The Cloth

February 27, 2019February 27, 2019 / handmadebyjo / Leave a comment

I played bobbin boy to help finish a 40 yard run of cloth that is part of the first project for the Western MA Fibershed. It’s easy to think of it as just another job until you wrap your head around the locality of it all. It’s the locavore movement only with wool. The sheep are local. The washing, carding and spinning was done by Green Mountain Spinnery who did a beautiful job. Then it arrived at Bedfellows Blankets where Peggy Hart’s Crompton & Knowles W3 was warped, threaded, sleyed, tied on and run. I was only a witness to the weaving.

Threading the heddles. 16 harnesses, 20 epi.

Tying on the warp.

Running the loom.

Ahhh, that sound. I spent some time winding the bobbins. The loom was running very well and miraculously so was the bobbin winder allowing things to go smoothly and quickly. Peggy had already run the first 20 yards in a plaited twill and was in the process of changing the chain to a 2/2 herringbone when I arrived. She cut off the first 20 yards and I photographed it in all of its glory.

Most of the time this is what I was looking at –

Winding bobbins.

It is fun to be witness to the unbridled enthusiasm of the members of the Fibershed. There are a growing number of these projects across the country. I’ve seen a renaissance of sorts involving fiber, especially local. People interested in reviving the old ways, making slow clothes that last and can be mended endlessly and finally composted when they can be worn no more. Clothing has become a huge pollutant and I am sympathetic to their cause.

In the late 1960s my grandfather closed his woolen mill because it was no longer viable economically due to imports and the new synthetic fibers. He knew wool. All of the aspects of getting the Fibershed cloth done (excluding the sheep) would have been done under one roof in his mill – from grading, washing, carding, dyeing and spinning to weaving and finishing it was all done right there. In later years he wove shoddy, the ultimate in recycling, to reduce costs. When the mills went out so did their machinery, I daresay almost all of it. Green Mountain Spinnery uses a carder that’s over 100 years old, Peggy’s machines have to be well over 60 years. Along with the machines went the knowledge of how to use and repair them. I’ve written about Lenny, he’s 94, a loom mechanic, when he goes a library will definitely burn to the ground. There is a handful of people using vintage equipment and the reality is their days are numbered because there are only so many parts left. The Fibershed project is everything I think those of us who have a connection to textile history love to see but it is really so bittersweet.

For now I will look at and touch that cloth and revel in how amazing it is that it practically comes from my doorstep. I would love to get my hands on a couple of yards to sew a jacket and wear it with the pride it deserves. I look forward to seeing where this will lead in a world that has all but forgotten what local cloth means.

Answering the Questions

January 16, 2019 / handmadebyjo / 4 Comments

I follow a number of weavers on social media. Some groups are for troubleshooting the particular looms I have, some are buying and selling equipment, most are weavers interested in the process itself. My experience has been that weavers are a very generous lot and these groups have really shown that to be the case.

A couple of interesting questions were posted the other day that really had me thinking. “How often do you weave? What do you do with your weaving projects once you’ve finished? Do you make a living weaving?” Since I’ve begun the post holiday catch up with projects that I’ve promised people these questions really lead to the real question which is why I weave. This is something that has morphed over the years. As I’ve grown in my understanding of the craft the reasons for doing it have changed. What’s different is I realized that weaving is the handcraft I have been looking for my entire life.

I am the type of person that needs to be creating constantly – my hands (and mind) have to be busy. I am also a perfectionist – born and raised. When I was younger this presented problems stemming more from a lack of patience than anything else. I wanted things to be perfect immediately. As I grew older I realized that perfection was attainable for me in most of the crafting I undertook, I just had to readjust my goals.

I was a quilter for years (and years) and also learned embroidery at a very young age. I would go to quilt shows and enter my quilts in fairs. I photographed quilts for the CT Quilt Search Project and delved into the history and process from other women’s perspectives. The pinnacle for me was entering an embroidered and appliqued quilt in the Vermont Quilt Festival and winning a blue ribbon. As far as I was concerned I was done, I wasn’t interested in taking it any further. The same happened with making teddy bears. I found a pattern in a magazine and made one of the lamest bears you have ever seen. I told my family that I was going to keep sewing bears until every one I made was perfect. I made a lot of bears. That lead to designing and teaching adult ed classes to make them. I learned you can only make so many bears and that was the end of that.

