Making String Heddles

Pound two big headless nails ( casing nail, finish nail ) into the board at the length you want the heddle to be, then measure and mark the center between the two nails, pound two more nails into the board, each 1/4 inch apart from the center towards each end of the heddle to make the eye, which should be no more than 1/2 in long. Now you have 4 big headless nails in a straight line.

Loop a string around the four nails, add 6 inches and cut to length, that's one heddle. Hold the two ends together, loop the string around the first 2 nails closest to you and tie a tight square knot or a granny knot, it doesn't matter much here. Now tie a second identical knot around the third nail and a third knot around the fourth nail; you're done! Repeat this 25 times ( it pays to have extras ) and you have enough heddles. A string heddle will last for years and can be tied into the center of a fully threaded shaft when you discover you've left an orphan warp in there. An orphan warp if allowed to hang loose will cause more problems, so it's best to put it into a repair heddle even if it doesn't match the threading perfectly.

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Carpenters use a plumb bob with a string and chalk in a container. They use it to mark straight lines on lumber. The string has chalk on it and it is pulled tight, then snapped. This leaves a chalk line on the lumber or in our case, material. Works like a charm.

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A tape measure

1) Is the first item most use, a cloth one is the absolute best! Why? A cloth one can easily bend around beam and can be pinned easily. Also the plastic tape measures do eventually stretch out. Cloth measuring tapes are now hard to come by. If you have one, bravo! Or seek out a tailor and beg for one! If you can't find a cloth measuring tape and you don't own one, what do you do? Made your own.
2) Use a plastic tape, but every two inches - use a 1/8" hole punch to punch 2 holes so a T pin can go in one, through the fabric and out the other.

Use grosgrain ribbon

1) Just lay the ribbon down next to a yard stick and mark the inches off with a cloth marking pen. And you can make them any length you want or need. Use a regular ball point pen so that the marks don't blur. The zero mark is placed at the beginning of the piece. Then use two pins (or alligator clips, clothes pins, safety pins, T-pins, fine hemostats, etc.), one just behind the fell and the other a few inches back. When ready to roll forward, move the back pin to the new fell line. You can write any special instructions right on the ribbon, so you know when to make desired changes.
2) Ribbon marked as a measuring tape (found in the fabric store or Walmart). It only goes to 12", then repeats. Very accurate. Therefore, when at the repeat you have 13", because from the 12" to the 1" is that extra inch. And this ribbon doesn't stretch.
3) Weave your own ribbon, about 1/2" wide. Each inch or foot (whatever works for you!) weave a contrasting color line.
4) Or purchase firmly woven ribbon, about 1/2" wide and long enough to measure a scarf length then used a permanent marker to mark it with 18", 36", 48" etc. Mark both sides so it doesn't matter which side is up when it is pinned to the warp. When weaving, release some of the tension then pin the ribbon onto the warp. After the new pin is secured and you have removed the previous one so the tape doesn't wind on with the woven fabric.
5) Use fabric that's stitched to a length of grosgrain ribbon. At one end was a short piece stitched perpendicular so you could fold up the tape then wrap that end around and tie it for storage. It saves the tape from being pin pricked too often.

3/4" twill tape

1) Cut tape to the length that you want it, pin to project in two places. When weaving advances, leap frog the pins over each other, leaving beginning end loose so that it won't roll in. Acts like a cloth tape. You can even use a marker on it to mark important places on it.
2) (Also for marking pattern repeats.) Mark numbers on a short length of twill tape 1 2 3 4 ... , up to 10 or whatever suits your usual multiple of items. Pin the tape onto the cloth, placing the pin through the appropriate number. In other words, on the third placemat the twill tape will be pinned with the pin going through the number "3". As soon as the 4th placemat starts, attach the twill tape to it by pinning through the number "4".Use a safety pin; straight pins fall out!

Contrasting color yarn

1) About 4-6" long. Lay it over an edge thread and tie in an overhand knot. Do this for each item. When you get to 10, put two knots close together. Item 11 would be two knots close together and one knot further away.
2) When weaving yardage I use a very fine yarn about 4" long in a high contrast to the warp and put it into a shed at one selvege with a 1/2" or so sticking out. This makes it easy to remove after it is taken off the loom.
3) When making multiples of any one item. Use a custom made golf counter with 3 white beads and then a brown bead and there are a total of 16 beads on it. Works well if you move the bead at the beginning of the article only. Along the same line as this, try:

• move the bead
• click the clicker
• pegged my point (cribbage board)
• mark a line -- 1 2 3
• eat the m & m's

4) Take a small piece of scrap yarn (contrasting) and pull through the cloth with a needle and make a tie. This little loop tells you what has been done and doesn't poke me (pins), fall off (tape measure) and doesn't get in the way of a temple if used. If doing a very long project use an even number of inches and simply count the loops.

