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April 25, 2023 newsletter

New Cone Holder


Have you ever wound a warp using an old shoe box with holes in its side and chopsticks or knitting needles supporting 1 or 2 cones of yarn as you wind your warp? If you have, then you will know that – when you least expect it – the chopstick has managed to move and slide out of one of its holes. Then – you spend your time getting everything back in order before you can carry on.

If this sounds like you … we have an answer! Check out the cone holder that we now carry waiting on our shelves to head to your home and make winding a warp a whole lot easier 😉 It’s designed to control your yarn – no matter what kind of cone you are using until your yarn is happily on your warping board or warping mill.


New Eco-Jeans Colour in Stock!

We’re happy to say that we have added this beautiful zinger to our Eco Jeans colour range. 

Very Light Yellow will add a little spark of brightness should you want to create your own design to weave into scarves or maybe a wrap for a baby. 

The Eco Jeans yarn is made from recycled jeans and used plastic bottles. Worn jeans, jackets and other articles of jeans fabric will get a new life. A gift you can create that is also kind to our planet – win-win!

Check out all our Eco Jeans colours right here!


Cramming and Denting Eco Jeans Scarves

While we’re on the subject of Eco Jeans yarn – this kit has become a hit with our JST worldwide family. This Eco Jeans yarn is lovely to work with when weaving Cramming and Denting. The yarn is well suited because it grabs onto itself and holds in place very well. You have enough yarn in the kit to weave 2 scarves that are light and airy, casual and warm. Also included are full instructions on how to weave Cramming and Denting along with the pattern for the scarves. The result …. a perfect addition to jeans and a T-shirt!

Project Specs
Level of Difficulty: Advanced Beginner
Weave structure: Plain Weave
Material: Venne Eco Jeans
Each kit makes: 2 Scarves

Loom requirements
Shafts: 4
Reed: 10 dent
Weaving width: 13″


School of Weaving’s Halvdrall Episode
airing May 4th!

Season 7, Episode 5 – Halvdräll will be live soon, and the kits for this exciting episode are now available so you can have your loom ready and waiting when it airs.

This episode introduces Halvdräll, which I tend to think of as Monk’s Belt on steroids. Colour and Weave works beautifully on this structure, as does texture, so we’ll start adding another layer. Simple unit designs or big block designs and again, it is hard to believe that all these looks come from the idea of a unit. Positive/Negative is a strong force in Monk’s Belt/Halvdräll and is also a strong Positive/Negative force in Colour and Weave. Have fun with Halvdräll…

Jane

Project Specs
Level of Difficulty: Intermediate
Weave structure: Halvdrall
Material: 8/2 cotton
Each kit makes: 8 Tea Towels

Loom requirements
Shafts: 4
Reed: 10 dent
Weaving width:22
Finished Dimensions: 27″ X 19″


The Cone Family!

We recently had the question – “how do I know how much yarn is left on my cone?” We were able to send the weaver to our Knowledge Base and specifically – The Cone Family. It’s one of the many topics and questions in the Knowledge Base that can help you to find the answers to your questions quite quickly.  The Knowledge Base has a lot of information that Jane has written over the years – questions about looms, tie-ups, and weaving with different yarns, as well as Louet loom-specific questions that she has answered.

Read more on The Cone Family

Knowledge Base

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 toward 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 at Ravelry.

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April 18, 2023 newsletter

New JST kit!

Alfresco Tea Towels

These towels are based on classic, old-world patterns with a contemporary twist. Incredibly versatile, they’ll be perfect with charcuterie and wine in a modern stainless steel kitchen, or a rustic picnic in the great outdoors.

