Weaving at John C Campbell Folk School

I am an entirely self taught weaver, picking up techniques by reading books (old school) and by watching youtube videos (new school).  I am sure that many of my techniques are not the "proper" or the most efficient way to weave.  Because of these deficiencies, I have decided to go to school, John C Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, to study weaving for a week.  It may be too late to teach me the right way, but at least I can see what the options are for good weaving techniques.

My primary loom has a sectional warp beam and because of that, I have never warped from front to back.  This is a skill I would like to master for a number of reasons.  With the Newcomb, I have to climb into the middle of the loom to sley the heddles.  It's not a pretty picture and as I get older and wider, this is not the easiest thing to accomplish.  In addition, the table loom does not have a sectional warp beam and so it should be warped from the front to the back using lease sticks.  I don't even have lease sticks and I wouldn't know where to put them if I had them.  I can imagine Gary telling where to stick them....

My other motivation for learning from a pro is to get over my hesitation about weaving fine cloth and complex patterns.  I gravitate to 8-12 epi, quicker to get the project on the loom and quicker to begin the weaving.

The course will cover Swedish textiles, so designs typically set at 24 epi.  My other interest is Krokgbrad weaving, which is not set as finely, but can produce some interesting detail on warp faced fabric.

Krokbragd almost looks like a Fair Isle pattern for weavers.

Gary is going to JCC as well to study woodturning.  Once again he has been turning for a while, but it's entirely self taught.  We won't stay on campus, but about 45 minutes away at Lake Burton.  Close enough that we can still participate in the evening activities, and yes that means dancing.  I just haven't told him yet.

Reversible Rug

This is another project from Interweave Publications Design Collection 19- all about rags.  Rugs seems to be the project that I gravitate to most frequently, utilitarian, sturdy, forgiving of mistakes.  This project is woven in a double weave, weaving two layers of fabric at the same time.  The fabric on the top layer can be a completely different color from what is being woven on the bottom layer and if you get tired of the colors on the top, just flip it over.  It should also result in a very thick rug, since it is made up of two layers.

The first step in this project was accumulating wool clothing to cut up for the weft.  I decided one layer would be red wool and all shades of black and white tweed.  The second layer would be plain black and the same black and white tweeds and plaids.  I accumulated probably 20 items of clothing before beginning to cut.  I used a rotary cutter on a quilting mat and the cutting went fairly quickly.  Cutting up the slacks, jackets, skirts seemed to be such a waste, but it came from the thrift store and already had a good life.  I am just repurposing it for it's second life.

The project was sleyed 1-3-2-3 and the 4th harness was not used at all.  I think there is probably an easier way to sley this on all 4 harnesses, but I couldn't figure it out, even after reading Black (New Key to Weaving) and Collingwood's rug book.  Next time I will probably use cotton carpet warp, since this wool was fairly expensive and is fairly small part of what is seen.



I used the standard tie-up and the following treadling:

From the right
Red tones - 1(lifts 1 and 3)
Black tones - 3 (lifts 3)

From the left
Red tones - 5  (lifts 2 and 3)
Black tones - 2 (lifts 2)


Date Finished  March, 2012

Loom  Newcomb

Weave Structure  double weave

Reed  8 epi, 4 epi  per layer

Warp     Fiber  Navajo wool warp, single ply

              Count  190 yds per tube

              Color  natural

              Mfr  Davidson

              Source  Earthguild

Warp     Width in Reed  31"

              Ends  252

              Length  3 yds, used 5 tubes

Weft      Fiber  wool rags, cut in 1" to 2" strips

              Count

              Color  black, black and white tweeds and  plaids on one side and red and black and white tweeds and  plaids on the other side

              Mfr

              Source  Thrift Store

Beat                       Weft Faced
Size

Notes

Night Windows Scarf

Another disappointing project, that I have revised mid stream.  This scarf was featured in Interweave's Design Collection 19 and is designed to use Perle Cotton and chenille accents for the warp and weft in a checkerboard pattern.  I have used chenille in the past and it works OK as a warp on a 4 harness loom with an 8 dent reed.  It did not hold up using it on a rigid heddle loom with a 12 dent reed, the chenille frayed and raveled pulling through the heddle holes.  It might work on an 8 dent rigid heddle, but then the cotton would be fairly loose.  Next time, I'll try it on the 4 harness, it just wastes so much yarn that I hate to put it on the Newcomb.

I pulled all the chenille out of the heddles and ended up with a crammed and spaced technique and added a few rows of a variegated silk at each end of the scarf

Date Finished  March 2012

Loom  Rigid Heddle

Weave Structure  plain weave

Reed  12 epi

Warp     Fiber  3/2 perle cotton

              Count - 150 yds per ball

              Color  black

              Mfr  Aunt Lydia's 3

              Source  Michaels - 

Warp     Width in Reed

              Ends - 70

              Length  7 feet, used 1 1/2 balls

Weft      Fiber - rayon 8/2

              Count  1600/#

              Color  black

              Mfr  Dragon Tale

              Source  Earthguild

Beat                       50/50                     

Size   8 by 60

Notes