I'm so excited! It will make warping the loom easier :)
Hopefully this weekend, since we are home, my plan is to set the loom up and get some weaving done during nap time.
We shall see...keep your fingers crossed!
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Monday, April 28, 2014
...and now I need to start asking my patient husband for an Oseberg tablet weaving loom.
Before I start the next leg wrap, I'd like to have one of these:
This is the Oseberg find tablet weaving loom. Up until now I have been doing all my tablet weaving on my inkle loom or back-strap, but after using one of these to help warp the loom at Pensic a few years ago, I now know that this is a much easier way. Why make it harder than it needs to be?
Here is one that someone else has already built and is using to weave the header band for a warp weighted loom:
Look how pretty their warp is all chained up!
Hopefully I'll be able to set-up my loom in the house soon and finish the band that is currently in progress.
This is the Oseberg find tablet weaving loom. Up until now I have been doing all my tablet weaving on my inkle loom or back-strap, but after using one of these to help warp the loom at Pensic a few years ago, I now know that this is a much easier way. Why make it harder than it needs to be?
Here is one that someone else has already built and is using to weave the header band for a warp weighted loom:
Look how pretty their warp is all chained up!
Hopefully I'll be able to set-up my loom in the house soon and finish the band that is currently in progress.
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Pictures of me warping the loom at the Ren Faire :)
A big thank you to Mistress Maol for taking some pictures of me and my loom at the Ren Faire Demo. I never remember to ask someone to take pictures of me doing something - I'll take them of what I'm doing, just not me doing it :)
These are pictures of me chaining the warp. This keeps the sheds clear so that threads don't "migrate" and it causes the sheds to move together better.
Theses are the new, easier to transport without breakage, weights that my husband made. They are pieces of travertine tile shaped to look like period weights. They travel so much better than the unfired clay and they are a lot cheaper.
These are pictures of me chaining the warp. This keeps the sheds clear so that threads don't "migrate" and it causes the sheds to move together better.
Theses are the new, easier to transport without breakage, weights that my husband made. They are pieces of travertine tile shaped to look like period weights. They travel so much better than the unfired clay and they are a lot cheaper.
Monday, April 7, 2014
Amazing videos from the Norsk Folke Museum
While trying searching different combinations of words related to warp weighted weaving, I stumbled upon a treasure trove of documentary videos published by the Norsk Folkemuseum
The videos are silent documentaries that have screen card explanations of what's happening (the same as the old black and white movies from the 1920's here). They were all shot in the late 1940s to mid 1950's. I am so excited - I wish I could read Norwegian (I'll have to translate some of it when I get a chance). It's very interesting to see all the different variations as it seems each weaver or weavers has their own method in warping their loom.
Group of house wives in 1950's Norway warping a loom.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a19lGJGOZWY
Woman using a warp weighted loom to weave a strap.
The videos are silent documentaries that have screen card explanations of what's happening (the same as the old black and white movies from the 1920's here). They were all shot in the late 1940s to mid 1950's. I am so excited - I wish I could read Norwegian (I'll have to translate some of it when I get a chance). It's very interesting to see all the different variations as it seems each weaver or weavers has their own method in warping their loom.
Group of house wives in 1950's Norway warping a loom.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a19lGJGOZWY
Woman using a warp weighted loom to weave a strap.
These are my favorite - They show in detail from start to finish the warping and weaving of a rug/bed cover. The first video doesn't have as much weaving, but it shows the rugs/bed covers in their many uses.
Friday, April 4, 2014
You tube videos that show a demonstration done in England in 2011
I found these on You Tube -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhngvOSaxes
Her loom is warped with three heddle bars with looks to be a diamond twill. You can also clearly see how she has used packs of cards on either side to add a selvage edge to the fabric.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FDTDIVUmk4
In the second video you can really see how important the pin beater is to scallop the weft up - especially in a wide and more complex pattern like she is weaving...
Parking these here so I can watch them a few more times :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhngvOSaxes
Her loom is warped with three heddle bars with looks to be a diamond twill. You can also clearly see how she has used packs of cards on either side to add a selvage edge to the fabric.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FDTDIVUmk4
In the second video you can really see how important the pin beater is to scallop the weft up - especially in a wide and more complex pattern like she is weaving...
Parking these here so I can watch them a few more times :)
Thursday, April 3, 2014
So starts the research for peiod warp thread materials...