I’ve learned to do so many other things searching for that one craft. I weave and teach basket making. I knit, crochet, macrame, blah, blah, blah. I’ve dabbled in woodworking, rug hooking, pottery, leather work. Even baking became a bit of an obsession (I make a mean pie). Some of it I did okay with, most of it didn’t hold my interest enough to continue, a bit of it was so bad that I would tell myself and others it was a one-off, bucket list kind of thing.

Weaving has become the all consuming craft for me and it’s not about perfecting the product which everything else has been. It’s about the process -from beginning to end. I love the math, the counting, the feel of the fiber going through my fingers. I love the looms. Big looms, little looms, any kind of looms. I love dressing a loom and having the right amount of threads and the perfect tension. I love it when I weave the first few picks and there aren’t any threading errors. I love the meditative quality of the weaving itself when you’ve memorized the pattern and you’re weaving without thinking about weaving. I must confess that I’m usually thinking about the next project.

That’s where these questions hit home. I weave almost every day. The problem is always what to do with what you’ve woven. I never want to be boxed in to where I have to think about what I’m weaving and it’s marketability. In my opinion that’s the fastest way to suck the joy out of something you love, monetize it. What I have done is custom weaving for people to augment my raw materials. This is what lets me weave at this point.

As for making a living weaving . . . I wove overshot runners for a friend of mine to give to some of her family members for Christmas. Ten days before the holiday I put on about an 8 yard warp figuring I would weave her three and then weave a few extra for others that have expressed an interest. These runners were beautiful, everything came together and I cut off the ones she needed for the holiday. I then proceeded to weave off the rest of the warp and finish up the remaining runners. I realized then I could never, ever be a production weaver, especially working on a deadline. Some of the best lessons learned aren’t ones you’re looking for at all.

Sometimes questions need to be asked to let you see where you are going. Most often they are asked in a most innocent way and you hear them at the perfect moment.

Loom Move – The Rebuild

January 10, 2018January 10, 2018 / handmadebyjo / Leave a comment

The holidays are over and the cold snap has broken so I’m no longer hauling wood and loading a stove every hour or so and fretting about farm animals suffering in below zero temperatures. There are difficulties getting anything done in a timely manner this time of year, not the least of which is the lame internet access available where I live. Getting media uploaded for publication can take days – yes, days. Consequently this particular post will be without video, bummer.

A few weeks ago began the loom move I wrote about in A Warped Sense of Fun. There must be something about holiday weekends that attracts us to seemingly impossible tasks, New Year’s seemed to work for those of us committed to follow through.

Let’s begin by saying it was cold. Bone chilling, icy, snow on the ground, windy, cold. Dressed for the weather we arrived at Peggy’s barn to initially figure out how to get the engine hoist where it needed to go. It was heavy, on wheels and there was nothing but a snow/ice-covered path to get there.

The legs came off and on a sled it went. The beginning of a day of figuring out how to do things with what we had.

A lot of planning and discussion went on with this group. How to move the base, where to place the head, how to pick it up. Slow and steady was the call of the day, much different from the last session where everything seemed so rushed.

Planning – tools and parts in place.

Wondering if a plan will actually work.

For as much trouble as we had getting the head off and moved initially things seemed to go more smoothly moving it around in the shop and putting it back where it belonged. Although about this time I was thinking my father and grandfather would be thinking of much easier ways to do this stuff (or laughing at our ineptitude). Knowledge and experience, it’s what we’ve lost and none of us are the wiser until we work with things whose time has long passed.

Up and put in place.

Slow and steady.

As this was hanging in midair I couldn’t help but admire the paint Lenny had so painstakingly applied during its restoration. It was a true labor of love.

Trying to get things put together.

Once the head was on the beater was put in place.

Finally it looked like a power loom again (something I wasn’t sure I’d ever see).

