GETTING THERE BUT GOING CRAZY

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

Today I went back to the loom—at last!—to continue the interminable sleying.  Much to my joy I finished sleying the right side.  That was all I had intended to do today.  But……………..there really wasn’t a whole lot to sley on the left side…………….why don’t I just make a start?

Sleying the left side has been a nightmare, largely because of the threading.  On the right side, the loom was threaded such that every 4 threads were pulled from one set of shafts and every other 4 threads were pulled from the second set of shafts.  And there are 4 ends in each  space. 

But on the left side, I clearly did something with the threading.  No threading error really shows because the error was in a transition from one block to another.  But because of this error, every 4 threads I pull out to sley has 3 ends from one set of shafts and 1 end from the other.  That way lies madness.  Even my fancy auto sley hook gave me such grief that I had to resort to pulling out only 4 ends at a time and sleying it with an ordinary sley hook.

I did get 16 ends sleyed on the left side and, given a fresh start on another day, I should be able to finish it in one sitting.  Hope springs eternal…………..

I do actually have plans for this miserable warp.  It had, long long ago, been intended as a shawl for a competition.  Forget it.  What I am now thinking of is creating some pillows out of it, perhaps cutting it up into patchwork.  If I do the patchwork thing, it could possibly work into an interesting vest.

I do hope my imagination returns when I start the actual  weaving!

Happy New Year!

Related Post:  Pulling My Head out of the Sand

“Getting There But Going Crazy” was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on January 4, 2011. ©2010 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina

WHY I RAN OUT OF HEDDLES

Posted by Peg in South Carolina 

Today I cut off the right side of the initial weaving. Then I tied the previously sleyed ends of the right side in bow knots so that they would not slip through the reed as I sleyed the left half.  So far so good.

Then I began sleying the left side.  I hadn’t gotten very far when I ran into a clump of empty heddles on shaft 2.  Oh dear. I don’t know how I managed to do that!  But at least I know why I had to add all those heddles on shaft 2 at the end of the threading.

But what to do now?  Do I rethread yet again?  I decided that there was no way I was going to do that.  I decided to leave those empty 8 heddles on.  Because of where they are in relation to the threading, i don’t think they will cause a problem when I weave.  And if they do………….off with their heads!  The monetary cost of 8 heddles is hardly worth all that re-threading!

Related Post:  Adding Heddles – Take Two

“Why I Ran out of Heddles” was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on September 22, 2010. ©2010 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina

FINISHED SLEYING? WELL, NO

Posted by Peg in South Carolina 

I finished sleying the warp.  The dyeing is done.  Now to wind cones from the skeins and then pirns from the cones.  Now to tie on the warp to the front beam.

RE-CHECKING THE RIGHT HALF

But I have not forgotten.  Here is what I wrote at the end of a recent post, Sleying Left Half Faster—Why?

This alternation between front and back shafts did not happen on the right side……Whoops?

So, finished with the left side, I went back to check out the right half.  I found the problem:  5 ends in one dent.  Did it happen near the selvedge?  Of course not!  It happened very close to the center.  That would give me the privilege of resleying almost half the warp instead of just a few ends.

MAGIC IN THE PATTERN

When I started the sleying process, I had not thought about any kind of pattern to the threads.  I thought only about drawing out 4 ends for each dent.  Had I realized that there was a pattern—that all four warp ends would be either from the first four shafts or from the second four shafts, I would have immediately seen the error.  I would not even had to have counted the ends.

LESSON LEARNED: LOOK FOR PATTERNS

Now, to finish the sleying, winding skeins, winding pirns…………….
 

“Finished Sleying? Well, No”  was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on July 9, 2010. ©2010 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina.

NOW IT’S TWO, NOT ONE, EXTRA WARP ENDS

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

One loose end on the right half;  now one loose one on the left. The one on the right side (left in the photo) was the result of inadvertently threading two ends in one heddle.  The other one was a thread that was appropriately in the lease sticks but simply had been apparently dropped as I was threading. 

