New Stroller Design
 Our new Stroller design is compatible with our old stroller.

We have a new Wolf Stroller design. It's easier to install, and one stroller part fits any leg on Mighty Wolf and Baby Wolf Looms.
 

Spinning Is Hot
It’s been reported in the New York Times and elsewhere: knitters are discovering spinning. They’re recognizing what many of us have known all along: spinning is meditative and calming, with an end product — beautiful and unique yarns to weave, knit or crochet into fabulous textiles. We’re seeing an up-tick in all of our spinning products, especially double treadle Matchless Spinning Wheels and our newly redesigned Hi-Low Spindles. Visit your favorite dealer and ask to give these a whorl!

Visit Us At Convergence
in Grand Rapids, Michigan, June 28 - July 1, 2006.

w Come try our looms and tools. We’ll have Pup, Baby and Mighty Wolf looms, table and rigid heddle looms, shuttles, winding equipment —one of everything we make.

w Take home a Cranbrook Countermarche Loom. This loom with an illustrious pedigree can be yours! Excellent for the simplest to the toughest weaving job, the Cranbrook Countermarche Loom handles sticky mohair, linen, warp-faced weaves, and rug weaving with panache. For our special Convergence pricing and details, contact Jane Patrick at janep@schachtspindle.com

w Sit down and try our most popular spinning wheel, the double treadle Matchless, and a 30” Schacht-Reeves Spinning Wheel.

w Buy our not-to-miss special-edition colorwood shuttles. (Shuttles pictured are from Convergence 2004.)

w Sneak a peak at our new products, too.

A Letter from the Editor
Greetings Weavers and Spinners,

Time. We never seem to have enough of it, especially for the special things we want to do, such as weave and spin. This may seem obvious, but I am finding that some long-range planning is helping me to achieve my goals. Establishing what I want to accomplish helps me prioritize my day and gets me to my loom. By scheduling time to weave, I’ll do it. Making a deadline spurs me on.

A book that I’ve found useful is Hyrum Smith’s The 10 Natural Laws for Managing Your Time and Life. In it he outlines a process to help you determine your priorities and what’s important to you, and from this basis develop strategies for setting and meeting goals. I’ve been giving his techniques a try, and while I’m far from perfect, I am finding that I am getting more done and feeling better about what I accomplish each day.

Since I know I’m not alone in the struggle for more spinning and weaving time, I’d love to hear your stories about fitting more of these crafts into your life. Send me a note, and I’ll share your ideas in an upcoming newsletter.

Happy spring!

Jane Patrick

P.S. Book report. My book, Time to Weave, is in production at my publisher, Interweave Press. I’ve seen sample pages and the cover and I’m very pleased with its beautiful design. Interweave is promising an advance shipment of books at Convergence in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and I’ll be around to sign copies. You’ll find me in either the Schacht or Interweave booth.

Newsletter in PDF Format



 
Timesaving Ideas

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Record Keeping
  • Save your records in a binder so that the next time you want to weave the same thing you’ll have all of the particulars at the ready.
  • When sampling, keep a spiral notebook next to you and jot down what you’re doing so that you can repeat the samples you like in your project without having to dissect your sample.
Project Planning

  • For any new yarn or project, always sample first. You’ll save time by making projects that work.
  • You can speed the sampling process by referring to projects in Handwoven where someone else has already done the sampling for correct sett. Find a project similar to the one you’re planning to see what the yarn and weave structure are and begin from that point.
  • Use computer drawdown programs to explore color, weave, and sett. The drawdown allows you to narrow your choices without warping your loom and improve your chance of success with your sample warp.
Speeding Warping

  • When possible, measure two or more ends together.
     
  • Sley two ends per dent. For example, sley two ends per dent in a 6-dent reed instead of one end per dent in a 12-dent reed.
Yarn Management
  • Store yarns in large plastic, see-through tubs. Label the tubs with the contents.

Dear Violet Rose
Dear Violet Rose,
What is a warping paddle and why would I want one?
— Curious in Colorado

Dear Curious,
A warping paddle allows you to measure several warp ends at one time. It is especially useful for fine warps of many threads. You’ll need a yarn source for each warp end, and a regular warping sequence makes the most efficient use of this technique. A unique feature of the Schacht warping paddle is the slot-hole design, which makes creating the cross a snap. There’s a great how-to article in the November-December 2004 issue of Handwoven on page 65. Included are excellent step-by-step photos and clear instructions. Check it out and cut your warp measuring time considerably.

— Violet Rose

Warping Paddle

 

Our expert responds to your Schacht product questions. 
Have a question about a Schacht Spindle product, or a weaving or spinning question? Write her at violetrose@schachtspindle.com.  While she can’t answer your questions directly, look here for the answers.

