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 […]
How to fix your twill when neither side matches the drawdown – and gain more design options as a result!
Have you ever started weaving and realized that the fabric on the loom doesn’t look like the drawdown or picture? That happened to Susan Palwick recently, so she posted pictures of her drawdown (draft #80355 from Handweaving.net) and her fabric on Facebook, and asked if anyone could help figure out what was happening. Most of […]
How to measure YPP or MPKG without a yarn balance
If you don’t have a yarn balance you can determine yards per pound (YPP) or meters per kilogram (MPKG) of a yarn by measuring a known length and extrapolating from its weight. A short length is bound to be too light for most scales to weigh accurately, so the best approach is to wind yourself […]
How to choose colors that stay bright in handwoven cloth
One of the challenges in weaving is brilliantly colored yarns that turn into a dull color when woven together. This can produce fascinating results…but very often, it’s not what you anticipated or wanted. If this is happening to you, how do you choose colors avoid getting “muddy” cloth? It turns out to be quite simple. […]
Save your selvedges!
It isn’t unusual to hear a weaver say “My selvedge(s) keep fraying and breaking!” This is an issue that often is caused by a combination of yarn/weave/threading that results in the outermost thread on one side of the warp slowly unplying, while the twin thread on the other side of the warp is slowly plying […]
Fixing your floats
At some point in your weaving life, you will take a piece of fabric from the loom, then sigh when you notice that there is an error in it in the form of a float that shouldn’t be there. Don’t be too worried about it, it happens to the best of us, and for some, […]
Design your own twill, with the new Twill Generator
There are a lot of fabulous twill drafts out there, but how do you create something that is truly your own? In the past, a weaver would sit down with some graph paper and start sketching. It takes significant time to fill in the threading, tie up and treadling, then fill in a repeat or […]
How to ice dye yarns for beautiful, unique weaving
Ice dyeing is a fun and easy summer project that requires very little room, time and equipment. The results are delightfully unpredictable and never the same! How it works: Ice dyeing is done with cellulose fiber such as cotton, linen, hemp, and rayon using fiber-reactive dyes. Silk can also be used, but colors will impact […]
Sewing with your handwoven fabric
Sewing your own weaving can be intimidating – it can be hard to know where to start. Get solid, practical advice for sewing with handwoven fabrics!
How to tell if a mystery yarn is thicker or thinner than another yarn
Ever wanted to know whether one yarn is bigger than another, or find out if two yarns are the same size?
Learn to judge relative yarn sizes with this quick test.
