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Online Weaving School 3 year anniversary giveaway!

It’s hard to believe that 3 years have passed since I began my Online Weaving School. Many of you have been with me for all of that time and longer, but if you’re new here, I’d like to tell you a little about my teaching journey.

*This post contains affiliate links

I’ve always been a creative person but making things with my hands became more important to me when I found myself an at home Mum with 4 children. The urge to relax and create became very strong and somewhat vital. I needed that quiet, meditative time away from my regular daily duties.

I started with embroidery after my mother in law gifted me with some vintage supplies. Then I got a sewing machine and started sewing clothes for my kids. From there I started making dolls. This began my relationship with Etsy, where I sold my dolls. Then bear making, quilting, knitting, spinning, dyeing and weaving. Many of these were learned books, some from just teaching myself and some (especially knitting) from Youtube. Youtube was just becoming a thing at that time. When I came to weaving, I found it the perfect culmination of so many of the arts and skills I had already been practicing for years. When I found weaving, I felt like I had come home.

After I had been weaving for some time and felt very confident at my rigid heddle loom, I felt that I really wanted to share some of the wonderful things I had learned. I was almost bursting with excitement and passion but I didn’t know any other weavers at all.

So I made a video and uploaded it to Youtube. I didn’t know anything about how to teach or how to use Youtube. My son helped me to film and edit to make the video passable. I expected nothing, I didn’t even think about whether anyone would be interested. I just thought it might help someone and I wanted to share.

As it turns out, that video is still helping weavers, 5 years later! People loved the video and asked for more. I made more. And I loved it. It was so rewarding to know that I could help others and share this passion for weaving.

After a while, my Youtube hobby was starting to cost a lot of money in materials and the meagre income from Youtube ads didn’t even begin to cover the expense. I was a stay at home Mum, homeschooling her children and relying on my husband to earn enough income to keep us fed and clothed.

So, using a Youtube paid channel, I started to (gasp! how could I even dare to!) charge for classes. This was a big mind shift for me. People wanted to pay me in exchange for classes!! I still ran my free channel, but the paid channel was a huge blessing. Now at least I could cover my expenses, even if I still wasn’t really earning anything extra. When the Youtube paid channels ceased to exist, I had a fairly sizeable following of enthusiastic weavers. And they still wanted more! So, I found Teachable and set up my tiny Online Weaving School and community.

3 years later, that “tiny” weaving school has grown to over 4000 registered users and 750 paid memberships and is still growing! I am still pinching myself. Thanks to the constant support from my wonderful and loyal students, I now provide the income for my family of 6. This is something I never would have dreamed could happen and I have learned so much. I would go so far as to say that having my weaving school has transformed me as a person – or perhaps better to say, it has formed me into the person I was meant to be.

Aside from all of the obvious benefits the success of the school has brought me are the less obvious blessings. The beautiful friendships and relationships I’ve encountered with weavers all over the world. The ability to help others not just to learn to weave, but to share other difficult life burdens. It is amazing to be in a position where you feel you can truly make a difference to the lives of others!

If you already know or follow me, then you will be aware of my recent free project, The Wash Your Hands Towels. I designed these towels in the time of uncertainty while the world was suffering from the effects (and still is) of the coronavirus pandemic. This has been a hugely popular project and seemed to come at just the right time for many weavers at home under lockdown. I’ve seen lots of different versions completed in a big variety of colours, it’s been wonderful to see.

So, I thought a very appropriate way to celebrate this 3 year milestone would be to give away a Wash Your Hands Towels Kit. This kit will be a one off, as I don’t have plans to make kits available for sale.

Included in the kit is all the beautiful Australian cotton yarn you need to make two towels plus a paper printed PDF. You use the PDF in conjunction with the video tutorial. If you wish to know what you need to complete this rigid heddle project, read this post that has all the details.

This giveaway is open to all, wherever you happen to be in the world. Entries are open until the end of this month of May 2020.

To enter the giveaway, please leave me a comment here (only comments on this blog post will be considered entries) and tell me why you would like to win.

Make sure you are on my email list to keep up to date with the giveaway and for the winner announcement.

I look forward to reading all your comments and drawing a winner!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WINNER – VEENA RAGHAVEN!

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

How to weave Snowmen on your rigid heddle loom

by Kelly 9 Comments

Snowmen are not something you might naturally think of when wondering what to weave next on your rigid heddle loom, but I love any excuse to make pictures on my loom, especially if they are as cute as these little snowmen guys are!

Weaving snowmen on your rigid heddle loom may not be as difficult as you think. We employ a type of overshot technique to create floats. Depending on the length of each float, we can then arrange them to make pictures. We warp the loom as we normally do for plain weave.

Overshot usually uses a thicker weft for the patterning (or floats) and a thinner, contrasting weft for the background (plain weave, commonly known as “tabby” when used in this way).

*This post contains affiliate links.

The weft floats do not become incorporated into the fabric, they literally float on top, which is why we use tabby in between pattern rows to tie the whole thing down and create a stable fabric. It also gives that lovely, slightly 3D effect of the pattern or picture being slightly raised.

Because of the varying length in floats, there is something you need to keep in mind when doing this kind of weaving. Quite often, and particularly with a thicker yarn like I’ve used for this sample, the floats at the back of the work will be long. This might make the piece unsuitable for some uses. For example, a kitchen towel with long floats on the back is not ideal. The floats will catch on things and likely become a bit ratty and not neat looking over time. That is the other consideration – the back does not always look attractive and you may not want it on show. In my sample below, you can see the added untidiness of my having embroidered on details like the scarves.

A way around this issue is to plan to use this technique in a pattern where the back of the work will not show. Some ideas are notebook or journal covers, a table centrepiece or runner where you intend to sew a backing to the piece, a cute Christmas wall hanging and so on.