"Stuff" (pencils, buttons, etc)

1) When weaving a set of 8 placemats, put a "stuff" in a basket when each placemat is finished, so you don't have to remember how many more you have to weave. I also use "stuff" when counting the number of wraps on the warping reel.
Put a "T" pin (actually one on each side) at the start of the actual weaving (after any headers or hems) and measure to the fell line when advancing the cloth is about to take the pins over the beam. Move the pins and record the measurements.
2) Use adding machine tape, making note of one's stripe widths and colors, etc. Another nice advantage of the adding machine tape is that you can easily save it with your project notes.
3) Measure off the desired length on cash register tape, pin the tape to the fabric as it's woven, and when you get to the end of your pre-measured length of paper, you're there. Make any notations you want on it and can mark design elements, notes on treadling, inches, or whatever.

Measuring Rugs

1) Under tension, measure 13 inches and loop a cord around the outside selvedge warp and do an overhand knot in the cord (using the two sections of the cord as one cord.). Do this for each 13 inches. So each knot means that 13 inches are done.
2) Measure the length of a rug with a piece of string cut the length you want plus the extra that is expected for the rug to "shrink" off the loom. Tie the string on the center of the warp at the beginning and let it roll up with the rug.

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• Singles: you did not spin it evenly and have thin spots which may break while winding the warp, or while weaving. You need to spin evenly.
• Stretchyness: as it has not been stored on a cone, it is much more stretchy than mill spun. This may confuse you in the warping process, but will be just fine. Actually, in the finishing process, this stretchyness will "hide" weaving "problems" as it will allow the yardage to shift and adapt better. This is particularly true for fine wools, and plied woolen fine wools particularly.
• Plied yarns will be stronger and their twist is balanced (wont twist back on themselves in the warping process) but they are thicker as well as more stretchy.

Make sure you have the right fiber/sheep breed for your project. Lincoln wool is fantastic for tapestry weaving, outerwear, rugs and the like. But is itchy near the skin. Fine wools (merino, ramboullet, etc) is excellent near the skin, but pills, stretches and otherwise can be problematic in situations where ruggedness, strength, and dimensional stability is of utmost importance. Spinning it yourself can be a huge benifit as you get the grist you want in the particular wool or cotton you want.

If you have not set the twist by steaming or boiling your singles, they may want to twist back on themselves during measuring of the warp and beaming on if you do it F2B. You may want to use sizing to stop this. Gelatin (knox unflavored is one brand) works well, and is easily obtained.

Trust that the project will go well, and it will. I've never had more problems with handspun than with millspun. In fact, I'm finding I'm preferring my handspun to millspun for wool fabric. I use primarily singles.

One person's opinion off the internet!

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Do you have alot of socks waiting to be darned (heaven forbid!) and you hate darning? Or do you just toss out the worn out socks? Well, cease and desist! Make loopers out of the worn out socks! Then weave a wonderfully textured (from the bumps) long wearing rug instead.

Loopers are what's left when socks are made commercially. They are knit, often cotton or nylon, and are a LOOP. Commercially made loopers can be purchased from say 'Great Northern Weaving' (link on "Links" page) or other know places. Or...If you have a lot of socks cut the old ones straight across, starting just above the toe and going all the way up thru the cuff. Cut for most work sock weight about 1" wide. Result is a pile of loops.

The loopers need to be chained together. They can be chained together in random color order or chosen order. As you chain these together give them a tug to stretch them, so the raw edges will curl inwards. You'll find out quickly that the chain needs to be "stretched" to tighten all those knots too. Its suggested that you chain about 50 loopers together (the amount that fits nicely on a rag shuttle - you can figure your own amount) and then stretch it in arm lengths. If you give each looper a tug to tighten it, you'll ruin your wrists fast. On the commerically purchased loopers, you may get fat and/or skinny loopers. On the fat loopers, cut them in half. And the teeny weeny skinny ones - use two of them together. You want the diameter to remain consistant. It matters most at the selvedge. You don't want a huge glob of material sticking out like a sore thumb or a little bit of nothing that makes your selvedge uneven. Also, don't stretch the chain as you weave it, just treat it as you would any other material.

