Weaving

Above is my second piece of tablet weaving.

I have been obsessed with textiles since I was very young.  I knew I wanted to sew, but I also wanted to weave.  I remember discovering that fabric was actually string with threads running over and under each other.  I took a shoe box, removed the lid and taped a warp of sewing thread to the box.  I attempted to weave in the weft (also thread) but soon found the box collapsing under my novice efforts.

I have long lusted after a floor loom, but given the lack of finances and cat-free space, I have done some dabbling with tablet weaving as well as rigid heddle weaving after my mother so wonderfully bought me a Cricket loom for Christmas a couple of years ago.

I am not very good about starting with the basics and working my way up to something larger or more complex.  I did my first piece of tablet weaving in DMC floss (all six strands), but took a deeper plunge with my second piece (above) that is woven from very fine, naturally-dyed wool from Renaissance Dyeing.  My DMC experiment bothered me because I knew that extant pieces I had seen were not woven with something that thick or stiff and I wanted trim that both looked and felt more period.

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To the left is a tablet woven belt I created this summer.  This is made from thicker yarn, but was not intended to be worn with garb. 

The yarn is Harrisville Shetland wool and I have to say I LOVE working with this yarn.  When I get a floor loom I will eventually weave a light cloak or wrap of some sort from this yarn as its very much a pleasure to work with.

I also just purchased the Shetland wool to use as a warp for a future weaving project.  I am spinning silvery Icelandic wool (a commercially prepared blend of the tog and thel) to be used as weft for a rug or mat.  The Shetland in a very dark charcoal will be the warp.

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As I mentioned, I also have a small rigid heddle loom (which I occasionally also use for my tablet weaving if the pattern does not built up too much twist in the warp).

To the right is my first rigid heddle project, a Shetland wool pouch I use for Pennsic.  It is the perfect size for toting around my wallet, phone and camera.

Now that I am spinning, I foresee several rigid heddle woven scarves in my future as I will need to use up the lumpy practice yarn I am making.  I warped the first of these projects this past weekend and have woven about 3 feet so far.

This is a 2-ply Merino wool painted weft that I spun myself with a commercially purchased alpaca yarn as warp.  In retrospect, I wish I had not packed the weft in so tightly, but I guess that is part of the learning process ;-)

I have already spun most of the second bundle of the painted Merino and, if I am lucky, I will finish the scarf this weekend.