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February 14th, 2002 newsletter

Valentine

Add a little pink & red to your loom

It’s that time of year to listen to my heart ❤️ and play with the bright reds that make it sing 😉 The studio is full of red yarns, in a wide range of brightness and depth. My eyes can’t stop picking up a beautiful red and wondering…what if?

Grant and I had a bit of fun playing with words –
this is the result 😉

Roses are red
Violets are blue
Here are some Valentines
That I chose for you…

Will ewe be mine?
I love you so moss!
You’re sew special!
Don’t make me wine – be my Valentine!
Lime yours!
Wool you be my Valentine?
Olive you!
We’re mint to be!
I’m hooked on you!
You’re my butter half!
You have a peach of my heart!

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!


If you are wanting to surround yourself with warm reds on these cold winter days…we have kits that fit the bill! It’s a wonderful time of year to weave these kits…Simple Collapse Scarf – Autumn Equinox on 4 shafts or expand to 8 shaft to create Kiki’s Bambu Scarf in Turned Twill. Are the grey days making the kitchen feel that you need a spot of brightness? We have two kits that will warm things up! Tea Towel Time with Jane – English Garden Kit and Jane’s Favourite Tea Towel Kit. Both would be a bright canvas on your loom to play with and weave.

Simple Collapse Scarf – Autumn Equinox

Kiki’s Bambu Scarf Kit

Tea Towel Time with Jane Kit – English Garden

Jane’s Favourite Tea Towel Kit


Dr. Beckmann Colour & Dirt Collector

One sheet added to your wash water, whether you wash by machine or by hand, will grab any fugitive colour lurking around in your yarn. They are truly amazing! Always good to have a box on hand. Add one to your cart with your next yarn purchase! For instructions on how to use the Dr. Beckmann sheets click here!

Here to help

Have a weaving question? Find us on the Jane Stafford School of Weaving Forum and

on Weave with Jane Stafford at Ravelry.


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February 8th, 2022 newsletter

Louet David Loom III

We are so happy with the new Louet David Loom III and it’s new features. It is a beauty to weave and I just had to do a demonstration video about it 🙂

Check it out!

Louet David III Loom

A few Louet Loom accessories!

Lift Help for Spring II & David III looms

This Lift Help accessory for the Spring II & David III allows a user to lift the loom by oneself in order to install the extension legs which raise the loom approx 12” making it easier to access the treadles to do tie-ups.


Spring II and David III Loom Leg Extension

The Leg Extension Kit provides Spring II and David III users 4 leg extension poles which attach to the loom legs (4). The purpose is to raise the loom approx 12” to make accessing treadles for tie-ups easier. When used with the loom lifting device, a user can install the legs by oneself.


Spring II Treadle Kit

Want to increase your pattern capabilities? Add 2 extra treadles!


Spring warpbeam handle/brake drum upgrade kit

Want to upgrade your Spring I loom handle and brake drum? We have a few in stock!

Louet has made a lovely new handle for the warp beam. What a wrist saver! This new handle is standard on the new Spring II but they have also made it available as an accessory for the original Spring. Winding on the warp has never been easier.

please note: This handle will not fit on the David loom.


Louet David III Assembly Video

The new David III has an assembly video on Louet World Wide’s YouTube channel, a step by step instructions on how to put your new loom together.

Check it out to see how easy putting this loom together is!


From our JST Knowledge Base files

Ask Jane

New to 8 shafts and not sure how to tie up the treadles?
I have some questions about the treadle tie-up process, and how the 10 treadles might come into play. I have only had 4 shaft looms, so using 8/10 treadles feels quite different to me. Once I pick my pattern, get the threading going and then the tie-up, it will probably be much clearer. If not, I’ll be sure to ask for guidance.

Just think of all those extra treadles as your reserve forces. When you make the move to more pattern shafts you will need those treadles because you will have so many more options for tying them up in different sequences. Typically every loom has 2 more treadles than they have pattern shafts. Most 4 shaft looms have 4 shafts/6 treadles, 8 shaft looms have 8 shafts/10 treadles, 12 shaft looms have 12 shafts/14treadles etc. Eventually, the more shafts you have will limit how many treadles you can fit under a loom and that is why dobby looms are in existence. And that is another world …… Which you don’t need to think about yet :^)

I guess my thinking will shift as I become familiar with 8 Shaft patterns. On my previous loom, I generally had a direct tie-up with 4 treadles and used the other 2 for plain weave/tabby,  but now I can’t assume the ‘additional’ 2 on the Louet are used for tabby…right??

Here is an example of how treadles work on 4.  A twill requires 4 treadles:

One treadle tied up to 1 and 2
One tied up to 2 and 3
One tied up to 3 and 4
One tied up to 1and 4

Plus 2 leftover treadles for tabby.
For an eight shaft twill there are many more options for tying up your twill and you will have threaded your warp on all shafts so here is just one option:

1234
2345
3456
4567
5678
1678
1278

Plus 2 leftover for tabby
I would recommend getting the book The Weaver’s Book of 8-Shaft Patterns by Carol Strickler. The world’s your oyster now.