You can dye the loopers too. Immersion dyeing would work, I'm sure. But another method off the internet (they did not state what dye they used) is:

Fill the washer with loopers and cold water, then spin it out. This allows the loopers to take the dye evenly, as they are wet. Remove the loopers, fill the tub with water and dye and put the loopers back in and just let them sit. If you put the loopers into the dye bath in batches you will get different shades, which is really beautiful. Don't agitate them or they'll become a solid mass that you'll have to cut apart. Put them in the dryer in batches, checking the lint trap very frequently. You won't believe the amount of lint you'll get.

I am aware of at least two weavers (Sally & Kara) who have woven looper rugs and I'm sure they could add to this tip. Contact them for any help you might need - and if you get additional tips from them - let me know!

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Thrums are the waste yarns from weaving. The majority being the "loom waste" that is calculated for one's loom. Other waste products - such as empty cardboard or plastic cones - the end products of our using the fiber. So what to do with the thrums? Or the other waste products? The following are just a few ideas:

• Use the thrums as a header on warps to spread the warp out even
• Weave something with it? You may have to lay a lot of it in by hand, but it might make a really interesting piece of something to make a bag or something out of.
• Tie all your thrums together, leaving about an inch loose at each knot, then use them for weft and made a very interesting multi-colored vest with a sort of shag-look resulting from the 1 inch loose ends. Or possibly a blanket.
• Weave placemats with sorted pieces of material. Cuts them short even when they are too long, match the colors and weave the 10 to 20 inches strips, one at a time. Usually there are no two rows that are the same. It does beautiful work.
• Use to tie hang tags on woven items or on handspun skeins
• Use to make great "hit and miss" mug rugs
• Use them in a rya pile rug. Arrange these waste pieces of yarn more or less in color wheel order and weave yourself a rainbow rug.
• Donating weaving waste to a local preschool (especially a cooperative type), day care centers or kindergarten would be good - they always need craft supplies - the spools would make a great donation - preschoolers can build out of anything. Usually get rid of things in September so they have a full years to use and play with. The ultimate solution as they leave my studio and end up on someone's fridge as a lovingly made craft or cat toy or what ever. Or making pretty"thrum" strings for Mother Day projects.
• Use to tie up handspun skeins or as choke ties on warps
• For handspinners, use short thrums to add to your fiber in spinning novelty yarn.
• Or you can do this yourself if you have a drum carder. Hand carders may be a bit tedious, but it is possible. Or you can just add short thrums to the fiber as you spin. Great colorful novelty yarns.
• Do you know someone who makes paper? Or, even better, do you know someone who teaches papermaking class? Those thrums are wonderful addition to paper pulp and they make beautiful paper. Cut very short, say 1/4" or so, but longer yarn may be interesting as well.
• Off the internet: If you can knit, you can incorporate those snippets into a project. You can make some beautiful jackets and coats of many colors - all knitted with thrums of varying sizes, colors, thick/thin, etc.
• Off the internet: Save those empty cardboard and plastic cones for a friend who does psychotherapy with rehab patients, like stroke victims.. Maybe you can find someone in your area. They have to be cone shaped and they are hard to come by.
• Empty cones make great bases for paper maché Christmas Angels!
• Tie them together and use them to make double corduroy rugs or twice woven/chenille floor rugs. Use them tied together and overdyed to blend them all & then woven into a fabric again with all the knots just hanging out the front.
• Braid thrums to make handles on purses, straps for bags
• Don't forget your favorite Florist, as they use the cones in there line of work.
• You can donate it to one of the many fiber art charities listed on-line. There are many weavers and knitters who can always use some more yarn to make things for those who are needy in our world. Just go to any search engine and type in "charity crafting" or "crafts for charity".
• Use waste yarn for stuffing little stuffed toys for kids. Cut it up into little bits and carded it with wool (mercerized cotton is nice for this, shiny and stands out from the wool) to spin.
• Use them on a pot holder loom to make mats. Put thrum warps through one direction and attach them to the pegs either by tying knots to hold them or putting tape across, rubber bands or what ever you have. Then weave thrums in the other direction for weft either singly or by bundles using a tapestry needle.
• Cut thrums into 2 - 2 1/2 inch lengths, save them up until you have enough to hook into rugs.
• Use them to tie-up tomato plants!
• Combine several thrums of the same lengths, tie up both ends in a tight overhand knot. Let your dog enjoy a great pull toy!

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A tip off the internet: For knitter's and/or for the warp in weaving.