These are the faces of people who have accomplished something. I love being involved in this sort of thing. It makes you think until your brain hurts. Everything you do has risks. Everyone was thrilled (especially Peggy) that the big parts were all moved and put back into place without anyone getting hurt – the potential was certainly there.

We went in for some coffee and soup once the work was done for the day, a time to rehash what had just happened. Richard commented on what a satisfying afternoon it had been. It was a considerably different atmosphere on this workday. Evenly paced, well thought out. We did have our token youngster with us, we needed a strong back. Andy is an old soul though, he seems to be channeling the mechanics of way back. He gets it and loves it. He is in this to see it run, not just to get it moved. Good work had been done. The loom has a way to go before it’s running but we no longer need a hoist to do the work.

I lost my grandfather decades ago, I was 20 at the time. There are pieces of him everywhere still in the house I live in. My father never got rid of anything – he had a desk drawer set up exactly as his father had, with his father’s things – a shrine of sorts. Family members kept the stories alive. The woolen mills were there lives. I am a kinesthetic learner. Watching Peggy weave, learning to build chain, winding bobbins, fixing broken threads, just listening to the loom run always seems to bring up more questions. This is a visceral way to learn but it has given me the sights and sounds and smells of something that is part of who I am and where I come from. Figuring out the mechanics is something we have all done, back generations and it feels comfortable and comforting to recognize that this sort of thing is genetic. It’s also fun to work with people whose brains work the same way as mine.

A Warped Sense of Fun

November 29, 2017 / handmadebyjo / 11 Comments

Weavers are a crazy lot, well maybe not all weavers. My circle of weaving/fiber friends tend to lean towards crazy and I’m thinking that is probably the attraction for me. The mechanics – the equipment – is really the draw. I love the structure of it all including the cloth which makes me wonder sometimes why we are not more sane.

Now add to this mix a bunch of enthusiastic boys (mid to late 20’s) and an incredibly heavy, cast iron power-loom and you have a recipe for a real anxiety producing experience.

This is Peggy’s barn frame loom. She’s a beauty and the first one I ever used.

I have to start with this because it took on a whole new purpose this past Saturday. There are three Crompton & Knowles W3 power looms in Peggy’s weave room right now and there was a much smaller one in a very small room on an upper floor. She decided to move it into her weaving room so it could be used. It’s a beauty. 48 inches wide, having a complete restoration done by Lenny, the loom mechanic. To my knowledge it hasn’t been run since the restoration, but I digress.

I was called about the move a couple of weeks ago and wasn’t able to attend the first phase. Last week I got another call and also volunteered husband Bill (the mechanic) and my son-in-law (the young back).

Before we left the house Bill loaded up a chain fall, pipes, bars and other heavy equipment moving tools. He met Richard in the room with the loom – the other member of the boomer generation with some knowledge of how to do these things. They formed a plan (meanwhile the boys dove in).

I was tasked with taking apart the barn frame loom on the floor directly above the loom we were moving – the boys decided that the loom would make the perfect mount for the chain fall to pick up the head of the power-loom below (at 600 lbs. mind you) and proceeded to cut a hole in the barn floor. I cannot begin to express the amount of anxiety I had about this. We love our looms and I was beginning to think we were about to sacrifice one for the sake of the other.

The loom was moved over the hole, angle iron was placed on the top and the chain was lowered and attached to the head of the power-loom ready to lift it off so the based could be moved out from under it.

There was a slight problem because of the yelling that needed to be done on the parts of both sets of people – on different floors – on when to stop and start, up or down with the chain. I worried for naught, the loom frame didn’t even groan.

A 2×4 was placed through the heavy end of the head and the chain attach but moving it proved to be quite the balancing act. Ratchet straps were deployed and the moving continued.

The engine hoist was brought in and the transfer from the chain fall was made.

With the help of young backs the head was lifted off of the base. We got to a point where it could stop and all had a lunch in the barn.

Where the geezers conferred some more. I’ve found that the older the guy the more planning they do. I think these guys were thinking much farther ahead on this game – like about putting it back together or getting it down the hill into the basement.

