SOUTHEAST FIBER FORUM

The Southeast Fiber Forum was held at Arrowmont School of Crafts in Gatlinburg in early April.  I attended and took a weekend class in Turned Beiderwand taught by Karen Donde of Sutherland Studios.  Karen is a great instructor, very well organized with lots of information ranging from fairly straightforward to deviously complicated on this old weaving structure.  By turning the Beiderwand structure, it can be woven with one shuttle, which makes the weaving progress much faster.

However, in weaving turned beiderwand, two different yarns are required for the warp and they are taken up differently during the weaving. The pattern warp has much   longer floats and therefore ends up looser on the warp beam.  So it is necessary to either use a second warp beam or do what most of the class did - jerry rig a secondary warp with a piece of wood pretending to be a secondary back beam and weighting the warp to  provide the tension.  This is a technique that can be used any time a supplementary warp is required.  I have read about supplementary warps for other weaving structures, but wasn't sure how to go about this without a second warp beam.


Attached are some of the other student's samples of work created during the week.  We sampled a wide variety of turned structures, including Turned Beiderwand at 1:4, 1:3, and 1:2. I was using 8/2 cotton for the ground warp and weft and a 5/2 cotton for the weft.  Most of the rest of the class was using a 10/2 yarn for the ground warp and weft.  This meant that my sample had very long warp floats, especially on the 1:4.





The other weave structures that we turned were:

• Summer and Winter
• Extended Summer and Winter
• Even Tied Overshot
• Uneven Tied Overshot
• Paired Tie Weave
• Half Dukagang

  The photo to the left is of our class assistant Dana's work.  Dana brought a borrowed Baby Wolf 8- shaft loom to class, just like my loom.  The person she borrowed it from, offered it up for sale and I bought it immediately.  I have been looking for a loom to take to Montana, so I don't have to drive one out and back on every trip. Dana used a pink supplementary warp on a green weft and not only did I get the loom, but she also left her remaining warp on the loom, which I have been weaving off with a burgundy tencel as weft using a Turned Extended Summer and Winter draft.

 It is hard to put an additional warp beam on a Baby Wolf because the back beam is not square - it comes out from the loom at an angle.  This makes it difficult to attach another back beam using clamps.  Once I got back to Brevard, Gary made a creative solution for the Baby Wolf by building a frame with a secondary back beam that slips over the original back beam leaving a space of about an inch between the two warps.  The supplementary warp can be run over this beam and weighted using water bottles and S-hooks.

ARROWMONT SCHOOL OF ARTS AND CRAFTS

I am headed to Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts for the Southeast Fiber Forum - a three day workshop on a variety of weaving, spinning and dyeing topics.   About a year ago I took a week long workshop at John C. Campbell Folk School and I am hooked.  A workshop junkie.  I will be taking Karen Donde's class on Turned Beiderwand.  Karen's weaving studio, Sutherland Studio, is located in the River District of Asheville.

Arrowmont is located in downtown Gatlinburg and was built as one of the settlement schools in the 1920's to educate and provide work skills to theresidents of the rural Tennessee community of Gatlinburg. The craft training has continued and the original school is now a public elementary school.

Emma and Gary are coming along to spend the weekend in Gatlinburg and enjoy the Great Smokies National Park.  It's Emma's spring break and so the three of us will have an adventure in the Smokies.  We have rented a cabin about 10 miles outside of town.  They have plans for hiking, fishing, visiting the aquarium and seeing the sights of Gatlinburg.  We plan to come in the back way via Cosby to avoid Pigeon Forge and Sevierville.  We don't want Emma to see the Goofy Golf, Go Kart Tracks and all of the distractions before getting to the National Park.  Of course Gatlinburg is not free from tourist traps, but they tend to be not as big or as flashy as the ones on the highway into Gatlinburg.

The focus of the workshop is Turned Beiderwand, a very old weave structure comparable to overshot.  A Beiderwand draft typically uses a ground weft and a heavier pattern weft yarn.  This weekend we will turn the draft.  A turned draft is one that uses the weft for the warp and the warp for the weft.  Instead of using 2 shuttles for the weft, the turned structure uses only one and uses the two different yarns as warp.  Because the warp yarns are different sizes and would perform differently under tension, the turned structure uses a second warp beam.  I don't have a second warp beam on either of my looms, so we will be creating an alternate secondary warp beam using a raddle as the warp beam and water bottles as weights.

I will be using a 3 block profile which uses 8 harnesses.  The background warp is an 8/2 variegated cotton in purples and pinks and the pattern warp which will be warped on the "fake" secondary warp beam is a 5/2 white perle cotton.   I will try a variety of wefts, all 8/2 including the same variegated cotton used in the warp, and also a red, black and blue.

Snap, Crackle, Pop

I just tackled another new-to-me weave structure, crackle.  Crackle is also known as Jamtlandvaev in Swedish weaving terminology.  The American name for the weave structure comes from the pottery terminology for a type of glaze.  Some of the colors in the woven cloth just barely peak through, like the crackles on a ceramic pot. And crackle is a whole lot easy to spell and pronounce than Jamtlandvaev.

