Greek Key Pick Up Draft

key fob with greek key pick up

Last week I published my Wristlet Tutorial on Etsy and I had a request about the woven band I used in the video tutorial. My inspiration for this pattern comes from my weaver friend Annie MacHale. With her permission I will post my draft here and you will need to visit her blog for the instructions.

Please note that this draft may or may not come out at 1" wide. It's a discussion that all of us have, how to weave to a specific size. The kicker is every weaver can warp on the same amount of yarn and each of us will get a different width. For instance, I weave using a backstrap set up or inkle loom, and when I set up the same project on each loom not only is my width different, my PPI (picks per inch) are different.

H = heddle shed, O = open shed

My advice is just to practice. It's taken me years of weaving with the same exact brands of yarns to be able to come close to guessing a predicted width. Also don't try to force the above pattern to fit 1", find where your 1" is, then add or subtract warps to the selvedge. It's a real bummer to weave to someone else's rhythm, find your own!

Lastly, the pick up sequence occurs with the 7 dark green and 6 yellow warps in the center of the draft.

Please visit Annie's blog by clicking here, not only does she have the written instructions there's also a video.

If you make anything with this draft, I would LOVE, LOVE to see your work. Email me rabbitbrushstudio at yahoo dot com or visit my Facebook and post your picture there!

Enjoy!

 

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Hot Days, Summer Breezes & Monsoon Rains

I have to laugh at myself, after a tough last few months of winter, I had this crazy idea that I would have a lazy summer filled with crafting and cooking!

I must have forgotten for a split second that I have children! Two very, very busy boys that need to be moving, especially my little guy. And interesting things have been happening, and I want to share but alas, I have no time to sit and organize my thoughts. I am hoping to catch up on emails at the end of the week as I will be traveling for a wedding.

And the business of weaving. I really thought I'd have both these backstrap woven projects done by now, but not a chance. I can safely predict that they probably won't be done until September, so you see, no new backstrap projects till then. I have many ideas floating around in my mind, but I don't want to get too many projects started. And I've committed to producing other projects too.

So I'll share some pictures, and well, I'll see you in August :)

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As The Light Grows

.a little bit of practice tablet weaving on the inkle loom.

Not always by my choice, I've done very little weaving as of late. I have two backstraps in progress, one a sample, and the Inkle loom is dressed, woven with a few rows at a time, when time permits. As my time for weaving started to dwindle, I mostly did sampling, a new wool yarn to try, and practicing nawa awapi.

I'm elated that spring is here, but it's an equally difficult time. My rhythm tells me it's time to stick my hands in the earth, clean out the chicken coop and rabbit shed from the winter, but then I remember, I'm not living that life right now. For a few years now, I've buried those feelings, thoughts, but I desperately need to release them.

.nawa awapi, plain tubular, and dropped warp ribete.

I was speaking to a relative recently. Mostly about life's tides. The fear that hospital stays will come back, thou I deeply feel we are past that frequency. I made a comment that I couldn't have imagined that my life would have taken this odd course, the one without a vegetable garden, not putting up our own food, no rabbits, no chickens, and that dream of having a few sheep, or entertaining goats, has not come back to me. She said, yes, I wouldn't have imagined you where you either, but don't give up.

It's time to let go of what I'm not doing, mind you, I also have a great appreciation for all the thing I've done in the meantime, it does not go unnoticed by me, formost being a mother.

.an ambitious warp that will be a WIP for sometime, I wish I could memorize the pattern.

If I'm honest, I think I would have to say I gave up. Or I would change the goal and say, I will eventually have at least 6 chickens, or, just two rabbits, lol. But, I've come to the realization that I am not quite ready to give up entirely. Something deep within me has shifted and I know the next few years are bringing profound change. I'm not sure it's the change I think I want, but it's coming, and I still want to believe that I have the desire to influence that change.

.on the inkle loom.

That's where I'm at these days, on the cusp of a new shift. The possibility of things to come.

The next two weeks will bring an end to an insane amount of commitments, activities, birthdays, and holidays (sighing in relief). I'm looking forward to a solo trip to Colorado in July for a much awaited wedding. There may even be camping involved, which delights me to no end. I'm ready to spend a few days with the friends that are more family to me than friend. And mostly, to see my sister from another mother (lol) marry an amazing guy!

.a sample, modified Mapuche design.

Let June bring new weaving projects? I hope!

 

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Mini Rugs With Al'ouerjan Warping & Weft Twining

a set of mini rugs using the al'ouerjan warping method.

