I decided to weave off the last towel after breakfast and was about 10" into it when there was an explosion at my loom and stuff went flying everywhere. The wooden dowel that I had substituted for a steel rod (that I haven't bought yet) just splintered and flew, taking stuff piled on the castle went with it. I had to cut the loops and tie on with overhand knots. Warp lost.
I hate always learning things the hard way on every project. Somehow I had a bunch of heddles on one side of my third shed. I have no idea why that shed or how that many could even accrue on a shed. They rubbed selvedge threads mercilessly and caused multiple breakages. I just wanted to be done with this project so I could redistribute the heddles correctly.
I bought this cone of 8/2 cotton when we were at Woodland Woolworks last summer. I'm not sure what color to call it but once I got it home, I couldn't find a use for it until that last towel.
I love how it works with this variegated warp. It's my favorite of the four-towel set, but with the loss of warp, I can't get the full length from this towel that I would otherwise have. Yes, I know. I was on borrowed time with the wooden dowel. And I'm buying a steel rod when I'm in town this week.
It's been like this all day. I hadn't planned to stay in the studio for five hours, but it's what I ended up doing. I'm into my third placemat but need to cut more strips tomorrow. I decided to spend the rest of the afternoon catching up on blogs and email. It's still snowing.
Here are the towels. Tomorrow I will cut them apart and stitch the hems. I'd like to get the placemats finished as well. I have a two-day color theory class on Friday and Saturday and know that nothing will get done for many days following it. The teacher is Laura Viada. She's from Houston and the class list I received today said to wear old clothes because paints can be messy. I have no idea what to expect. I Googled her today and found that she is an attorney and complex weaver. Interesting~
11 comments:
I had this mental image of your loom "explosion" and just shuddered!!! I saw a piece on the spring snow on the news tonight. I know you're ready for some Spring!!!
Bummer about the dowel!!!
I heard someone say once that heddles can shift with the rocking motion of how you use your feet when you weave. I'd guess the movement of your body in all ways contributes to a gradual shifting over time.`
I think you will like Laura Viada. I took a couple of seminars from her at CNCH in 2008 and she is a very good teacher with lots to talk about. Her work is also amazing.
Sorry about the last of the warp:-(
Even if you don't find a steel rod, a sturdy flat stick would work too.But what a bummer having it all give way. I use to tie the heddles together at the sides of each harness, assuming a harness pin wasn't holding them away from the working heddles.
Not a problem with the texsolv heddles so much though. I just realized I don't have a loom anymore with anything but texsolv.
Snow here too, snow then melting then colder then more snow. I just plan on spring sort of mid May for maybe a week, then right into summer.
Ouch! Gives a whole new meaning to "the last straw", only in this case, it would be the "last thread" or the "last advance of the warp". Sometimes weaving is just like that.
The steel rods on my looms came from Home Depot. When you see that happening with the heddles, you can use a piece of carpet warp to tie them to the side of the heddle frame. Again, it happens sometimes....especially when the warp is almost as wide as the loom will allow and doesn't use a lot of the heddles on that harness.
I can see what you mean about the yarns in that last piece. It is very nice. Sorry it's not as long as you'd like. Perhaps that fabric was meant to be something else...perhaps a bag?
You really have been productive! Sorry about that snow.
That's gotta stink sorry about the last warp! I can't believe you still have snow.
The upcoming class sounds great! Sorry about the explosion, and about that last towel coming in short, because I like it best too:) Here's hoping for spring soon.
The 10 inch bit would make a nice wash cloth... Hope the day improves! Sun is out here, for now.
You aren't the only one that learns something new on every warp but I don't know of anyone who actually had their loom "explode". Sorry for the lose of your warp!!!!!
Snow. Yuk!!!
I'm sure you'll have a great time this weekend.
I like that last towel best too. ;)
I like that last towel a lot too. Bummer about the loom explosion. (Yipes - I use dowels all the time. I didn't know that could happen. I am not the queen of tight tension though....or maybe I've just been lucky so far.)
Snow.....sorry.
Hope you enjoy your class! Sounds fun!
Sue
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