Here is what you will need to weave a sample like this one:

A rigid heddle loom (I used my 24″ but a Sampleit size is fine if you just want a small sample)

10 dent reed

A pick up stick

A knitting needle is handy but not essential

Yarns-

There are no set yarns for this project, but I will share what worked well for me and give suggestions for possible alternatives.

For the warp I used a fingering weight (Australian 4 ply) cotton in a hand dyed medium to dark blue. Rug warping cotton would work fine.

My tabby weft (background weft) was a lighter but strong coloured light worsted/dk weight (Australian 8 ply) in wool.

For the pattern weft, I used a cream coloured aran weight (Australian 10ply) in wool.

For the little hats, I used some black fingering weight wool – you don’t need very much of that.

I love to use wool, particularly for the patterning in this type of weaving because it works so well. Because it has that lovely fluff and bounciness, it fills in any gaps between pattern wefts and makes the design look full. You will notice that my pattern weft is only slightly thicker than my tabby weft, but the pattern weft still stands out due to it’s loftiness.

The embroidered details are what really bring these little snowmen to life. Stick arms, scarves, eyes, carrot noses, buttons down the front – the amount of detail is up to you. You don’t need to be a great embroiderer as the details are all just worked in simple straight stitches. For the scarves, to give them that really nice shiny look, I used Bambu 7. This yarn can be quite difficult to obtain, so here are some alternatives:

5/2 bamboo weaving yarn

Pure Bamboo yarn

DMC Embroidery floss (my favourite brand)

Anchor Embroidery floss

If you decide to use embroidery floss, don’t separate the strands, use all 6 of them for just the right snowman thickness.

If you would like to weave some snowmen of your own, here is a printable PDF that gives you the weaving sequences and details:

Snowmen-on-a-rhl Download

You will also want to watch and follow along with the instructional video to see the weaving in action:

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! Let me know if you weave some little snowmen of your own, and as always, leave any comments or questions underneath, I love to hear from you!

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

Choosing and using yarns in weaving

by Kelly 42 Comments

As weavers we are really spoiled for choice when it comes to yarns. You would think this would make the task of choosing appropriate yarn for our projects easier, but for beginner rigid heddle weavers it can be a very difficult field to navigate.

One of my most asked questions is “How do I know which yarn to use with which heddle size for which project?” Basically, where on earth do I begin?!

If this topic is interesting to you, I recommend my online class What do all the numbers mean? This class really demystifies the figures involved with weaving and knitting yarns and also gives you some handy conversion charts.

It is a little difficult to know how to best structure this kind of information in an easy to understand format, so I began by going through some of my weaving projects that I knew I could talk about and use as examples to discuss yarns.

*This post contains some affiliate links

In all weaving, you begin with the warp, so it makes sense to start there. Doing a snap test will help determine whether the yarn you want to use for warp is going to be strong enough – you don’t want broken threads. Yes, they are fixable (this video shows you how) but not so ideal.

In choosing for your first projects, I highly recommend knitting wool. It’s economical, easy to use, accessible and thick. I use Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury 8 ply a lot, it is a light worsted/ dk weight and pairs perfectly with the 7.5 or 8 dent heddle that comes with any new rigid heddle loom. It is perfect for wearables, as it’s lovely and soft. Which brings me to the next point.

If you intend to wear your woven piece, give it the face brush test. Hold the yarn up against your cheek and lightly rub. If it feels too scratchy, you’re not going to like wearing it and it’s best saved for something else!

Consider the cost of the yarn you intend to use. If you are a less experienced weaver, don’t go for that beautiful, expensive yarn – it will only put pressure on and stress you out. Use something affordable until you have more confidence.

This scarf is a good example of a balanced plain weave piece using light worsted/ dk yarn with my 7.5 dent heddle. A piece like this is great for beginners and an excellent opportunity to practice neat edges.

Before beginning a project, it’s really important to figure out the best sett for your chosen yarn. All you need is an inch ruler and your yarn. Once you have more experience, you may not need to do the test every time, but it’s a must for beginners. Here’s how:

A good example of a project using wool is my Garden Path Scarf pattern. This pattern is my best seller and I myself love to wear my assortment of GP scarves! I love that it looks a bit like lace knitting.

Woven with a lighter 4 ply Australian merino (fingering weight) it is light and airy but still warm to wear, thanks to the wool. I wouldn’t necessarily say that it’s an absolute beginners project, but it is actually not as difficult to weave as it looks!

I must give a caution at this point when it comes to blended yarns. Depending on what the blend is, it can make a nightmare out of your project.

For this “special” scarf I use a silk/ merino/ sparkle weft and a baby alpaca warp. All painstakingly hand dyed. I didn’t know until later that often, yarns with a silk blend will not always grip other yarns like, say a wool on wool will grip. So, I ended up with uneven weaving resulting in warp threads showing at the selvedges. It was an expensive mistake, but one that I’ve never forgotten (or repeated!)

A lot of spinners also become weavers, and what a wonderful progression and integration of one art form into another. Handspun can definitely be used to weave with, and gives a very different look to commercial yarns. The main things to consider with handpsun:

*Does it hold up to the snap test?

*Which heddle is going to suit best?

Spun yarn can be inconsistent, depending on how it has been spun and what the spinner is wanting to achieve, but if you use your inch ruler to determine sett, you won’t have any problems choosing the right heddle.

Cotton is also a great choice, but should be chosen a little more carefully for beginners. In fact, my Beginner Rigid Heddle Weaving course project uses the popular US cotton, Sugar n Cream. It is an aran weight yarn, thicker than light worsted, so it weaves up quickly. It’s pretty darn cheap to buy too! And, it’s just right for your 7.5 or 8 dent heddle. In Australia, Sugar n Cream is available from American Yarns.

I wouldn’t advise an inexperienced weaver to start out with a thinner cotton, there are too many extra things to consider. Your success is far more guaranteed with a thicker, more manageable cotton.

