Upcoming WI Fiber Events

First, fiber-related news,...

The WI Sheep and Wool Festival is coming up Sept. 10-12, 2010, at the Jefferson, WI Fairgrounds. Classes, workshops, vendors, sheep, it's a great three-day event.

I Googled "Wisconsin Spin-In" to find the dates of this years event and found that since it would have been a week or so after the WI Sheep and Wool Festival, and that it has been postponed to April 7-9, 2011, at the Schauer Arts Center in Hartford, WI, sponsored by the Friendly, Feisty, Fiber Guild.

The Midwest Felting Symposium took place several days ago, held in Madison, WI, and sponsored by Susan's Fiber Shop.

Website links for these events are in "WI Links," just scroll down the page, right hand column. Check the sites for further information.

The WI Surface Design Association blog is listed as well. I was recently asked if I would like to contribute three or four posts to it, so must work on those before long.

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Re-threading the drawloom has taken me quite awhile, and taken a toll on my back. Not wanting to remove ground shafts, lamms, and treadles, and only so much room when sitting inside the long back extension, I've had to resort to bending over the sides of the back extension when threading the outer quarter (300+ threads) on each side, not nearly as comfortable as when I could sit inside the loom. I'm happy to report the pattern heddles will be done tonight, then I can begin re-threading the long-eye ground shaft heddles, which doesn't take nearly as long, and I can do that sitting comfortably at the front of the loom.

When I needed to relieve the discomfort, I would putter around the studio for a few minutes, and recent puttering included adding a couple blog posts. I found Blogger had added a few new Design Templates. In keeping with the changes coming in my weaving, I decided to change the look of my blog, too, and am slowly adding new features including a couple more weaving blogs as well as starting a Felting Blogs list.

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There are quite a few weavers on Facebook, and an amazing number of felters from around the world. It is inspiring to see the work of these people! What is needed is finding a balance between reading and seeing what other fiber artists are doing, and ensuring plenty of time for your own work.

Like a Kaleidoscope...

I'm just back home from an overnight trip down to southern WI to attend a family funeral. Trying to keep myself entertained and alert on the five hour drive home, I started thinking more about what direction to take my weaving.

My mind was going over a wide range of possiblities, considering some, rejecting others. I had stopped at Joanne Fabrics in Wausau and was looking at a couple books, and all of a sudden, like the small stone chips in a kaleidoscope falling into place,... I suddenly knew what direction I wanted to take.

In the past I would wonder what weaving project to do next. There was no real focus, no real learning or study. My life during those years had a lot to do with that. One friend suggested I specialize in just one kind of weaving or weaving just one item. Sorry, that's just not me! I knew I needed an area to focus in on yet needed it broad enough, flexible enough to give me some variety. My new-found focus will do that plus give me the learning and study I've been longing for.

Sorry, this is not a tease, but I'm just not ready to share specifics yet, I'm still
discovering the possibilities and how I can adapt it to the weaving I want to do.
It will show up here in good time. I'm just starting the information and supply list/gathering stage.

Meanwhile, I have a loom to get up and running, looms to warp, and a warp to finish which will be shared here. Right now, back to the looms, I'm in dire need of new photos to post here!

"What are you waiting for?"

In my last post I mentioned having two art/craft shows coming up. Within 24 hours of posting, I decided I would not be participating in them this year. In fact, I was, for the time being, not making work to sell at the gallery or area shows. I just did not need additional deadlines and time pressures right now. Time in the studio was becoming less enjoyable and I needed to make positive changes.

You see, I was married, and 31 years of age when I took my first weaving classes. A few years later we had a daughter and four years after that we moved north. Later, we adopted a son, then a daughter, so family life, homeschooling, church, community activites took up most of my life, and weaving became an occasional activity. I started making towels and table runners to sell, then added wool socks, thankful to have the opportunities. And all through those years, ideas I had remained unrealized.

Well, this fall I'll be 60, it's nearly 30 years later, and I'm asking myself "what are you waiting for?" An empty nest is coming up fast so I am busy now setting things in place to give me work to do that I love, goals and dreams to achieve. There is so much more to learn about weaving, color, design, dyeing, spinning, felting, and more.

Will I ever sell my work again? I expect I will, I receive occasional emails and phone calls asking if I could make this or that. I may be back in the gallery and doing three or four art shows again next year, after work on the house is done.
But even then, the learning and weaving what I WANT to weave must come first.

