Dreamweaver…

It’s time to weave! This is the good stuff! The reason that weavers everywhere spend hours setting up a loom is for these magical moments turning yarn into fabric! Ah, happiness…

So, here is what I have. The loom is completely dressed and ready. The yarn is tied on to the front of the loom in groups of knots. I need the yarns to spread out evenly. So, in comes the cheap toilet paper! It’s perfect for this! Because of the perforation, it is easy to remove when the project is finished.

Another random use for TP!

Off to a good start!

As I was looking at my color options, I realized that I hardly ever use yellow! So, I started the project off on a yellow note, with lots of orange and red to follow!

Lots of yarns in the shuttle

You know how things sort of morph into a style? Well, many projects ago, I had a yarn in the shuttle that just wasn’t fat enough for the effect I was after. So, I added a thinner gray yarn to add to the bulk and instantly fell in love with the look! As you can see in the picture above, I combine many yarns together for the weft (weft is the weaving term for the yarns in the shuttle). These days, it’s hardly ever just 2 yarns! Depending on how thin they are, it could be as many as 8!

Extra yarns!

In the prior project, I made a mistake. I accidentally pushed two yarns together that weren’t supposed to be together while sleying the reed. Turns out, the effect is very cool! So, I did it intentionally this time around. All the black yarns you see in the picture are actually “extras”. When you look close, you can see the spacing is smashed together wherever the black yarns are. I dropped them into the project every so often to create an interesting overlaid pattern. It will be fascinating to see how that translates once we cut it for handbags…

Yum, orange…

To be a fly on my fabric…

My brother is HUGE fan of the color orange. So, I dedicate this portion of the fabric all to him!

Overhead view

When I’m weaving, there are only so many inches I can go before I need to advance the yarn so I can weave more. If you take a peek at the image above, you’ll see a metal wheel with teeth. This is what helps me move the project forward. There’s a foot break that releases the tension and then I can further wind the fabric onto the big beam you see by the metal teeth. It’s simple and brilliant all at the same time!

Sending the shuttle through!

When I do demonstrations, I talk about creating a tunnel for the shuttle to slide through. The shafts (frames that hold the heddles) lift up, taking certain yarns with them. So, by switching which shafts are up, you lock in the yarn from the shuttle and therefore, create fabric! It’s a mystical, mesmerizing process to be sure! Next up, I’ll finish weaving and cut it off the loom. The fun never stops! Until next time…