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Hello again! Still working through the sampler slowly but gardening season is here 😉 I did the samplers backwards – twill/krokbragd first and since I’ll have extra warp I went back to watch the p.w. weft-faced and do that sampler. I was hoping the warp and weft Jane used would be the same (it is) but I also assumed I’d have to resley to a different sett since we’re now doing p.w. But I don’t? Both the twill sampler and the p.w. sampler are at 5epi.
Can you maybe explain why? Did I miss something in the video that explains it? I’m wondering if maybe p.w. covers the warp more easily simply because it’s only going over 1 warp thread, so I don’t need to resley to a wider sett. Is that it maybe? Thank you!
You are the best, Jane! And thank you for the compliment on my towels 🙂
I was so worried you would be angry at me or I’d misunderstood. I always had the impression that you were a counterbalance-lover! I started on a jack loom (with your tuition!) but have fallen in love with CB. I’ve also heard Tom Knisely say that counterbalance looms are limited and even the Leclerc website says that too, so you aren’t alone. If you are interested, there are horse tie-ups and comments in The Big Book of Weaving and also a good Glimakra pdf from their website. Apparently six shafts is more common in Sweden and once you get to 8 or 10 then drall pulleys or countermarche are now the go-to. This is also a great blog and this lady sent me an unpublished pdf on using 8-shaft pulleys that got me started. https://www.bergdalaspinnhus.com/artiklar/cb-looms2-e.html
I’m super excited to try the alternate turned twill tie-ups and I really wish I had tied onto that last warp now instead of pulling it out! I’m also going to do your weft-faced sampler once my yarn order arrives 🙂
Here’s a photo of my Woolhouse Jenny – I’m on the lookout for another because who ever heard of a folding portable 27″ counterbalance 8-shaft floor loom!
Jane, I’ve been singing your praises and advertising this season online. I’m so grateful you covered turned twill! This is my favourite towel weave and you’ve opened my eyes to different tie-ups and possibilities!
But… you disappointed me a bit today! Please do not join the growing list of experts telling new weavers that they can’t have more than four shafts on a counterbalance loom. At minute 9.28 in the very first video you say that we “can’t do this [turned twill] on a counterbalance loom anyway” 🙁 I’m not sure if that was just a mistake because later you keep referring to sinking shed looms.
I just took these towels off my new-to-me Woolhouse Jenny loom. She’s an 8-shaft counterbalance – sold that way from John at Woolhouse and he made them for over 10 years. This was my first tie-up and warp on her and it was easy-peasey with huge sheds, much larger than my Leclerc jack loom. She’s quickly becoming my favourite loom and has inspired me to add four more shafts to my Cherryville too. In fact, I’ve spoken to quite a few people now overseas who also have 8-shaft counterbalance looms and tell me they used to be very common in Europe, although many people are going to countermarche with more shafts instead. Someone on Facebook tried to tell me they were extremely rare in North America but maybe I just attract these things because I’ve already seen two for sale in my short 18 months weaving career LOL
I love your videos and tell people to join your guild all the time because I think it’s the best online learning out there! This is just a little reminder to watch what you say because newbies remember this stuff and I’d hate for another 8-shaft counterbalance loom owner to skip turned twill and miss out on all this joy because of an off-hand comment.
LOVE this video above everything else so far! I’m feeling like this is a sample I want to do. Thank you!
I went ahead with my intuition of 22epi for the 2/8 tencel and it was perfect! The drape is luscious! I doubled the width of the pattern and made it 73″ long including 5″ fringes. This is my second project off the loom! Thanks for your help!
Thank you for the quick reply! Yes, I couldn’t figure out how to delete it myself so thank you.
I have more questions now! Tencel seems so popular in online weaving forums, and Jane’s course is teaching weaving not just what Jane likes so I was a little surprised it isn’t on the sett chart. Given its popularity, is there a reason Jane doesn’t like it?
Yes, I’ve watched the video on sett and I’ve been using this technique for over a decade already with RH. Since a Master sett chart was possible for all the other fibres, I just assumed it was left off for some other reason and I could find some trusted guidance here. I had an experienced weaver elsewhere implying that if I used 22epi instead of 24, my wrap would practically fall apart! I don’t believe it of course but as a beginner with this fibre, I was hoping for a bit of confirmation that everything will be OK!