With weaving, especially on a weighted loom using hand spun wool, the kind of roving/wool used is very important.
Why? It's simple - stretch. Short staple (the length of the fibers) stretch. It's great for things that are knitted, crocheted, or even Naalbound, but not for weaving. For weaving stretch is not a good thing and adding weight just makes it stretch more.
So what I'm looking for is a long staple wool, from an unaltered breed.
Unaltered breed - what's that you say?
Well, as you may or may not know, people like to tinker with mixing different breeds of animals together to produce an animal that is better suited to their needs. This is normally not a bad thing, however, for the purpose of authenticity, using an unaltered breed is the best idea. (i.e.Anglo-Saxons would not have has access to wool from a sheep that didn't exist until 1847 :)
Lucky for me, England is actually into preserving unaltered breeds and ordering my roving is now just a few clicks away...Yay inter-webs!
Here is a website that I found that carries roving from unaltered breeds here in the US:
http://www.spinderellas.com/lwsheepbreeds.html
For my purpose I may use this one:
Cotswold originated in the hills of
Gloucestershire, England from indigenous stock and is one of the oldest
breeds known to us.
It has contributed to the ancestry of other breeds in UK and Europe.
It is large with a white face, wool on the legs, with a characteristic
lock of wool on the forehead. Cotswold sheep are noted for their long,
strong fiber,
with lustrous natural wavy curls.
Why? It's simple - stretch. Short staple (the length of the fibers) stretch. It's great for things that are knitted, crocheted, or even Naalbound, but not for weaving. For weaving stretch is not a good thing and adding weight just makes it stretch more.
So what I'm looking for is a long staple wool, from an unaltered breed.
Unaltered breed - what's that you say?
Well, as you may or may not know, people like to tinker with mixing different breeds of animals together to produce an animal that is better suited to their needs. This is normally not a bad thing, however, for the purpose of authenticity, using an unaltered breed is the best idea. (i.e.Anglo-Saxons would not have has access to wool from a sheep that didn't exist until 1847 :)
Lucky for me, England is actually into preserving unaltered breeds and ordering my roving is now just a few clicks away...Yay inter-webs!
Here is a website that I found that carries roving from unaltered breeds here in the US:
http://www.spinderellas.com/lwsheepbreeds.html
For my purpose I may use this one:
Cotswold originated in the hills of
Gloucestershire, England from indigenous stock and is one of the oldest
breeds known to us.
It has contributed to the ancestry of other breeds in UK and Europe.
It is large with a white face, wool on the legs, with a characteristic
lock of wool on the forehead. Cotswold sheep are noted for their long,
strong fiber,
with lustrous natural wavy curls.- AVERAGE FIBER DIAMETER
Micron 33-40
USDA Wool Grade 36’s-46’s - GREASE FLEECE WEIGHT Ewe 12-15 lbb - WASHING YIELD 60%
- STAPLE LENGTH 12-15" - though many are sheared twice a year.
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Playing catch up/pictures owed...
I owe some elevation outfit pictures and so I'll post those first.
My elevation outfit was late Anglo-Saxon and completely documented. My colors are green and gold and so I choose the shades of green and gold linen that I used because they were the colors that matched colors known to exist in period from the Regia Dye Project. The dresses were sewn together with a blue contrasting linen thread - this was symbolic (as well as period decoration) in that Lorcann's colors are blue and silver (I sewed his Knighting clothes with green thread). The dresses were sewn entirely by hand using the documented stitching technique of sewing the garment together using running stitch, then because it's linen, going back and felling all the seams. The trim on the dress is blue silk, again taken from the Regia Dye Project, and accented with gold silk embroidery thread using a stem stitch.
My elevation outfit was late Anglo-Saxon and completely documented. My colors are green and gold and so I choose the shades of green and gold linen that I used because they were the colors that matched colors known to exist in period from the Regia Dye Project. The dresses were sewn together with a blue contrasting linen thread - this was symbolic (as well as period decoration) in that Lorcann's colors are blue and silver (I sewed his Knighting clothes with green thread). The dresses were sewn entirely by hand using the documented stitching technique of sewing the garment together using running stitch, then because it's linen, going back and felling all the seams. The trim on the dress is blue silk, again taken from the Regia Dye Project, and accented with gold silk embroidery thread using a stem stitch.
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