How to avoid color disasters
If you’re like me, you’ve probably had at least one project disaster where you sat down at the loom and got a crushing disappointment – totally different from what you expected. This blog post will explain how to anticipate and avoid those unexpected color disasters. First, if you’ve had color disasters, you aren’t alone. Virtually […]
Choosing colors to get many projects from one warp
If you don’t love warping but you don’t want to weave the same thing over and over, one way to solve the problem is to weave many different projects on the same warp. You can weave nearly limitless possibilities from a single warp! One way to change things up without changing the tie up, treadling, […]
How to use clashing colors in your handwoven cloth
Using yarns whose colors clash can be a challenge when designing your own handwoven cloth. It’s easy for them to weave into fabric you dislike. But it’s not that hard to harmonize colors that don’t “go together”. This blog post will show you how to use clashing color combinations to make beautiful handwoven cloth. Why […]
How I tie on a warp: Kathy’s version
There are several different ways to secure a warp on the loom in a way that will allow you to tension the warp and weave easily. New weavers are often taught to tie the warp directly to the front apron rod, which is known as “tying on.” Many weavers continue to use the method that […]
Make your weaving glow!
Did you know that you can make your weaving glow? By using color patterns that are light in the center, but taper off into darkness at the sides, you can give the impression of a glowing object. In this draft, the center of the stripe looks like a glowing tube radiating light into a dark […]
1 + 1 = 1? How weaving defies mathematics
Here is a little bit of weaving trivia for you; when does one plus one equal one? This seems impossible, based on what we’re taught in grade school. However, one plus one DOES equal one when you are talking about warps and tying a new warp onto an old one. There are many reasons to […]
Product Review: Palette Scout by Zollie
Zollie, a sister company to GIST Yarn, has come out with a new color product, Palette Scout. They were kind enough to send me a review copy, so I played around with it earlier this week. I love it! I think it’s very well thought-out and will be useful to anyone who wants to explore […]
How to walk your treadles, and why you might want to
Have you ever heard someone say “I walked the treadles”, or “I use a walking treadle order”? This may sound strange or confusing, but it’s actually a very practical method for making treadling easier. A “walking treadle order” is a treadling pattern where the weaver uses their feet in an alternating fashion, as if they […]
Proportion: How to Tame Troublesome Hues
Have you ever struggled with a color so bright, it took over your entire piece? Some colors are hard to use in handwoven cloth, because they blaze out so strongly that they dominate the piece. Yellows, oranges, and hot pink are the most assertive hues, but if you pair equal amounts of any bright color […]
Weaving = a clean(er) house
OK, I admit it. Housekeeping is not my favourite (or even tenth favourite) activity. I can think of LOTS of things that I would rather do than clean or tidy. But I do it a lot more frequently now that I weave. When I sit down to design a warp, I first need to tidy […]