When you have gained that experience, you may want to explore weaving kitchen towels and other, finer pieces. This is where your 8/2 cotton comes in nicely. It is readily available, reasonably economical, strong and multi purpose. My personal favourite is Maurice Brassard 8/2 cotton because, out of all the cottons I’ve tried, it is the most consistent and reliable. It is unmercerised, which is my big preference over mercerised. In Australia you can purchase Maurice Brassard yarns at the Thread Collective.

My Happy Fibonnaci Towels project is available as a downloadable PDF and also as an online class.

I’ll give cottolin a quick mention, because it’s my favourite yarn for weaving kitchen towels. Linen on it’s own can be difficult to manage, but a blend of linen and cotton is a match made in heaven!

You can buy cottolin in dyed, undid, bleached, unbleached and half bleached – lots of choices! I love the natural look of the half bleached. Once again, Maurice Brassard 22/2 is what I use. Don’t be confused by the numbers, linen is measured differently to cotton, so the 22/2 cottolin is very similar to 8/2 cotton size. Cottolin is so absorbent and after washing, so soft, I love it!

Now onto another personal favourite, bamboo. It’s available in a number of different sizes. One that I use very often is Bambu 7, which is available in Australia from BB Yarn Supply. A suitable alternative is Valley 5/2 bamboo and for a thinner weight, Maurice Brassard 8/2 bamboo.

I used Bambu 7 recently for the scarf project for my Table Loom Weaving course. The results speak for themselves!

Another weaving yarn I love is tencel. This is an interesting fibre, manufactured from wood pulp. It is similar to bamboo in that it has a high sheen and is silky. It is very light and even though it comes in 8/2 size, it seems quite thin. I use Maurice Brassard 8/2 tencel. I’ve woven a number of pieces with tencel and have never been disappointed. It also takes dye beautifully. Once again, not a beginner’s yarn!

The Galaxy Scarf PDF pattern uses a combination of bamboo and tencel, with great effect! The two yarns together have a beautiful drape and work perfectly for light garments.

Last, but not least, we have silk. There is no denying the gorgeousness of silk, but it’s not the easiest yarn to weave with, especially if it’s very fine.

It is extremely light and almost “glows”, particularly if you use certain colour combinations. The project above was woven with 60/2 silk at 40 ends per inch on my floor loom. This yarn in definitely not cheap, so for special projects only.

In the following Youtube videos, I go through lots of my own projects and explain the yarns and heddles used and why. I hope you enjoy them!

Which weight of yarn do I choose?

by Kelly 11 Comments

For newer weavers, yarn choice has to be one of the biggest conundrums. We are totally spoilt for choice when it comes to variety of yarns available these days, but there are some important aspects to consider before you start shopping.

I often recommend that newer weavers start out by using knitting yarns. There are a couple of reasons for this.

Knitting yarn is readily available.
It is usually economical.
Many new weavers have a knitting background and therefore will often have a healthy stash of yarn!
Knitting yarn often has a nice amount of elasticity and are therefore quite forgiving to work with.
And finally, it’s usually thicker than weaving yarn, so for first projects it is an excellent choice – it will make your warping and weaving faster and easier.

*This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my disclosure policy.

When you purchase a weaving specific yarn online or in a shop, the recommended sett for that yarn will often be provided. Not so with knitting yarns, which tend to come with knitting needle or crochet hook recommendations instead. But, this is no problem to the savvy weaver who knows how to figure out the sett for her/himself! All you need is your chosen yarn and an inch ruler.

If you’re not familiar with the concept of sett in weaving, I explain it in this video:

And if you need an easy demonstration of how to figure out the sett for your chosen yarn, I recommend this video:

The demonstration in this video refers to balanced plain weave, the twill equation is a little different.

The next consideration after you have figured out the ideal sett is what you’re actually weaving. A scarf, for example may require a different approach to a table runner or placemat, even if you’re using the same yarn.

Let me give an example:

Say I have a light worsted weight (Australian 8 ply, DK) cotton that is lovely and soft. Say that I’ve done my wrap test to determine the sett and it showed me that my 7.5 heddle/reed is the best option. I go ahead with this sett because I want a soft and slightly flow-ey scarf.

I like the yarn so much that I decide to also use it for a table runner. But I want my table runner to have a firmer feel, so that it stays put on the table and is somewhat solid. Given my experience with weaving the scarf at a sett of 7.5, I decide that I’m going to use my 10 dent heddle/reed for the runner, as it will ensure that my warp and weft interlacement is closer than it was with the scarf, giving me a firmer fabric.

Here is a little tip when selecting a yarn for a woven piece you intend to wear eg. a scarf. Hold the yarn to your cheek and lightly rub back and forth. If the yarn feels scratchy or unpleasant to your skin, it will not be suitable to wear. If the shopkeeper and patrons are knitters, crocheters or weavers, they will understand what you’re doing. If not, you may get some odd stares!!

There is another, basic test you can perform if you’re unsure of yarn to heddle/reed suitability.

That is to grab your yarn and thread a single of it through a slot. If the yarn doesn’t fit through the slot, it is too thick. If it doesn’t fit, but you have to encourage it to get through, it is likely too thick. If you rub the yarn up and down in the heddle/reed and it seems a bit squashed, it is likely too thick.

Remember that your yarn has to deal with that friction for the entirety of your project, so if there is too much friction you increase the likelihood of broken warp threads and a less than comfortable weaving experience.

Likewise, if you thread your yarn through a slot and there is a heap of space leftover and your yarn seems very loose in the slot, it may not be the right heddle/reed for your project. Unless of course you are trying to achieve an open and airy fabric!

So, what if you don’t have a heddle/reed that is the equivalent sett for your yarn?

