Coming down the home stretch. I will cut this scarf/shawl off the loom this evening (night actually)
This may not be the very next warp to go on the loom, but it is a Bambu 12 Color Horoscope Weaving chain I wound while I was taking breaks during the weaving of the above. Now that I have already confessed to one weaving deviation, here is another. I don't actually make a chain. I make slip knots instead.
As Syne Mitchell is wont to say in her wonderful Weavecast , "You have to be warped to weave."
10 comments:
Beautiful ski shuttle! But....... you could weave much faster with a regular shuttle. An end-feed shuttle would probably eliminate the need to touch the selvedges (though occasionally I find the need to do that also......), and winding the bobbins with an electric bobbin winder is really really fast. So you could really speed up your weaving without going any faster....
Also, your slip-knotted warp (which I may try next time) picture comes up blank when I click on it.
I actually weave rather fast. My experience with a regular shuttle and an end-feed shuttle have been unpleasant at best. I often wind 2 or 3 threads together for weft making the ski shuttle a better choice. I don't own an electric bobbin winder. I rather enjoy winding by hand. Plus (and this is the biggest plus for me)I wind enough on my shuttle to weave for 20 minutes. Then I have to stop, get up and wind some more. After I load my shuttle, I walk away from the loom and do something else for a while. I return to the loom and weave for 20 minutes. Then I stop, get up and wind some more. Winding small amounts by hand forces me to take lots of breaks. I truly believe using a ski shuttle is one of the reasons I have been able to weave for 48 years and still be able to walk. On the other hand, I may just be lazy and too fixed in my ways.
Clicking on the picture works for me. I don't know what is wrong.
Hello,
I just wandered over after reading your article in Weavezine. I am a totally self taught beginner. Why shouldn't you touch the edges? I find I do often to check my selvedges. I'm not one to worry about the "right" way of doing things, but I do like to at least know that I'm breaking the rules!
I agree that winding multiple threads on a bobbin or pirn is probably next to impossible. I would have to use as many shuttles as weft ends and that would really slow down my weaving! I also understand the need to get up every 20 minutes or so. What I cannot see is how you can comfortably wind that darn thread on the ski shuttle with any degree of comfort! I have used ski shuttles for rugs, and I think mine may be longer than yours, but I'm not sure.
Thanks for the confession. I find myself playing with my selvedges, though I try not to. Of course, part of the reason for weaving for me is the tactile experience, and touching the selvedges provides me with that.
Ha! I touch my selvedges a lot too! I would someday like to try an end-feed shuttle; it's on my "to get" list. I do love my ski shuttle, because it holds a lot of yarn. I figure any time I lose with it is made up by not having to wind bobbins so often or having to add new weft.
Wendelene,
You know, I am not totally sure why one shouldn't touch the edges. Perhaps it makes the edges less straight. I know that one of the boons of using an end-feed shuttle is that you are not supposed to need to touch the edges. It didn't work for me at all though the one time I tried it.
Peg, I really like winding yarn onto my ski shuttle. I really get a rhythm going and can go pretty fast.
I use a ski shuttle for chenille, but regular shuttles/bobbins for 8/2 cotton. I don't have an electric bobbin winder either, but use an electric drill with a dowel that the bobbins fit on! The ski shuttles I wind by hand, and I can fill one fairly fast.
Bev in SC
Not to be too picky here, but I think I'm looking at a rug shuttle, not a ski shuttle, right? The shuttles I use and call 'ski' have a bottom runner with a pair of opposite-ended 'hooks' on the top for winding the yarn around, and are not double sided.
Sue in MA
Right you are anonymous! I used to have a most favorite hand carved oak ski shuttle just like you described. It broke one day, and I have never found a replacement. I just call all my rug shuttles ski shuttles. Maybe I wanted to see who was paying attention:)
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