A tie-up is like a pizza: the bigger it is, the more slices you can chop it into. A tie-up is also like a pizza in that you can put different toppings on each slice. (I know that sounds like a stretch, but bear with me.) In the What is Twill? course, we discussed that regular twill tie-ups have the same ratio on every treadle, which is to say that...

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 do this – and, if I’m being truthful, just as many not to. I have...

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 color combinations, choose palettes, or just learn about color. What’s in Palette Scout Palette Scout...

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 were walking. As in ACTUAL walking, you can start with either foot, although when walking...

Many weavers have a limited number of reeds available to them. If you have a 12 dent reed, and the project you are working on has a 24 epi Sett, you simply sley 2 ends in each dent. Easy peasy! What happens if you DON’T have the perfect reed available? Example 1: Anne Hiemstra ran into just this situation while participating in the Angles and Unduls Weave-along for Academy members....

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 with a much duller color, the bright color will hog all the attention. The key...

As you probably know, sett is critical to getting your project right: if it’s too open, the weft beats in too much and covers the warp. If it’s too close, the fabric can wind up stiff and unsuitable for its purpose. When working with a new yarn or a new structure, we usually make a reasonable guess at a starting sett, dress the loom, and hope for the best. If...

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 the time when the cloth doesn’t match the drawdown, it’s because you’ve used a rising...

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 off my desk. Once that is done, I can put any sketches out, and I...