This can happen when using a finer yarn. The finest heddle/reed currently available for a rigid heddle loom is a 15 dent. But the recommended sett for my yarn is 30. Well, you can simply double your ends to achieve the right sett.

Then you have the choice for the weft, if using the same weight of yarn as warp, whether you double the weft as well or not. And this choice comes back once again to the purpose of the project and the type of fabric desired. Which brings me to sampling.

I used to think that sampling was a big waste of time. I’m not sure at what point I became a sampling convert, but it was probably somewhere in the throws of another project that did not turn out as anticipated.

Sampling is an absolutely failsafe method to guarantee the success of your project. It allows you to try the yarn at a particular sett, in particular colours, experiment with weft density, take the project off and wet finish. So, you get a mini glimpse of what your actual project will look like. It’s a very valuable education tool!

There is a lot to cover when it comes to the topic of yarns and this post really only scratches the surface.

If you found this post interesting and want to delve further into choosing yarns and understanding all the numbers, I have an online class that could be just the ticket. This is a short and sweet class that includes PDF charts for selecting the correct heddle/reed for your project and converting yarn terms for different countries.

You can purchase the class by following this link.

I have some other yarn related resources that will be helpful too.

The Weaver’s Toolkit is an ebooklet that includes all kinds of useful charts and information that are invaluable to the weaver.

I also have an “All about Yarn” playlist on Youtube, which includes 11 free videos:

I hope this post has been helpful to you, and as always, comments and questions are welcome.

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

Winter Trees Scarf

by Kelly 1 Comment

The lovely Robyn from Yarn Cloud in Occoquan, Virginia recently put together a project based on my very popular Winter Trees video on Youtube.

Robyn had the idea of teaching her students how to utilise the pattern and weave it into a scarf. What a terrific idea and so timely for those of you who are approaching Winter at this time of year.

Robyn has been generous enough to offer to share all her pattern notes and instructions with my readers here! She also sent me the samples in the photo above to give you all a visual reference.

You can download and print the instructions here:

Winter Trees Scarf Download

And use the instructional video for visual help:

Many thanks to Robyn for sharing her pattern!

If you are interested in taking a real life class at Yarn Cloud, pop over and check out the classes page for more details. Knitting classes are also available.

Yarn Cloud is a fibre arts supplies store located in a richly historical town in the beautiful state of Virginia. It looks like a wonderful place to visit and pick up some supplies, or stay a little longer to enjoy a class or workshop!

Be sure to let us know if you make a scarf using these instructions, Robyn and I would both love to see your project!

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

Interview with Felicia Lo from Sweet Georgia Yarns

by Kelly Leave a Comment

Today I’d like to introduce you to the lovely Felicia, who grew a successful yarn company from the humble beginnings of a small blog. I love Felicia’s adventurous spirit when it comes to all things fibre and how she continues to learn, explore and create. She also happens to have possibly the cutest two kids I’ve ever seen!

You have a strong interest in more than one type of fibre art. Can you tell us about some of them?

“Yes! Sometimes I wish I could streamline my making and narrow my focus to just one fibre art… but I really do love the interaction of weaving, spinning, dyeing, and knitting. If you’re going to weave, you’ll need yarn… and what’s better than weaving with yarn that you dyed yourself or even yarn that you spun from fibre that you dyed? It’s so powerful to be able to control and affect the finished object at so many levels and can open up your creative possibilities. So the things I make tend to take longer since I want to be involved in the dyeing and weaving processes at the very least. And since colour is so significant as a personal expression, I feel like the work doesn’t have my “signature” on it if the yarn isn’t hand-dyed.

And while we create hand-dyed yarns and fibres at SweetGeorgia, knitting with hand-dyed yarns is really my hobby. I nearly always have a project with me for car rides, soccer practice, swimming lessons, and Netflix nights.”

What attracted you to weaving? How did you learn?

“When I think back, I remember my parents giving me a Fisher Price toy loom when I was a kid. It was basically a rigid heddle loom and it was AWESOME. I remember weaving really thick white acrylic yarn and making a fabric that I hand sewed into a tiny purse. It wasn’t pretty, but I was so young, I just thought it was magic to be able to make something like that.

It wasn’t until I was almost 30 when I actually started to weave. It was actually my spinning teacher that gently enabled me to really start weaving. She taught both spinning and weaving at a school here in the Vancouver area. I took the spinning classes in a room that was FILLED with floor looms. It was inspiring and the itch to weave was inescapable. Originally she told me that weaving used up lots of yarn and since I was making tons of hand-dyed yarn, I just thought it would be a great way of using up yarn.

I joined the weaving class and remember learning how to wind a warp, how to dress a loom back to front, and then for one of my first projects, I wove a silk scarf from yarn that had been handpainted. Every part of the process felt addictive — threading the heddles, sleying the reed, tying onto the front apron rod, throwing the shuttle — all of it was addictive and I was always craving a little bit more. “

How did SweetGeorgia Yarns come about?

“SweetGeorgia happened quite unintentionally. It was 2004 and I was a web developer at the time and I was familiar with blogs, but didn’t realize there was a growing community of knitting bloggers until I started searching Google for information about this Rowan sweater design I wanted to knit (it’s this sweater, if you’re curious: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/audrey). Turns out there was a “knit along” for this sweater design and knitters from all over the world were knitting this pattern, taking photos of it, writing about their process, and documenting their successes and failures. And that’s when I realized that a blog was more than just a way of communicating or recording project details — it was (at that time) a way to participate in the greater craft community.

So of course, I started a blog so that I could also report on my Audrey sweater progress and random bread baking escapades. There were only one or two bread baking blog posts and then I continued to document my learning and experiences in knitting, dyeing, spinning, and weaving. The hand-dyeing I was doing caught the attention of the community and I found a lot of encouragement to continue dyeing and begin a little Etsy shop. So in 2005, I opened a small Etsy shop from my dining room table with three skeins of yarn. Now almost 14 years later, we have a team of about 13 people who help run our production dye studio! “

As a successful business woman who also has a young family, you must get asked the question “How do you do it all?” What are some of your strategies for balancing family, business and creative time?

