A couple of weaving projects have been on my mind the last couple of weeks. I set my project plans on hold though, when I realized I had only unthreaded my mistake-ridden warp was still on the loom. I think there are about 10 yards left on it, so I decided that it would make the perfect project to try to answer a friend's question of how long it would take to make a dishcloth.
I really couldn't answer her question because weaving one would not be cost effective to me and mainly because I drag my set up time out. In my experience, weaving is pretty much the opposite of knitting:
Knitting = small set up, lots of actual knitting.
Weaving = lots of set up, less time actually weaving.
So I thought I would try to break it down. Since I'm using a project already on the back beam of the loom, I have no pictures for this post, but will add them as I can.
OK, my post reads a little strange, so I'm editing to try to clarify. Hopefully I don't make it worse!!! First the technique, then the process!Weaving is defined by wikipedia as a textile art in which two distinct sets of threads (called the warp and weft) are interlaced with each other to form a fabric or cloth. The warp threads run lengthways of the piece of cloth, and the weft runs across from side to side. A loom can be used to control the warp threads, by keeping them parallel and in order, the warp is stored on the loom on the warp beam. To keep the warp threads in order and parallel, they are threaded through things called heddles. These heddles are contained in harnesses or shafts.To make cloth, a harness (or harnesses) are lifted as the weft is placed (usually with a shuttle of some kind) between the lifted threads and the nonlifted threads. The lifting of harnesses can be controlled by foot treadles (on a floor loom) or by levers at the top or side of the loom(for a table loom). Looms can have two or more harnesses (that's another discussion!). Spacing of the weft threads is determined by "beating" the weft threads to other weft threads, making cloth. In a loom, the beater is comprised of a reed and a mechanism to hold the reed. The reed has slots to space the warp threads. As cloth is created, the warp is advanced, so that the cloth rolls onto the cloth beam.So, to sum up, the warp runs from the warp beam, through heddles in harnesses, through the reed, to be stored as cloth on the cloth beam.Planning the warp is the first task - what you want to make, what size you need it to be, and what yarns you want to use. The size of the warp is based on all of those factors. To some degree, you can change what you are going to do after you set up, but not by much.
So let's make a table runner, say 9 inches wide by 6 feet long. The warp itself is not fully usable, as there is a certain amount of warp at the beginning and end that you can't weave on. So I would add on another yard to account for that waste, to require a total of 3 yards for the length. Now it's time to calculate the number of warp threads.
The type of yarn that I am using is 10/2 cotton, which has to be sett at about 24-28 ends per inch. I am going to go with 24 to give it more drape. Adding another inch to the width to assume some kind of shrinkage gives me 10 inches in width. 10 inches x 24 ends per inch = 240 ends, which means I need to wind a warp of 240 ends that is 3 yards long.
Once that is wound, the warp is looped around an apron rod, which is attached to the back beam. The warp has to be spread out before being loaded onto the loom, so I use a thing called a raddle. Once the threads are spread across the raddle, the warp is wound onto the back beam under tension.
Labels: weaving
