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July 25, 2023 newsletter

Thick & Thin

Have you ever wondered how to weave with both thick and thin in your weft? The following is Jane’s answer to this question from our Knowledge Base.

How do I make different weft thicknesses all come out the same width on the final product if the warp is all the same thickness? Fulling helps it but it still looks odd.

This is always a tricky situation. Thick wefts will always push your warp out and thin wefts will always pull your warp in. So you can do 2 things. One… you can build a pattern into the design where you use those tendencies as a design element when creating your fabric.

The second thing you could do is to purposefully draw in more when you are using your thick yarn. Draw it into the width of your fine weft area. Or when you throw a pick of your fine weft you need to leave that yarn at a higher angle so that more weft can get into the shed, this will control the draw-in on the fine weft. It all comes down to selvedge control, but knowing that thick wefts and thin wefts will draw in differently, you can use it as a design feature.

One more thing………if you want, you could wind several ends of the fine to make a thicker weft – that would reduce the problem, but if you are after the thick/thin effect, that won’t work.

For more information and a video – head to School of Weaving Season 2 Episode 8 – Playing at the Loom and watch as Jane plays with thick and thin yarn and Bouclé! Endless possibilities …….

New Eco Jeans Colours!

Our shelves now have more colour options for you to design your cloth in our new range of Eco Jeans colours. Initially, we started with just the colours that were originally produced in this fabulous yarn which is created out of old jeans and pop bottles. We now have a total of 12 colours just waiting for you to play with! Check out our new colours Steam, Pelican Pink and Primavera available in 100g cones. Venne is in the process of discontinuing 50g cones and switching to 100g cones for their Eco Jeans yarn and these new colours are the first on our shelves!


Cramming & Denting Eco Jeans Scarf Kit

This Eco Jeans kit has proven to be a favourite amongst our JST shoppers. It’s a fun project to weave and would be a perfect accessory for all the students in your life heading off to university or school in the Fall.

This Eco Jeans kit has proven to be a favourite amongst our JST shoppers. It’s a fun project to weave and would be a perfect accessory for all the students in your life heading off to university or school in the Fall.

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″


Cone Ends Sale Restocked!

Have you been wanting to play with different yarns to see if you like weaving with them? Have you wondered what yarns you aren’t familiar with would be like after you have finished it? Our cone ends packages give you a surprise choice of part cones in a variety of colours, Try one in the fibre of your choice so you can test out new-to-you yarns! The colours shown below and on the website may not be the same colours in your surprise order 🙂

Each bag weighs 200g of surprise colours!


Keeping you informed

As you may have heard on the news there is a pending UPS strike that may happen on August 1, 2023. We have lots of yarn in stock so this should not affect our inbound orders from suppliers but will affect our customers in the USA. We have made arrangements to ship with USPS should the strike happen but they will also be very busy with other companies shipping with them during this time. If you are needing yarn for your next project, it might be a good idea to order this week to ensure you get your parcel in a timely manner. We will do everything we can to minimize the interruption to our customers.


From Our Inbox

This letter from Leslie Strong, from Calgary, AB arrived in our InBox last November. We were waiting for just the right newsletter to share her ideas with you. 
Jane provided such a wonderful opportunity to take away from all the episodes on Twill and venture into making scarves for Christmas presents. I made a total of 6 Scarves, 3 in Merino/Tencel and 3 in just Tencel.

First Three: – A twill, ” Wall of Troy” design using Merino/Tencel 2/10. Pattern from Handwoven Loom Theory. The photo reflects Scarf 1 in Kaki Pale for the Weft and Natural for the Warp. I truly love this scarf. It has a 3″ twisted fringe, 67 1/2″ long, 8 3/4″ wide. Scarf 2 Warp: Natural and Weft Silver. This scarf did not show the design as much and the silver was a bit bluish instead of silver but still goes very nicely with a black outfit. Scarf 3: Warp: Acier(Grey) and Weft: Black – which is my favourite. All these scarves are so soft with wonderful drape.

