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I finally got the loom warped over the weekend. It took about 1/2 a day to measure out the 7 yards of warp thread. I originally intended to do a 24 inch wide product, but ran out of warp yarn at 15". I checked at the store where I bought it, and she won't have more until two weeks from now, and I decided that I wasn't about to wait that long to start weaving.
It took me another half a day to get my loom warped. The warping process, while long and tiring, wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. It helped having TV available in my "studio" so that I could watch CSI while counting warp threads and heddles.
I bought a boat shuttle and bobbin at Susan's Fiber Shop but decided NOT to buy the bobbin winder. I couldn't justify spending $115 on a mechanical device that only does one thing... I resolved to cobble something together from the gimgacks that Zig and I already have lying around the house.
Once the loom was all warped and ready to go, I had to spend another day spinning the weft from the yellow wool that I bought at the Sheep and Wool Festival. I was so impatient to get started with the weaving already that I plied faster than I've ever plied in my life... So fast, in fact, that my spool heated enough to MELT THROUGH the plastic tensioning cable of the spinning wheel. Fortunately, due to similar experiences earlier this year, I had purchased some fishing line specifically for the purpose of replacing that tensioning cable. The only problem was... I purchased the fishing line MONTHS AGO and couldn't remember where the hell I put it... I spent 2 hours tossing the entire house looking for it so that I could finish up my spinning and get on with the exciting weaving bits.
Then came the "interesting" part... I had to load the bobbin for the boat shuttle... The closest thing I could find to a bobbin winder was a $7 dremmel tool that Zig had laying around in the basement... The only problem being that the tool does NOT have variable speeds... it has OFF and 4700 RPM... Attempting to wind a bobbin at that speed is... ADVENTURE! (TM). It's like trying to get on a bronco that's already started bucking. I nearly lost an eye and a finger in the first two attempts to get that sucker wound on, but eventually I got the hang of creatively mis-using that particular tool.
Then, FINALLY... I was ready to do this:
Zig is going to have the loudest doublet in the world... Likely, I'll be able to talk him into wearing it ONCE and thereafter he will be content to allow me to enter it into A&S contests for the rest of its life as a garment.
It took me another half a day to get my loom warped. The warping process, while long and tiring, wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. It helped having TV available in my "studio" so that I could watch CSI while counting warp threads and heddles.
I bought a boat shuttle and bobbin at Susan's Fiber Shop but decided NOT to buy the bobbin winder. I couldn't justify spending $115 on a mechanical device that only does one thing... I resolved to cobble something together from the gimgacks that Zig and I already have lying around the house.
Once the loom was all warped and ready to go, I had to spend another day spinning the weft from the yellow wool that I bought at the Sheep and Wool Festival. I was so impatient to get started with the weaving already that I plied faster than I've ever plied in my life... So fast, in fact, that my spool heated enough to MELT THROUGH the plastic tensioning cable of the spinning wheel. Fortunately, due to similar experiences earlier this year, I had purchased some fishing line specifically for the purpose of replacing that tensioning cable. The only problem was... I purchased the fishing line MONTHS AGO and couldn't remember where the hell I put it... I spent 2 hours tossing the entire house looking for it so that I could finish up my spinning and get on with the exciting weaving bits.
Then came the "interesting" part... I had to load the bobbin for the boat shuttle... The closest thing I could find to a bobbin winder was a $7 dremmel tool that Zig had laying around in the basement... The only problem being that the tool does NOT have variable speeds... it has OFF and 4700 RPM... Attempting to wind a bobbin at that speed is... ADVENTURE! (TM). It's like trying to get on a bronco that's already started bucking. I nearly lost an eye and a finger in the first two attempts to get that sucker wound on, but eventually I got the hang of creatively mis-using that particular tool.
Then, FINALLY... I was ready to do this:
Zig is going to have the loudest doublet in the world... Likely, I'll be able to talk him into wearing it ONCE and thereafter he will be content to allow me to enter it into A&S contests for the rest of its life as a garment.
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Also, check out ebay - sometimes you can find accessories cheap.
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And wow, you're worse than I am for taking on ambitious projects. I did that twill in those colors, but for a set of napkins, not a garment.
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