Jahanara's E-Portfolio » V’s Blanket

Sense of Accomplishment

weavemage — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 19:27:29 +0000

I finally finished V’s Blanket. At this point it’s a toddler blanket, not a baby blanket, but it turned out so great that I think Mama and I will both agree that it was well worth the time. It’s still not perfect, but I’m very proud of it.

I learned a lot from this project. i learned that you can’t leave the warping process too long, as this project took me a long time to warp and the threads got fairly crossed. I was also reminded how important it is to keep with the proper pattern. When you get off the pattern your selvages stop getting properly woven. Once that happens you have to unweave to the point of the mistake in order to correct it properly. Finally I want to make a width template for my next project, so I can check to ensure that there isn’t too much draw in over the project!

I think between making such a nice fabric and learning these lessons, this project is a success. Cutting this project off the loom and tying the fringe gave me a very real sense of accomplishment!

Blankets Abound!

weavemage — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:09:56 +0000

For those who follow my blog

Quantifying my Art

weavemage — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:02:40 +0000

I’ve written several times before about how long weaving takes me. I don’t write about this because I dislike weaving or the amount of time it takes. I write about this to help myself better understand my weaving and to help others understand the amount of time that goes into these art works! This evening, I timed how long it took to weave 2″ of V’s blanket, it was just under 15 mins. This means tha I can weave one inch in approximately 7.5 minutes. So if I end up making V’s blanket as a square 32″ x 32″ then it will take approximately 4 hours weaving time!

This really isn’t long at all! It means that if I put my mind to it this Sunday I could finish weaving this project, freeing up more time for other items on my to do list! I’m looking forward to finishing this project and moving onto others, as well as seeing, V use and enjoy it!

Company makes for progress

weavemage — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:06:53 +0000

Some friends came over to work in the wood workshop and in the studio today. I kept her company while she cut out a dress and I got some more weaving done. As I said earlier, I’ll be using the same repeat as is in the warp. Today I finished the first purple weft stripe. I was pretty pleased with it under tension, but when I released the tension I noticed I’ve got some weft loops that appeared. I’m guessing this is a function of not having a straight fell line. Anyone who has experience weaving linen, is welcome to give me advice on this matter!

I will either be making a square 30″ x 30″ blanket or a rectangular 30″ x 60″ blanket. I can’t remember how much warp I put on the loom, as it’s been over a year since I started this one. I will be finished soon though!

Every Little Bit Helps!

weavemage — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:14:52 +0000

How true that is! I warped up V’s baby blanket before she was born. I got it all wound onto the back beam and then the dreaded lack of motivation set in! Now that I’ve moved home, which means that I don’t have to go down into the basement to my studio, I’ve found some new motivation. Since September, I have threaded the heddles, sleighed the reed, tied on and finally begun weaving! In the last 2 day’s I’ve woven 6 inches. Everything is going very smoothly now. I’m enjoying the loom this blanket is on, a venerable Lansinger I inherited from the high school’s art teacher. The beater bar has a nice ledge that the boat shuttle truly sails across. I can weave an inch in probably under 10 mins though I haven’t officially timed it yet!
I’ve managed to accomplish all this, plus warp another blanket (only 14“ wide on the loom, but I’ll be weaving two lengths and stitching them together), prepared most of the warp for the colour gamp and finished weaving off the first section of the knight’s cloak.
Once I’ve finished these two blankets, I want to warp the colour gamp and the next two sections of the knight’s cloak. Then I want to keep up my studio time and spend a little bit each day on those two projects, plus my tapestry sampler. I’ll also need to tie on a dummy warp to Sophi (the Lansiger) and work on cleaning the metal bits that hold the heddles in the shafts. These don’t appear to come out of the shaft frame, so there’s no since in unthreading and rethreading everything. I think I’ll take a page out of the production weaver’s book and just dedicate this loom to all my 16/2 linen projects I can dream up, shawl, shawls, shawls. As long as I spend a half hour to an hour in the studio every day I should get well through my weaving to do list in no time at all.
Every little bit helps!

Blanket Update

weavemage — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:22:35 +0000

2 actual threading errors corrected
2 errors in tying on corrected
2 warp threads that broke due to threading error #2 mostly fixed

Weaving should begin in earnest tomorrow.

V’s blanket

weavemage — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 09:26:13 +0000

All is well from the front however the back is a different story.
I’m in the process of getting advice on how best to fix the problem that developed in the back.

V’s blanket is sleighed!

weavemage — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:17:51 +0000

1, 2, 3, 4 Ah, ah, ah!

weavemage — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 02:57:38 +0000

Yes that’s right I’ve finished warping the 4th stripe of V’s blanket! That means I only have 3 stripes left and each of those decreasing in the number of threads contained! I think having this warped by the end of the month is a reasonable goal! Now I just have to keep myself motivated and not let this new sense of accomplishment become a de-motivator!

I’ve always found that keeping motivated while warping is key. It also helps if you don’t move during the process it helps as well!

I am warped!

weavemage — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 04:16:13 +0000

Well if you weave this blog you likely know this is true, but more accurately I’ve been warping! I’ve gotten several more repeats through the heddles on the V’s blanket. I’ve got three colours of the colour gamp measured out and ready to go on the loom! 9 more to go and the loom isn’t even here yet, so no rush on that one! I’m just happy to be spending time in my studio regularly! y new studio space is much more conducive to regular work than my last space!
The warping process can often be the most daunting, particularly when you’re doing wide pieces, such as I’ve been tackling lately! With over 300 threads for 3 out of my 4 weaving projects, that’s a lot of threads to pull through heddles, then through the reed, then to get the same tension on when tying on! I’ve really realized lately that you have to be in the mood and getting a groove makes a huge difference. I’ve finally gotten in a groove with these latest 2 projects, and progress is moving along swiftly now! On part of this groove is my new easily accessible studio space! I think walking by the looms daily also helps for motivation! Finally taking Peggy Osterkamp’s advice and using a very low warping stool, so I’m sitting with the heddles at eye level, I can sit down and work on warping for a much longer period of time than in previous sessions. When using a regular chair, I was hunched over the loom, causing serious back pain, which sent me packing within about 30 mins! Now if I have several hours to sit at the loom and pull threads through heddles I can comfortably! Peggy is a genius!