 

 

Spring for Spring Green Pillow
designed by Jane Patrick

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It’s spring and green is sprouting up in places other than your own back yard. Open any mail order catalog or magazine and you’ll see limey to avocado greens in everything from sandals to lamps. In this spring-green mode we’ve designed a pillow using a heathery-green 2-ply wool and accented it with supplementary weft bundles of red, orange and purple yarns, like flowers on green grass.

For more information on rigid heddle weaving, see Hands On Rigid Heddle Weaving, by Betty Linn Davenport.

Project Notes:
A solid green warp is threaded on a rigid heddle loom and accented with supplementary weft floats using a pick-up stick.

Fabric Description: Felted plain weave with cut supplementary weft floats.

Equipment: Schacht rigid heddle loom, minimum 20" weaving width. 2 pick-up sticks, 24" long.

Materials
Warp and background weft: Harrisville 2-ply Shetland wool at 1800 yd/lb, in Olive, 700 yards needed.
Supplementary weft: Four yarns are wound together on the shuttle. Use the same Harrisville 2-ply wool, 30 yards each of Violet, Magenta, Topaz and Rose.

Warping
Warp ends per inch (e.p.i.): 10
Width in reed: 20”
Number of warp ends: 200
Warp Length: 2 yards, includes 28" for take-up and loom waste.

Weaving
Two shuttles are needed, one for the background and the other for the supplementary weft floats.

Weft picks per inch (p.p.i.): 10 for background

 

 

Spring for Spring Green Pillow, continued

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Weave Pillow Front:

  1. Weave 2” plain weave.
  2. Weave Pattern A with supplementary weft.
  3. Weave 10 rows of plain weave with olive.
  4. Weave Pattern B with supplementary weft.
  5. Weave 10 rows of plain weave with olive.
  6. Repeat steps 2-5 three more times for a total of four times.
  7. Weave Pattern A (for a total of 5 repeats)
  8. Weave 2” plain weave.

Note: Two pick-up sticks are needed for this pattern. The first one picks up Pattern A and will stay in place throughout the duration of the weaving. The second pick-up stick is used for Pattern B and will need to be removed after each sequence is woven. In other words, Pattern A and Pattern B alternate to create offset weft floats. To weave weft floats, place the heddle in neutral (neither up nor down), bring the pick-up stick up behind the heddle and turn it on edge to make a shed. You’ll use this shed for the supplementary weft.

Pattern A: With the heddle in the down position (slot threads will be up), pick up slot threads as follows: (You may find it helpful to place a piece of paper between the layers so that you see only the raised threads.) Counting only the raised warps, skip 7 threads, *pick 2 up, 10 down*, repeat between *, ending with 2 up, 7 down. This pick-up stick will stay in place while you are weaving the pillow front.

Weaving Pattern A:

  1. Pattern Stick A (supplementary weft).
  2. Weave 2 rows of plain weave (olive).
  3. Repeat #1and #2 three more times.
  4. Pattern Stick A (for a total of 5 supplementary weft rows).

Pattern B: Place the heddle in the down position and with a second pick-up stick pick up the following slot threads — skip 13, *pick 2 up, 10 down*, repeat between *s ending with 2 up and 13 down. You will need to remove this pick-up stick and re-pick the sequence each time you weave Pattern B.

Weaving Pattern B:

  1. Pattern Stick B (supplementary weft).
  2. Weave 2 rows of plain weave (olive).
  3. Repeat 1-2 three more times.
  4. Pattern Stick B (for a total of 5 supplementary weft rows).

Weave Pillow Back:
Weave 24” of plain weave for pillow back, or for a thicker and more textured backing try this pick-up pattern:

Using a pick-up stick, pick 1 up, 1 down, then weave as follows:

  1. Up
  2. Pattern Stick
  3. Up
  4. Down
  5. Up and Pattern Stick
  6. Down
Repeat.

Finishing
Remove from loom and secure ends. First wash by hand in hot water and lots of soap. Then machine wash on hot until sufficiently felted. Watch the fabric carefully so that it doesn’t felt more than desired. Allow the fabric to air-dry, then cut a 1/2" section out of each of the supplementary weft floats.

Assembly
 Cut apart the fabric for the pillow front and back. Measure the width of the fabric for the pillow front and cut the length to match, making a square. The size of the square will depend on the amount of felting — more felting will result in a smaller pillow. Place the square so that the supplementary weft floats are arranged symmetrically within the square. With right sides together, stitch around the outside edges 1/4" from the edge, leaving an 8" opening along one side.

Turn the pillow right side out, and fill with a purchased pillow form. If the size needed is not available, make one using muslin and polyester fiberfill. Invisibly stitch closed the opening.

Twist a cord using 8 -12 strands of the olive green yarn, and sew to the edge of the pillow. You can use the Incredible Rope Machine, or follow the directions given in Interweave's Compendium of Finishing Techniques: Crochet, Embroidery, Knitting, Knotting, Weaving.