These towels were woven with a 4 block crackle using 4 colors.  In each single color warp block, there are at least 3 options for color - the warp color, the tabby weft and the pattern weft.  Crackle is similar to overshot because you weave a tabby shot and then a pattern shot.  This gives a huge variety of color options once the loom is warped.  I used 4 colors for the warp: tan, pumpkin and burgundy in 8/2 cotton and a navy blue yarn frogged from a cotton sweater.  The pattern weft floats over up to three warp ends at a time.

Researching crackle, the set up sounded complex, but it's actually easier to weave than it is to read the instructions.  It's a block weave, with the rule that at the end of each group of the same blocks, you need to add another warp thread called an "incidental".

A  is threaded: 1, 2, 3, 2
B is threaded:  2, 3, 4, 3
C is threaded: 1, 4, 3, 4
D is threaded: 1, 4, 1, 2

A = 1
B = 2
C = 3

D = 4

In one of the towels, I used the same tabby throughout.  The other three, I just selected colors randomly.  On some, I was consistent in the number of picks per block - 16 tabby and 16 pattern.  On the other towels, I mixed it up, which resulted in thick and thin rectangles in a wide variety of color combinations.  The other benefit is the front and back sides of the cloth can end up with different color variations.

The starting point for these towels came from Country Rustic Towels, Best of Handwoven, A Dozen Projects Using 8/2 Cotton.

Date Finished  March 2013

Loom  Baby Wolf

Weave Structure  Crackle

Reed  12, 16 epi

Warp     Fiber  cotton

              Count  mostly 8/2

              Color tan, burgundy, pumpkin, navy

              Mfr  Dragon Tail

              Source  Earth Guild

Warp     Width in Reed  22 in

              Ends  354

              Length  4 yds

Weft      Same

Beat        More   Weft Faced        

Size  Finished 19 x 24

Notes  - These towels are wider than a typical dish towel.  Next time, I'll narrow the warp.  Ended up with 3 towels and a small handtowel.

Weaving Tools - Handmade

Weaving takes an incredible amount of stuff to get to the point that you can put a warp on a loom and weave it off.  Warping board, cone holder, heddle hook, reed hook, temple, bobbins, bobbin winder, fringe twister, boat shuttle, ski shuttle, stick shuttle,,,,, The list goes on and on and on.  Then there is the yarn, different colors, different sizes, different fibers.  All of this is to say is that it takes serious coin to be a weaver.  It is very different than knitting a sweater where you need knitting needles, yarn and a pattern and you are ready to go.  I was lucky enough to have started weaving over 40 years ago and accumulated a fair number of weaving tools at that time, when costs were pretty low.  My 45" 4 harness loom cost $350 new in 1972, today that loom would run over $2,000.  But instead of going broke buying tools, I have a DH who is a superb wood worker and he has made me quite a variety of tools, some patterned after the standards and some of his own invention.

For Christmas this year, he made the beautiful boat shuttle to the left.  It has an open bottom and holds the Schacht size bobbins and feeds easily through the shed.  It came from a dead dogwood tree that DH  cut down at a house he was remodeling in Brevard.  Since I weave in two locations that are 2000 miles apart, I can never have enough boat shuttles.  I am currently weaving crackle towels that have 4 color changes and so I am using every one of my 4 boat shuttles in Montana.



Late last year, I was working on a project that required a double yarn for the pattern weft and winding two threads on a bobbin does not always lead to both yarns pulling evenly out of the shuttle.  The double boat shuttle solves this problem by winding two separate bobbins.  This shuttle is also made of dogwood, which has been used for making weaving tools for ages because of it's hardness and close grain.


Wolf Trap Snuggy

 This ingenious little piece of wood snugs up my Wolf Trap on the Schacht Baby Wolf Loom.  Without it the Wolf Trap was always falling off the front beam.

Reed Holder

The reed holder arrived unanounced in my studio, I think because I was always borrowing DH's clamps whenever I wanted to sley the reed.  As a front to back warper, I usually sley the reed on a table, instead of on the loom.  I have used clamps, soup cans or whatever was on hand to hold the reed in an upright position.

Cross Holder

Another tool for warping, just a small block of wood with 4 nails to hold the cross.  I can walk away from warping and not loose the cross.  This little invention came from Barbara Miller of the Western North Carolina Fiber/Handweavers Guild.

Nostepinne

Scandinavian tool for winding balls.  I have used this for unwinding sweaters purchased from thrift stores.

Inkle Loom

Gary made this inkle loom in a day, when I thought I would be taking an inkle weaving class.  Unfortunately the class was full, but fortunately I got a great little loom for making bands.