I'm very excited about the possibilities! It's time to bring the fun and sense of adventure back into the studio. It's time to learn, explore, create, and turn the ideas into reality. Shuttle Works Studio is becoming a place to make new things happen, one step at a time. Let the adventures begin!

Change is In The Wind

I've been thinking a lot lately about the changes coming in my life, decisions needing to be made, both personal, home, and weaving/fibers. Perhaps that is why I'm not getting enough done, too much thinking about it all.

My weaving and fiber activities have slowed to a crawl, yet I need to keep it all going on some level. This blog, for example, has had few posts this year, primarily because it is supposed to be about weaving etc., and if I'm not doing a lot there is not much to photograph or write about here.

Faster progress is needed in getting rid of stuff (landfill and thrift shops).
Perhaps a big dumpster outside my garage door would help? I could just toss it all right out the second floor window, much easier than hauling it all away. And really, this lack of progress comes down to two things, making decisions, and letting go of the past.

I know I need to move on with my life, new home, new locale, and hopefully new and better habits! Having put my family first for so much of my life, I'm just not used to putting myself first. What do I want? Where to live? What style of house? Oh wait, that one is easy, a weaving studio with a bed, bath, and kitchen.

So, a quick fiber update:


- The drawloom is still a work in progress, I am re-threading it down to a five shaft satin in hopes that dealing with fewer shafts, I can get it working properly. I had hoped to be done re-threading by now, but several days away put me behind, as well as trying to make progress elsewhere in the house.

- I called Vavstuga the other day and ordered the DVD "Dress Your Swedish Drawloom." I have the video, but the old TV and VCR are not going to last much longer, and the newer TV has a bit bigger screen, as well as being easier to move back down to the studio if needed.

- I'm about to start cranking socks again (after a six month hiatus) as I have two art/craft shows coming up.

- The heddles were removed, counted, and put back on the little Toika Llaila loom, and it is now ready to warp.

- The loaned out 22" Harrisville (8 shaft) is back in my weaving studio, also ready to warp.

- Warps have been calculated for both looms. Half-bleached cottolin was ordered and waiting for me to settle at the warping mill.

- Remaining rug warp still waiting for me to sit down and weave. Strips need to be cut and sewn, this time plan to cut them 1" or 1 1/4" to make a bit thinner rug, after seeing a couple OLD rag rugs at an antique show a couple days ago.

It occurred to me again today, I had just started weaving on this drawloom (and very little as I had a young child), when my husband decided he would retire, we packed up, sold our home, and moved to the WI Northwoods. Now here I am all these years later, getting close to weaving on this loom again, and I'm packing up and getting ready to sell my home and move back down to southern WI. What is it with this loom and moving??!!!

So, back inside the drawloom for awhile. Removing the ground shafts and treadles would likely make re-threading more convenient than climbing up and over the back extension, but my aging eyes need to be closer to the maillons and lease sticks. We do what we have to do, both in weaving, and in life.

Drawloom Setup Learning Curve

I'm back at work making more adjustments to the drawloom. The way the loom was set up, there were good sheds on six of eight sheds/treadles, yet on two, there was basically no shed at all. The bigger issue, though, is the heavy counterweights that hang on the sides of the loom still are not pulling the shafts back into position.

On a regular countermarche loom, all shafts move, either up or down, depending on your weave structure and tie-up. On a drawloom, one shaft is tied to raise, one is tied to lower, the rest stay in "neutral." I've checked everything possible on this loom, over and over, and still have not been able to get the counterweights to work properly.

So today, I am readjusting almost everything. Because the guide string was a little low, instead of going through the center of the long-eye heddles, I am lowering the ground shafts an inch or so.


The goal is for the blue guide string to be centered in the long-eye heddles, and for the weighted ground warp to be resting near the bottom of the long-eye heddles. The photo above is very close (my angle when taking the photo might be off a bit).


Then, when drawcords are pulled for pattern, looking at the drawn pattern heddles further back, the distance from the guide string to the at rest weighted threads should be the same distance as from the guide string to the drawn threads. This is what I am tuning up right now, and again have it very close (again, I didn't get the photo straight on, sorry!).

Reading again in "Damask and Opphamta" a couple nights ago, I read both upper and lower lamms should be parallel to the floor, so they will be adjusted next. (The information that came with my Standard CM states the lamms should be at specific distances from the floor, giving a slight angle up, which is how I'd set them on the drawloom. So they will be changed next.

