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 …
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 …
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 …
It doesn’t happen as often as you might think, but it does happen. Fixing a broken warp end is a relatively easy fix. To do this you will 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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
When it comes to choosing yarn color for weaving, it can come down to this central question: Is contrast important or not? In some weaves, color-and-weave for example, contrast is extremely important. In other applications, you may not want to highlight the differences between colors, but rather focus on highlighting one color or another. Contrast is …
