Friday, June 19, 2020

Zinnia and friends

The identity of the plants that became the majority in the pot of "zinnias" soon may be revealed. Many tips seem about to bloom:


Or, they are more leaves. The zinnia at least is holding its ground. Interesting, how the deck railings have laid down a lovely checkered tablecloth.


And here is the mystery lettuce the next day. Maybe over the weekend it will be a flower.


I really came to talk about the future. The run of aqua towels is off the loom and cut apart for finishing. The next set of towels will be the always popular orange. The bobbins are wound.


Apparently I paid more attention to PBS and Covid19 and associated news than to the bobbins, and came up two bobbins short for the pound of thread. Normally I would wait until I'l emptied two bobbins, then fill them.

But sometime ago someone asked me how I maintained uniform selvages, and the bobbin is part of the answer, so instead of waiting on two LeClerc plastic bobbins to free up, I wound two wooden Harrisville bobbins to illustrate a point. Here they are.


I scrolled back through a year's worth of pictures and had trouble locating a really good picture of selvages. The picture of the aqua and this will have to do. On the loom is the left selvage, too, which is inferior to my right selvage. Oh well.


A uniform selvage happens when the bobbin thread laid each time is the same length, and it catches uniformly at each edge. Other operations by the weaver must be uniform, too. The tension of the warp must be kept fairly uniform. 

As you know some of the threads go up and some go down, and the shuttle of thread is passed through the opening, the shed. Here is my sequence:

Open the shed. *Throw the shuttle, leaving the proper arc of thread and sensing the tug of the thread stopping at the selvage. Beat the thread. Open the next shed. Return the beater. Repeat from * until you are ready to stop.

The beat is in the open shed, and the return of the beater when the next shed is opened clears the shed of any threads that cling together, so that the shed is open to throw the shuttle again. Everything else becomes part of the rhythm established, just like knitting or swinging an ax to split a log or a hammer to drive a chisel. 

Bobbins are very important. The LeClerc bobbins are plastic. There are other brands of plastic, and there are wood bobbins. They all unwind differently when thrown. The diameter of the hole in each varies, affecting the speed the bobbin unwinds. The bobbins themselves have different weights, affecting the speed they spin and unwind in the shuttle.

So, that's how I keep the selvages uniform. Practice. The good news was, I was a natural. And I put that down to the prior thirty some years of fiber work, knitting, spinning, sewing. Just like other skills, the fingers and brain are attuned and kick in. 

31 comments:

  1. Zinnias are wonderful plants that give great color to a garden. I hope the accompanying volunteer turns out to be lovely also. This year I potted some volunteer (gifts from the birds) thinking they were the beginnings of a Rosemary plant. I watered them faithfully and took care that they got the needed light. They turned out to be grass.

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  2. I am so glad you are a natural while not discounting the importance of practise/practise and more practise.
    I love reading about the process, but parts of my brain glaze over. I suspect/know that my brain is more flexible than my fingers too.

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  3. I like the various colours of your tea towels. I too have some mystery plants in the garden.

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  4. Joanne, do you ever do royal blue dish towels? Just wondering. My 75th is coming up in a few weeks. I may have to treat myself to a pair of your aqua ones. They don't show up on your sale page yet... but should soon, yes?

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  5. I love all kinds of zinnias and am very curious about the mystery plant!

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  6. I so admire how you’re able to create such beautiful cloth through your weaving.
    The leaves on your plant look like chrysanthemums.

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  7. Maybe I'm just imagining it or my vision isn't that great, but I think your mystery lettuce could maybe be chrysanthemums. But if it isn't enjoy your lettuce salad.

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  8. When the red, red robin goes bob, bob, bobbin' along -- is that the same thing, LOL?

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  9. Some time ago I asked my neighbour V to show me how it all works on her tabletop loom, so I understand what you are saying. She made it look so easy, but I know that's from many years of working it. I also know that I don't have the patience to do it. Which makes my towels all the more precious, the ones I have and the ones still on the way.

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  10. Good the fingers and the brain figure it all out! A bit confusing for me!

    betty

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  11. You are so talented and knowledgeable at weaving! It amazes me just to hear you describe it. I do see how the different types of bobbins could have an effect on things. I can't wait to hear about those mystery plants!

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  12. Lovely explanation of how to weave, I wonder if much of it is unconscious, something beside the brain taking over.

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  13. Still, weaving seems like a magic thing to me. The towels are wonderful.

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  14. The turquoise towel is utterly beautiful , Joanne!
    as to your mystery-flowers: I am curious! I love the colours of zinnias, but find them often a bit stiff, so the mysteries will maybe mellow and blur.

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  15. I think of you every time I use my drying cloths - and reading today's post Joanne I am just in awe of your skill.

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  16. Hari OM
    some textiles college missed out on having you teach for them methinks!!!

    As for the plant - am wondering now if it may be a marigold. Still edible! &*> YAM xx

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    1. Yam, we taught so many people to weave, just as I described. Jan said anybody can learn to weave, and in twenty odd years only one person was so dyslexic he could not tell which treadle to use. In our studio all the looms were threaded thus: if the shuttle was in your right hand, step on the right treadle. If the shuttle was in the left hand, step on the left treadle. And the poor fellow could not understand it. Dyslexia is horrid.

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  17. Another new word for me - selvage. Now there's one for metaphorical adaptation.

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  18. I can hear it, despite the arcane terminology.

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  19. Weaving must be good exercise for the brain!

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  20. To someone as uncoordinated as myself it sounds extremely complicated and only serves to heighten my admiration of yourself.

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  21. you could have said all that with one word...practice.

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  22. Magical weaving. You will need to video what you're doing and post it!

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  23. Beautiful work Joanne from years of dedication. I love your tea towels. I am familiar with bobbins due to years of sewing just about everything and in the last few years using various bobbins for intarsia work with knitting.

    Love the mystery plants.

    XO
    WWW

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  24. I always enjoy your weaving posts. And I can't wait to see what the mystery flowers are.

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