This project was kind of amazing for me. For the first time I felt completely settled into the backstrap weaving process. But before I get onto that I have to back track a bit. And at the end of this post I will provide the links for tutorials that are available on the web.

I started with samples of warp substitution and al'ouerjan warping to practice using my trusty size 3 cotton. The samples went along fine, and I was able to practice supplementary weft using thread to secure the warp floats on the back.

warp substitution and al'ouerjan samples

al'ouerjan and warp substitution samples.

Then I spent ALOT of time charting for a wider piece using these techniques. Although this piece looks better off loom than on, I felt it was plagued with problems, that eventually made me not want to weave on it anymore. Looking at it now, it's not that bad, and the piece is large enough to practice other techniques for making bags, so I will save it for that.

the original piece that I wanted to weave turned into a sampler.

So, the problems. The first thing I ran into was the chart I made did not match then shed set-up on the loom. I really learned a lot in regards to charting for a project, and it's harder than it looks. But the end result is that now, using 4-stake warping board, I can actually identify which stake belongs to which shed. I know this may sound like Greek, but if you happen to go this route, you'll know what I mean.

This was also the first time I dealt with 1/2 revolution warps, and it was a lot to get my mind around (wondering what a revolution is? Check it out here).

I spent more time re-drawing my chart, modified this time without all the detail I had the first time around. I wish I took a picture of it before I threw it out!

back of woven piece using supplemental weft thread.

Finally, I got to sit down and weave, the first few inches went fine, but I was really having a hard time with one of the selvedge edges. I inserted a second coil rod, and it helped, but eventually, my warp tension was all over the place. The weaving just didn't feel right, and I spent more time making adjustments than weaving.

At this point I had woven about a foot and I wasn't liking it. So sampler it became, and I went on to practice weft twining.

I thought at first it was because it had been the widest piece I'd woven, and that was part of it, but ultimately, it all boiled down to sloppy warping on my part.

Taking a deep breath, I decided to make more mini rugs. Here were my goals for this project:

1. Use al'ouerjan warping technique in traditional colors.

2. Make 4 mini rugs using 4 different combinations in the al'ouerjan warp.

3. Pay close attention to my warp tension as I wind the warp on the warping board.

4. Weave evenly with neat selvedges.

5. Use 1 color basic weft twining to edge each rug.

6. Use a coil rod.

7. Use a supplementary weft thread to secure the long warp floats.

Whew! That seems like a lot, but here was the magic in it for me: everything fell into place. When I sat down to weave I did a few rows to establish width, and some weft twining to see how many warp bundles I wanted to twine (glad I did it, for the number of warps I wanted to bundle changed fron the last project I did using the same size yarn).

rug # 1 red diamonds

rug # 2 white diamonds

rug # 3

My edges became so very consistent that I was amazed, I hardly had to use my ruler to measure. I don't assume that this will happen often, but it sure was nice this time. And using the supplementary weft thread to secure the long warp floats on the back of the fabric really neatened everything up.

rug # 4, close up of warp

So I played around with different arrangements and the two photos above is my favorite. I noted this (what row to start the patterning on for it to look balanced) in my journal for the time I make these rugs again for gifts.

close up of back of rug using supplemental weft thread

Overall this was one of the most relaxing projects I've done so far. I will go back one day and re-try my original draft when the mood strikes me. I haven't tried the warp substitution, other than to practice the patterns in another technique called one-weft double weave.

If you are interested in learning these techniques, they are available at Laverne Waddington's Backstrap Weaving Blog: Warp Substitution, Al'ouerjan Warp, Supplementary Weft Thread, Using a Coil Rod, and Basic Weft Twining.

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Yurt Band Motifs Revisted

I was really inspired to give this weaving pattern a try after I read the tutorial at Laverne Waddington's Backstrap Weaving blog (link here). It is probable that you will hear me mention her often in coming blog posts as I've finally had a chance to start reading her second book and work on tutorials from her blog. That means I will be sampling more! I think I am going to call this the "Year Of The Sampler".

As much as I love sampling, I had a chance to complete some small projects using this motif.

the finished bag/pouch with button

After a small conversation on Instagram sparked me to clarify some details. Even thou I called my project on Instagram a yurt band, it is not a real yurt band, it is a yurt band motif that is most definitely woven in non-traditional colors!

yurt band motif mug rug

Following the online tutorial, I wove this using both my Inkle Loom and my backstrap set-up. I do prefer to weave this on my backstrap. If you are familiar with the Inkle Loom, the fabric that is woven can get slightly elongated. Either way, the fabric is still wonderful!