Overshot Runner - Susan Hanes

I found this overshot pattern in Handwoven's Deck the Halls for a holiday table runner and cut up for Christmas ornaments.  The pattern called for red and green plaid warp and tabby weft, with white for the pattern yarn.  I changed it up to match the yarn I had on hand and finished it in time for Valentine's Day.  Actually it was even completed in time for Chinese New Year, red works for so many holidays.  With the 3 1/2 yard warp, I completed 3 table runners, two red and one aqua.

The pattern is also found in Marguerite Davison's, A Handweaver's Pattern Book where it is called Susan Hanes.  It must have NC textile connections to the Hanes family.

The pattern yarn came from the Humane Society Thrift Shop for $1 a ball.  It is a mercerized, cotton crochet yarn, close to a 5/2.  From the label, it looks like it was made in the 60's, so antique yarn for these antique looking table runners.  It was purchased originally from a discount store, Sky City, a chain that has been out of business for over 30 years.

Date Finished January, 2013

Loom  Baby Wolf

Weave Structure  Overshot - Susan Hanes

Reed  10,  2 ends 

Warp     Fiber  cotton

              Count  8/2

              Color  natural

              Mfr  Dragon Tail

              Source Earth Guild

Warp     Width in Reed  15 3/4"

              Ends  317

              Length  3 1/2 yds

Tabby Weft   - same as warp
Pattern Weft   Fiber  cotton, mercerized, crochet thread

              Count  - unknown, used single on one, not heavy enough, used double on remaining two runners

              Color red and turquoise

              Mfr

              Source  Humane Society thrift shop

Beat                       50/50                    

Size  Three runners, 14 x 28 inch (hemmed)

Notes:  The draft in Handwoven has an error in the repeats,  The number of ends is correct, but the repeat pattern is not, there are 4 1/2 repeats of the pattern, not 5.  I used a crochet yarn for the pattern yarn, but as a single it was not thick enough to create the overshot pattern.  Doubled the second two and made a much better appearance.  For each of the runners where the pattern weft was doubled, I used a little over one ball of yarn.

Overshot - Cat Tracks and Snail Trails

This set of 3 towels is not yet finished, even though it was started over 2 months ago.  Soon after putting this on the Newcomb, we left town for Montana.  I have been busy on other projects and will post those as soon as I get around to taking the photos.   I hope to get a chance to finish the Cat Tracks towels later this month.  The towels are weaving up nicely, but in the pattern areas, two strands of 8/2 cotton is required.  I have been winding a single shuttle with double strands which doesn't always feed through evenly.  Gary recently made a double shuttle for me, which solves this problem.  I can't wait to finish up these towels with the new double shuttle.

Date Finished - not done yet

Loom  Newcomb

Weave Structure Overshot

Reed 10, 2 ends per dent

Warp Fiber cotton

Count  8/2

Color natural and blue

Mfr  Dragon's Tail

Source  Earth Guild

Warp Width in Reed  18 1/4 "

Ends  362

Length  3 1/2 yds

Weft Fiber  same, doubled for pattern yarn
           

Beat 50/50                    

Size

Notes

Space Dyed Scarf

I love this scarf and it will stay on my neck most of the winter.  It's the first thing that I have woven AND dyed in the past 25 years and I am planning to dye more yarn for weaving this winter.  I took a class from Kathrin Weber at Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair in October, 2012 on space dyeing.  We dyed a couple of skeins of cotton and rayon and one warp.  One of the things I learned from the weaving is the importance of making the color changes every 6 inches or so, not every 12 inches.  To show the effects of the different colors, you need to have frequent color changes.  The other two skeins have longer distances between the color changes.  When weaving these, I think I will tie on the warp on in groups that allow the color to shift several inches, giving an ikat-like effect.  Here's one of Kathrin Weber's designs that utilize this technique.

This scarf was made with the warp I dyed during the class.  The drawback is that the warp was only 100 ends, 4 yards long.  I got one full sized scarf from the warp and a short scarf, only about 40 inches.  It might be long enough for my 6 year old grand-daughter to wear, or it could make a cool cover for my tablet.

Because I wanted it to be predominantly warp faced, I needed a pretty close set, 20 epi.  I only found that out after sleying the reed at 15 epi and finding that the colors on the warp were not as clear as I would like.  So took all the ends out of the reed and started over.  The only other issue with this warp is that at 100 ends, it would give me a scarf only 5 inches wide, so I added several stripes of blue chenille.  The chenille was also used as the weft, which resulted in some iridescence in the fabric.

Date Finished  December 2012

Loom  Schacht Baby Wolf

Weave Structure  Plain

Reed  10 epi

Warp Fiber  Rayon thick and thin

Count 

Color  White, then space dyed with Procion dyes - mostly blues and reds

Source Blazing Shuttles

Warp Fiber  Rayon chenille

Count  1450

Color  Blue

Mfr

Source Webs

Warp Width in Reed  6.5 inches

Ends  132

Length  4 yds

Weft Fiber  Rayon Chenille

Count  1450

Color  Blue

 Source  Webs

Beat Warp Faced

Size  6.5" by 66" plus fringe