For this project we’ll explore pick-up sticks and learn how to use warp and weft floats on their own and in combination. We’ll make five samples that would make lovely table squares. Then you can choose a structure you have woven and expand it into a table runner on a second wider warp.
A heddle rod is a wonderful tool when you have two pickup sticks that don’t slide past each other and you are making weft floats.
Learn how to use a heddle rod on your loom, as well as how to use a heddle rod and pick up sticks together.
When we put a wider warp on a rigid heddle loom in the direct warp fashion, sometimes we can end up with different lengths in
Learn how to tension your warp on the rigid heddle loom as you are winding it on. I used three quarters of an inch rods
I’ve found that yarns with a bit of give like wool, silk, and cotton to a degree are better at holding tension. Linen needs a
Leno uses a pickup stick to twist alternating warp ends around each other, creating a pattern that is held in place with a single weft pick. There are multiple ways to do this on a rigid heddle loom. I’ll show you how it’s done for the Leno napkins pattern designed by Christine Jablonski for Gist and then a few variations.
Learn about tensioning sticks and S-hooks used in weaving.
A gamp is a sampler, a weaver’s way of using a single warp to test out multiple ideas. It could be a colour gamp or a weave structure gamp or in this case a gamp that explores colour patterns. Colour and Weave is not a weave structure but rather a pattern, in the sense that it is simply plain weave with the addition of colour effects through alternating light and dark threads.
The first warp uses an easy all over houndstooth colour sequence leaving areas of solid yellow and white just like you would have in a fried egg and the second shows you how to use just a bit of striping to create a colour and weave highlight in the corner of your towels with a more muted scrambled egg palette where buttery and deep yellow combine. Mix and match and make them your own.
Clasped weft project. Inspired by the characteristic warm pinks of spring cherry blossoms, this long, drapey silk-merino scarf is perfect for shoulder seasons where you want to wrap a soft cloth many times to keep out the cold.
Clasped warp project. Inspired by the characteristic warm pinks of spring cherry blossoms, this silk-merino cowl is perfect for shoulder seasons. Combining warp interlocking and plain-weave it’s a great project to highlight the power of the rigid heddle loom. Sewing the ends together creates an easy to wear cowl.
