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Peer Support: Design Help – November 2023
We started this session with the following question from Barbara:
She would like to weave a pattern from the January/February 1986 issue of Handwoven.
It is a scarf called the Donegal Tweed scarf pattern and was submitted by Linda Hardison.
She would like to use Jaggerspun 20/2 wool, but she was having trouble with the wool shredding and breaking while measuring the warp. She decided to use the wool as the weft, but wanted to know what her peers would suggest for the warp that would allow the softness of the wool to take centre stage.
Barb commented that someone has suggested to reinforce the selveges by doubling the outermost ends, but she wasn’t happy with the results of that on a previous project.
Sandy suggested that if Barb is a spinner (or knows one) that she could ply the wool with another yarn for added strength. Several members agreed that silk would be their first choice for the other ply, as it is very strong, and would make the scarf even more luxurious.
There was discussion of warp yarn choices, which included silk, tencel, bamboo, wool intended for warps, or yarns with any of these fibers mixed. Several people commented that Jaggerspun Zephyr, which is a wool/silk yarn would be a lovely choice, although it was noted that it is fairly pricey, and could be too expensive for some weavers’ budgets.
We then veered away from weaving design a little, and moved on to a question from Christine.
She had recently used a trapeze for the first time as a warping tool, and was looking for some help figuring out why her warp went on very smoothly, until the last few yards, where she ended up with quite a few tangles.
Joan noted that when she uses a trapeze, she presleys the warp, which helps minimize friction between the yarns, and spreads the warp nicely.
Later, there was a lot of questions about the construction, set up, and use of the trapeze.
Joan noted that she made a fair number of beanbags, each with the same weight, and she added hanging loops to them. When she uses a trapeze, she can easily customize the weight that she has on each mini warp by clipping on more bean bags. She generally clips one half pound beanbag to a group of threads that is approximately a 2 inch width of warp, and has had success using that ratio.
Several members mentioned that they use “Angel wings” to hold their lease sticks in place, with a little bit of space between them when beaming. The consensus was that this helped to keep the warp threads separated with the cross, and running smoothly to the beam. It was noted that the Angel wings are reasonably pricey, and due to the fact that they are handmade, they can take some time to arrive after ordering, but they are well constructed, and a useful tool. The source mentioned was Purrington Looms. Several members mentioned that they had DIY versions of Angel wings as well.
Mary commented that she learned to place the warp thread sources (spools or cones) up near her right shoulder, and to hold her hand differently in a previous class by Janet. This meant that she was not introducing any additional twist to the warp threads while she was measuring her warp. She has has great success with this method, and noted that the tangles that she used to get in her warps have virtually disappeared.
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