Swatching may seem to imply that you are striving to make a perfect thing. For me it is about bringing more joy to the process. A chance to stroll through the what-ifs without the worry. Will I like this color combination or that combination? Will this yarn finish the way I hoped it will? Will …
I was reading an online article about the Fibonacci sequence and the Golden Mean, and I was once again reminded what a powerhouse these two systems are for weavers. Before I even knew what they were, I discovered I was using them completely unintentionally. My “clever” stripes turned out to be Fibonacci. My asymmetrical blocks …
Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts during the 2022 Yarnworker Check-In Survey. Over 700 rigid-heddle weavers responded to the survey. In addition to the numerous multiple choice questions, I asked a number of open-ended ones. This is an act of putting on my active listening ears to let you describe your weaving …
I remember the first time I saw a fiber-producing animal. It was at the petting zoo in Greensboro, North Carolina, where my grandparents took me to feed the ducks. I don’t know exactly how old I was, somewhere between preschool and school. In one pen off to the side was a llama and I was …
The fell is formed where the last laid weft pick is pressed into place. The fell line advances as the weaving advances. Crooked fell lines are the bane of rigid-heddle weavers. The rigid-heddle reed isn’t fixed in a straight line as the reed is on other loom types. Because of this, we rely on our …
I’m often asked about the best ways to measure your work as you weave. Although I’ve covered various methods in my books, patterns and classes, I have yet to write about this subject on the Yarnworker blog. Here is a round-up of my favorite ways to keep track of where I am. Markers When I first …
The more I teach, the more I learn. A few years ago, I wrote a post about how to create more space on your cloth beam. Since that time, I’d thought more about the issue and have a much simpler way to work this maneuver to create space on your cloth beam. This method is …
During the latest weave-along, we have been exploring warp-faced colorwork to weave bands on a rigid-heddle loom. This has led to all sorts of exploratory questions about tape and box looms, many of which utilize a rigid-heddle style reed as the shedding device. Every weaving culture has some sort of band technique that expresses their …
One of my favorite things to do when visiting my mom in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia is to go to the local thrift store. Tucked in a corner is a section where the staff and volunteers sift through the donations and pick out special items to set aside for silent auction. I’m grateful that …
It happens, you warped up and things are just not going according to the plan in your mind’s eye, so you want to take the warp off the loom and save it. From time to time, I have weavers reach out to me asking what to do in these situations. There are a couple of …