What you do is take the two ends to be joined [I do this as I'm winding spools so I don't deal with any knots while weaving] and break them so you have feathered ends rather than blunt cut ends. This is important. Now take one yarn end and lay it across the other yarn about 2" from each end at a 90 degree angle - like a plus sign. Now take a tapestry needle and weave it in and out of one of the ends inside of the cross - in other words about 2 1/4" in from the end. Don't thread the needle until after you have woven it in and out about 2 1/2" - do this by scrunching the yarn along the length of the needle. While keeping the needle woven into the yarn thread the needle with the short end of the same piece of yarn which will cause the other yarn to be held inside of the now looped yarn. Now carefully pull the threaded yarn through itself and the end will be buried inside of itself. You are folding the yarn back on itself while catching the other yarn into the folded end.

Are you still with me? Okay, now do exactly the same thing with the other yarn end. On this end you will start weaving the needle close to the folded end of the other yarn and after it has scrunched up about 2 1/2" again thread the needle and gently pull the end through. The yarns now cross each other and are woven back into themselves. Sort of twist the yarn back into its original twist after the join and when woven you will be hard pressed to find the joins. Vary the length folded back depending upon the grist and how slippery the yarn is that one is joining. If you remember the yarn folds back on itself not the other yarn you have got it. It is helpful to test this with two contrasting colours to get how it works.

While I don't see that this would work with chenille [though if you pulled the fluff off it just might] I've done this join on 2/28 wool and it held just fine in a warp. I've also used it on heavier yarns for both knitting and in warps with great success.

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When selecting multiple colors of yarn to go together in a mixed warp. Put all the yarn in the various colors out on a table for several days and go about your other activities, looking at the yarn as one walks by. Soon you will decide which colors to use and may even change one's mind as to which color combination to use. Often the original yarns you would have thought would go well together actually don't work as well. In a way the yarn colors are talking to you about which ones work well with each other.

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One other use for a floating selvedge is on fragile warps, such as a singles or very loosely spun wool like Jagger Spuns' Superfine Merino, which can not stand the weight or tension of a temple......a floating selvedge made of monofilament, or fishing line, spaced about three dents over from the outermost thread, will help maintain a perfectly even selvedge throughout the piece.

Do you really need a floating selvedge? No!

Here is a method in which one does not need to add floating selvedges:

In weaving a Twill, 2/2 or whatever, on a 4 harness loom, use:

• Thread left side on an even shaft, 2 or 4.
• Thread right side on an odd shaft, 1 or 3.

For a 8 harness loom, use:

• Left side ends on an even numbered shaft. (2, 4, 6, 8)
• Right side ends on an odd numbered shaft (1, 3, 5, 7)

So let's do a little 2/2 twill threading on a four shaft loom here:

1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4

Ok, this is the way it would be if threaded straight across, yes? You're looking at the loom from the front, the 1 is on the left, the 4 is on the right. But this should leave a dropped (not caught) warp thread, most likely the 1 on the left. (Assuming you start throwing the shuttle from the right.)

So to fix it so that doesn't happen, thread like this:

4, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 1

The main thing about it is to have that last warp thread out of sequence.

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To learn that value contrast is at least as important, if not more so, than the actual colors (hues) being used. When colors in the same value (light, medium or dark) range...OR use the value contrast deliberately and specifically to complement the structure...then one finds much more harmonious results.

There is an amazing excercise in combining yarns of similar values in a single fabric. Amazing because it seems too simple to be true.

1. Get a grey scale from your local art supply place. Its a printed range of grey from 0% (which is white) to 100% (which is black), with each step in between increasing grey by 10%.
2. There are round holes in each section. Hold the grey scale in front of your yarn, right up against it. Squint your eyes so tight that you can just barely see.. The dot in the grey scale that matches the value of the yarn will seem to disappear. make a note of which % it is.
3. Repeat this step with other yarns. After you've got several of the same % value, combine them into a fabric.

You will find that regardless of hue (color) that yarns of the same value can be put together & will make a very pleasing combination. Give it a try - a grey scale will only cost you about a dollar. You will be astounded at the results.

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From an old 1960's article in one of those magazines about decorating houses, I came across this "Color Theory" article to help one put colors together. Amazing enough, I do believe we, as fiber artists, can learn from these concepts, and apply them toward our own design and color(s) in fiber art.

• No color in nature is uniformly even. Rather it is shaded, containing many shades of the same color.
• There is no color matching. In a green landscape there are thousands of greens. And besides greens, there are thousands of other colors: bark colors, stone colors, soil colors, flower colors, etc.
• Pattern and texture are everywhere in nature. Every leaf is veined, every tree trunk is textured. One must view these up close to see that this is so, as it does not appear from far off.
• There is a certain ratio in nature between shininess and dullness. Most of any natural landscape does not sparkle, glitter or shine. It is matte finish in the main. But there are always tiny flecks of glitter, from the sparkle of dew in the morning to the refracted light bouncing off broadleafed evergreens, the sun backlighting deciduous leaves, and the sparkle of sunlight on lakes, streams, ponds, and oceans.

