#weaving

[kohanakonohana]

終わった…

I've just finished...

[just-late-roman-republic-things]

The one bizarre thing to me about textiles is that warp-weighted weaving is at least 6500 years old, but our oldest knitted artifacts are only ~1000 years old, and crochet 200 years old. Even though you need less equipment to knit (two sticks) or crochet (one hook) compared to warp-weighted weaving (frame, loom weights, batting, heddles). Why the big gaps between these inventions? And why did each one appear and spread when it did?

[ivorivet]

Some updates on the weaving progress for my Vävstuga class!

- Towels: 4 out of 4 woven and off the loom, not finished. They need a narrow woven band for a hanging loop which I haven't warped up yet.

- Blankets: 2 out of 2 woven, fringed, and fulled BABY. 👌 Completely done and they are so wonderfully squishy. The weaving took about half the time as getting the loom warped! I was kind of nervous about chucking them in the washing machine and dryer to fill them but I'm so glad I did.

- Tablecloths: Warped up on the table loom at home today, and about 90% of the first one of four is done. These are going pretty fast because of the plain weave. It's my first time using a temple (the wooden stretcher device that helps prevent draw-in from the weft) and ngl I am mad it took me this long to shell out for one.

I'm not 100% sure I love the color combo on this one. I would have liked the yellow stripes to pop a little more to compete with the blue, so I may change the colors up a bit on the other tablecloths.

Block weave damask squares: we are saving this 100% linen nightmare until the end because I don't want to deal with it right now

I'm aiming to get as much done of these as I possibly can before this coming Saturday. Not sure if I'll get the block weave done but I think I'll be able to get it warped and make at least one or two of the squares before I have to go to the live class.

[samimarkart]

my work is featured in a spread in the new publication Craftwerk! focused on artists with a connection to the American Midwest with threads of craft, art and queerness in their artwork. they released a free digital copy on their website, along with physical print versions. the art in here is awesome and I love the context they give in the beginning of the magazine. check it out here !

[anxiousangerball]

I don't know who needs to hear this, but

YOU DO NOT NEED TO START A NEW HOBBY!

STEP AWAY FROM THE TEXTILES!

YOU DON'T NEED MORE YARN!

THAT FABRIC IS NOT CALLING TO YOU! LEAVE IT ALONE!

[crookedtines]

Learning how to weave! After a brief attempt at card weaving, I discovered pick-up weaving and immediately switched over to weaving with a heddle. And since I need to make everything as complicated as possible, I'm working on creating my own patterns as I learn.

Still figuring out how to maintain an even tension when I move my set up around. Ultimately, I'll get a loom and that should solve most of my issues. They're a tad wonky, but I'm pleased with my patterns and excited to come up with more! :))

[aspiring-thembo]

As a new weaver i find that warp speed is in fact not very fast

[saltpixiefibercraft]

I LIVE I SWEAR. Have this 90's soda cup inspired warp as a proof of life lol.

[curlytrek1701]

K so not to be dramatic or anything, but there's a free vintage French pattern book available on antiquepatternlibrary so if you like to crochet/weave/make pixel art/tie epic friendship bracelets don't walk- RUN.

It has scenes from aesop's fables! Cherubs doing things! Beheadings! Greek muses! Little farm people! Intricate floral pattern! Goth stained-glass window like patterns! Fun little corner pieces! Eeeeeeeeeeeeee

https://www.antiquepatternlibrary.org/html/warm/C-TT008-180.htm

[kohanakonohana]

余り経糸は麻で織ってみよう!の第二弾。

意外とピンクだったのです、実は。

I weave extra warps with rammie yarn.

[fiberfantasies]

Fiber arts is just Math in sheep's clothing

[just-late-roman-republic-things]

Today I am thinking about weaving.

I can knit and crochet, but those crafts didn't exist in Roman times. Any historically accurate Roman cloth must be woven. So when a little potholder loom jumped into my shopping basket for 50 cents, it felt like a sign I should learn.

One potholder that was 50% yarn and 50% weird gaps later, I looked up a tutorial, and realized why the damn thing was 50 cents. I needed a better, more adaptable loom. And, because I am a cheapskate and slightly loony, I decided to make one instead of buying it.

So, how does this thing work?

First, you string the warp threads up and down, around the pegs. Here, I made a zigzag shape. Then, you use a needle or shuttle to weave more yarn over and under the warp, horizontally, back and forth. This produces woven fabric.

Some looms weave from the top, some from the bottom. This Greek urn shows two weavers working from the top. The left weaver uses a rod to compact the woven fabric upward, keeping it even and sturdy. The right weaver is passing an oval-shaped shuttle through the warp threads to form another row.

Most Roman looms would have looked like this, with the finished cloth at the top. Unlike my looms, these are warp-weighted. That means you keep the warp yarns taut by hanging weights at the bottom, rather than through a bottom row of pegs.

Warp-weighted looms also have a big advantage over my little potholder loom: you can easily create multiple sheds.

A "shed" is a temporary gap between lifted strands and non-lifted strands. Instead of having to go over and under each strand individually, you raise the entire shed, then pull the shuttle or needle straight through. This saves lots of time! Then, to weave the next row, you close the shed, lift up a different set of threads to create a new shed, and send the shuttle/needle through the other direction.

On a warp-weighted loom, the sheds are opened by loops called heddles (H), which are attached to a heddle rod (G). When the rod is down, shed (1) is open (middle diagram). When you pull the rod up, shed (1) closes and shed (2) opens instead (right diagram). Most warp-weighted looms also have a pair of forks you can rest the heddle rod on, to free your hands.

Here, there are three heddle rods and sets of forks, the heddles are white, and the warp thread is red. This gives you four different sheds, and the potential to weave very complex patterns indeed. Not bad for a device invented over 6500 years ago!

I liked the multiple heddle-rod design so much, I tried incorporating it into my DIY loom, too. I've tested both yarn and paperclips as heddles:

I actually got both sheds and heddle-rods working, too. Which is pretty cool for a lap loom - every other lap loom I found only has one shed, so you have to go over-under the individual threads on alternate rows.* More time-consuming. However, the sheds here are narrow, and I'll need a smaller and smoother shuttle to pass through them smoothly. This wouldn't be an issue on a warp-weighted loom, where the warp hangs freely downward, and can move more flexibly with the heddles.

Anyway. I may get a "real" loom at some point, but I wanted to build one first, and I think it gave me more appreciation for just how resourceful ancient weavers were. They created technology, clothing, and artwork out of very basic materials, and civilization depended on these skills.

Now, I need to go finish the...whatever the hell it will be. Big thanks to Wikipedia and to the lovely Youtubers who make this craft easier to learn. I think it'll be a lot of fun.

(*Edit - found out a rotating heddle bar can make two sheds on a lap loom! Exciting!!)

[longplaidskirt]

wip of eyeball tapestry,

macky 2023

[norhuu]

✨A woven yarn tapestry of the Shire✨