By Jane Patrick
I’ve been working on a two-heddle scarf project for the next issue of Weavezine at www.weavezine.com. As usual, I’m not as ahead of schedule (e.g. I’m behind) as I’d like to be. But having a deadline is a good thing—and sends me looking for ways to be more efficient. Here are a few of my current discoveries.
- You can never have enough bobbins.
- Time is money—invest in more bobbins.
- If you do need to unload yarn from a bobbin hold it on a pencil to prevent it from hopping around on the floor where it quickly wraps around the table leg, loom leg, your leg! Hold the pencil in one hand and use your other hand to make a small ball using a ball winder.
- I could never live without my electric bobbin winder.
- Winding ribbon yarn from a cone onto a stick shuttle builds up twist in the ribbon. I solved this problem by securing the ribbon to the shuttle with a butterfly clip and then letting the shuttle dangle to untwist the ribbon.
- A slim boat shuttle works well with the rigid heddle loom and is more efficient than a stick shuttle. Pointing the side slot where the yarn exits the shuttle towards the reed is faster than facing it towards you.
As I worked I also realized how much I enjoy the process, the tools, the yarns. I thought these yarns prepared for weaving looked just beautiful. Check out my Spring Breeze Scarf in the next issue of Weavezine to see how these yarns weave up.