Posted on Leave a comment

September 27, 2022 newsletter

Mohair Blankies!

I have woven more mohair blankets in my life than any other item, over 1000 by the time I moved on 🤣. They were the foundation of my livelihood. I mastered them technically by developing my ability to get a warp on with ease, wind a bobbin with ease and throw a sticky, fuzzing bobbin with ease. It flew inside the shed and out the other side without any snagging. I share everything I know about weaving with mohair in the School of Weaving but in this newsletter I will share all the written documentation about it. 

I wove them all on a 45″ 4 shaft Fanny counter-balance loom. There were 270 warp threads in each blanket at 6 EPI and 7 PPI and I tied on to a dummy warp so I wouldn’t lose any of that expensive yarn as loom loss. I allowed 2.5 yards of warp per blanket because there really was no loom loss and I never made a warp longer than 7.5 yards because then my system started to lose ground as stickiness was building up. Five yards is perfect for two blankets. I played with colour till the cows came home and never ever got tired of putting new colours together. You need 800 grams of our brushed mohair to weave one blanket.

I hope you enjoy this documentation and if you want to see me warp a mohair loom, weave a mohair blanket and full one in a top loader you can watch it all in Season 1: Episode 9 & Episode 10 of the School of Weaving. Download your copy of the Mohair Blankie!

Jane

Level of Difficulty: Advanced Beginner
Weave structure: Plain Weave
Material: Brushed Mohair
Each pattern makes: 1 Blanket 41″ X 74″ plus fringes

Shafts: 4
Reed: 6 dent (do not use a 12 dent reed as 0,1 will strip the mohair)
Weaving width: 45″

Brushed Mohair

Choose your own colours!
You’ll need 800 grams of brushed mohair.

Our line of brushed mohair comes in such a range of colours that’s it’s hard not to choose some of each 😉  Instead, play with a stripe design, drop different colours into your sketch and imagine the amazing blankies you could create – and go for it!


Mohair Blankie Kit

You can purchase a Mohair Blankie Kit in a variety of colourways – all you have to do is decide which one is calling to you!

Each kit makes: 1 Blanket 41″ X 74″ plus fringes. Kit comes with the all the yarn needed and the printed pattern.

Royal, Turquoise

Learn to weave our own Mohair Blankie!

The best way to learn how to weave your very own Mohair Blankie is to watch the expert at work! In Season 1: Episode 9 – Making a Mohair Blankie – Jane leads us step by step through the whole process. You’ll learn how to create a Pseudo Warp (Dummy Warp) which will protect the wonderful Mohair warp that you are putting on your loom. Jane explains that she uses a Skeletal tie-up for her Mohair blankets – tieing on 1 treadle to 1 harness. She shares her experience with mohair with her weaving techniques. Finally in Season 1: Episode 10 shows us how to finish our fabulous new blankies – from fulling them in our top loading washing machines to brushing them when they are still damp. Just think of the magic you could create by designing your own blanket.

Not Subscribed Yet?

School of Weaving

Watch anywhere, anytime!

iPhone   Apple TV   Android   Android TV  Fire TV  Roku ® Website


From Our Inbox


WOW – the future of weaving is looking great….. The following email popped into our Inbox from Susan Wright in Gig Harbor, WA. I loved the story – being a new grandmother myself – and know that all the Mom’s and Grandmom’s out there will be impressed by Mara’s desire to learn to weave that matches her Grandmother’s! Thank you for sharing your inspiring story, Susan!
  I bought my first floor loom, a Schacht 8 shaft, taking delivery of it in late January 2020 – just in time for COVID. Prior to this I had not tried, nor even seen, a multi-shaft loom (but did a lot of research first). Thanks to the recommendation of my friend, Joan, I joined the School of Weaving and the JST Study Group, part of the Olympia, WA Weavers Guild. I am now in Year 5 (Laces) and enjoying it tremendously.

Meanwhile, my granddaughter Mara wanted to learn to weave. Since she was 5 when I got my loom, her feet couldn’t reach the treadles, but of course she grew. I took delivery of a used Schacht Baby Wolf which now fits her perfectly. At age 7 she is still a little young to handle the ins and outs of dressing the loom, so I warped up a simple scarf for her. Other than putting the header on and showing her how to weave on the first inch, she wove the rest herself. When she made mistakes, she told me, “I can fix them myself!” She also became quite competent in advancing her warp, then adjusting it to the correct tension. At the end, she attempted to learn hemstitching although got a little frustrated. She also learned to twist a fringe and use a steam iron (“the steam is scary!”). I wish someone had introduced me to weaving at that age! The pictures show Mara proudly holding her finished scarf, as well as a closeup of her work. Her selvedges are amazing, in my opinion, for a first-ever project. The skills I have learned over the past couple of years taught by Jane in a relaxed, approachable manner carried over in introducing Mara to weaving. Of course, I will be introducing her to the School of Weaving as soon as her interest progresses! –Susan Wright

We offer FREE shipping on all Louet looms within Continental North America. We also offer the option to pay a $1000.00 CAD deposit on your loom with the balance due when the loom ships out to you. This gives you the flexibility to make smaller payments towards your balance, at your convenience.

