Stripes are the backbone of woven design—the workhorse of colorwork. When warp and weft stripes meet, beautiful things happen. Perhaps the three most common terms used to describe woven colorwork are stripe, check, and plaid. In general, I try to be precise with my language while trying to avoid some of the traps of being …
As a weaving teacher, I’m constantly reminded what an inexact term “beating” is. In weaving, we throw the term “beat” around a lot when what we really need to do is finesse. There are notable exceptions and we have explored some of those this year—weft-faced colorwork anyone?—but most yarn doesn’t really like being pushed about. …
As I enter my fifth year of hosting weave-alongs, I’ve been musing on how we spend our time. Besides generally geeking out on all the things weaving entails, we seem to spend the most time talking about the endlessly fascinating topic of yarn selection, sett, and beat, or what I like to call, the weaver’s …
With a little know-how, fixing a broken warp end is a relatively easy fix. To do this, you need to incorporate a supplemental warp yarn. Over the years my thinking has evolved on how to do this. The fundamentals haven’t changed, but how I manage the overlap has. To fix a broken warp end, gather …
Read moreMy Evolved Thinking On How To Fix a Broken Warp End
Rugs have been made by weavers for thousands of years on all sorts of looms. I have woven many rugs on a rigid-heddle loom and have included projects for them in my books, workshops, and weave-alongs. I hear from time to time the pronouncement, “You can’t make a rug on a rigid-heddle loom.” The reasoning is …
The Yarnworker School patrons and I are spending our summer school session tackling the process of formulating a plan to weave a project. We placed pause on this activity to recognize a moment in a long reckoning with race, justice, and inequality in America. At a time when we have all experienced the impact of …
Tying onto the front apron rod is often a pain point for new weavers. All knots take some getting used to. The type of apron rod you have and what you are trying to accomplish can often dictate which knot you favor. Here is a round up of the three most popular knots weavers use to …
As we are curtailing our travel and staying home more, we may be looking for something to keep our hands busy and our nerves calm while we are facing the unknown consequences of Covid-19. As a weaver, I work out my anxieties at the loom. Cost can be a barrier to learning to weave, we …
Read moreKeep Calm and Weave On: Weaving Resources for Extraordinary Times
Warping backwards happens. I once merrily warped a loom backwards while doing a demonstration for my colleagues. We often discover this error when we are getting ready to wind onto the beam and realize we are heading towards the wrong one. Sometimes, if it just isn’t your day, you may also discover that your warp …
Read moreHelp, I Warped My Loom Backwards and Other Things That Can Go Wrong
The subject of take-up and shrinkage has come up a number of times lately, specifically in relation to yarn substitution. My general thoughts on yarn substitution can be found here. Take-up is how much the yarn rebounds after it is removed from the tension on the loom, and shrinkage is how much it shrinks after …
