12/21/13
Finished weaving the warp/weft after a quick follow up session with Debbi R. She very generously offered to see me thru the project since I had FibroFog in class. In the follow up, Debbi walked me through unwinding the breast beam and removing the front warp (no pics, ack) and then repositioning and basting the piece back down to the apron rod so you could get tension back into the warp. I’ll likely recreate this project and will get pics of this stage. It’s key to finishing the weaving - one reason I take pics is so I can walk myself thru a new skill. I’m kicking myself for forgetting this time.

After setting up the tension again, you then take the front warp ends and weave them by hand into the end warp. (I know that sounds redundant in a hand woven project, I mean no shuttle is used at this point.)

12/17/13
Have finished the “normal” portion of the weaving and am now ready to weave the warp ends back into the beginning (Warp Becomes Weft). See pics of the near-finished project. Colors are Awe. Some. together. This is why weaving is fun, putting together yarns in a way where you can’t in knitting or crocheting.

11/21/13
Started this in Debbi R’s weaving class where we break all of the rules , aka her Out of the Box class, and each time she finds new rules for us to break. Who said you always had to follow the rules? :) The rules we’re transgressing are mixing weights and then using a portion of the warp for the weft. This results in a looped fabric that ends in a corner with fringe. Debbi R’s original version (also using the La Boheme but in Christmas colors) is narrower and a little longer, making it loopable where mine, likely because of the wider warp is more like a poncho or scarf that doesn’t loop.

Using two mohairs (one mixed with a novelty), a sock yarn, and a cotton boucle sounds like a bad recipe but the colors are fabulous together. (Thanks Tammy!)

Because of the the variation in yarn weight, I’m using a variable dent heddle. We think it’s the first of its kind (yay Schacht!) so would suggest some tweaks but it still works well for this type of project.

NOTES -
ABOUT the VARIABLE DENT HEDDLE
Variable dent heddle weaving has its benefits, where you can mix mohair (12 dent) and boucle or novelty (8 dent) in one project without totally screwing the weave tension up. I think this is the first variable dent on the market and also the first generation. What did I learn? It’s sometimes hard to get your design to fit into the heddle. So? You compromise. I used some 8 & some 10 dents where 8 woulda, shoulda, coulda been used - read on for my moment of attitude. I also used some 12 dent where I knew I’d be working in the lace weight mohair and the sock yarn.

This project has mohair in about 50% of it and mohair in a shed is like two teenagers in love - very, very hard to separate (having a 17 year old boy inspires the oddest analogies, but it works, right?). In addition, the various yarns are of different weight, the purple mohair being the smallest (lace) and the La Boheme (a novelty and a mohair 2 strand combo) and the boucle being worsted. It’s possible to use a standard heddle but the variable dent makes it possible to give more space to the La Boheme and less to the mohair.

Since this is my first foray into VariableDentLand, I learned a few things via the oldest method - trial and error. In pic 9, you can see how La Boheme’s mohair reacts to the 8 dent section. Without teasing/fluffing/cursing, this portion of the warp separates nicely. Not so much in pics 10 or 11. Same position (heddle down), these two shots show how La Boheme’s mohair sticks (teenage love, remember?) in the 10 dent sections. The mohair lace reacted similarly but not as bad. While I love the mohair, it took some work and made the weaving slow going. I think the next project will be worsted merino…. :)

ABOUT BREAKING “OUT of the BOX”
DebbiR is a magical weaver who teaches at Yarnivore and was fooling around with weaving the beginning warp into the end weft… Warp Becomes Weft (WBW). I’m sure many weavers have done this before but I couldn’t find a good way to describe it so using WBW until I find something better; apologies if someone else created this title. Point them out and I’ll update notes with a credit.

Setting up the warp is the same in many ways as setting up for any project. You design your color pattern, the length and so forth. The difference in WBW weaving is that you advance the beginning of the warp far enough to cover your weft + fringe needs. Don’t forget to account for take-up.

Once you’ve advanced the breast beam to allow for this, weave away until you get near the end - you’ll need about the same amount of warp at the end. Another way of thinking about it is you’ll need enough weave-able warp that is equal to the width of the project. You’ll see in pics

Pics!
Some are to admire the gorgeous color combination (a shout out to Tammy R, owner of LYS Yarnivore for the assist on the killer combination of the purple mohair and the sock yarn - they totally made everything else sing) and some are to talk about technique….

1st pic is the piece folded (fringe unfinished). You can see the place where the warp becomes weft on the left side of it, where there is a double block of pink. If you’re having trouble seeing that, look at where the fringe stops on the left side.

2nd pic is the piece folded differently - it’s easier to see the double block of pink here.

3rd pic is a close up of the woven product (still on the loom) showing the La Boheme (pink vertical), purple mohair (horizontal), boucle (horizontal) and sock (horizontal).

4th pic is a near-profile pic showing the texture differences between the La Boheme (first) mohair (second), sock yarn (third), boucle (fourth).

5th pic shows the work as I get near the end of weaving in the beginning warp. I’m now at the end of the weave-able warp and, fortunately, nearly done. You can see how little shed I have left by how tight it is around my finger.

6th pic shows how I managed to weave in the short-shed area. Fortunately, my compulsive LYS habit resulted in me buying a Zoom Loom. This pic shows me holding the Zoom Loom needle (about 6”). This portion of the weaving uses the beginning warp threads as the weft, so there is no shuttle. When starting this portion, you can get your hands into the shed. As you near the middle of this portion, the shed gets short but you can get your hands into the shed enough to pass the threaded ZL needle. As you near the end, you will have to poke your fingers through the shed to scootch (a technical term) the needle along. Tight but it works!

7th pic shows a wide shot of the loom at this stage (warp is weft, see the threads on the left? Those are the beginning warp threads acting as the weft.)

8th pic shows the loose selvage on the side where the warp/weft threads exit the other side of the warp. Normally, the back and forth of the weft would keep this selvage tight. I learned as I went to snug the ends up in a loose tie, at least until I could twist them into fringe.

9th pic is the line where the beginning warp meets the left selvage and becomes the weft - again, here is a double block of pink. the fabric to the right of the double block is still under tension, the fabric to the left is not, making the contrast in flat/rippled greater than it will be off the loom.

10th pic is after we’ve basted the fabric to the breast beam and put it under tension - this shot shows you the total weave-able warp I’ve got left. Debbi R says “Tight!”. Gonna have to get creative, but that’s the point of breaking out of the box.

11th pic shows the fabric as we begin to unspool it off the breast beam. We then untied the warp ends from the apron rod and reattached the fabric to the breast beam with a basting stitch. (No pic of that, sorry.)

12th &13th pics are all about the variable dent heddle! See the different ways the La Boheme acts - the 12th pic is the 8 dent size; the 13th pic is the 10 dent. 8 dent rocks the La Boheme. :)

14th pic - the normal part of the weave, where shuttles are flying into the warp.

15th pic is all about the promise of the warp. I’ve brought the threads through the heddle (back to front) and then let them pool on the ground.

16th, 17th & 18th pics are of some of the warp (this is some of the La Boheme and the Blue Heron boucle) up on the warping board. Note the ties at the cross and the choke. I’ve put these up for beginners - this is a basic cross for experienced weavers but I still need it as a reminder.

Final (19th) pic is my very crude drawing of the design for the threads. Someday I’ll graduate to fancy software. :)