Remember that old saying “what goes around, comes around?” I’m feeling just a bit that way lately. After concentrating on the spinning and
knitting for the last nine or ten years, I find myself back in the arms of my
first love – weaving. All the way back,
actually, to my very first weaving tool, a rigid-heddle (RH) loom. And I’m falling in love with weaving all over
again…
Knitters have discovered that weaving is a fabulous stash-buster. That woven fabrics can be wonderfully
complemented by their knitting/crocheting skills. And that, while weaving may take a bit more
yarn than knitting (although that depends on the project), you can successfully
mix yarns, fibers and textures in woven cloth that you’d never try to combine
in a looped fabric. That weaving, especially
on a rigid-heddle loom, is faster than knitting. You can weave a 9- or 12-foot long Dr. Who
scarf in two or three evenings, use up all those ten to twenty-five yard bits
and pieces of yarn stuck in your storage, and know that it’s absolutely
original. Nobody has exactly the same
stash! It’s fairly portable if you
choose your loom carefully, and modern RH loom makers have discovered ways to
enhance that portability.
There is definitely a learning curve to weaving, and a
sometimes confusing vocabulary. But that’s
true of knitting and spinning as well.
If you become frustrated by that curve, think back to when you started
knitting or spinning – I bet you got pretty frustrated at times then, too. Weaving is a skill worth learning, and not
just as a way to use up all those odd bits of yarn. It’s a free-form, yet structured process that
exercises our creativity and stretches our brains in new directions. It lets us look at our beloved yarns in new
and exciting ways. And it’s quite a lot
of fun!
My first weaving was done on a rigid-heddle loom approximately
two and a half decades ago. I wove yards
and yards of plain-weave fabric on that 32-inch Beka, and learned so much about
setts, beats and how to make decent cloth from different fibers! Warp and weft-faced weaves, pick-up weaves,
working with two heddles…I spent hours and hours happily weaving. But after acquiring my first multi-harness
loom I left the Beka to gather dust, and eventually it found a new home. I
thought of it as a loom I’d outgrown, and although I regularly utilized inkle
and card looms, I seldom thought of a rigid-heddle again.
After going back to work outside the house full-time, after
the children left, after I’d spent 15 years or more exploring and then teaching
knitting and spinning…my LYS owner started asking questions about my "other" hobby. She’d taken a weaving class at a retail event
and gotten interested, and wanted to know if I would teach a basic weaving class. We kicked it around for a while, I did some
research, and I eventually realized that the reappearance of rigid-heddle looms
I’d largely ignored was a true weaving resurgence. So I bought a modern rigid-heddle loom and
started playing (a Kromski Harp in the 16-inch width). I didn’t expect to fall in love all over
again; after all, I still weave on my floor looms! But a RH loom is a wonderfully versatile tool
for serious weavers as well as for knitters in search of ways to use stash and
those wondering if weaving is something they’d like to do.
Warping was the first difference I noticed between then and
now. Direct warping may have been around
the first time I used a RH loom, but I never ran across the concept. This was pre-internet, remember. Warping meant a warping board, and my first
one was home-made and 45-inches square.
Definite overkill for the purpose, but I used that board for years and
years until I bought a warping mill.
Direct warping a RH loom is so easy!
And fast! Who knew you could warp
an entire loom with a single clamped peg!
The second thing I re-learned is that RH weaving doesn’t
have very many ends. My weaving life for
many years has consisted of setts of 36 or more ends per inch (epi). 10 or 12 epi feels vaguely like cheating. But those are the setts necessary for utilizing
knitting yarns of approximately 1800-2400 yards per pound. That range includes sport, fingering, sock
and lace yarns and is perfect for making a wonderfully wearable cloth with
lovely drape or a sturdy warp-or weft-faced fabric. Perfect for scarves, household linens like
placemats and table runners, or fabric well-suited (pun not intended) for vests,
tops and skirts.
The last thing I recalled was the pure fun of making simple plain-weave
fabrics. I’m loving sock yarn for RH
weaving. The fabric, sett at 10 or 12
epi and with carefully-placed weft threads to make a balanced fabric, is lightweight,
easy to weave and wear, and I’m becoming excited about combining it with
knitting to make garments. It also has
fantastic color-and-weave properties.
Space-dyed sock yarns combine on a loom to make subtle (or bold) plaids;
the same yarns used as either warp or weft with complementary colors can give
lively, playful fabrics.
I’ve seen some beautiful worsted-weight woven fabric,
too. While my own taste and climate runs
toward lighter fabrics, there is absolutely a climate and place for
worsted-weight wools. And I will use
worsted-weight yarns as an accent in woven yardage; some of them add just the
right zing.
All of this is a precursor to the main thrust of this entry –
I taught my first weaving class in more than a decade on Saturday afternoon: Beginning Rigid Heddle Weaving. I think, from the assessments submitted to
the LYS owner, that the class members had almost as much fun as I did. I loved doing this class and being able to
share my first fiber love with other fiber people. I look forward to teaching more weaving
classes. I hadn’t realized how much I
missed sharing weaving with other people, and I’m grateful to my LYS for
jump-starting me again!
So if you’re a spinner or a long-time knitter with a bump of
curiosity about weaving, go for it! You’ve
got nothing to lose but some stash!
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