Browsed by
Tag: inkle weaving

table strune with cotton yarn that the students chose to make there bands from. in front of the table is a floor inkle loom.
Fall 2023 Inkle Weaving Workshop

Fall 2023 Inkle Weaving Workshop

Comments 10 comments

Today, which by now is yesterday, was my Intro to Inkle class. I was expecting 6 students, two of whom I knew had done some other types of weaving. after I sent out the last minute instructions (parking, how to get into the building, where local food could be found ) I found out two of my students were very young and would be accompanied by their Mom.

I have had young students before but these were 8 and 10 so the youngest. The eldest was very interested in weaving and had done some simple weaving before.

I got an email reply from one student they would be unable to make it and the last was a young gentleman but definitely quite a bit older than 10. He had not woven before but was quite intrigued to make cloth.

I had a very brief chat about inkle looms, their history and that we had both floor (better for long projects or for sitting in one location and weaving)  and table inkle looms (better for shorter length bands but much more portable to weave on) in the class.  I discussed what yarn would work best on an inkle Ioom, which is Smooth with a good twist, like a crochet cotton. I had brought one of my looms that had a silk warp on it to show them too.

Since we had weavers in the workshop I made sure I had options that would weave quickly for the new students and a finer yarn that would be a bit slower warping but give more design interest for patterns. The 3 sizes of yarn to work with were; for the advanced students #10 crochet cotton,  l also had #3 crochet cotton for a bit quicker warping. For those who wanted to warp the loom very quickly, I had the less tightly twisted mop type cotton. it is much faster to warp and weave and gives the opportunity to practice what the process is but unfortunately, it is not as smooth to advance the warp as the two crochet cottons.

I also had extensive notes so if they found an inkle loom at a garage sale in 6 months or a year from now they could go back and review the information we covered today. I also gave them multiple ways to do  steps since some people hate the magic knot to start weaving and no matter how many times we try to demo it or say the instructions in a different way it will not stick (sort of like the evil letters for me, so no shame. They may find a eureka moment and be able to make a slip that is solid when pulled to the right some other time.)

We had one student who I know is a good floor loom weaver and likes patterns, she tried the #10 cotton. it took longer to warp but she was a much faster weaver so other than momentarily slowing down to make and use the butterflies to add 2 slits in her band, she was very fast. Butterflies always are slower since you are weaving 3 sections of the warp separately to make the 2 slits.

Everyone got a box of Smarties (an important weaving tool) and finished with a scissors necklace. We chatted about how to improve the class and had the suggestion of breaking it into a couple of evenings, rather than one long day. It is a lot of new information to take in all at once. I think we could do the warping and review a bit more about drafts on one day and return to work on the weaving on the second. If we did a third night we could probably make a second scissors necklace (it is always is easier the second time).

I apologize, two of my students were very eager and turned up before I had finished setting up, so no pre-class shots, and then I got busy with teaching. I did pull out my camera at lunch to get some shots of the looms ready to go but again forgot it when I started teaching again. Luckily Carlene, who also rights on this blog and belongs to the same guild as Ann, Bernadette and I, was there and borrowed my camera. Now I have visual proof I was there!

But first, let me thank and show you my helpful Sherpa husband who brought everything out to the car and then from the car to the studio. After class, he took all the boxes I had packed up and put them back in the car, then disappeared them into the house as I wrote this blog post for you.

i overworked my sherpa, husband sleeping during my workshop1) My hubby recovering from the Kanata games club then transporting all my teaching stuff.

A few shots from the workshop;

2) Variegated yarn with a yellow border. (the variation gave an ikat like pattern.)2) Variegated yarn with a yellow border. (the variation gave an ikat-like pattern.)

3) This band had a heavier yarn for the border and the #5 cotton for the middle.3) This band had a heavier yarn for the border and the #5 cotton for the middle.

4) the class at work with 2 table inkles and 3 floor inkles.4) the class at work with 2 table inkles and 3 floor inkles.

4.1) Carlene is a sneaky at getting shots you don’t notice her taking as I am!4.1) Carlene is as sneaky at getting shots you don’t notice her taking as I am!

 5) A long day of weaving for my second youngest student!5) A long day of weaving for my second youngest student!