Jane wove them in 8 Shaft Turned Twill where she overlaid Colour & Weave as a design element. Weave all 8 of Jane’s designs or pick your favourites and leave room on your warp to come up with your own creations 😉 

Project Specs
Level of Difficulty: Intermediate
Weave structure: 8 shaft Turned Twill
Material: 8/2 cotton
Each kit makes: 8 Towels

Loom requirements
Shafts: 8
Reed: 12 dent
Weaving width: 21″
Finished Dimensions: 26″ X 19″


Picnic Basket Tea Towel Kit

Our Picnic Basket Tea Towel kit is a fun project to weave. There are so many possibilities for exploration with this kit. These towels are a perfect step into the world of linen – with your warp made of 16/2 linen. You can weave them with 100% linen or use the Cottolin that comes with the kit, a fabulous yarn made from 70% cotton and 30% linen. You’ll have plenty of warp to weave them the way Jane has designed them. Or, weave your favourites from the draft and … if you have stash yarn just waiting to be used, these towels invite you to play with your stash colours in the warp. 

Project Specs
Level of Difficulty: Advanced Beginner
Weave structure: 2/2 Twill & Basket Weave
Material: 16/2 Venne Organic Linen & 16/2 Venne Organic Cottolin
Each kit makes: 8 Tea Towels

Loom requirements
Shafts: 4 shaft pattern, with rising shed tie-up
Reed: 12 dent
Weaving width: 21″


Rustic Elegance in Linen

We have a few Rustic Elegance Linen kits in stock. These towels are a study in ‘colour and weave’ techniques on Huck Weft Spots with a simple 2 stripe design using Venne’s GOTS certified linen. Woven on a 4 shaft loom with a 23″ weaving width, this pattern originally created years ago for a JST Deluxe Weavers Retreat will be the perfect addition to any kitchen!

Project Specs
Level of Difficulty: Advanced Beginner
Weave structure: Huck lace
Material: 16/2 organic linen
Each kit makes: 4 towels or 2 runners

Loom requirements
Shafts: 4
Width in reed: 22 ½”
Reed: 12 dent


Kiki’s Swedish Lace Tea Towels

These towels have become a favourite for anyone who sees them. A “blank” canvas that comes to life as you weave it with 8/2 cotton in Dark Grey, Periwinkle or Nile. Magic happens while you weave and the magic is in the threading 😉

Project Specs
Level of Difficulty: Advanced Beginner
Weave structure: Swedish Lace
Material: 8/2 cotton & 16/2 cotton
Each kit makes: 8 Tea Towels

Loom requirements
Shafts: 4
Reed: 10 dent
Weaving width: 24″


From Our Inbox

Lisa of Florida, USA has sent us a photo of the fun she has been having with denting and clasped weft.  We love to see how our School of Weaving members can make magic happen. Beautiful job, Lisa!
Love, love, love Jane Stafford School of weaving and if you ever reinstate in-person retreats/workshops, I would relish the chance to be there, all the way from Sarasota, Florida. This is my third sample scarf, using denting and clasped weft with your yarns. I love what happened! I started with just random threads and pulling them through haphazardly and then did some shapes, always with a 1/2 stripe separation. It’s one of my favorites!

Lisa Rubinstein


School of Weaving Denting Episode

If you want to learn more about the School of Weaving project that inspired Lisa’s project, check out the Denting episode and kit!

Things you will learn in this lesson:

  • To weave with finer threads.
  • Dented fabrics need to have a firm sett… they are not woven at an open sett. Our reed and our beat create the open space.
  • We open our minds to adapting our weaving technique, ie throwing two picks to create resistance, then tap, tap, tap.
  • We learn to control our beater.
  • How to really visualize negative space.
  • How to bring gradation work over from Colour and Design and overlay it onto a new idea.
  • That we can mix cotton and silk.

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 toward 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 at Ravelry.

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April 11, 2023 newsletter

New JST PDF Pattern!

Mavis’ Monk’s Belt & Basket Weave scarves

This wonderful scarf pattern came about when we were creating Season 7 Episode 3 of the School of Weaving, which was all about Monk’s Belt. While I was researching patterns that used a Monk’s Belt threading and treadling I came across this wonderful pattern in “The Virginia West Swatch Book” which was published in 1985. This book is a treasure…..it is one of those books from that era where handwoven samples are included. She called the pattern Basket Squares. Mavis MacMillan is a weaver on my Dream Team and she happened to be in the studio when I was poking through it…..I said “Hey Mavis, do you want to weave this?”……and the rest is history :)…..Thank you Virginia and thank you Mavis.