Here to help

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

Posted on Leave a comment

September 20, 2022 newsletter

Linen Lace Scarf in English Rose

Our Linen Lace Scarf is one of my favourites – I know…how can I choose just one 😉 We thought it would look fabulous in our 40/2 English Rose Linen yarn and it does! One of my favourite Lace structures is Canvas Weave and our English Rose Linen makes it shine. The beauty of this linen is that the more you wear it and love it – the softer it gets – linen is happiest being out and about. Have fun weaving one for your wardrobe and another for someone special in your life!

Jane

All the yarn you need
Level of Difficulty: Advanced Beginner
Weave structure: Canvas Weave
Material: 40/2 linen

Shafts: 4
Reed: 10 dent
Weaving width: 16.5″

Each kit makes: 2 scarves

We can make this kit for you in any colour you’d like! Simply, put the Lavender Lace kit into your cart and, from the checkout screen in the “notes” section, let us know what colour you would like us to make your kit in.

Huck Lace Falling Leaves Tea Towel Kit


Are you ready for Fall? You can sit at your loom and imagine of the piles of leaves under magnificent trees as you see the Fall colours laid out in front of you as you weave! These lovely towels feature Huck Lace which gives you a chance to “play” with Huck and create the designs provided in the pattern OR create your own designs. You will have 8 tea towels when your warp is done that can be used as gifts or kept for your kitchen, brightening it up with the colours of Fall!


From Our Inbox

The day that France Therrien’s email popped into our Inbox was a happy day! We love seeing how new weavers, and more experienced ones, take what they’ve learned from the School of Weaving and are inspired to create new designs with their expanded knowledge. We thought you would enjoy seeing how France has explored Turned Twill after falling in love with that structure.

I have been weaving since 2010 and I am passionate about the classes Jane Stafford offers to learn even more about weaving my own projects. I fell in love with the turn twill. This is my first creation with Fiberworks. This technique brings me a lot of satisfaction because it is infinite. Each piece is unique. Color, texture, shape etc. I continue to learn the other techniques but I often come back to the turn twill, like a relaxation.

For the moment, I have a full-time job in accounting, and I learn in the morning with lunch or in the evening, but I hope one day to work less and have more fun while weaving. 

Thank you Jane and all your team for giving us this unique experience.


We offer FREE shipping on all Louet looms within Continental North America. We also offer the option to pay a $1000.00 CAD deposit on your loom with the balance due when the loom ships out to you. This gives you the flexibility to make smaller payments towards your balance, at your convenience.


School of Weaving

Watch anywhere, anytime! iPhone   Apple TV   Android   Android TV  Fire TV  Roku ® Website

Here to help

Have a question? Find us on the Jane Stafford School of Weaving Forum and on Weave with Jane Stafford on Ravelry.

Posted on Leave a comment

September 6, 2022 newsletter

It’s September! The weather is starting to cool and our looms are calling to us as Fall approaches. We thought that we would feature some tools of our “trade” that make life easier when you are at your loom. Check out our Weaving Accessories section of the shop to see the range of tools we carry. For instance – the Thread Count Magnifier is a tool that is handy and fun to have around when you are looking at cloth and wondering how it was woven. One of my favourite tools is the Harrisville Brass Heddle/Reed Hook – which is now also used as a pointer while I explain the School of Weaving samples 😉 As weavers, we also need to have handy an extra supply of the tools of our trade ready and waiting. Here are some items that are good to have extras of, waiting to be needed – Bobbins and Spools and Heddles – the kind that your loom needs – so you are prepared to weave different structures and widths of projects whenever you are ready to try something new. If you don’t have an electric bobbin winder – Leclerc’s Double Ended Electric Bobbin Winder is a very handy tool to have near your loom. We also carry Brass Scissors which are great for cutting finished fabrics and are the scissors used in the Maiwa studio in India.

Thread Count Magnifier

C$22.00


Bobbins and Spools


Maiwa Scissors

C$52.00


Harrisville Brass Heddle/Reed Hook

C$19.95

Harrisville Brass Heddle/Reed Hook

Leclerc Double-Ended Electric Bobbin Winder

C$320.00


Heddles!

Texsolv

Inserted Eye

Wire Heddles

9 1/2″ Leclerc Table Looms
10 5/8″ Fanny, Mia, Artisat
12 5/8″ Nilus, Colonial, Weaverbird, Kebec

Package of 100
Package of 500


Throwback!

We thought you would all enjoy this Louet video – filmed a few 😉 years ago, of Jane demonstrating the easiest and most efficient way to remove or add Texsolv heddles to your shafts. A blast from the past, but also useful information if you are weaving on a Louet loom.


We offer FREE shipping on all Louet looms within Continental North America. We also offer the option to pay a $1000.00 CAD deposit on your loom with the balance due when the loom ships out to you. This gives you the flexibility to make smaller payments towards your balance, at your convenience.

School of Weaving

Watch anywhere, anytime!

iPhone   Apple TV   Android   Android TV  Fire TV  Roku ® Website


Here to Help

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