“It’s funny because I’m asking every other mom/boss the same thing! I think I even asked you, Kelly, this same question over email! I can say, it’s not easy, but I try to keep a good balance of work and family life. Since my kids are still young, they go to school for part of the day and then my youngest, Nina, who is only three years old now, will join me for Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. So I squish work time into the hours when they are at school. Then when the kids are with me, I try to be present and put my work away, but we might do things like go to the dye studio together or do some craft room tidying and tasks (they like to wind balls of yarn). I generally never work on weekends or evenings anymore and I try to spend evenings with my husband, but that’s when I also try to squeeze in some knitting or weaving time.

I’ve also discovered this phenomenon where work expands to fill the time that you give it. If you give yourself 4 hours to do a job, it takes 4 hours. But if you only have 3 hours to do the same job, miraculously, it takes only 3 hours. So, I’ve started doing more “time boxing” and giving myself a set amount of time to do any one thing and the thing has to be done within that time frame (because there is no other time to do it). So, this allows me to schedule out my week and account for all the things that need to get done. For example, filming the vlog always happens on Wednesday afternoons between 3 and 4 pm, editing the vlog always happens on Thursday mornings from 9:30 to 11:30 am, and all of that needs to happen because the vlog HAS to be published at 10 am on Friday morning. It’s kind of great to give yourself this set window to work… otherwise, editing a video could easily take 8 hours if you let it and then you’ll definitely feel like there is never enough time. “

How many looms do you personally own and which is your favourite?

“It’s so hard to pick favourites! Over the years, I have acquired a few looms including an 8-shaft Louet Spring 110 cm loom, an 8-shaft Schacht Baby Wolf in cherry, a 4-shaft Leclerc Nilus 45”, plus a handful of smaller looms like a 4-shaft Schacht table loom, a Louet 4-shaft Klik loom, an Ashford 16” Sample It rigid heddle loom, an Ashford 20” Knitters loom, and a Schacht 25” Flip loom. Oh and that’s not including two wooden frame looms from Woven Wood Goods and a whole bunch of tiny frame looms from Purl & Loop. Oh dear, when you list them out like that, it looks like a lot of looms… but I’m generally weaving on just about two at a time. And I enjoy having this “fleet” of looms (what’s the word for a whole bunch of looms?) because it gives me the opportunity to lend the portable looms out to weaving-curious friends! I love them all… ok maybe I like the Spring, Baby Wolf, and Sample It looms the best right now because that’s mostly what I’m using on a regular basis. “

What are your favourite fibre/threads to use and why?

“Silk has always appealed to me and so when I first started learning to weave, I only wanted to weave silk and everything with 100% silk. But since that time, I’ve grown to love all kinds of fibres and yarns for weaving. I love untreated wool in the way that it fulls and blooms. And I love cashmere for unrivalled softness. I’m also totally in love with kid mohair and silk and love to use that in the weft. Ultimately, I’m really drawn to the texture and feel of the yarn itself and so I consider how the textures can meld together between warp and weft to make something fabulous to feel. “

What items do you love to weave the most?

“This year I tried doing a little bit of rep weave, having been obsessed with images of it on Pinterest. But I’ve loved weaving big blankets for family and friends and also scarves and shawls. I could just play with the interaction between colour and texture for the next decade (as I have for the past decade) and still wouldn’t tire of it. “

What did you do for work before starting your business?

“I’ve had a number of career changes in my life. I started off as a community pharmacist after graduating from the University of British Columbia. And then shortly after, I transitioned into my own design business. I had started doing graphic design and web development for clients when I was still in university and so when I graduated, so slowly moved away from pharmacy work and moved towards design work. And then when I was 28 years old, I started the SweetGeorgia blog and it morphed into what it is today. I just rolled up my graphic design skills and experience into focusing entirely on SweetGeorgia. “

One of your more recent endeavours is the School of SweetGeorgia. Tell us a little bit about that.

“Yes! Two years ago, I began building an online video-based fibre arts school called the School of SweetGeorgia. The idea was to build up a deep knowledge resource of education for the full spectrum of the fibre arts. From dyeing to spinning to weaving to knitting, sprinkling in a good dose of colour theory and design content as well. The School is currently offered as a subscription-based membership that also includes an active discussion forum and monthly livestream Q&As to help support our members.

This all began when I first published my book “Dyeing to Spin & Knit” and people were inviting me to travel to teach workshops at conferences and shops all over. I have two little kids at home and didn’t want to be away from my family with all these traveling and teaching opportunities. So instead, I decided to film my teaching and workshops so that I could provide education from wherever I am to my students, wherever they happen to be. Then we can all learn and connect from wherever we are.”

What are your plans for the future of your business?

“SweetGeorgia will be celebrating its 15th anniversary in 2020 and we will be three years into the School of SweetGeorgia at that time too. Our mission has always been to bring light to people’s lives through colour and craft, and we’ve been aiming to do that through making beautiful hand-dyed yarn and fibre and designing timeless knitwear patterns for our craft community. In our future, I’d like to see us welcome more makers, weavers, spinners, dyers, and knitters to the craft community. I’d like us to use our focus on education to introduce people to a new hobby or craft that might bring their lives light and joy. “

Being based in Vancouver, Canada, what is one of your favourite places to visit?

“If you come to Vancouver, no doubt I will offer to take you to two of my favourite places — Grouse Mountain where we ski and snowboard in the winter and where my husband and I got married, and Finch’s Tea, my favourite place for sandwiches.”

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Thank you for joining me here Felicia, I know my readers will be so inspired by your story, your enthusiasm and by all you do!