After changing the lamms, I'll tie up the treadles again (only 2 cords on each treadle on a drawloom). Then I'll tie the heavy counterweights back on, one tied to each horizontal jack on each side of the loom. Their purpose is to pull the raised and lowered ground shafts back to neutral. And this is what I have not yet achieved.

There is a learning curve in setting up a double harness loom. A couple years ago, I borrowed all the Damask Study Group and Double Harness Study Group back issue newsletters from the Complex Weavers Library to help me learn more about double harness looms and weaving. I find the old newsletters invaluable for reading others weavers experiences with these looms. They are also a help to me now as study group chair/newsletter editor.

The single unit drawloom I am working on is a Glimakra 10 ground shaft/10 treadle, 4 shafts for pattern heddles, with the long extension, good for linen warps (in the future). I am using maillons on the pattern heddles instead of individual Texsolv heddles. My loom was made in the early 1980's.

Available information on double harness looms is rather scarce, and weavers have a variety of types and brands of drawloom, making it a challenge to find weavers using the same loom you are working on.


I do have several books on the subject, some in Swedish, but unfortunately, my ability to read Swedish is not good enough to understand much of the text.

My goal, in the next couple years, is to travel to Sweden and take drawloom weaving classes, but for now, I must work here alone and try to work this out. I am, on occasion, in contact with other drawloom weavers through the CW Double Harness Study Group, and they have been most helpful with my questions. An international study group is a blessing!

First Rag Rug

Here it is, my first real rag rug completed and on the floor! Looking at it now, I like the warp stripes and colors, as well as the weft colors. It lays quite flat, selvedges are nicely even, and only a tiny bit of "smile."

It seems to meet the tests of a good rag rug ~~ you can't put your fingers through anywhere, and when rolled up and stood on the floor it stands. Another "test" I read in the book "Finnish American Rag Rugs" is hold the rolled up rug in your hand, palm up, at shoulder level, the rug should not droop, and happily, it doesn't.

The rug passed another test here, too, right after taking these photos, I walked over to the computer to download them, turned around, and there was a cat already laying on the rug. No, I'm not ready for a 50 pound Keeshond and five cats to enjoy this rug just yet, so yes, I picked it back up off the floor.



Another view of my first rag rug.

Details: 8/4 cotton rug warp, sett 12 epi. Good tension when weaving, beat hard, change sheds, beat hard again, and I used a temple. Weft strips are sheets purchased at thrift stores, cut into 1 1/2" strips and the strips were sewn together. When winding the ski shuttles, I wound the weft on folded in half and when placing the weft into the shed, made sure it was still folded.

Hems at each end are cutton rug warp, two threads per shed using a double-bobbin shuttle. I started by weaving an inch or so of string, then 3 1/2" hem, and reverse at the other end. I cut the rug from the loom, machine sewed each end 3" from the first "rag" row, rotary cut just outside the machine sewn line, then pin and sew the hem. The finished rug measures 28" wide, 55" long.

The warp has been tied on again. I'll use some of the same strips/colors so they are ready to use, but I'll need another three or four colors so must get those cut into strips and ends sewn which shouldn't take long. The second rug shouldn't take as long now that I've gotten a bit of experience.

Spring Fleece Washing

Spring came very early to the WI Northwoods, and on April 2nd, a beautiful 75+ degree day, I decided it was perfect weather to get part of a fleece washed that I'd purchased a year or two before. Thankfully, it was still in good shape having been well-packed for shipping.

This particular fleece came from Andy McMurray, Humble Hills Farm. It has beautiful locks, nice crimp, and is probably Romney, a breed I particularly like to spin.



As we live in the WI Northwoods and have a well and septic system, I am careful about what goes down the drains. I know of people who wash their fleece in their washer and spin the water out, but last year I bought a new front-loading washer so soaking the fleece that way is no longer possible. Plus, I hesitate the put that much lanolin/grease down the pipes and into the septic tank.

My method of washing fleece is to fill old "de-commissioned" canners (no longer used for processing food) with hot water and soap, and use other canners for rinse water, rising twice. The washed fleece is then laid out on a couple drying racks that rest on sawhorses.

This time I had only washed enough fleece for one rack. Since it was so windy for a couple days, I set the second rack over the top to keep the fleece from blowing away, something the area critters love.



Beautiful fleece drying on racks on the lakeside porch. I'm looking forward to hand-carding this fleece. Though hand-carding takes longer than drum-carding, I feel the results are better, and worth the extra time.

Since this was only a portion of this fleece and the weather is supposed to warm up over the coming weekend, I'll be washing the next batch.