Jane


Yarn Sale Page

Interested in exploring different yarns that you haven’t had a chance to design and weave with? We have a variety of cone ends in our Cone Ends Sale  – all at tempting prices. It’s a perfect chance to learn about “new to you” yarns as you play with them at your loom 😉


From Our Inbox

We’ve had another email from PK in New Zealand. This time she shares what she created after doing the Colour & Weave gamp from Season 2.  She also shares photos of the gamp itself. She is really taking what she has learned with each lesson and expanding it to create her own unique cloth. Well done, PK!
Hi, me again!

After each lesson I use what I have learned so far to create something in merino (my go-to fibre).

This I call Chili con Verde, and it was inspired by looking down at my salsa plate!! I hand dyed all of the 4ply merino, using the avocado green as the zinger (in an asymmetric division of space in 5!).

I used the DLDDL sequence from my gamp in the entire weft and warped half in DLDDL, a quarter in DDLLL, with the rest in plain weave.


I have also enclosed pics of my tea towels made from the sampling. Also the gamp. I opened up the sett to 16ppi for a scarf. I can only wear it loosely tied at the neck as it really is too short (ran out of warp!).

Thanks for the fun! PK

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 toward 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 at Ravelry.

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April 4, 2023 newsletter

Happy Easter!

I know most of you don’t want to hear this but…spring is definitely in the air on our coast. Snow Drops, Crocuses, Daffodils and budding trees are finally here. Hopefully, with warmer days just around the corner for us all – signs of spring are arriving where you live. And…with Easter almost here – we can look forward to pouring through gardening catalogues and dreaming of what we’d like to grow on our balconies or in our yards!

We thought you might enjoy seeing a few of the kits we have available to help you dream of better weather to come.

To all of you who celebrate Easter – we hope yours is a happy one


Spring and Easter Stripes Tea Towels

Project Specs
Level of Difficulty: Beginner
Weave structure: Plain Weave
Material: 8/2 Organic Cotton
Each kit makes: 4 Towels

Loom requirements
Shafts: 4
Reed: 12 dent
Weaving width: 23″


Spring at the Cabin Tea Towels

Project Specs
Level of Difficulty: Advanced Beginner
Weave structure: Log Cabin
Material: 8/2 cotton
Each kit makes: 8 Tea towels

Loom requirements
Shafts: 4
Reed: 12 dent
Weaving width: 23⅓ “


Fulford Mist Linen & Silk Scarves

Project Specs
Level of Difficulty: Advanced Beginner
Weave structure: 2/2 Twill Weave
Material: 30/2 Bombyx Silk & 40/2 linen
Each kit makes: 2 Scarves

Loom requirements
Shafts: 4
Reed: 12 dent


Michelle’s Zephyr Scarves

Project Specs
Each kit makes two scarves.
Level of Difficulty: Intermediate
Weave structure: 2 Block Turned Twill
Material: Zephyr Wool/Silk Blend
Finished Dimensions: 8.5″ X 65″ plus fringe

Loom requirements
8 shaft
Reed used: 8 or 12 dent
Weaving width: 10″


From our Inbox

What a delight to receive Brenda’s photos and to learn that she had taken the inspiration for her scarves from a recent JST newsletter. Brenda is from Manitoba, Canada and she has added layers from what she has learned from Jane on the School of Weaving to create these stunning scarves. Well done, Brenda!
I took inspiration from the cramming and denting newsletter featuring ECO denim jeans yarn, and created my own pattern using the yarn. Below are pictures of the scarves I came up with using a combination of ECO jeans denim yarn and cotton (for the natural colour). I also incorporated a supplementary warp as well using the navy and black ECO yarn colours.


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 toward your balance, at your conven

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.