You can visit Felicia by following these links:

Sweet Georgia Yarns

Instagram

Facebook

Thanks for reading friends, until next time…

Happy Weaving!

What is the sett in weaving?

by Kelly 2 Comments

Perhaps one of the most confusing terms to newer weavers is the sett.

What is the sett and why does it matter?

Well, I’ve made a video explaining the basics and narrowing it down in an easy to understand format, so please take a few moments to watch that.

You will usually see the sett referred to as “ends per inch” or “epi”. When obtaining a measurement or calculation to determine your sett, you are figuring out the spacing between your warp threads.

The spacing is important because it affects the end result of your weaving. For example, if I have some really thick yarn that I’m using as warp, and I space it (or sett it) too closely together, I may end up with a fabric that is more like cardboard! If that is the effect you are going for, great – but if not, you need to understand why it happened.

*This post contains affiliate links. This means that if you click the link and purchase, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

So, let’s take a look at how you can determine sett. Once again, I have a video that demonstrates the simple process. All you need is some yarn and an inch ruler!

The beauty of this inch ruler wrap test is that it works with whatever yarn you have. Some weaving threads have a recommended sett when you buy them, but you may not remember or have lost the information. No problem, you can figure it out for yourself.

If you are a rigid heddle weaver and have a good collection of different sized heddles/reeds it is very easy to transfer your calculated sett to the loom – you just choose the heddle/reed that is close or exactly the same as your figure.

Let’s have a look at an example. The yarn I used in the video is an Australian 8 ply (light worsted/ dk). When I wrapped it for an inch, I found that I could wrap the yarn 14 times. Dividing this figure in half gives me the correct sett for a balance plain weave. 14 divided by 2 = 7. My sett would be 7. I don’t have a 7 dent heddle/reed, so I would choose my 7.5 dent. An 8 dent would also be fine.

So, for every weave structure, I divide my wraps in half?

No.

The rules change when the weave structure changes. Plain weave is a balanced interlacement of warp and weft threads. One over, one under, one over and so on. But when it comes to twill, the weft yarn travels differently. It has to travel over more warp threads, so it has further to go. Therefore, when determining sett for twill, we use a different tactic.

Twill is generally sett 2/3 closer than plain weave. For those of us who are not strong on mathematics (hello!) it can be easiest to follow a simple formula. Instead of dividing our wraps per inch in half, we multiply by 0.67.

Let’s use our earlier example with the same yarn to figure out a sett for twill instead of plain weave. Remember that we wrapped the yarn for an inch and got 14 wraps? We take that 14 and multiply it by 0.67. 14 X 0.67 = 9.38. Now I need to make a decision – there is no heddle/reed with a 9.38 dent! So, I choose the closest, which would be a 10 dent.

Are these figures sett in stone? (Pun intended!)

No, they don’t have to be! You can make decisions based on your project as well. Lets say I’m using an 8/2 cotton that would normally be sett between 18 and 24 ends per inch. I want to weave some kitchen towels in plain weave. Experience tells me that a suitable sett would be 20epi, I would double my ends in a 10 dent heddle/reed. Or I could use 2 x 10 dent heddles to double the sett. Experience also tells me that if I use single and not doubled threads as weft, that will be a very pleasing result for the type of towels I prefer.

BUT, if I want to use that same 8/2 cotton for weaving a tote bag I need to put my thinking cap on. Knowing that my towel calculations give me a lovely soft but durable fabric, I’m thinking for a tote bag I’m going to want a sturdier fabric. After some consideration and perhaps working a sample, I may decide that my bag fabric will be sett at 24 epi and my weft will be doubled this time.

Sampling is always an excellent idea. It will leave you with no doubts about your project, or it may strike you with the realisation that you need to research and perhaps sample further.

You will get to a point (as all experienced weavers do eventually) of knowing your favourite yarns, projects and the sett you need to use. For a great deal of my projects these days, I don’t calculate the sett formally, it just becomes intuitive. If I buy a new yarn that I’ve never used or undertake a weave structure I haven’t tried, then I will go back to basics and calculate more carefully.

I hope this article has helped you to wrap (oops, there goes another pun!) your head around the whole idea of sett and why it is necessary in weaving.

If you feel you want to know more or are interested in delving further in, I have a great short class What do all the Numbers Mean and how do they apply to a Rigid Heddle Loom?

This class goes into the numbers that you see on your weaving thread cones and what they actually mean. It includes two printable yarn charts. One is specifically for weaving yarns and the other for knitting yarns.

Each chart gives you a list of common sizes of yarn and recommended setts, name conversions where necessary, recommended heddle/reed sizes and suggested related projects. It’s well worth a look and is the type of class you can refer back to again and again.

I also have the Weaver’s Toolkit Ebooklet available. This is a 22 page ebook for rigid heddle weavers. It includes many helpful resources like yarn conversion charts, sett explanations and recommendations, weaving yarn sizes and so much more. You can read more about the booklet in this post or you can purchase it from my Etsy shop.

Well, that’s all for today friends, until next time…

Happy Weaving!

Interview with Tracy from Knit Spin Weave

by Kelly 6 Comments

Have you ever dreamed of owning a yarn shop? Tracy had that dream and made it happen!

I have known Tracy online for many years. When our children were much younger, we were involved in an online craft community, Crafty Mamas. It was a fantastic little corner of the internet where a group of women shared all manner of crafty projects and ideas. But it was more than that. It was a support and friendship group. Many of the friendships formed have continued to this day.

I know you will love getting to know a bit more about Tracy and how she followed her dreams…

I would say that you are a classic “hands won’t stop” kind of creator. You are proficient in many types of fibre arts, which was the one that started it all for you?