With all hands on deck the base was moved from under the head.

Then the head was moved out onto a second trailer.

What a beautiful piece of machinery she is.

Once the base pieces were moved into the weave room the head was ready to follow. (Yes, that’s a Maypole braider in the background and I just wanted to throw it into the back of our truck but thought Peggy might notice it was missing).

It was getting late in the day and the objective at this point was to get everything inside. People were exhausted. The base was assembled enough to stand on its own and the head was put down beside it. Assembly will happen another day (or days most likely).

I never realized what happens with an age gap like we had in this little project. The boys had this energy, enthusiasm, let’s get this job done kind of attitude. Those of us in a different generation approached it with caution, planning, fear of injury. It’s kind of sad in a way, how much we lose as we get older but on the other hand we have gained so much in experience. I dare say not a single one of those younger guys gave a thought to injury when all I was thinking about was where I can dial 911.

In writing this it suddenly dawned on me how many of these my father and grandfather moved out of the weave room at Charlton Woolens after the flood in ’55. My dad was 24 at the time, they must have had help but honestly the weave room must have had 50 looms of much larger size in it. They moved them to the next town over and rebuilt what they could out of what they salvaged. Now the burning question is how did they do it? There’s no one to ask.

I know they had family and like minded friends and I assume what happened this past weekend was similar in fashion to what happened then. People came together to work towards a larger goal. That’s the beauty of the crazy weaver community. We are surrounded by people who love our crazy and are willing to be a part of it.

Sweet

October 19, 2017October 19, 2017 / handmadebyjo / 1 Comment

Things have been crazy lately – meetings, working (yes, working), historical society stuff, goats, dogs, house, garden, blah, blah, blah. I got a message that Lenny was going to be working on the looms with a couple of mechanically minded guys. The timing was poor but I made it work and was oh so happy that I did.

Any opportunity to spend time with Lenny and the looms is something to be cherished in my opinion. It’s the closest I can get to my grandfather who’s been gone since 1976. Lenny is a slight, flirty little man in his 90’s who loves, loves, loves the Crompton & Knowles W3 power looms. They have been his life. The look of delight on his face when he is running one is magical to me.

https://youtu.be/ShFAkGcQ9E8

This event (and it is one to me) also afforded me the opportunity to spend time not only with Peggy but two men who had as high an interest in these machines as I do. One is a machinist, the other runs the vintage cards at a spinnery in VT.

Mechanical ability is an art in itself and I soaked in that energy like a very dry sponge. It wasn’t until I looked at the photos/videos that I really began to see mechanics as artists. The enthusiasm in the room was palpable. The beauty of this machinery is with a little study they are understandable and magical to watch. Lenny knows them like they are a part of his being, the others were meeting them for the second time. They’d already spent time with Lenny and the looms, walked away and had to return – the machine’s magic is seeping into their souls (insert an evil laugh here). When one of them told me they could watch them run all day I knew he was hooked. The other, while trying to rig a part that would work said, “I look at the part and think ‘how can I make this better'”. No sweeter words. . .

Now it has been a while since I’ve had that experience. It’s been awhile since I’ve written a blog post. Peggy brought it all together, fiber, weaving, machinery. Yesterday was a nourishing experience and I realize that being around fellow creatives feeds me. I slept well, I woke up calmer, I feel the need to sit at the loom and make something. I realize how important it is to find what does that for me and to fit that into my life. Everyone should do just one thing that makes them extraordinarily happy, or causes their minds to stretch in the effort to learn and understand something. A workout for your brain. It makes everything else just a little bit easier.

The Cloth

April 11, 2017April 11, 2017 / handmadebyjo / 1 Comment

I apologize to my non weaving readers for something that may not be as interesting or easily understood but I have to do this.

There are three parts as I see it to this research project on the Satinet Factory in Rowe. One of the most important to me was the cloth itself. Having never seen a piece of satinet from 1840 or so I decided that the only way I could get a real visual of what they were making was to weave a piece myself.