Note how I put that the main part of that last clause in the passive voice:  I absolutely disclaim any responsibility for that error!

I have wrapped each end around a knitting fair isle bobbin.  Who knows, maybe as I weave a will break a nearby warp end and there will be one to neatly replace it!

SLEYING SAME ENDS THREE TIMES

The few remaining warp ends that need to be sleyed are through the lease sticks on the right side of the photo.  I didn’t finish today.  Aside from having spent the last two days dying, I ended up sleying one group of ends THREE times.   Sigh.  I have to be very careful when I near the end of something.  Try as I may, some kind of hopeful energy surges through me and I start making mistakes.  I was so sure I would finish sleying during this session…….

WHY  DOES MY CAMERA SEEK OUT RED?

This warp, by the way, is not red.  Not red at all.  It is brown and a browned yellow-green.  Red, however, was one of the colors in the dye pot.  Every time I take a picture, I am astonished to see how desperate my camera is to bring that red into the foreground.  I have given up fussing with Paint Shop Pro to correct the issue.  I am going to allow my camera to have its own way.  Sometimes one simply must.

Related Post:  Sleying the Reed Half Done

“Now It’s Two, Not One, Extra Warp Ends” was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on July 7, 2010. ©2010 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina.

SLEYING LEFT HALF FASTER – WHY?

Posted by Peg in South Carolina 

Sleying the left half has been going extraordinarily easily and quickly.  Two reasons are possible:

1. The experience I have built up sleying the right side has made me faster.

2. Moving right to left, as I do on the left side of the warp, instead of left to right, as I did on the first half,  might be more natural for me.

Both of these answers may be involved, but they are not the real reason.  The real reason has to do with the grouping of the threaded heddles.

The crackle units consists of 4 threads to a  unit.  Even though they threading changes from time to time, the 4 threads consistently alternate between the front 4 shafts and the back 4 shafts.  On the left side.  This makes picking out the 4 threads a whole lot easier and faster and is another double-check on accuracy.

This alternation between front and back shafts did not happen on the right side……Whoops?

“Sleying Left Half Faster – Why?”  was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on July 5, 2010. ©2010 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina.

MORE ABOUT MY SLEYING PROCESS

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

Sleying fine threads threaded in a crackle structure is not the easiest thing in the world.  I have a friend who loves to weave overshot but swears after each warp is threaded that she will never ever do another overshot draft again.  She of course tends to change her mind on that one.  But then she is not working with excessively fine threads.

FINE THREADS + COMPLEX DRAFT

It is the combination of a draft where (as in overshot) the threading is continually changing and where there will frequently be threads next to each other but not on adjacent shafts, it is the combination of this plus the fine threads that has taught me quiet patience. Well, sometimes I do have to work at keeping the internal screaming under control….  But it has also taught me to find ways to help ensure a correctly threaded and sleyed warp.

SELECTING ENDS TO BE SLEYED

With this warp, the process of sleying involves pulling out from the threaded heddles four groups of four warp ends each.  To choose the four ends, I look at the heddles.  I make sure that I am pulling threads threaded into four heddles. I lay each group of – hopefully – 4 ends across the top of the beater and put the rest of the ends over the top of the shafts.

CHECKING AND DOUBLE-CHECKING

At this point I count the number of ends in each group.  This is a necessary double check.  On this warp at one point I found two ends threaded through a heddle.  Had I not counted the individual ends, I would have ended up with five ends instead of four in one reed space. It might also be possible for an empty heddle to get grouped in.  Assuming that the empty heddle does not represent a threading error, I would then be in danger of putting three ends instead of four in one reed space.

I check and double check. And check for an errant thread that may have slipped from its neighbors and is hanging there, alone, from its heddle. Then I pull each of the four groups through their respective dents, making sure I still have four heddles and four ends in a group. 

