Weaving!

Today I went up to Greenwood to finish threading the heddles on the loom and sleying the reed in preparation for starting our hand towel project. Dini got me sorted out and calculated the pattern so we could cram 14 threads into 10 dents on the reed. (2-1-1-2-1-1-2-1-1-2)

After a couple of mistakes and correcting them, I finally got everything ready to start weaving. Ulla helped me weave in the first waste pieces that helped spread the ends (threads) out (A below). Then I plain wove about an inch (14 picks) of weft with really thin yarn (B below). That will be folded over later for the hem so we don't want it too thick.

Then I began twill weaving with the white, slubby cotton - which was also the white part of the warp. To weave this twill pattern set the shafts as follows: 1&2, 2&3, 3&4, 4&1.

After a few inches, it was time to come home so I brought the loom with me and wove a total of 17 inches.

Only 7 more to go before I'm done! Ulla showed me how to start an new weft thread and how to keep track of how much you've woven (as it all gets wrapped and hidden on the front beam). She likes the paper IKEA measuring tapes. I don't have one of those so I just inserted a piece of green yarn every 4 inches.

I think I'm hooked!

Just looking at the photos, I see a couple of mistakes but hey, I'm just learning, right?

Anyone want to get rid of a 24" rigid heddle loom and/or a 24" 4-harness loom?