I was pointed in the direction of a book titled The Domestic Manufacturer’s Assistant and Family Directory in the Arts of Weaving and Dyeing by J. and R. Bronson which was originally published in 1817. The book is very informative and once you get the hang of the drafts they are very easy to figure out. This is a 6 shaft satin pattern.

So I did a little math, figured out the tie ups and started winding a warp. Satinet was woven with a cotton warp and a wool weft. I think originally it was for economic reasons. Power carders and spinning were in place before the looms were so the mills prepared the fiber but the satinet was being woven by people in their homes on large barn frame looms. Subcontractors in 1822 were being paid 10 cents per yard, or about $1.93 per yard in today’s money. Satinet was also an inexpensive cloth to manufacture and the demand for it skyrocketed in the 1830’s when clothiers began using the power-loom.

After talking to a few weavers who have an interest in historic weaving I decided that I would use 20/2 cotton and begin with a sett of 36 e.p.i. (partly because I have a 12 reed and the math was easy to do) . . . (sorry, not sorry).

I think cotton makes one of the most beautiful warps. I love the sheen. The question came up before doing this little experiment if the fabric would have been yarn dyed or piece dyed. Everyone I talked to was in a different camp on this one so I decided to do a white cotton warp with dyed wool weft. This also would make it easier to study the structure and see how the weft was covering the warp at different setts and beats.

Woohoo, tied on and ready to go. The piece in the loom was 6″ in width. I used a single ply wool for the weft that seemed about the same size as the warp. It was a left over warp from Peggy’s mill so I’m not sure of the exact size. There were some slubs on the yarn which is what you see in the weaving.

I figured I’d start out with 36 p.p.i to make it balanced but found that I had to up my beat to attain 43 p.p.i. to cover the warp. Also taken into consideration was the fulling that would occur in wet finishing. I tried setting it higher – to 40 e.p.i. but that made a very stiff cloth. I wove and wet finished 2 pieces at the two different setts with all different picks per inch, both about 12 inches in the loom. When finished they both shrank to 5 1/2 by 11 1/4 which was much less than I expected.

The wrong side of the cloth is quite lovely, the fabric itself is soft and supple. It was used mostly for trousers back in the day and you can understand it. It has a nice hand but feels like it would wear extremely well. It was also used for linings in coats and to make jackets. Civil war uniforms were very often made of satinet as well. My thought as I handled the samples was that I would love to weave some yardage for a jacket, it would be very comfortable.

My guess is this fabric would have been made with finer thread for a lighter weight but until I actually see a piece of it I won’t know. The search continues here in town, we have an extensive collection of clothing. I will also contact a few other museums to see what they have in their collections but at least now I know what I’m looking for.

WFH

January 12, 2017January 12, 2017 / handmadebyjo / 2 Comments

When I started working with Peggy the only compensation I asked for was blankets to give for Christmas. Quite honestly, being there, observing and helping in small ways was really compensation enough.

In one of my earliest posts about Bedfellows Blankets – It’s Always Something – I talked about the problems of badly spun yarn. There were two jobs that were being woven for the same person with the same bad yarn. One warp was finished and shipped. The other has seen an off again on again relationship with the loom over the past 9 months. Yes, that warp and I have been in close contact since I started going there. It’s now affectionately referred to as the WFH (warp from hell). Two hundred yards that have slowly and painfully made their way into cloth.

The pattern for the original job was a twill but had to be woven with double threads to give it more strength. A little over 150 yards were woven, repaired and brought to the finisher before making its way to the customer.

There were hours of mending broken threads. Finally during the summer, with the cost overruns the customer cut their losses and there we sat with 50 yards or so still on the beam. It sat there for a while.

Peggy rethreaded it a number of different ways and finally began weaving a few throws when time permitted. Warp threads still broke but different yarns for weft helped a little.

It was still an exercise in frustration. But . . . the finished throws were quite beautiful. I decided these were the ones I wanted for gifts. I brought a couple home – one herringbone and one plaited twill and wrapped them for Christmas. I asked if I got some yarn for weft could we weave one for me. I got a resounding “Are you sure?”