I do three sets of these.  Then I return to where I began.  I pull the ends taut and look at the reed spaces to make sure there are no skipped spaces and then to make sure that there are no thick groups, indicating I sleyed two groups in one space.  I then pull the first six groups taut, double check them and tie them together in a slip knot.

REPEAT * REPEAT * REPEAT

I repeat this for the next group.  then I begin the whole process again.

Related Post:  Sleying the Reed Half Done

“More About My Sleying Process”  was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on July 2, 2010. ©2010 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina

SLEYING THE REED HALF DONE

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

At the front of the beater, you can see that I have tied the warp ends in groups and slip-knotted them.  I have tied them in groups of 6-dents-worth.   That is, 24 ends are in each knotted group.  That is slightly more that one-half inch of warp—the size of the warp groups I will tie onto the front of the loom when I am done sleying.

POSITIONING THE BEATER FOR SLEYING

The beater would appear to be defying gravity in this photo. It is not because of the angle of the shot. It is because, on the left side of the loom, I have tied the beater to the frame so that what you see is the closest position to the front of the loom that the beater can fall.  It’s also tied so it cannot fall complete to the heddles either.  This makes for much easier sleying.

Some people like to have the beater straight up for sleying.  I find being able to move it between this more forward position and back to a more leaning position in the opposite direction suits my technique better.  One of the things I do, for example, when I am collecting the groups of thread to tie them is to look at them as they come from the reed at the rear side of it, holding the group taut with my hand.  It is much easier for me to see that way than looking from the front of the beater.

USING THE AUTO-DENTER

With my auto-denter, sleying a 15-dent reed (4 ends per dent) is easy, if slow, work.  The auto-denter moves kind of automatically from dent to dent.  I hear a click when it has moved successfully. If I don’t hear a click, I do it again.  This greatly reduces the anxiety that comes from staring and staring at the gosh darn reed’s openings.  That can leave me frazzled after awhile.

Still, it is sometimes not without its problems.  The auto-denter did come apart at one point.  This is not really a problem.  It is made in two parts. If you look carefully at the photo, you can see where the two halves are joined.  When they become separated, it is easy to put them back together.   Because this happens so rarely, when it does happen I never remember exactly how to do it so I have to fiddle with it a bit to get it to work right.  And the instructions that came with the tool are no help here. 

TWO MISCELLANEOUS SLEYING ISSUES

1. I discovered that I had threaded two threads in one heddle.  Clearly the two threads had kind of stuck together, as there was no threading error involved.  So all I did was pull one thread out, unwind it and wound it around a bobbin.  I will just gradually let it unfurl as I weave.

2. I discovered two threads that were crossed on the lease sticks.  An easy fix.  I unthreaded the two heddles and then threaded them in the correct order.

ON TO PART TWO

Now to see what will happen as I sley the second half of the warp.

Related Post:  Sleying the Reed

“Sleying the Reed Half Done”  was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on June 30, 2010. ©2010 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina.

THREADING AND DYEING

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

The threading is done.  This block seemed to require more care and attention to avoid errors than the rest of the warp did.  Perhaps it was my eagerness to get done that I was having to compensate for.  In any case, it is done, and the reed is in.  15 dents, to be sleyed at 4 ends per dent.  Thank heavens for the auto-denter.  The only problem is that I use it so infrequently there is always a learning curve to start.  Still, it is a marvelous tool for fine threads and the learning curve is now short indeed.

I began to realize that I had not yet dyed the 120/2 silk I plan for using for the binder shots.  And I also saw that the amount of yarn I ordered from Treenway was half of what I had thought I needed.  But I am going to get on with dyeing what I have and see how it goes.  It’s expensive stuff and I certainly don’t want to order much more than I will actually need.