As for the unspinning, yes I hang my floating selvedges and I could stand there and watch them continue to slowly unspin! That’s when I believed the other advice, put some spin back and flipped them over the sides of the beam. The cotton on the right hasn’t broken yet and I’ve woven a good 10″ since I replaced the tencel so I’m hoping it’s alright. But the left f. s. of tencel hasn’t broken yet so I don’t know what’s happening.
Thanks for your time!
Hi! I joined the JST guild in early summer this year after realizing that I was getting a little bored with handspinning and I hate knitting. I got through the first two seasons before I started by first project. I’m rural and in a ‘fibre black hole’, so no one weaves or spins within at least an hour of me. Online was my only option but since I’ve been a spinner for over a decade, I knew that guild knowledge was far superior to YouTube videos and I was worried about this. A weaving friend overseas recommended your guild and I’ve forwarded that recommendation so many times since!
I warped my first project on a makeshift warping board and had some tension issues but it worked OK.
For my second project, I wanted to use the secondhand tension box and counter I found over summer but due to my budget, I wasn’t willing to pay for sectional pieces – so I made them! This royal blue warp using all 8-shafts on my used loom was done with the hope of getting 3 wraps in tencel. If I don’t feel like killing myself by the end of the third one, I may try to tie on with a different colour! I made a mistake recently and really liked the result so I think I’ll play with the pattern on the second/third wraps. I have a question about tencel too but I’ll post that separately.
None of this would have been possible without your online guild! Thank you and I’ll be continuing to subscribe 🙂
Thank you Ginette!
I think that’s the reassurance I wanted. I just wasn’t sure if they would struggle to lie flat and look weird in the weave or if they would act/look like a twisted larger thread.
Thank you for the link to the thicker thread. I try to buy more local when I can and I’ll be buying from a vendor at a fair next weekend. I’m sure I could wait and she would post me something thicker but I can’t afford postage costs right now when I’m just a beginner and trying to keep my ‘experiments’ low-cost 🙂
Cheers!!
Thank you for the reply!
No it didn’t answer my question – I’ve already doubled up when sleying the friendship towels so I understand that. But thank you anyway!
I’d asked the vendor for thicker linen and she didn’t have any. So this would be completely doubled in the heddles and reed to try to match a thread twice the thickness and I’m wondering if the effect will look the same as using thicker thread or if it will have issues because the two strands aren’t twisted together.
Sorry, I don’t think I explained well the first time ☺
Thank you for this jack loom video! As a newbie, it felt weird having a disagreement about how a jack loom warp should look with an elderly weaver online a few minutes ago. They were trying to help someone with jack loom problems and I knew from your video that the previous owner might have ‘fiddled’ with the heddles to try to make everything nice and even. Great for counterbalance but not for jack tension! I hope I was able to help out the new owner and she seemed to understand what I was saying even if the elderly person did not. Thank you and I’m hopeful that if I can explain it to someone else then I understand it myself! Cheers.
Thank you! Yes, it did help! And after watching Jane talk about bonding with your loom etc (later episode about loom types), I think I want to skip the Dorothy and get my Minerva upstairs. I just need to get rid of my couch first to make room!
Thanks for the reply.Hi! Total beginner here and no one to help within 150km! My question probably betrays that fact 🙂
So Jane, you talked about liking the open bottom shuttle because you can control the bobbin turn with your little finger. After you catch the shuttle, are you then using your little finger to ‘stay’ the bobbin while you beat? It looks like you might be doing this, so although I haven’t tried yet I thought I’d ask the question while it’s in my head.
Second question: I’ve been watching the videos and I’d like to get going a little bit. I’m learning on a little 15″ Dorothy for now with two looms waiting in the basement for when I wrap my head around all of this! Just wind a plain 2/8 cotton warp for now and tie it up 1,2,3,4 to start practicing as I’m still watching videos?
Thank you! I’ve been cursing living in ‘the sticks’ of Alberta in some kind of fibre black hole area but your videos are definitely helping get rid of the trepidation of starting!