6) Another band with solid border and variegated center. It is fun to watch the colours change.6) Another band with a solid border and variegated centre. It is fun to watch the colours change.

7) my youngest students Mom helping with cutting the fringe to length. 7) my youngest student’s Mom helping with cutting the fringe to length.

8) Carlene and her scissors necklace. *note the new Lee Valley snips! She discovered the scissors open fully so we can just slide the loop from one end of the lanyard into the center of the scissors, rather than the knotting method the old black scissors required.8) Carlene and her scissors necklace. *note the new Lee Valley snips! She discovered the scissors open fully so we can just slide the loop from one end of the lanyard into the centre of the scissors, rather than the knotting method the old black scissors required.

9) Still some fringe twisting to do but a lovely first inkle band 9) There is still some fringe twisting to do but a lovely first inkle band.

10) a brand new weaver! Still a bit of fringe twisting to go but now has somewhere to keep his scissors. 10) A brand new weaver! Still a bit of fringe twisting to go but now has somewhere to keep his scissors.

 11) a bit of sewing up one side and hemming but a great first weaving! and he is almost 11!! (He was interested in the 12 harness countermarch loom in the studio, maybe he will be trying that after the beginning weaving on a table loom in a year or so?) I unfortunately did not get a shot of his brother’s scissors necklace or book mark when it was done.11) a bit of sewing up one side and hemming but a great first weaving! and he is almost 11!! (He was interested in the 12 harness countermarch loom in the studio, maybe he will be trying that after the beginning weaving on a table loom in a year or so?) I, unfortunately, did not get a shot of his brother’s scissors necklace or bookmark when it was done.

It looked like the students had fun. Most enjoyed their smarties (or found someone to get rid of the contents for them, so they could use the box.)

Eventually, we will re-run the Inkle Two workshop.  We look at 2 harness weaving that you don’t normally consider on an Inkle loom but that it can definitely weave.  The workshop contains lots of odd things you can do with an inkle loom such as weaving with wire to make a 3-Trim, or Boutonné weaving with a supplemental weft to make patterns with little loops or adding beads with a supplemental warp or weft thread.  It would also likely be better spread over a number of evenings rather than the 2 long days, as we have run it before. You may not use these techniques regularly, but they may spark some great project ideas or maybe inspire a new weaving interest.

Maybe making an inkle band of cotton, wool, silk or wire may inspire you to make a 3-D Felted Vessel with a decorative neckband or maybe a fancy strap to carry it?

demo display. demo basket, weaving samples, kick spindles, table loom
Weaving Overshot all wrong

Weaving Overshot all wrong

Comments 10 comments

Many years ago, I finally got to try weaving. I took the Beginning to Weave workshop through the Ottawa guild. At that time, 1989, the OVWSG did not have a studio space to house what guild equipment we had acquired. (The Guild had an old second-hand 100 inch loom and 6 or 7 table looms. There may have been a floor loom too but I was distracted by the 100 inches of loom, so do not remember). All the looms lived in one of our guild members’ very big basements. On weekends, she either taught weaving workshops or hosted weavers working on the 100 inch loom. It sounded like a busy basement! I remember 4 weekends of driving to a little town just east of Ottawa. I took the table loom home each week to do homework. I still remember the sound of the mettle heddles rattling as I drove down the highway, back and forth to the classes. Then I think there were two more weekends of Intermediate weaving and Dona sent me off and I was weaving!

It all starts with yarn, wind it carefully, attach it to the back beam, wind on, thread the heddles, slay the reed, tie on to the front beam, check the tension and then start to weave. It sounds like a lot of work but it is all worth it as you start to pass the shuttle through the shed and the cloth begins to appear. Weaving was like Magic! From a pile of string to POOF, actual cloth!!!

During the workshop, I found pickup seemed strangely familiar as my brain watched my fingers happily lifting and twisting threads for the various lace and decorative weave patterns. The other thing that my brain went “ooh this is cool!” was Overshot. It is a weave structure that requires a ground and a pattern thread, (two shuttles). One is fine like the warp and the pattern thread is thicker and usually wool. I was still reacting to wool so I used cotton for both.  My original goal was to draft and weave a Viking textile for myself but I put that aside for a moment, I will get back to that later.