There is, however, a slight hitch in the dyeing plans.  I will have to make some stock solutions from dye powder.  I do this in the garage.  The temps here are running in the high 90’s with heat indexes up to 110.  Doesn’t seem to be much end in sight.  Do  you think I look forward to working in the garage………….even with the door open?

But daughter and grandson are planning to come on Friday for a long weekend.  Perhaps by Tuesday the weather will have improved.

Related Posts: 
More Dye Stock Solutions
Dyeing in the Kitchen

“Threading and Dyeing”  was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on June 16, 2010. ©2010 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina.

DETERMINING SETT FOR HANDSPUN SCARF

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

I checked Osterkamp’s extensive discussion of figuring out sett in her book, Winding a Warp and Using a Paddle. Usually I go the yards-per-pound route. This time, however, I decided I wasn’t going to fiddle with that. Instead I decided to work with the wraps per inch*.

My measurements of the wpi came in at 16.  I’m never sure of the accuracy of these measurements.  The finer the yarn gets, the more problematic it can be. But 16, accurate or inaccurate, is what is is going to be.

YARN WEIGHT PER POUND VERSUS WRAPS PER INCH

Yarn weight per-pound is much more accurate than working with wraps per inch. Working with 60/2 silk forces me into using yards-per-pound.  However, that figure is already provided by the manufacturer. For me to work that out on my own, I would have to use the McMorran Balance**. But I’m not so sure of my ability to be accurate with that either.

16 wraps per inch it is.

CALCULATING SETT: STEP ONE

The next step is to multiply 16 by 0.67 (or 2/3) to get the maximum sett for twill.  The answer to that calculation is 10.72.  That, however, would be the maximum sett for twill.  I want a softer fabric than that.

STEP TWO:  CORRECTING FOR KIND OF FABRIC

To get a sett for a softer fabric I multiplied 6.9 by 0.65, the number that Osterkamp suggests for woolen.  That calculation gave me a sett of  6.9.  So the sett I would then use should be 7 epi. 

STEP THREE: MAKE A CONSIDERED JUDGMENT

However, the last handspun I wove, with identical grist, was sett at 8 epi for twill.  And this was decided only after enormous amounts of time spent thinking and worrying. I still have the piece so I checked it. That sett was exactly right.  I will use 8 epi as my sett for this piece. 

There is another reason I prefer a sett of 8 epi over one of 7. At 8-epi I can sley an 8-dent reed with one end per dent, instead of using a 5- or 6-dent reed with varying numbers of 1 and 2 ends in each dent.  I worry about possible warp streaks when I have to mix the number of ends in a dent.

*To learn how to measure wraps per inch, go to this illustrated explanation:  http://www.heartstringsfiberarts.com/wpi.shtm

**To learn how to use a McMorran Yarn Balance, go to this illustrated explanation:   http://www.allfiberarts.com/library/aa00/aa022800.htm

Related Post:  Thoughts on Designing

"Determining Sett for Handspun Scarf” was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on November 10, 2009. ©2009 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina.

 

NOW TO SLEY THE REED

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

The loom is back together. This means that the top of the beater is back on; the front back beam is set back in; and the front breast beam is back in place.

The 15-dent reed is centered in the beater. And the treadles are tied up.

Also, my auto-denter is at the ready.

I started sleying after returning from an eye examination. An eye examination which required not one drop in each eye, but two different drops. Obviously I couldn’t get to work right away.

But I got to work sooner than later simply because I had my trusty auto-denter. I sleyed the right half with no problems. Occasionally, as I double-checked, I found four ends instead of five in a dent. But I never found a missed dent or eight ends instead of four ends in a dent. To be able to do that with my eyes still feeling the impact of those drops is a real tribute to the auto-denter.

But now all this must stop in preparation for the arrival of the grandchild. Oh, and daughter as well……(grin!).