“Knitting. My mum is a knitter and my Nan was a fabulous knitter. I was very close to my Nan as a little girl and I have very strong memories of her and her knitting. I was knitting at 5 years of age. Mum says I very quickly outstripped her skills and was knitting lace by the time I was seven. I learned to crochet when I was 7. We had immigrated to Australia and like many who came from the UK my parents had a hard time settling in their new country. They had decided to go back to the UK but didn’t want to go without seeing some of Australia first, Which is how I ended up in Gladstone, Queensland living in a caravan park. Another little girl was crocheting clothes for her Barbies and she taught me. My parents eventually came to love Australia and we did end up staying.

What attracted you to weaving? How did you learn?

Like many children I had done weaving with paper and had played with cardboard looms. Weaving as a serious interest came after I had learned to spin, I couldn’t knit fast enough to use all the yarn I was producing so I took up weaving. I went on a road trip to visit Bella Head who had a shop and studio in Adelaide and bought a wheel then loom. Bella gave me a little lesson on the wheel but mostly I learned through Interweave and YouTube videos.

How long has your shop Knit Spin Weave been open? Was it always your dream to have a shop?

Knit Spin Weave is in it’s third year. As a teenager I wanted to make my living from knitting but making money from hand knitting wasn’t a very secure income. I ended up going to College and getting a Bachelor of Education. I spent years teaching in the Northern Territory before coming back to South Australia to live. I was a stay at home mum and I took up knitting again, looking for a way to finish something. Raising a family is never something you can finish. Cleaning a house with seven children is never something you can finish. Knitting you can finish and get that satisfaction of completion.As my youngest was growing up and Centrelink were encouraging me to look at my future employment options. I knew I didn’t want to return to teaching. I didn’t have the passion, time and energy to devote to the children I would teach, so I started to think about my options. I took up a part time job which wasn’t an ideal fit and ended up with an emotional breakdown. My confidence of returning back to the workforce was severely shaken. My self worth plummeted and I had a mental crisis. About the same time, Peter my husband came out of work, Peter got shingles and a family member was diagnosed with breast cancer and we had a fire that destroyed our shed. Life just didn’t seem to be worth it anymore. I was pretty much rock bottom. The good part about being rock bottom is there is only one thing left to do and that is change.
The idea of the shop came from the ashes of my life. I was sitting in the studio and Peter came in and told me the insurance were paying us out in cash. He said, you can have half, what do you want to do with it? From nowhere the idea came, I’m going to open a shop. Even though the tough times I have never regretted that decision.
I know I am in the right place for me. I knew it as soon as I had taught my first customer/ friend to crochet and she told me about how tough life was for her at present. As she left I knew I had done something good that would make a difference in another persons life. Being creative is so important to us as human beings. I really think we need to do it for our mental well-being.

You have what many people today would consider a large family. Do you find it hard to balance business and family? Do you have any coping mechanisms to share?

Yes, it is hard to balance. I often feel selfish in having followed my dream. I especially feel guilty about my two youngest as I haven’t spent the time with them that I did with my older children. Peter is now the stay at home parent. He does the main part of the parenting. He’s the one the kids turn to for a hug and tell their troubles too. At times I feel resentful but I try to remember I had the privilege of that with the older children and it’s now Peters turn.The biggest thing I have learned is to let others help. My older children all care for the younger ones. My 16 year old son takes days off school to care for his 11 year old autistic brother. The older children all pitch in. I’m very proud of all of them. I feel incredibly blessed by the wonderful people my children are.

What are your favourite fibres to use and why?

Wool is my favourite. I love the feel of it even the strong wools. I love spinning it from raw fibre or from prepared fibre. It’s so forgiving to weave and knit with.

What single item do you seem to make the most of?

Shawls. I love knitting lace shawls. I don’t wear them. I have a rather large stash of them which made me ban myself from knitting any more. Knitting lace is mindfulness for me. When I knit lace I have to focus, I can’t let the monkey mind play or at the end of the row I am punished by the pattern being out.

There are a variety of classes running at Knit Spin Weave. Do you run the classes yourself? Do you find that your students inspire you?

I run the classes myself. I don’t have enough income to pay anyone else, plus I love teaching. I love guiding others to learn and being part of their journey. It’s a huge privilege to be someones first knitting teacher. We can all remember the person who taught us to knit.

What are your hopes and plans for the future of your business?

My goal right now is just to pay myself. After that I do dream of opening a second shop in Adelaide as the kids get a bit older and start moving to the city for higher education. The online shop is something I got dragged to kicking and screaming but it does pay the bills. I try to limit my time online as it cuts into my creative time.

Being based in South Australia, what is one of your favourite places to visit?

Bundaleer Forest. I love the peace of it. When I need to get away from it all I head out there and walk under the Maples. I take my small frame looms out there and sit and weave. Weaving on small looms is like adult colouring books for me. No one really gets to see them, they don’t really have a purpose or use. They are just pure mindfulness, meditation and connection to a higher being for me.”

Thank you for sharing with us Tracy, I’m sure this interview will be an inspiration to many!

You can find the Knit Spin Weave shop at:

Shop 5/266 Main North Road, Clare 5453

There is also an online shop here

And a Facebook page here.

So, how about you? Have you ever dreamed of owning a yarn shop? Or perhaps another creative business? Let me know about it by leaving a comment, I would love to hear what your dream is!

Great rigid heddle weaving books!

by Kelly 10 Comments

My last post detailed some of my favourite books for 4 shafts or more, but today I’d like to talk about some great rigid heddle books.

I already have a video on this topic, but I know some people prefer to read rather than watch, plus I’ve added some extra books to the original list, so here we go!

*This post contains affiliate links.

I’ll start with my favourite and most used book, in fact, this is the first rigid heddle weaving book I bought.

The Weaver’s Idea Book by Jane Patrick This book has so much content and is great for beginners. It allows you to start with the basics and build as you go. Just about everything you need to know initially is contained within these pages and I think of it a little like a training ground for new weavers. It is also hardcover with spiral binding, making it easy to lay flat and view while you’re weaving. Highly recommended!