The first thing I wove after my instruction was a present for my Mom. she had requested fabric to make a vest. I looked through A Handweaver’s Pattern Book by Marguerite Porter Davison and found an overshot pattern that I thought we both would like. I wove it in two shades of blue (Mom’s favourite colour), at a looser thread count than usual. (Originally the overshot weave structure was used to make coverlets, so were tightly woven and a bit stiff, while I liked the pattern I wanted the fabric to be much more drapey.) Even worse, I did not want it to be as hard-edged in the pattern as it was originally intended so I tried a slub cotton as a test and loved it.

1-3   Cover of Marguerite Davison’s Book, an interior page showing overshot patterns, and a close-up of “Weaver Rose’s Coverlet no.28”

So, for any sane weaver, it was all wrong! Wrong set, wrong fibre, wrong colour choices! It was fabulous and perfect. I kept the sample as a basket cover and at either the end of 1989 or the beginning of 1990, I gave Mom the yardage for her vest. “Oh this is too nice to cut” Mom Said, so it lived on the back of her favourite reading chair as a headrest until her most recent move (2015?) it never did get to be a vest but it has been well enjoyed.

I don’t have a picture of her yardage but I do have pictures of the sample I kept.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

4-7 My demo basket with cover at Plowing match demo, Algonquin demo, Richmond fair, Carp fair and Farm show.

My sample piece, which became my main demo basket cover, has been in the background of many demo photos. This year it was used as an Old example in part of the guild Exhibition. You can see the subtle distortion of the pattern when a slub yarn is used.

Overshot sample of overshot cloth in blue and grey on Left and Inkle woven band in purple and blue with suplemental warp of fuzzy slubs.8 Exhibit from the 2022 guild Exhibition and Sale

In the Exhibition The Inkle band, hanging beside the overshot, I wove much more recently. I used an Inkle loom and a supplemental warp thread. This means weaving with an extra separate thread that was not part of the main warp on the loom.  I used a yarn with a fuzzy caterpillar-like slub.

Close up of Inkle woven band with slubs woven in Inkle band on Inkle loom. suplemental warp is weighted and hangs over back peg, 9-10 close up of Inkle woven band with inserted slubs from the supplemental warp, Inkle loom set up with the supplemental warp slubs.

You may be able to see how I wove the weird slubby supplemental warp. The yarn is weighted and left hanging over the back peg of the Inkle loom. It comes over the top peg (usually labelled B in diagrams) and floats above the weaving.  In the areas where the Caterpillar (Slub) is not present I catch the yarn with the shuttle and weave it into the band. In the area the caterpillar appears I would leave the yarn above the warp and then start weaving it in again as I reached the end of the caterpillar. I hope that explanation doesn’t sound like mud and makes a bit of sense. Using a supplemental warp on an Inkle loom is not quite normal but it is a lot of fun.

Over the years I tried out other two harness techniques that you normally don’t see with an Inkle loom. It turned into an entire 2 day, with a week in between days, workshop (with a homework assignment) and lots of samples!! I think it’s the fault of my dyslexic brain wandering off into odd thoughts again.

I was going to tell you about my original goal in learning to weave, the mysterious Fragment #10 from a Viking excavation from around the year 1000, but  I have likely confused you with weaving enough for one day. So I will save that for another chat. (don’t forget the Inkle loom I would like to tell you a bit more about that in another post too. I promise I will get back to felting in the not-too-distant future)

Felting, Weaving and Teaching

Felting, Weaving and Teaching

Comments 14 comments

I had a fairly productive week I made 4 cup cozies.  They need their buttons and elastic loops but I should get that done this week. I need to sort out if they are narrow enough to go through the handle on a coffee mug. If they don’t fit I will make them for travel mugs without handles.

cup cozies

Here are some close up pictures. The top two have throwsters silk waste. The bottom left is a silk scarf and the right is cotton cheesecloth.

cozies close up

I also got the inklette loom warped to make a strap.

incle loom

The weaving is not great but it is getting better as I go.

ingle weaving

Lastly I had t very nice ladies to may studio to learn to make nuno felt scarves. As usual I was busy with the students and forgot to take pictures until the end.

nuno finished scarves nuno scarves close up