Related Posts:
Sleying the Reed: Managing the Warp Ends
Sleying the Reed (using the auto-denter)

“Now to Sley the Reed” was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on April 16, 2009. ©2009 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina

SLEYING THE REED: MANAGING THE WARP ENDS

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

In the photo you can see on the far left a group of white warp ends that need to be separated into groups to be pulled through the reed.

Just to the right of that and below the beater, the groups of threaded warp ends held together by slip knots are visible.

In the center are four groups of warp ends, 2 ends in each group, ready to be sleyed.

To the right are the threaded warp ends that have already been sleyed. These too are secured by slip knots.

I used to sley the reed by holding the yarns between the fingers of my left hand and then using the reed hook in my right hand to pull the yarns from my left hand through the reed. If I were sleying 2 ends per dent, I would have 4 groups of 2 ends each, and each of the 4 groups would be in the four openings between my fingers (and thumb).

When I was working with finer threads, however, I learned that laying the ends over the beater gave me an easy visual double-check on the number of ends I had. This was especially important when I was sleying 3 or 4 ends in a dent. This worked so well for me that this is now the process I always use.

Related Post:
Sleying the Reed
Sleying the Reed (using an autodenter)

"Sleying the Reed: Managing the Warp Ends" was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on November 19, 2008. © 2008 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina

READY TO SLEY THE REED

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

As the photo shows, I have finished the threading. The groups of threaded ends are tied in slip knots so that the ends stay where they belong.

The next step is to set the loom up for sleying the reed.

I have put back the top of the beater and put in a 12 dent reed. I will put 2 ends in a dent for 24 epi. I have pulled the bench back outside of the loom and have replaced the front top bar. I have removed the books from under the shafts so that the shafts have dropped back in place. And I have used cord to set the beater so that it is almost perpendicular to the floor. I like it leaning back a little because that makes it easier to do the actual sleying.

I have not yet put on the front fabric beam. That would get in the way of my legs a bit as I am still sitting quite close to the loom, even though I have moved the bench outside.

I will begin sleying in the middle. First I sley from the middle to the right; then from the middle to the left. I have marked the center point on my beater, so it is easy to see where to start the sleying.

Photography Note: The small size of the images in my blog posts has been driving me nutty. I use Windows Live Writer to write my posts and publish from it. I have finally discovered that images are automatically being resized to small and that I have other choices: medium, large, full picture, or my own figures that I put in. And I can also resize them manually—why on earth did I not recognize that last?!

Sometimes small is fine, but not always. Perhaps my eyes are just getting old!

"Ready to Sley the Reed" was written by Margaret Carpenter for Talking about Weaving and was originally posted on November 18, 2008. © 2008 Margaret Carpenter aka Peg in South Carolina

MORE ON SLEYING THE REED

COUNT HEDDLES AND ENDS

As I said earlier, I am sleying four warp ends per dent. I count out these four ends two ways. First, I count the number of heddles. I do that always but in the case of very fine yarns it is really much easier to count heddles than warp ends. Second, I do count the warp ends themselves.

DOUBLE CHECKING

After I have sleyed eight dents I first look at the dents to make sure that I have not skipped any. Then I pick up each group of four ends and count them, separating them with my fingers if I have to. Separating fine yarns is easier with longish fingernails. When I am satisfied, I tie these groups of eight in a slip knot.

HALF-INCH OR LESS GROUPS

Why eight dents? Eight dents with four threads each adds up to 32 ends. I am warping at 72 ends per inch. To get a group of ends that would equal one-half inch, I would have to tie nine dents of four threads in a group. It is easier in the next step, however, if I have an even number of dents. With this fine warp i absolutely do not want groups of more than one-half inch. So I have opted for eight dents with 32 ends.

KEEP FRONT BEAM OFF

I still have not put the front beam back on. Keep it off makes it easier for me to do the sleying. I will put it back on when I am done.

Related Post: Sleying the Reed

© 2008

SLEYING THE REED

The reed is an18-dent reed so I am using a special tool for sleying. It is the AVL Patent Denter. Here in the first picture you see one side.

