Monthly Archives: January 2014

double harness weaving, drawloom, heddle jig, long-eyed heddles

Very Close to a Working Drawloom

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I am very happy with the progress made this afternoon on the drawloom.  I looked closely again at photos of a drawloom, identical to my loom, taken about 29 years ago.  The counterweights looked to now be at the proper height, but the beater seemed low so that was raised, then came more adjusting of shafts, lamms, and treadles.

At long last we seemed to have quite good sheds, with just a few threads out of place, but I believe they are being caused by two broken warp ends tangling with neighboring threads, and they will be fixed Thursday.

You couldn’t really see them in the photo yesterday, but there were some loose, “baggy” heddles on the first four shafts and I was wishing I’d replaced them while threading.  Then I decided three shafts not being used would be removed right then, so that was taken care of.

I bought this drawloom used, about 29 years ago, and it came with “string heddles,” made from what feels like seine twine, but slightly finer than the 12/6 sold today.  Four years ago, after calculating the heddles I would need, I found there were nowhere near enough, so I went on a two or three evening binge of making the needed long-eye heddles.  It turns out I had left some of the old ones on the loom in case they were needed.

Homemade long-eye heddle jig (made on short notice, by Char). 150 made this evening.
Homemade long-eye heddle jig (made on short notice, by Char). 150 made this evening.

They were needed, but after threading, sleying, and lashing the warp on, I did not like the baggy heddles constantly moving outward, so the warp was un-lashed, and the threads in the baggy heddles were un-sleyed and un-heddled.  Then I asked Char, on rather short notice, if she could quickly make a heddle jig using one of my long-eye heddles for a pattern.  She did, and another 150 long-eye heddles (always keep a tube of 12/6 seine twine in your stash!) were made.  Late this evening, the tremaining original heddles were removed from shafts 1-4 and the new ones placed on the shafts.

In the morning, I’ll re-thread the 150 or so threads, re-sley, lash the warp back on, check the sheds again, and hopefully, at long last, finally be able to start weaving!  I think I’m fine, but a couple members of my family said they can see the excitement! Perseverance is a very good thing!  And having Char to help puzzle all this out and help make adjustments has been a blessing!  Thank you, Char!

After we were done this evening, I was showing Char examples of double-harness weaving including an example of weaving I’d done on this drawloom 29 years ago, a piece woven on a loom with an opphamta attachment 30 years ago, as well as my samples from the Basic Drawloom class at VavStuga (from Nov. 2012).  She was surprised and a bit impressed with what can be done on these looms. And now I’m looking forward to years of double harness weaving!

There will be a break while I weave and Char continues with her woodworking projects, and then we’ll see about getting the opphamta attachment added to the standard loom.  I can hardly wait!

single unit drawloom

Remaining Hopeful

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Drawloom adjustments are underway!
Drawloom adjustments are underway!

This is the drawloom we had set up perhaps 4+ years ago, and it has been sitting idle.  I had tried many times to get this loom working, had asked advice from other drawloom weavers, tried every suggestion they offered, and much to my frustration, was not successful.

It is quite a challenge to change knots, weights, make adjustments to loom parts without being able to see the results of the changes.  I would be up and down the stepstool, or up off the floor, dozens of times without seeing any visible improvements.  And it is quite a challenge to depress a loom treadle and at the same time look into the side to check the shed, or see further back if shafts are moving properly, threads crossing as they should, and so on.

Two or three weeks ago I had asked Char if she would help me with this loom.  Char loves woodworking and had told me she wants to learn about looms and try to build one.  Yesterday she began learning weaving terminology, and loom parts and mechanics while we started working on the loom.  We referred again to “Damask and Opphamta,” studied the loom and the physics of what was happening, trying to determine, for example, why shafts would not return to their neutral position, why a depressed treadle would stay down and not come back up.  We began making adjustments and determined what changes were happening and if they were helping, or not.

