Friday, February 6, 2009

WAITING

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

waiating for sewing machine Here is the Crackle Exchange sample, woven, off the loom, and waiting for me to sit at the sewing machine and get to work.

For the curious, the wooden object sitting on top of the table just to the right front of the sewing machine is my Schacht yardage counter. It is sitting on that book because thickness is needed for the implement that attaches the counter to the table. At the right of the table, the very edge of the Leclerc skein winder I use is visible. Yes, I have been winding some hand-spun skeins of yarn.

Empty Loom And here is the empty loom waiting for its next warp. I am ready to wind the bouts: 10/2 mercerized cotton. This will be my dummy warp for the handspun. Previously I used 5/2 pearl cotton for the dummy warp. But when the dummy warp got to the heddles at the very end of the weaving, I had quite a bit of trouble getting them through the heddles, even with the ends cut very short. I am hoping that the thinner yarn on the dummy warp will make life easier.




Related Posts:
Spinning for Weaving
Next Project: Handspun Shawl
Warping with Handspun


"Waiting” was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on February 5, 2009. ©2009 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina

6 comments:

Laritza said...

The loom is a Leclerc right? Did it come with the aprons? Did you put them on? Could you talk about it? I have been considering doing so for my 8 shaft Leclerc compact but I am not 100% I want to.

Leigh said...

Interesting to take a peak into your studio. We get a peak into your thinking processes quite frequently, so it's nice to see where you flesh them out at.

sampling said...

Peg, what is the dummy warp? Do you put it on to pull the handspun through both the heddles and the reed? I have not read much about that.
Amanda

Peg in South Carolina said...

Laritza, yes, it is a LeClerc. A Nilus II with rear-hinged treadles. 45" weaving width. Yes it came with the aprons. As I had to put the loom together (it came in 11 boxes), I also had to attach the apron. It attached simply with tacks I pounded in. Some people swear by aprons, others hate them. I think for a big loom they are necessary. But I have used smaller looms such as the Schacht Baby Wolf and it is fine with no apron. I think both the length and the width of the loom factor into the equation. You might check the archives on the weaving and weave-tech lists. I know that the topic comes up from time to time.

Peg in South Carolina said...

Leigh, that room is only one of my places! That is an otherwise unused bedroom which is on the opposite side of the house from my loom, which is in the breakfast area off the kitchen. Most of my thinking goes on in the family room where my computer and a work table are. Also spinning wheels........ Weaving books are in all 3 places and dyeing and design books burst over into the next spare bedroom.

Peg in South Carolina said...

Amanda, a dummy warp is a short warp you put on the loom for the purpose of using it to tie on your good warp. The result is that there will be no loom waste for the good yarn at the rear of the loom. Only a bit at the front where I tie onto the front beam. I do not thread the dummy warp, only the good warp once it is tied on and beamed. Stay tuned and hopefully I will show you more!