be a set of large Goose Eye towels!








Isn't this pattern gorgeous? I keep getting lost with the treadling though.








Cocotte could not resist trying out the new "runner"!








I was happy enough with the results that I started giving towels out. People are making Christmas orderings already! I am just starting weaving and I think I love it already.

Feb 2003 - Fibonacci tea towels.

I wanted my first "real" project to be useful. So using a trial version of a weaving software, I designed this tea towell drawdown based on Fibonacci numbers.

I used natural 2/8 cotton and crochet coloured yarn for the stripes.

Here are a few pictures taken during the process...

Jun 2001 - Take a loom home.

Sometime in June 2001, my bestfriend convinced me to buy this home made weaving loom for $60 at a local garage sale. The pile of dirty wood looked much better already after scrubbing and assembling it.

Over a period of 20 months, I managed to slowly bring this monster back to life. Wooden ratchets needed a replacement, rusty heddles and reed got a good cleanup (CLR is great for light surface rust) and of course new strings. I also spent a lot of time researching the web about weaving, what an interesting topic!

I quickly found out that my loom had the look of a Swedish loom with it's tall frame and hanging beater. But no further similarities, a jack loom mechanism with hanging rigid frames and metal heddles. I was already hoping for a counterbalance or a mystical countermarch... how is this mysterious one working?

Planning my first visit to the weaving supply store, I was hoping to finally meet with someone who'd be interested in hearing about my loom fixing story, so I brought with me pictures of my loom and a list of what I thought I needed to buy. But there I met a rather sceptical saleslady saying: "this reminds me of an old barn loom, you expect to weave with that?" I finished loosing her attention completely when I mentioned I fixed it myself and had desires to convert it into a countermarch some day: "Why do you want to do that?". To experiment and learn! I left after only 20 minutes with all I needed: a shuttle!

Finally came the day when we got both ready (the loom and I) for a test drive. I built a warping frame, fixed it onto the back of the loom and made my first warp.






I turned a strip of wood and a few nails into a rattle, clamped it to the back beam and warped the loom. Not bad eh? After a few adjustments (tie, untie, tie, untie...), it worked!















I've got to bring a picture of my bobbin winder the next time I go back to the store. Just to see the lady's face ;-)



.