What's on the Loom
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I’m not sure there is anything more beautiful than a perfectly-wound warp. It is the promise of an enjoyable weave.
But we all know that the perfect warp doesn’t just happen, there is a lot of work that goes into it. Here are a few of my favourite warping tips.
I’m working on a pattern right now that uses 2 pick-up sticks to create staggered weft floats in my work. This requires me to remove and re-insert the second pick-up stick each time I need it. In the case of this pattern, every 4 picks. That’s a lot of time spent re-inserting a pick-up stack and seems like the perfect time to introduce string heddles.
So why am I not using them? Because, for right now, I am enjoying the slower pace of adding that second stick! For the past few months I’ve been weaving on deadlines. Every project needed to be done quickly so I could move onto the next stage of development…the pattern, the video editing, the power point.
I started a new project this week. It’s a 2-heddle colour and weave project. I wanted something that felt spring-y after all the snow we’ve been getting, so I chose dark green, lime green, and golden yellow.
They looked great together.
I warped my loom and started weaving, and almost immediately realised I had made a serious mistake.
My eye had not accurately seen the value of the colours.
Last week I shared a little tale about a measuring mishap. This week, I’m happy to say the finished project is off the loom — six placemats, all woven slightly off-centred on my loom, yet all exactly the same size in the end. Yay me!
I thought about writing up the pattern, but it’s so simple, I wanted to just share with you what I did. Here’s a rough guide / pattern-style recipe. Feel free to choose your own colours. For mine, I used six colours, with a bright pop of red on the edges — the recipients love the beach and the ocean, so the palette was inspired by sun, sand, and sea.