Category: efficiency
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AVL and Elbows
I remembered to mount the cheese grater beam for this sample of Diversified Plain weave using rayon chenille and bamboo. After weaving enough that the apron cleared the beam I wrapped the cheese grater on either side of the web with cloth to prevent the weft from catching on the metal and creating loops at…
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Weaving Longevity
No pictures today – I’m still unpacking and getting stuff organized, but I wanted to recap the class in Texas. The class had 8 participants all ‘middle’ aged or seniors. Several had problems that were preventing them from weaving as much as they would like. The general public – and even many weavers! – have…
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726
ends. Straight draw. 70 or so minutes to thread. I rarely tell people how long it takes me to do the various parts of the process but since I’m teaching The Efficient Weaver in a couple of weeks I’ve been thinking about process and issues of efficiency. Number One. Being efficient is not hurrying. Hurrying…
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In Praise of Longer Warps
Am just about to cut the tea towels off the AVL. This warp was 30 yards long and about 10 yards of it went towards fabric for new office curtains. Which I hope I will have time to sew up sometime this fall….or winter! While it may look like there is an awful lot of…
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Rough
Here is warp number 3 (as in counting down from the 8 I had left to do after I thought I was done with them) rough sleyed ready to be beamed. How much longer does it take to rough sley instead of use a raddle? I don’t know. I haven’t used a raddle for 15…
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Taking Care of Others
Have been thinking about watching weavers use methods that will lead to injury – sitting too low, usually – and wondering how much of a duty I have to point this out to them. At workshops I always see people weaving on small looms with ‘ordinary’ chairs which are too low. Sitting with hips lower…
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Beginning
I know I blogged about this before – even found the photos I took – but can’t find the actual post so here it is again…. When beginning a new warp I use some scrap yarn and throw 3 picks without beating. It doesn’t really matter what sort of yarn although something with a little…
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Knowledge and Soapboxes
A gamp of various wefts for the rest of the warp. Colours are not true – the greyish one is actually a soft greyed lavender which looks very pretty on the warp but not so great in the photo…. There has been a lively discussion on one of the chat groups about recipe weavers vs…
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Pay Attention
The end of the scarf with one more sample, this one woven in twill. Notice the little ‘waves’ in the fell. This is due to the difference in characteristics of the two yarns – the wool has a much higher elasticity than the Tencel. Since the whole point is to have a cloth that ‘collapses’…
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Honing Skills
catching the shuttle – thumb is used as a ‘brake’ to prevent the bobbin from feeding off too much yarn preparing to throw the shuttle – index finger has moved to the point of the shuttle to propel it through the shed  Today I got an email from someone who found my You Tube…