Weaving again at Wickerwool

This Tuesday at wickerwool knit and natter, Ginny brought her four shaft table loom again, since we spent the time last week putting it together and giving it a bit of a clean, it was time to show her how to wind a warp and warp the loom! Ginny doesn't have a warping board yet and my warping board had warp being wound on it so I couldn't bring it. Luckily as I was leaving home I thought it might be an idea if I took my inkle loom. This was a great idea because I managed to show her how to wind a warp (even if it was only a short length).

Ginny picked it up quickly and within no time I was showing her where to tie the warp before we took it over to the loom! 

I like to warp my might wolf loom from back to front, so this was the technique I showed Ginny.

We turned the loom so the back was facing up, up the lease sticks through the warp and then attached it to the back using an apron stick. We then wound it on to the back beam. Once it was wound on it was time to cut the end of the warp. Ginny couldn't bring herself to do this, which I understand! The first time it can be hard to believe that you have to do this after your hard work. So I did the honour, meaning that it was time to thread the heddles.

I thought a 2/2 twill would be a nice pattern to start with, you simple thread shafts 1,2,3,4 and repeat.

The reed was then threaded after the heddles and the ends tied on to the front. Time to weave! 

I hope she enjoys it! 

Come see use next week!

Advancing twill ..::''

After reading Handwoven November-December 2013 issue on twill I decided to try an advancing twill. I have followed the draft but without the repeat. I have used Jura by texere yarns which is a 4 ply weight. ( mainly because my stash only has this in it so far, I need to build a stash desperately!) I used a gradient on colours for the warp, but then went on to have some difficulty choosing the weft as I didn't like the colour I had chosen. I'm not sure I like this pattern as the pattern isn't as neat and clear as I like. I guess I like clear patterns! 

Finally decided on the blue weft after mulling it for a while.

I hope you like it more than I do. At least I can say I'm enjoying weaving it! 

Happy weaving xx

Rupert the Bear

The first peice of weaving I did on my 8 shaft, didn't do so well when I washed it, oops! Here it is when it was being woven. 

The 2nd to last post showed the head I made out of it! Now it's finished :) I'm very happy with for the first handwoven, five jointed bear I have made. I can see lots of things I can improve on BUT I must remember it's only the second jointed bear I have made, so of course it can improve lots. So I am trying to not be so critical of him and just enjoy him as a cute bear that I have made from my own fabric :) 

He is so soft too because he is made from jaggerspun zephyr merino/ silk wool! 

I photographed him with Katie today, as I always use Holly! She is so cute with him. 

I will however leave you with a photo of Holly in a Santa jumper :) hehe 

Happy weaving, and merry christmas! ....too early? 

Old four shaft table loom at knit and natter

On Tuesday afternoon I went to a local knit and natter at Wickerwool yarn shop in Mawdesley. This is the first time I have been and I took along my rigid heddle loom. I was going there to meet Cathy from Lazykate handspun yarn to show her and her Mum how to weave! (Cathy taught me how to spin two years ago!) I was even more delighted when I saw it was an old four shaft table loom! So we spent the three hours putting the loom together and giving it abit of a clean. It's a lovely loom! I'm so excited to show them how to use it, most of all I'm really excited to see Cathy's Mum weave using Cathy's handspun yarn!

Here are some pictures of the loom I've stolen from Cathy's Facebook and Twitter feed!

A real bear with my laceweight herringbone weaving

Ok so I seem to be really getting into making bears. I just got supplies through the post yesterday and I've got more on the way hehe. So the main aspect of my bears is that I want them to be made out of my weaving. If you were to scroll back down the post you would come across the first thing I made on my new 8 shaft mighty wolf loom. It's a herringbone twill using Jaggerspun zephyr merino/silk, however when I went to full the fabric I felted it abit meaning it couldn't really be used for anything.
A bit of insomnia meant that I came up with idea of using it to make a bear!! I decided I would start with the head as it's on of the most important parts of a bear! It holds all the character!
So off I went....
Right I'm off to make the rest of him!! I hope you like his face :)
Happy weaving!