I got some lovely Harrisville Highland which proceeded to cause no end of problems because the weight of the yarn was just a little too much for the bobbin winder. The temps were subzero outdoors and around 55 in the weave room. Antique, oil-filled machines do not like cold temperatures so the process was slow. Finally we were off and running.

Ahhh, I love that sound. If you turn the sound up as high as it goes that’s what it sounds like with your ear protection on. I’m not sure why my grandfather wasn’t deaf.

Well, we were stopping every 10 to 15 picks as usual. The whole process was pretty painful. Photographing is was – challenging. During that little video two threads broke that I didn’t see on either side of the frame. Yup, now I was just thinking about the repairs.

Knotting the fringe was the final job before wet finishing – into the washer, cold water gentle, line dry.

The finished throw is truly wonderful. The yarn fulled as I expected making a soft, thick blanket. The fringe looks almost like raw wool ( it almost is) because it had to little twist in it. I probably should trim it and will eventually but I’m just enjoying it for now.

These past months have given me a new respect for artists who create these treasures. People will buy them and love them but will never know what went into their making. The time, the care and often frustration.

Peggy wove 3 more throws the other day while I was there. One went pretty well, the other two not so much. There’s probably another 20 yards on the warp and I asked her when she was going to be done with it – just cut it off. She told me she was going to continue to work on it. She did it to honor the wool. So with time and patience that’s what she’s doing and for me that’s the most important lesson of all.

If you’re interested in one of these throws contact Bedfellows Blankets and ask about the WFH.

It’s a Matter of Perspective

December 28, 2016December 28, 2016 / handmadebyjo / 5 Comments

I’ve been reading a number of posts and memes commenting on what a horrendous year 2016 has been. If I take a quick look back I might be inclined to agree. This was a year of tremendous loss for me personally. Four people I loved dearly passed away leaving some pretty big holes. Then there was the weather – hot, hot summer, not much rain, a garden left to the weeds. We won’t even go into the news or current events.

In looking through the photographs of the year I realized that some pretty fantastic things have happened as well. With the death of my father I was given the gift of time allowing me to be involved in things that are close to my heart. This brought me into situations where I’ve met some great people and have grown in ways I never expected.

I’ve expanded my horizons by spending time with some wonderful weavers. They are the most generous people I know. The weaving I’m doing today and the direction it seems to be heading right now is pulling from the history of the craft. What began as weaving off a warp on a barn frame loom (a figure it out by yourself experience) lead to the purchase and moving of this type of loom to my house. A mention of a few of these looms available in New England started the journey into bringing one home. Snow and miles are not a deterrent to a weaver in search of a piece of equipment.

This was also a year of reunions. I’m not sure if it had to do with the loss of mutual friends or it was just timing but I spent more than a few of my weekends with people I love from past lives. Calls out of the blue from friends I haven’t talked to in decades. Calls from people on the other side of the world. Calls to gather and just remember how much we truly like each other.

It was a year of new-found friendship as well. Like minded people coming together to work on projects of mutual interest. Being more involved in a town of this size has brought me great satisfaction, friendships new and renewed and an understanding of the effort needed to keep it all together and keep politics out of it. No easy feat.

I think what I really learned is it was is all a matter of perspective. My photography has helped with that – I’m a glass half full kind of photographer. I try to share the wonder and beauty around me. I realized a long time ago that worrying about the big picture is pretty destructive. It’s not that I have my head in the sand it’s just that on a grand scale I know there’s very little I can to about it. You can’t spend hours in the day projecting what is going to happen down the road, you don’t know. Things unfold the way they unfold and it’s always in slower motion than you think it’s going to.

Going into 2017 my goals are to learn more about the things I love and share that knowledge with those who will listen (and even those that won’t – sorry). Perfect my crafts and teach others how to do these things. Be kind and generous with my time. Stay connected in a meaningful way to my friends – old and new – because you never know who needs what when and sometimes big change can happen by doing what you think is the littlest of things. Most of all, never lose that sense of wonder. There is so much to see and learn even in the smallest of things.

Weaving Inspiration

October 11, 2016October 11, 2016 / handmadebyjo / 10 Comments

A few weeks ago I met a long time friend on the Bridge of Flowers in Shelburne Falls. As a gardener I am always amazed at this wonderful place.