Here in the second picture you see the other side. In this picture, the tip of the denter is facing up. In the previous picture it was facing down.

In this third photo you see a close-up of the working area. The slots in the left are where you lay the warp ends to be pulled through the reed. Just to its right is the tip of a triangle. This tip creates the magic that allows the denter to move automatically to the next dent. When you push the denter through the reed, you apply just a bit of pressure and that tip splits and goes through the next dent, the rest of the tool still going through the original dent. When you grasp the warp ends and pull the tool through, it is the dent to the right that the tool comes through. Each time you sley another set of ends, the tool automatically moves to the next dent, assuming you have applied the right pressure.

There is a learning curve. But when you are talking about going blind sleying an 18-dent reed, or even a 15-dent reed, it is a life saver.

Here is a picture of the denter at work. I have three groups of warp ends (four ends in each group) sitting on top waiting to be sleyed. Normally I hold those ends in my left hand. Each group lies within a different set of two fingers. I cannot seem hold those ends in my left hand and manipulate the denter. So I space them out across the top of the beater.

For more information about the denter, including complete instructions on how to use it, go to the AVL web site.

Related Post: Sleying the Reed

© 2008

More on Sett

The figures I gave on sett from the Osterkamp book are rather typical figures for her. In her tables she frequently has very peculiar numbers such as 19, 27. The only way I could achieve these kinds of setts is through uneven sleyings. Uneven sleyings occur when you do not put the same number of ends in each dent. The sleying might be, for example, 2-3-3-3-2-2-3-3.

I do not like uneven sleyings. First, I am much more apt to make a sleying error when I have to change, even in a regular fashion, the number of warp ends in a dent. Worse still, I would find it much too easy to miss a sleying error until I was in the process of weaving.

Also it is my experience that fabric weaves better with equal numbers of threads in each dent. There is less possibility of ends slipping around in the final fabric or, perhaps even worse, of the whole fabric simply not evening out in the final finishing. In this case, the warp ends would not be evenly spaced.

Uneven spacing of warp ends can be a design feature, but if it is, it ought to be intentional. Uneven spacings, skipped dents, crowded dents, are all ways of achieving this kind of design feature. But right now my concern is obtaining a regular cloth.

The result of this rejection of uneven sleying is that I have a large number of reeds. I would like more, but I would have to have them made to order. I don't consider this particularly a problem, but whenever I think about it, I cannot make up my mind which of several possibilities I would get the most use from. Reeds do not come cheap!

More Weaving Misadventures

I sat down this morning to finish sleying the reed. I had finished two-thirds of it on Wednesday. This meant that I was now working left of center. I pulled out the first group of threads and separated them into groups of two. I inserted my sley hook in the appropriate space and grabbed the first thread. As I did this I saw, to my immediate right, on the first shaft, approximately 30 empty heddles.

An occasional empty heddle is nothing to cry about. It happens. It can just stay there. If it doesn't mean re-threading too many threads, I will correct it. Otherwise I just let it stay there. But 30 empty heddles? No way.

How on earth did this happen? How on earth could I have skipped 30 heddles in a row on the first shaft? I did have a cold. I was also sick from my flu shot. But surely.....................

Fortunately I had tied my threaded heddles in groups such that each group represented one block. So it was very easy to figure out where I was in the threading draft. And I saw that this error had happened in an interesting place: at the beginning of the third repeat.

Anyway, I pulled all the ends out of their heddles, rearranged the heddles, put books under the shafts again to facilitate access to the cross, and am back at it.

Have been surprised that it's not really terribly awkward to thread in this way, with the front beam on, the cloth beam on, the reed in and the beater upright. The most awkward thing is getting on and off the bench because it is right up there close to the cloth beam. Fortunately I'm pretty agile. I just need to make sure that my coffee mug is out of the way so my feet don't kick it over in the process of mounting or dismounting!