Okay now for the details!

I used both size 3 and size 10 cotton for the warp (not on the same project, either one or the other). The weft was also of matching size. The tutorial for the yurt band is located here. To completely understand the process I did weave an X band, an O band, and an X-O band. Then I wove two bands, both of these were done on my Inkle Loom.

O, X, an O-X Bands

yurt band motif, inkle-woven, size 3 cotton

yurt band motif, inkle-woven, size 10

I hadn't used a backstrap set-up in 3 years. I ambitiously warped and wove a small piece of fabric. It was really more than I should have attempted but two wonderful things happened, I wanted to use my backstrap set-up more, and I decided to weave where my kids could touch it. This way really risky if you know my kids!!! Anyhow, they seemed to understand this was really important to mama and they respected the yarn! Doesn't mean I can leave it hanging there, but I can now weave without the fear of them pulling out the sticks while I'm working. My little guy asks to kiss the yarn, which I let him do, and I am over the moon with that!

yurt band motif sample fabric, backstrap set-up, size 3 cotton

After a long break from ravelry, I popped on in to the backstrap group just in time to join the Olympic Weave Along. Deciding to give a go to a wide warp again, I wove a piece for a cell phone pouch.

In regards to warping, I used a 4 stake method. Instructions for this can be found in Laverne's first book. But it wasn't until I took the picture below that I found that I had made an error. I warped too many revolutions! After fixing that I went to weaving.

using the back of my Navajo loom to warp, and I warped too much!

Laverne has a video tutorial that deals with the topic of sticky sheds. Folks, I can't recommend it enough that you watch and practice this! The link to this tutorial is here.

Also, for the first time in a finished project I used a coil rod. I will write about that another time, but I can say I really liked using it and it made a difference.

weaving in progress, with a coil rod at the top

The pouch is completely lined, I hand sewed the lining in and the woven strap with a baseball stitch.

fabric covered edges

done but needs a button!

Lastly I wove a small mug rug. I had enough warp for two, but I decided to do weft twining for the first time (will discuss eventually in another blog post), and I kept weaving until I was happy with the result.

Yurt Band Motif Mug Rug With Weft Twining

So, that is my adventure with the yurt band motif! I'm sure I'm not done with it yet.

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As The Days Grow Longer

We've past the solstice and the days are slowly growing brighter longer. We are also noticing a shift in temperatures, although, I see that many of you are still in the deep throes of winter.

This winter has been mild, with a cold snap here and there, but nothing major. As much as I am glad not to have snow, having shoveled my share in the past, it is worrisome when we go a length of time without precipitation. Please, please, rain or snow, we'll take it.

Sometime in the beginning of December I checked out on technology/media other than Instagram. I needed to just BE with my family, and be with me. I did do a lot of reading, of the weaving kind!

I've been struggling to find time to be with my camera, but finally carved out time to photograph my woven key fobs and opened my etsy shop! And I've been sampling, studying and taking notes on weaving. I've wanted to keep a notebook, for instance, when I look at the tablet-woven bands I've made, I have no idea what I've done. Fourty pages of notes have been written so far!

Intermesh Samples

I'm still sampling Intermesh (lol, I'm still sampling a whole lotta techniques). I want to come up with a project that will really show off the double-sided nature of the fabric. I've settled on a guitar strap, but need to decide on a pattern that I will enjoy.

Backstrap-woven small bag in progress, with Yurt Band Motif

I have been sampling ALOT, and feeling the need to make a small project. I joined the ravelry backstrap weaving group weave-along for the Olympics. I decided on a cell phone bag. I had my heart set on doing a tubular woven edge, but I'm not quite confident yet that it'll come out looking all that great. I made an Inkle loom band that ended up too short for a strap, so I am working on another one!

Finger-Weaving

Finally, I started looking at the Weaver's Journal PDFs that are available online. You must take a peek at these! I have started with the tutorial on Andean Crossed Warp Techniques for Woven Trim and I love the weaving. It's done by finger manipulation, and the instructions were a bit mind boggling at first, but I figured it out.

In the book this is called pebble weave but I consider this speckled background.

I've been working my way thru the Inkle Weavers Directory and I will share some sample photos. I can tell you, I did not like doing Monk's Cloth at all, and will most likely never try it again. It's so funny how some weaves resonate, and some don't!

I also think we also underestimate how beautiful plain weave really is. It's fun to do complicated pick up patterns, but sometimes my favorites just end up being plain weave.

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