Fiddly Weaving

I’m not a fan of fiddly weaving. I don’t really like to weave with needles or have a loom slipping and sliding all over the place. But once in a while, I start a project that takes hold of me and I’m willing to put up with a little of life’s inconveniences.

This is about one of those projects.

I bought this yarn two years ago at Yarn Barn (my LYS). It just called out to me, although I had no idea what to do with it. About a year later, I saw it being used in a tapestry and was inspired to add it into a little sample piece I had on the loom at the time.

Then last month I had the perfect opportunity to try it out.

Molly Elkind was teaching a workshop the day before my class on Soumak at the KAWS (Kansas Alliance of Weavers and Spinners) conference, so- of course, I signed up for it. I packed my Saffron loom and a big bag of yarn I don’t normally weave with; this coveted speckled linen yarn at the top of the heap.

I had no idea at the time how I would use it and certainly had not considered using it for warp. But after watching Molly’s first presentation I decided to warp the loom with it. This workshop was on Improv Weaving - and that’s exactly what I was doing.

I guess I just loved this yarn so much that I couldn’t bear to add another one in, so began to weave it as weft, too.

Molly showed various examples of techniques to use and I wrote down a few I thought I’d like to try. I love it when a weaving takes over and the flow sets in. That’s exactly what was happening that afternoon. Exposed warps were the last thing on my list I wanted to do, but this yarn and those speckles just called out for it.

Everything was looking great; I was really diggin’ it.

To create the open areas, I secured them with double half-hitches. The knots had to be strong, so I needed to pull them tightly or they would still slip around.

Metal teeth + fine linen warp + pulling tightly = perfect storm.

I can’t really say I was surprised. The thought had crossed my mind after I’d started that the combination of the fine warp along with those metal teeth on the Saffron might not be a good mix. But I was so in love with it, I just kept going, fixing each warp as it snapped.

And I’m still loving it.

When I realized the tug on the warp was a big part of the problem, I started weaving the knots differently- using a curved needle and holding the knot firmly as I pulled.

I edited out a lot of needle dropping and pulling threads out of the way! Hopefully it doesn’t make you dizzy to watch.

So far, so good.

If you want to watch the progress on this piece, follow me on instagram.

I’ll be posting more photos there.

Kennita TullyDecember 12, 20216 Comments