Backstrap Weaving – A Long Time Coming

Some projects take a long time to finish simply because I run out yarn and can’t add the finishing touches. Then I forget to buy the yarn and the piece gets stashed…out of sight, out of mind. This piece which I had on the loom almost 2 years ago has finally been finished. It was just a matter of buying the purple wool that I needed to weave the edging.This was an experiment to see if I could use up some Knit Picks Palette wool that I had in my stash. I wasn’t sure if it would work for warp-faced weaving with its fairly loose twist and I didn’t want to add more twist myself. I found it wove up well with some extra care and precautions and I decided to use it to weave a piece with 4 selvedges. Below, you can see the final stages where the two woven ends are meeting in the middle . Eventually I had to remove the shed rod and needle weave one of the two sheds. Then, the heddles had to go and I needle wove all the remaining sheds. I split the 2-ply yarn by mistake a few times with the needle and the back of the cloth shows evidence of that.

After finally bringing the purple wool home, I could think about the edging. I decided on the kind of tubular edging pattern that I have seen used by weavers in Chahuaytire, Peru.

I was lucky to have been able to watch a weaver at work on one of these bands and bring home an unwoven warp set up for weaving. Talk about long warps!…this one was created to edge one of the large 2-panel carrying cloths.

My wool cloth was not firm enough to support the spiraling tubular band and so I applied it as a flat edging instead. There is always the challenge of figuring how to best disguising the start and finish of the edging band and I all I could come up with was to hem a bit of left-over band and sew it over the spot where both ends meet.

And so, this 2-year old project finally sees it completion.

Other projects sit by while I wait for ideas on how best to finish them…

These 3 wall hangings in a series I call Plain Tales are off the loom but remain unfinished as I can’t decide how to finish their fringes.

And now, I have just put together a new warp that will take a long long time to finish not only because it is so long, but also because I have planned a heck of a lot of pick-up for it….3-color reversible pebble weave in 60/2 silk.

On top of that, after finishing about a 1/2” of pick-up, I decided that I prefer the reverse. That would not normally matter. Both faces of a double-faced weaving can be enjoyed. The problem is that I also plan some single-face supplementary-weft patterning and so I need to decide now which side will be the ”good” side. I could flip it over and re-position the heddles. There are lots of heddles. It’s a good thing I like making them. Or, I could simply un-weave the 1/2”.

I got rid of a table in my living room which allowed me to stretch out the warp while I got things settled. Something always gets given away when I arrive home from a trip. This time it was the dining table. More room for weaving…you can see where my priorities lie! I installed a coil rod to help keep things organized on the far side of the cross as well as help settle the plain -weave sections.While I was there, I thought I may as well install some heddles…
Then, I rolled up the far end of the warp so I could fit everything into my usual weaving spot in the bedroom. I am still not a big enough fan of circular warps to have taken that route.

At this time two years ago, I was weaving on another black fine warp. This one was in Guatemalan cotton and I used supplementary weft for the patterns. It was a project that experienced its own share of hiccups with multiple do-overs. I put a lot of strain on that poor cotton warp with all the un-weaving and weaving but it forgave me.

I am just glad that I decided to stop after only 1/2” on this current project. I hope the silk will be as forgiving if I decide to un-weave.

I’ll take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy new year. Thank you for all your support! See you in 2017.