Weaving made Easy by Liz Gipson. A lovely little book that includes information on loom set up. The projects are simple enough for beginners and interesting enough for all weavers.

Woven to Wear by Marilyn Murphy. I also read this book as a newer weaver and loved how it stirred my imagination. It contains simple garments with lots of plain weave, making it great for beginners, particularly those wanting to get a taste for sewing with your handwoven. The sewing projects are simple rather than finicky, with the use of large shapes instead of small pieces.

Inventive Weaving on a Little Loom by Syne Mitchell This book is awesome value for beginners to intermediate with lots of ideas. For the newer weaver, there is practical information and plenty of inspiration for once you have the basics down. I think of this book as one that you may not fully appreciate until you have some more weaving experience, perhaps a book that will grow with you through your weaving journey. Towards the middle and later part of the book are projects and ideas that may be too challenging for a new weaver, but that an enthusiastic and curious weaver will definitely want to make use of later on. There is a lot of information, it is attractively set out and a joy to flip through.

Weave, Knit, Wear by Judith Shangold This book is responsible for opening my eyes and quickening my heart over the range of possibilities with a rigid heddle loom and garment making. Judith uses mostly plain weave, colour and design to make fabric look special. She includes design layouts and illustrations to help you wrap your head around how garments can be constructed. What I really love about this book is the fusion of weaving, knitting and crochet added in. It really has encouraged me to think outside the square and maximise my rigid heddle loom.

Simple Woven Garments by Sara Goldberg Another really great book on making simple garments with simple, colourful, hand woven cloth. There are more than 20 projects and they are all wearable! There are also details on adjusting garments to your own specifications.

I had to come back and edit this post to include Debby Greenlaw’s new book Krokbragd: How to Design and Weave. I actually like this book so much that I wrote a review for it here, so pop over and read that if it sounds like a book you would be interested in.

To see all my book recommendations is one easy to access place, visit my Amazon Shop.

If you would like to watch this post in video format please click on the video below.

I hope you enjoyed my list!

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

Where it all started (long post!)

by Kelly 19 Comments

My 3 year Youtube channel anniversary came and went without my noticing back in August. I was looking through my list of 159 (!!) videos tonight and noted the date of my first video, way back in 2015.

While these years have flown so fast and so much has happened since I hesitatingly uploaded that first video, I thought it a good time to reflect and share a bit more of my journey with you, particularly if you have only found me recently.

Some of you have been with me almost since that first video, and I believe that I have most to thank you for. It is the first viewers who encouraged me to make more videos, who threw amazing compliments in my direction, and who have shown me so much love these past 3 years.

So, lets go way back to the beginning. Before weaving, I had many, many crafts under my belt.

One of them was knitting, which I used to indulge in a great deal until a painful shoulder Repetitive Strain Injury reared it’s ugly head and left me just a “sometimes knitter”. Anyway, I had learned an immense amount of helpful knitting techniques from kind people on Youtube.

When I had been weaving for some time and was really excited about what I was doing and learning (still am!) I had the idea of contributing to the Youtube craft community by sharing a little of what I knew. I borrowed my son’s little camcorder, and, with pretty poor visual and even worse audio, I recorded a Waffle Weave on a rigid heddle loom video. This is an updated version:

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuhY5e1X4-k[/embedyt]

I didn’t expect that many people would watch it, and that was fine by me, I just wanted to share with anyone who may be interested. It wasn’t long before I started getting comments and very positive feedback. People were asking me to make more videos and I couldn’t believe it.

Me? Introverted, dull as dishwater housewife me? I was pretty astounded at the response!

I made some more videos and I discovered something about myself. I loved teaching! I had taught my kids at home for a long time (my oldest homeschooler is now 20!), but this was teaching adults something I was really passionate about and I wanted to keep doing that!

As I made the videos, the cost of materials started adding up and I had no job or real income at this time. Youtube had a “paid channels” feature and so, I started one. I charged roughly $2 per person, per month and this enabled me to keep going because people joined and paid.

In my “spare time” I started putting together some weaving designs to sell in my Etsy shop. I now have many designs, and once again, I’ve been amazed at the response. I also love designing and look forward to continuing doing that.

Back to Youtube, where it was abruptly announced that the paid channel platform was closing. This left me with a quandary – should I try to find another platform or is this a sign that I should close down. Well, my students came to my rescue and begged me to continue.

A short time later, I found a great hosting platform – Teachable and have been with them ever since. Youtube closing the paid channels was a HUGE blessing in so many ways and has allowed to go forward in ways I could not have imagined. If you haven’t seen my Online Weaving School, please check it out to see what I’m talking about!

I now have 61 classes available, including my first floor loom course. Being on a professional platform has challenged me to do better and construct my classes to give students an optimal learning experience. I must be doing something right, because the school continues to grow and I continue to get awesome feedback.

All of this has been made possible because people like you support me in so many ways. You support me with your enthusiasm for weaving and learning. You support me financially, which allows me to continue to grow this little business. You support me on a personal level with your kind messages and many prayers over the years.

A topic that is often discussed in business circles is “success”. Success to many, seems to be when you reach 6 figures, as though there is some magic monetary value that means you have made it.

I earn a living (maybe not a lavish one by the opinion of many, but it helps to feed and clothe my family!), I get to do what I absolutely love, and I’m surrounded by wonderful, supportive people.
Am I successful? Heck, yeah!

I want to thank you all for making this happen. I had no idea that I was capable of running a business that began with a hobby and a passion. My hope is that I can continue to do this for the rest of my life, and with all the plans and ideas I have for my online school for the future, I shouldn’t have too much trouble achieving that goal!

God has blessed me abundantly through this venture, I pray He blesses you too!