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.

Missing Bits

You know how pairs of socks go into the wash and come out as singles? Socks go missing, never to be seen again? I occasionally have the same problem with little bits of things disappearing in my studio. A couple years ago, the top wood knob on my Glimakra swift disappeared. I turned that room inside out and never did find it.

This time it was the thread guide on my Lendrum double-treadle folding spinning wheel, mysteriously gone. I'd arrived at the gallery a few days ago, wheel in tow, sat down to spin, and something just wasn't working right. Now I have to tell you, I've done almost no spinning on this wheel in a couple years, and my other wheel has the usual hooks for thread guides. I was busy with kids and moms coming in to see the children's art exhibit so wouldn't have been able to spin much anyway.


Back at home, it finally dawned on me, the thread guide was missing. I didn't find it in the car or driveway, perhaps it fell off in the parking lot? What to do?

I looked online, you can buy various flyers and carrying bags for this wheel, but no one listed a thread guide. Aha! I bought the wheel at a WI Spin-In four years ago from Susan's Fiber Shop in Columbus, WI. I called and yes, she had ONE left which arrived a couple days later. I'm all set now, have wheel (and thread guide), can spin!

Oh, if anyone has seen my large pair of everyday scissors, the ones with the orange handles, will you let me know?

I visited Susan Johnson's blog, "Avalanche Looms" earlier this week (link is on the list on the right of the screen) and found a post "Rags, Rags, Rags & More Rags," where she writes about her love of old rag rugs and a new book just out, "Finnish-American Rag Rugs" by Yvonne R. Lockwood. I emailed Susan and ordered a copy from her which I found tucked in-between the mailboxes today when I arrived home.

Eagerly tearing into the package I found a large 11" x 9" book, about an inch thick, and 249 pages, full of the rag rugs weavers of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. If you're like me and like to read not only about an art or craft, but the PEOPLE who do it, I think we will really enjoy this book. In addition to color and b&w photos of rugs and weavers, it looks like an interesting history/record.

In my brief look at this book, I saw photos of various Finnish and American looms, weavers at the looms, finished rugs, and so much more. I had to laugh at photos of their "stashes!

After finishing up this blog entry, I'll be upstairs in flannel PJ's, with this book in my hands, eagerly reading. The timing for this book was perfect for me, arriving while weaving my first real rag rugs!




Today was a work at the gallery day for me and I took a spinning wheel and basket of Coopworth roving to work on, along with the book "Damask and Opphamta" and printed out notes (emails) from several drawloom weavers offering suggestions for adjusting my drawloom. They enabled me to list everything I need to check and adjust on the loom to get it working properly. A good, productive day!



It is Art Education Month in WI and Artistree Gallery invited K-5 students, both from the Land O'Lakes Elementary School and Home School students, to create artworks to be displayed for a couple weeks at the gallery. Gallery artists removed their works from the big wall, the kids works were framed and hung, and a reception was held this past Saturday.

Their works are bright, colorful, cheerful and wonderful to enjoy. I had several visitors at the gallery today coming in to see them. Congratulations, Art Students and Teachers!

Adding a Bit of ZING!

Three days ago, I started weaving again for the first time since my little incident with a rotator cuff injury. I'm back in the studio, and will now be back posting on my blog. I like to keep this blog focused, for the most part, on weaving and related fiber interests.

I'm looking forward to the day when I can weave off a rag rug in 45 minutes, like one weaver I know, not the months it has taken me. I'm still learning to love it, but it's coming easier now and I keep myself focused on what is happening with colors.

I'm also finding it easier to weave the rag rug while standing up, easier to hold the shed open while I "futz" (is that a word?) with the weft before beating, changing sheds, and beating again.

I love the colors in this warp, and the sheets/strips that are blending in nicely,
but decided it was time to add a little ZING, just a few rows, and used a brighter solid Copper or Burnt Orange color picked up from the plaid sheet just before it.

My "design," has the colors reversing at the center. I've redrawn my color plan and measured each color as well as counted the number of rows of each. I'm about 8" from the middle, and anxious to get to the second half of this rug (as well as the next two). There should be a photo of a completed rug on here before long! After several weeks of not being to weave or crank, I want to be DOing again. My upper arm still has a fair amount of pain, but I can use it again, and must, to keep mobility.

I may have mentioned it before, but the next warp will be 8/2 navy blue cotton, with 8/2 cotton in variegated blues. Hhmmm, solid navy warp, or stripe them for more interesting towels? Thinking I might want to get a bit of white, ivory, or a natural linen color (or both) to add in the warp as I have quite a number of large cones of white/natural cotton/linen blends to use, too. It's time to sit down with graph paper and color pencils and work out stripe warp options and see what I like best.

And now? Something has changed on Blogger, my photo shows on the compose page in code so I cannot move it. Posting this, but must find out what changes Blogger has made recently!