I posted this photograph after shooting my way along the bridge and a fellow weaver used it as color inspiration. I thought I would as well. (Of course hers was finished within days of the picture going up).

I also decided to move out of the realm of safety and work with new materials, sort of. I’m using 20/2 mercerized cotton and a draft from Twill Thrills to make a scarf.

I did the math. Ordered the cotton. Did the math again. Then started winding the warp.

Truth be told this is my least favorite part of weaving and it took me three days to do it because there were a few moments when I just had to walk away.

I finally got it to the loom and threaded it. It’s an advancing twill pattern at 40 E.P.I. Yes, forty ends per inch. At this point I’m saying to myself “You must be out of your mind” but it got better . . .

I had 32 threads leftover at the end. Not usually a problem unless you decide to do graded colors, ugh. Not happy at this point. It was sort of a random twill so I decided to just to a repeat of part of the pattern and see how it turned out. At this point I was not going to rethread it.

Yesterday I began sleying the reed 4 threads per dent. I got halfway through and decided to break until this morning when the light was better. Finished an hour or so ago. I’ll tie it on, spend some time on the floor doing tie-ups and finally start weaving later today with any luck. Then I’ll be able to see what kind of mess I truly made and if I can live with it or start over.

The interesting part to me is the weavers I have that surround me, that inspire me. I weave with a woman who weaves nothing but twills. She threads her loom without a draft starting in the center and working her way to either edge designing it as she goes along. Her work is amazing. I felt like I was channeling her as I threaded all of those extra ends. I don’ begin to think I’m capable of doing what she does but it’s having weavers around me giving that inspiration. They’re all mentors without knowing it.

I think that’s what makes it so important to show and share your work – no matter what kind of work it is or what your skill level. You never know who you’re going to inspire.

It’s Always Something

May 20, 2016 / handmadebyjo / 7 Comments

It starts with this. Poorly wound cones of wool. Not only are the cones badly wound but the wool is not greatly spun. There are slubs, lots of them – places where the fiber is not twisted and readily comes apart. That leads to this.

The yarn breaks while winding it onto the bobbins either due to the slubs or by catching on the tangles that are on the bottoms of the cones. Or the bad spinning leads to this –

Endless broken warp threads, endless repairs.

I really should have been helping her instead of taking her picture. The weaving was a real stop and start affair for the past two days. One blanket wove with a single broken warp thread, the next had over 30 I would guess. It often looks like this –

Then you can have issues that cause mechanical failure – there have been a few broken bobbins lately.

I have to tell you that makes a pretty ugly sound when it happens. The other day Peggy suggested my next blog post should be titled “Breaking Bad”. It made me chuckle and it helps to have a sense of humor when things aren’t going along as well as you’d like but then your morning ends with an image like this –

Crawling under the loom is never good (even if it was highly enlightening for me). The top of a heddle frame caught and broke while the loom was running, number 16. I stand and watch for broken threads while it’s running and tell Peggy to stop it, I didn’t even see this happen. There is so much to look at while the machine is running – so much. We moved the threaded heddles to the frame in back of it (thankfully unused) and took the frame apart and off of the loom.

I learned a lot from this particular incident. First, experience is everything, Peggy knows where to be looking or knows the sound of a happy or not so happy machine. Second, this is no game for an older person in questionable physical condition. I could have gotten under the loom but the question remains, how long would it have taken me to get back up?

Then there is the question of just how long can you run machinery that there are no longer parts for? With the best running practices things are still going to break. There are piles of loom parts in the barn where the looms are located but it’s not like you can just order something up on-line when you need to. I supposed the metal parts could be reproduced by a skilled machinist, but at what cost? Then there are the bobbins which I daresay were discarded quite often in a running mill. Who makes those now?

I feel privileged to be able to experience this first hand but am saddened by the knowledge that this is truly the end of the road for this weaving (unless I’ve missed something). I’m not saying it ends this year or next but the end is visible. The day you can no longer fix this loom is the day is becomes a ton and a half of scrap metal and that is sad indeed.

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