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In weaving you have three elements; color, pattern, and texture. You should never have all three going in one piece of weaving or you have a poorly designed textile.

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In my decision to post something about Sett, I realize this measurement is almost as personal as one's choice to weave front-to-back or back-to-front. I appears to be no set rule to calculate it and for sure nothing is absolute. I mean even one's best guess might not be exact. So why do we measure the Sett? We must start somewhere in determining the E.P.I. (ends per inch) for our warps.

I was originally taught to do wraps on a ruler. I would leave a suitable space between and count that and then fudge a bit, if necessary. The number of yarns that fit in the inch was my e.p.i. It did not occur to me for some time that this in and of itself wasn't enough. I did not take into account of how yarn interacted in different weaves.

For an example - kitchen towels may be as little as 22 epi all the way up to 36 epi.

So this tip of the month is a gathering of formulas from various sources over the past several years. My suggestion to each and everyone of you is to sample, sample, sample and find what works for YOU and stick with it. Keep quality detailed notes on each project.

E.P.I. are ends per inch and is what your warp sett will be. It can be determined by wrapping around a ruler just to touch, don't smoosh together. Count the wraps and divide by 2 for plain weave, divide by 2/3 for twill because you need more warps per inch to weave a balanced twill. Multiply by 2 or by 3 for your warp faced weaving and for such as rib weave.

Another hint for finding sett:
Because yarns are compressible in woven fabric, there is no fixed number of ends/picks per unit for which a yarn may be suited. This is always, in the final analysis, a design decision. However, there are several formulas which can serve as a starting point from which variations based on sampling can be made as an aid in reaching the important design decision. The formula outlined below is one of the more simple ones and should prove useful.

S = D - (I X D / I + R)

Where:

• S = reeding in maximum number of ends per inch in warp
• I = number of warp/filling intersections per weave pattern repeat
• D = number of yarn diameters per inch (low tension ruler wraps)
• R = number of warp ends in one weave pattern repeat

Determining the correct sett for your project can be a bit of a challenge. If the same yarn is used in both warp and weft, the following formula should result in a balanced weave structure.

• W = Wrap the yarn around a ruler, with the yarn just touching, to determine the number of wraps per inch.
• I = Study the weave structure of the pattern you wish to use, and determine the number of intersections in the pattern repeat. Each time the weft travels from the front to the back of the fabric, passing between warp threads, this is counted as an intersection. i.e. In a tabby weave there are 2 intersections in any given 2 warp threads. In a twill weave there are 2 intersections in any 4 threads.
• R = Determine the number of warp and weft threads in one repeat of the pattern.

Sett = W - ((I * W) / (I+R))

• Example: Yarn: 10/2 Cotton
• W = 35

Tabby Weave

• I = 2
• R = 2
• Sett = 35 - ((2 * 35) / (2 + 2))
• Sett = 18

Twill Weave

• I = 2
• R = 4
• Sett = 35 - ((2 * 35)/ (2 + 4))
• Sett = 23.4

It is best to weave a small sample, and wash or wet finish it. As each weaver has a different 'hand' or weaves with a slightly different tension, the resulting fabric may yield a different product. The sett will have to be adjusted to obtain the desired result. Also, depending on the drape or use of the fabric, the sett may be changed from 10% - 30 %. For a looser weave structure such as lacey curtains, the sett would be reduced. For tight weaves, such as upholstery, increase the sett.

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There are so many different ways for fiber folks to organize there projects. The following are a couple of methods towards organization:

When one purchases new fiber, to keep track of what they have... Make yarn "rolodexes" with binder rings and index cards. Punch a hole in the card for the ring and one for the yarn. Then write info on the card about the yarn, put several strands of the yarn together through the card with a lark's head knot, and put the yarn on the ring in rainbow order. To have separate rings for different types of yarns is helpful too. The ring is handy for hanging them up. Also keep a printed chart of all my sampling results for yarns that you might have a lot of, so you can refer to it quickly.

For a given project, record each step. Place contents into an archival plastic sleeve and place in a notebook for future reference. What kind of contents? Start by taking samples of fiber/yarn and record what it is, cost per lb/skein, and attach a sample of original fiber/yarn. This can be placed on an index card or on the same record that holds the "recipe" for your given project. The "recipe" may be the detailed draft for a weaving project, a pattern to use for a knitted project, or a surface design detail. Once item is woven, knitted, or what-have-you - place a sample of it on this record too. The more details provided - the better the reference will be. You can't have too many details!

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