The last Three: – A plaited twill in Tencel. Tencel is pretty tricky to work with but I love the drape and feel of these scarves. I live in Calgary right now and have found out to work with Tencel in a dry climate requires some preparations such as a humidifier in the room, a water spritzer bottle, silver thread copolymer fishing line, and patience. Sounds intimidating but rewarding. An important thing to remember, is if you make a longer warp, and you walk away from your project for any length of time, ensure you release the tension until you return. Tencel has a tendency to break. I had a much straighter selvedge with the silver thread as a separate selvedge along with the required selvedge. I put both in different reed slots, separated with light weights attached to each. It worked perfectly. I pulled the silver threading out before washing, it easily pulls out and leaves a beautiful straight edge. I used a pattern from Handwoven Magazine which followed one of Carol Stickler’s 8 shaft patterns, page 103.

Scarf 1: A variegated tencel in the Warp and a Wine Colour tencel in the Weft. The Variegated warp hid the design a little but still turned out so nice.

Scarf 2: I used solid colours for the warp and weft in these two scarves. Weft in Brown and Warp in Havana. I love the shine and the drape.

Thanks to Jane, I just love weaving so much! Can’t wait for next year. I have made numerous towels, scarves, and placemats through her teachings. I only became a weaver through Jane’s On-Line learning. Never woven before.

I love quotes which could relate to weaving: “Life experiences are all woven together” and the other: “Don’t allow fear to limit you”. I follow both of these.

Leslie Strong

All David and Spring looms are in stock and ready to ship. Once ordered the loom generally takes 5 days to reach our customers!



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 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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January 17, 2023 newsletter

Have you tried
Venne Eco Jeans yet?

If one of your resolutions this year was to try weaving with something you have never woven before, take a look at the fabulous Eco Jeans yarn we are featuring in this newsletter. This fantastic yarn is good for our planet because it’s made of 100% recycled jeans and used plastic bottles. Worn jeans, jackets and other articles of jeans fabric will get a new life. Not only is it wonderful for scarves but we’ve seen some beautiful examples of towels and shawls woven with it. And to give you more choice in colour we’ve added Sandalwood, Steel Blue and Deep Red to the Venne Eco Jeans yarn we carry. Weave something unique with it and share it with us for From Our Inbox as Sharon Hatelt has – see below. Sharon used Eco Jeans to weave hand towels and she loves them.


Cramming & Denting Eco Jeans Scarf Kit

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″


Now available in 1 kg cones!

You asked us if we could bring in 1 kg cones and we did!

The Venne Eco Jeans recycled Nm 12/2 now in 1KG cones at JST!
We have a few of the following 1KG cones in stock for C$103.50 each:


Cramming & Denting Episode

Want to try weaving with a linen warp using Cramming & Denting method?


This School of Weaving sample is all about using multiple setts in one piece of cloth. We learn how to adapt our sleying and beating to create beautiful fabrics and we do it all in Linen 🙂 Things you will learn when watching the episode:

  • Linen is awesome!
  • Using multiple setts in one piece of cloth
  • We use our reed to create all the patterning in the cloth but have different sleyings
  • We learn to identify negative space
  • We are in charge of our beater and we have to beat each section appropriately based on what we want
  • We can mix silk and linen

You can purchase the Cramming & Denting Sample Kit right here and follow along with the videos!


From Our Inbox

We are featuring Venne’s Eco Jeans in this newsletter and some of the sparks that had us heading in that direction were from this email that turned up in our Inbox from Sharon Hatelt from beautiful Quadra Island. Anyone can weave these towels but take note – all of you table loom owners – these towels fit perfectly on most of your looms with the width in reed being 14″.

Hi Jane and crew:

I thought you would like to see my latest weaving: hand towels made from Venne’s Eco Jeans fibre. I sett it at 18 epi in Twill, machine washed and dried, and they finished at 13.5″ x 24″. They have a lovely hand, and being cotton/poly, I think will wear very well. The pattern is the Heriot Bay Local Tartan, modifying the original colour scheme to use the five Eco Jeans colours and then reversing them for the second warp. Interesting how just changing the colours changes the whole look. The towels have a lovely drape and hand.

Cheers,
Sharon Hatelt, Quadra Island


Sharon’s project specs: for 3 towels
finished dimensions: 13.5″ x 24″
weave structure: Twill
sett: 18 epi/ppi
252 ends with floating selvedges
warp length: 96″
width in reed: 14″

JST 2023 Calendar!