This afternoon we were back at the loom, and having more success.  It was interesting how a change made at the top would cascade down into changes to shafts, then lamms, and finally treadles.  When we stopped today, knots had been re-adjusted on all the heavy counterweights, and shafts were doing better at returning to “neutral.”

Tomorrow morning I’ll finish adjusting the lower lamms, then the treadles, and then I’m hoping everything will be working and we’ll just need to fine-tune for clear sheds for all five treadles.

Glimakra single unit drawloom.
Glimakra single unit drawloom.

A drawloom is a double harness loom.  In the photo above, starting at the forefront of the picture, you see white cotton warp, the beater, then the first harness, a set of shafts that have long-eye heddles, and further back is the second harness with the pattern shafts.

Drawloom, looking at warp from back to front of loom.
Drawloom, looking at warp from back to front of loom.

This photo, taken standing at the back of the loom looking to the front.

Drawloom lingos.
Drawloom lingos.

Each group of threads at the pattern shafts and heddles has its own weight, or lingo.

Drawloom sheds need tweaking!
Drawloom sheds need tweaking!

Just before stopping today we checked the shed of each treadle. First one wasn’t too bad but needs fine-tuning.  The others were not as good, but there are still lamms and treadles to be adjusted so it was expected.

We’re so close, and I’m hopeful I will be able to weave on this loom again by the end of the week.  It has been around 28-29 years, far too long!

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Banes and Blessings

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Woven shibori in progress.
Woven shibori in progress.

The weaving of “woven shibori” continues in the studio.  A couple sample pieces are off the loom and waiting to be indigo dyed, and now it is back to weaving scarves on the few yards of warp left.  Meanwhile, I am reviving the indigo vats, and have them covered and sitting near the woodrange to keep them warm.

Weaving on a very cold winter day.
Weaving on a very cold winter day.

Here in far northern WI, we’ve been having subzero temps during the day and down to -34 F. (with windchills down to -50) at night.  The studio has been cool but I’ve gotten a bit of weaving time in.

In addition to the extremely cold temps, I’ve been experiencing vertigo, nine days now, keeping me feeling very unsteady and unwell.  I’m more than ready for this to clear up!

Char installing lights in the studio!
Char installing lights in the studio!

On a day too cold to work out in her woodshop, Char installed two new fluorescent light fixtures in my studio, one over the Glimakra Standard, one over the Single Unit Drawloom. What a blessing this is now!  Thank you, Char!

Glimakra Standard with new light fixture!
Glimakra Standard with new light fixture!
Single unit drawloom with new light fixture overhead!
Single unit drawloom with new light fixture overhead!

The new lights are making weaving and threading so much easier!

Evening, waiting for the weaver to return.
Evening, waiting for the weaver to return.

There is much weaving to be done before summer and autumn.

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Welcoming 2014!

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On a morning where the outside temp was -29 F. (actual temp on my lakeside porch), Char declared it was too cold to work in her woodshop, but she would bring an overhead fluorescent light fixture in from over the dye table), and hang it over my drawloom.  I expect she heard me muttering about my old eyes and trying to see the fine threads.  What a blessing this has been, and tomorrow I’ll be looking for four new fixtures for the studio.  At long last, let there be light!

Drawloom with light fixture overhead, Dec. 31, 2013
Fluorescent light fixture hung over drawloom, a blessing to older eyes!

They say you should start the new year doing things you want to do throughout the year, so I did.  I wove more on the woven shibori,…

Sleying reed on the drawloom. (#1)
Sleying reed on the drawloom. (#1)

then moved to the drawloom to make progress on sleying the 15 dent reed with 16/2 cotton.  5/4/4 in the reed.

Making progress.
Making progress.
Another view.
Another view.
16/2 Bockens cotton threaded through long-eye (seine twine) heddles.
16/2 Bockens cotton threaded through long-eye (seine twine) heddles.

I am looking forward to an exciting year of continuing woven shibori and indigo dyeing, hopefully beginning to dye with colors, some Norwegian weaving, and much more.   Happy New Year, and may we all have wonderfully creative years ahead!