Turned Twill Online Lesson

Are you a subscriber to School of Weaving and would like to weave Turned Twill on your 8 shaft loom but haven’t done the plunge yet? Check out Season 5 Episode 1 – Turned Twill! You’ll learn that Turned Twill is based on a 4 shaft weft and warp predominant tie-ups, that you can have 2 blocks on 8 shafts and the twill direction changes with blocks. You’ll also learn the importance of clean cut lines, how to change the tie-up to frame a block and to weave a quadrant in broken twill. Jane also shows us how to use a broken treadling that gives you False Damask. You can weave so many different colourways on one warp … you won’t believe it! Check out the episode right here 🙂

Just a heads up, our very next episode release for 2022 expands on our Turned Twill Episode where we will learn how to manipulate our tie-up box and consider it in quadrants. We’ll frame Lace with Twill, Plain Weave with Twill and play with graphic and colours. So much more coming up on February 24th!

Not a subscriber yet but want to check it out? We have a free 7-day trial! You can watch any episodes during your trial. Binge-watching time!

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February 1st, 2022 newsletter

JST’s Turned Twill Scarves

Turned Twill is one of my favourite weave structures and the cloth it creates can seem like magic. Turned Twill gives you blocks of colour that can dance across your cloth. So much fun can be had with this structure and we have three lovely kits available. Our kits will weave 2 scarves each, one for you and one to put away as a gift for a special person in your life!


Each kit comes with all the yarn you’ll need and includes the draft with instructions – you just add the fun!


School of Weaving Kits

Our shelves are now stocked with Season 6 kits for episodes 2, 3 and 4!
All kits include the PDF pattern with instructions to be used in conjunction with the School of Weaving episodes airing this year.

Episode 2

8 Shaft Twill & Tie-up Quadrants

For this episode, we continue on where we left off last season with Turned Twill. We will explore new ways to manipulate the tie-up box as we study our tie-ups in quadrants. We’ll frame Lace with Twill, Basket Weave & Plain Weave as we explore so many more graphic ideas & colour palettes. The kit includes all the yarn you’ll need to weave 12 towels.

Episode 3

Monk’s Belt

The first weave structure we explore in Units, Blocks & Profiles this season is Monk’s Belt which uses 2 opposite twill units. We’ll learn how to lengthen the pattern floats and how your warp’s EPI controls the number of times a unit can be repeated. We’ll explore division of space in the weft by playing with block combinations, weaving Monk’s Belt with and without tabby and exploring the addition of inlay in our cloth. We’ll be weaving 12 placemats. You will receive detailed instructions for the 8 placemats in the photo below, leaving you plenty of warp left to weave your own designs for 4 more 🙂

Episode 4

Overshot

There is so much to explore with Overshot that we’re giving this structure two episodes. In this first episode we learn how the structure is derived from the 4 basic twill units and we’ll see how twills influence Overshot shapes. We’ll learn to treadle Tromp as Writ, Rose Fashion and on opposites. We’ll use contemporary graphics to bring the old and new together while adding Plain Weave elements to our overall designs. The kit includes the instructions and treadling notes to weave 5 scarves. However, you may want to create your own designs after watching this episode – so many possibilities!

(All of our silks are hand dyed right here on Salt Spring Island)


Renewals

Are you subscribed to School of Weaving previously known as JST Online Guild?

In April 2021 the JST Online Guild moved to a brand new website and changed the name to School of Weaving. This means you now require two logins, one for janestaffordtextiles.com to purchase yarns and supplies and one for schoolofweaving.tv to watch all the videos.

If you are currently an active subscriber, you’ll receive an email from us on your renewal day to sign up for your next year’s subscription. Once expired, you will need to go through the 7-day free trial and enter your payment details as well as choose whether you want to pay yearly $99.99US or monthly $9.99US. Please make sure your subscription has expired before signing up again, otherwise, it will not accept your renewal. This 7-day Free Trial renewal process is the only time you will have to do this on the School of Weaving site.

If you still have questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us at info@schoolofweaving.tv or call us Monday to Friday 9 am to 4 pm PDT at 1-250-537-9468.


From the JST Knowledge Base files

Ask Jane

From my notes on your terrific twills videos, determining epi is clear, however, I am not sure about ppi. You say twill needs 45 degrees for drape, but how do I know when my ppi is balanced…. I always look for the “little square spaces” for plain weave, but does that apply to twill?

The easiest way to see if your twill is balanced is to take a square piece of paper and fold it into a triangle. You will then have a perfect 45-degree angle. I put that on the fabric and check my diagonal. If the angle is low you are beating too hard, if the angle is high you aren’t beating hard enough and if the angle is right on with the paper, you are beating just right. This reads like Goldilocks and the 3 bears. :^) Hope this helps.


You can watch Jane weave a balanced twill in Season 4 Episode 1
At the Loom, Introduction to Twill