I did something post-worthy!

I know, I know, I said I was going to devote more time to blogging this year. And it's been months since my last post. But I did something post-worthy!

A few weeks ago I got this bee in my bonnet to start weaving. I think it had something to do with seeing several beautiful scarves made from otherwise hard to pair variegated yarns. And lord knows I have plenty of those.

I looked into buying a rigid heddle loom - and I still probably will at some point - but decided it was too much to invest in a brand new craft (though if I stopped buying yarn for, I don't know, 3 or 4 months, I could afford it no problem! But that's a different story). Further investigation led to the discovery of the backstrap loom - which uses a hefty object on one end and the weaver's body on the other end to tension the warp. I was intrigued; several sticks and some yarn and I could be weaving? So I decided to give it a go.

Warping was a bit of a problem. For a backstrap loom, you have to warp under tension and create a figure-8 in the middle of your warp for the creation of two different sheds. I had this awesome idea to create a warping board (which can cost around $50 on the low end!) out of a cheap plastic peg board and metal pegs. This was a resounding success:

However, I was unable to wrap my head around how do put in the figure-8 in the middle. Perhaps I'm complete dolt, and I have no doubts there's some insanely easy way to do it that exceeded my spatial reasoning. Regardless, this warping board would be great if I didn't need to put the sheds in the warp! This will prove useful later.

In the end I was able to wrap my warp under tension between my bookcase and the leg of my futon. It ended up about a yarn long and probably 3-4 inches wide (I didn't measure the final project when I finished it this morning since I was on my way out the door to work) So I had my loom warped and my string heddles tied and my shed stick in place - I was actually ready to weave!

I used a horrible sticky cotton yarn that I hated the first time I used it (in a sweater), but I didn't want to use a yarn I liked in case this was a colossal failure.

Okay, you would think by now I would know better. Seriously sticky yarn is seriously sticky. And string heddles did not work out so great for me (though they were better when I switched over to the mason’s twine that was all coated and slick).

Okay, so here's what you're looking at here: the pole in my lap is attached to a piece of fabric (actually a pillowcase) tied around my back. When I lean back, it increases the tension on the warp, when I lean forward, it lessens the tension (like when I need to open a different shed). The piece of cardboard is there to give me a hard surface to weave against while leaving a section of the warp for me to braid afterwards. the warp is attached to the bookcase across from me (which you can't see from this picture, sorry) and that bad boy ain't going anywhere. I have a sword/beater/pick up stick in the shed to hold it open an I have an enormous amount of yarn wrapped on that stick shuttle there. Like, waaaay more than I needed. This was also an exercise in how much yarn can I wrap on an 8" stick shuttle?

But guess what guys - I wove! I mean, its probably the ugliest thing ever woven in the world, but I did it!

I finished this piece this morning - by which I mean, I decided my weaving was getting more even and I hated this yarn so much that I had to stop. I thought it would be long enough to be my new backstrap (because the pillowcase is less than comfortable) but the braided ends were just a mite too short. It would work great for a child. Or it might end up in the trash because it's seriously fugly.

I already have yarn picked out for my next attempt - sport weight and much more slick - and I'm going to try it with a rigid heddle next!

Things I learned from this little adventure:

• I still hate cotton, and especially this yarn
• If I’m going to braid the ends I need more space at the beginning
• I need to spread the warp out on my end poles better before I start weaving. This was way too close together
• Somehow I twisted my warp which made it really hard to tie the heddles and I screwed them up somewhere. Take more care next time!
• The last two problems could be alleviated (and the whole warping under tension that I had such trouble with) if I used a rigid heddle instead of string heddles

Which is precisely what I intend to do on my next weaving project! Stay tuned!