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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October 11, 2022 newsletter

New Colours in Eco Jeans Yarn

We’re excited to let you know that our Eco Jeans line has expanded with two wonderful new colours that can’t wait to play with the fabulous colours that we already have in stock. These yarns are kind to the environment – having been made out of recycled jeans – and are also cozy to have next to your skin as the weather changes. The added bonus is that they are affordable! Just think of the scarves you could create using one (or both) of these new colours that you could include in a design of your own. Then, if you could part with a scarf, it could become a gift for someone special, later this year 😉 Just imagine the hand this yarn will give you – it’s super soft, slightly thicker than 8/2 cotton and has a bit of texture.

Jane

Check out our full collection!

This fabulous yarn is made out of recycled jeans, jeans clothing and uses PET plastic bottles. Old clothes are given a second chance thanks to this unique production process. Denim fabric is made very small, but no thread can be spun from this loose fibre. A thread can be spun by adding used, finely chopped PET bottles to the loose jeans fibre. This results in a sturdy linen-like thread with a soft structure. So much fun to work with, along with the added bonus of being kind to the planet while you are weaving! Originally available in “real” jeans colours, but is now available in 7 colours – Deep Red, Deep Navy, Slate Blue, Cloud, Sandalwood, Anthracite and Platinum.


Eco Jeans Scarf Kit Back In Stock!

Our original Eco Jeans Scarf Kit is back in stock! This fabulous scarf kit flew off the shelves when we first had it in our newsletter. Now is the time to order one so you have it handy when you get a chance to weave this beauty.


From Our Inbox

We’ve received an inspiring email from Kim Daniel of Kirkland, WA. Never let it be said that you can’t accomplish a lot on a table loom – we were blown away by what Kim has been busy creating on her loom, in just a little over 2 years! Scroll down to see what Kim has been making as bridal shower gifts – such a great idea as well as being the colour inspiration for the napkins.

I started weaving in Feb 2020 after being inspired by a day spent with a weaving community in Peru a few years ago. When my class got canceled partway through, I looked online for resources and found JST. Wow, did I ever learn a lot! Thank you Covid!

My favorite combination is an 8/2 warp with a boucle weft. I think it makes lovely soft tea towels. I’ve recently been making napkin sets – pair them up with a set of melamine dishes or a platter and they make wonderful bridal shower gifts!

I work on a 4-shaft table loom on a stand. I’ve added treadles so I can use my feet instead of the levers. It goes much faster and it feels like a ‘big person’ floor loom, lol.

Friends and family are thrilled with my new passion and I appreciate having so many people to ‘gift’ my creations to.

Kim


School of Weaving

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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.

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June 7, 2022 newsletter

New yarn on our shelves!

Venne Eco Jeans banner

We’re excited to share the news that we are now carrying Venne’s Eco Jeans recycled yarn! It’s a beautiful yarn that is amazingly spun from items that would have been headed for a landfill somewhere in the world. Given a new life on your loom – this yarn would create a wonderfully soft wrap or scarf for anyone in your life – including you 😉

Venne Eco Jeans Recycled Yarn Nm 12/2
50g cones – 328 yards per cone (2971 yards/ lb)

100% recycled. 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. Made of 48% cotton and 47% polyester and 5% other material. This super soft yarn is slightly thicker than 8/2 cotton and is a bit textured.

Sett

  • plain weave 14 epi
  • twill 16 epi

From Our Staff!

Elizabeth has woven Twill & Grace Placemats in Dusty Blue and Pale Limette on an Ivory warp. Just think of the different colours you could use to weave these placemats. Choose colours from your kitchen/dining room or your china to weave with and make this kit your own. They would make a wonderful, useful gift for someone in your life who is setting up a new home – or would appreciate a new spark of colour to a well-used one.

We can create your kit in any colour you’d like!

Simply, put the Twill & Grace kit into your cart, on the checkout screen and in the “notes” section let us know what colours you would like your kit in. Take a peek at our 8/4 cotton page to see the colour range and availability. Be sure to let us know what colour you want for the 8/2 cotton hem (it should match the main warp colour).


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 at Ravelry.