Fuzzy and red

Today I have been weaving some fuzzy red fabric on my rigid heddle loom. I'm using alpaca silk by drops for the weft, it's really fuzzy. I'm hoping that after I have fulled the fabric it will be even fuzzier and even more so once I've brushed it! I'm am going to make some bears out of it to sell next month :)

I also have a picture of the scarf I finished a while ago using the draft I designed :) 

I've just finished the same scarf yesterday but in purple, I'm hoping to make a couple more as well ready for the gallery in December :) 

 Happy weaving xx 

In its place

I finished my bear, the none had woven one. It's taken pride and place between my Mums bears :)

Another bear and scarf

Yesterday was very productive for me after I had made the blue bear in the previous post I went on to warp my loom for a second scarf using my name draft. I then made a second bear :)
I love making the bears they are so much fun! I am even considering trying to design my own bear. I will keep you updated on that front! So I will leave you with some pictures!

Weaving a bear!

I have loved soft toys my whole life, I must of had more teddies in my life than people I have known! Years ago my mum made a couple, and they now reside in my studio on the bookcase. I have been looking at them lately and last month I got myself a bear making kit. The picture below shows my progress so far. It's progress was stunted as a didn't have the correct pliers to bend the clotter pins (I've order some now though!)

After seeing the teddy bear weaving thread on the rigid heddle weaving group on ravelry I was stunned at the quality of bear everyone manage to make out of their own weaving! They were fantastic! So I have decided to have a go myself. The pattern I am going to use I bought from S Reetz bears on etsy and is a primitive pattern but very cute! Here is a picture of the bear from her etsy page.

I wanted my weaving to be as fur like as possible but to still have a worn look to it, so the bear could look vintage. This meant that I used a boucle yarn for my weft (Drops alpaca boucle) and I used a plain yarn for my warp (drops alpaca 4 ply). I am hoping to make more than one bear so I wove 30cm x ~25cm of each colour of boucle.

Once the fabric was off the loom I soaked it in hot water and put it on for a spin in the washing machine, followed by the tumble dryer. This really helped fluff up the boucle, however this was made redundant as I the ironed on interfacing! I had asked the lovely people of the rigid heddle loom group for advice on sewing the bear, and what to do about fraying. There advice was interfacing and zig-zag stich around the pieces, so this is what I did!

This photo shows the interfacing with the pieces drawn on and sewn around

The view from the boucle side!

The pieces after they had been cut out! No fraying!

I then went on to follow the pattern but I think I made an error. In order for the bear to have a better shape when turned the right way, I trimmed down the seem allowance and cut through the zig-zig, so I am afraid that some ends have come through whilst I was stuffing it! But never mind I will adjust that on my next bear! so here is my finished bear :)

I had so much fun making this bear and I cant wait to make the next two! I hope you have enjoyed reading about it.

Lastly I have no idea what to name him! He looks very much like the bear my older brother has had since he was a baby which was called bluey but I think I want a slightly more creative name! Any ideas?

Happy weaving xx

Christmas weaving :)

I love christmas! Yesterday I went to Bents garden centre to see all the christmas decorations. It was AMAZING!! I was overwhelmed, there was so much stuff. I decided my favourite style is Dickensian, reds and greens... And glitter! I got my nails painted red and covered in red glitter today, they look like Dorothy's shoes in the wizard of oz. 

I did some christmas weaving the other day, sadly when I washed it the pattern was unrecognisable. So here is a picture from when I was weaving it.

Are you doing any christmas weaving this year?

My first draft

My name draft 'Heather Swift'

I would love to see others weave it! Please email or tweet me a picture if you do ever weave it!

My very own overshot draft!

So a few posts ago I posted  picture of a name draft from my very own name. At that point I wasn't sure if it would work as a weave because there were so many floats! I thought if I did weave it it wouldn't be very stable. In the book picture below, it describes overshot in detail, and it was as I was reading this that it dawned on me that my name draft should be an overshot weave! I was delighted. I definitely recommend this book. You can get it from her etsy shop which is listed on her blog

I had so much gun weaving my own draft. Here are a few photos of it! 

This is the reverse side

I love the fact that it is based on my name! I need to adjust the draft because I didn't weave exactly what my original design was. I will post it tomorrow!

Happy weaving xx