Wednesday!

This weekend I finished off the warp on the Flip. Now I need to cut the warp off the loom, zigzag the dishcloth edges, cut them apart, and then sew hems. I think I'll wait until Saturday to do all of that. :-)

I'm taking today off of walking the hound, as the house is in serious need of decluttering but I hope to get some spinning in later - I really want to get that red roving finished. I just remembered that I have some really soft Polwarth I started spinning quite awhile ago that I would like to get back to, so I need to choose if the next spinning will be the Polwarth, or the Icelandic that I am also in the middle of.

I also did some Spindolyn-spinning this weekend, and let my sisters spin on it too - I think it was a hit. :-D I also frogged the knitted scarf, but didn't have a chance to re-start it yet. My hand is bothering me today, so I probably won't start it again until some time this weekend.

And that's all I have to report today; perhaps I'll have pictures on Saturday. :-)

TGIF!

Yep, I've run out of title ideas. :-) I haven't been weaving this week, but I have been spinning the red wool. Last night's spinning went surprisingly smoothly after having quite a time on Wednesday. There is more roving left than I originally thought so finishing this batch is taking longer than expected. Also I've started setting up a spinning club with a friend, so that has been taking some of my time (who knew it would be so difficult to find a meeting room??). We're thinking about buying a couple of Babe Production Pedal Pushers as extra wheels for us and to use as 'spares' for the club, in case someone drops by one of our meetings and wants to try spinning. They are inexpensive, it looks like they use the same bobbins as my Production wheel, and I hear the pedal pusher part gives your legs a little bit of a circulation boost and exercise - and we can all use a bit more exercise. :-)

I will be weaving on the Flip this weekend, finishing off the warp with one last dishcloth color experiment. And I'll be doing a little Spindolyn-ing, and I think I'm going to frog the herringbone scarf and start over with a larger needle - I think it will look better. I hate the thought of frogging it, but I'm also not happy with how it's twisting. I hope a looser knit will kind of straighten it out some.

Have a safe weekend, everyone!

The promised pictures...

I thought about taking the camera with me on the demo, but I was afraid I would lose it so no pics of us 'in action'. But here are some pictures anyway. First - it's that time of year here:Beautiful! I love peonies!


Here is all my stuff packed and ready to be loaded. I have my wheel, my chair, the loom stand, the loom with extra yarn (and the instructions!), the Spindolyn with it's fiber; two different batches of roving for the wheel, an extra bobbin, a rug I made on the tying frame, and my sunscreen and soda. Boss Dog is supervising (she's very helpful that way).

And there's plenty of room:

I was easily able to carry/roll this to the demo site with no problem. Though the Flip is on the heavy side, it's not that heavy, and the shoulder strap on the bag made it much easier.

I did this much spinning between weaving bouts at the demo:
As you might be able to see - there isn't all that much left of the roving so I may be able to make short work of this. I will probably ply it as I like a bit thicker yarn. I am liking the color, even if the spinning is giving me some minor fits. :-)

No crafting tonight; I'm way too tired. I plan to do some spinning tomorrow though, so I can finish this red up and get to the Icelandic. I also need to skein the alpaca and wash it - perhaps I can get that done tomorrow as well.

Time sure flies...

I meant to do a post with pictures for the past two days, but never quite got to it. So this morning I have a picture-less post, and I'll try to post a few pictures (none of the demo, though) tonight.

The demo was fun, and I got a lot done. Many people were interested in my spinning wheel because it's pvc. A lot of people were looking for portable wheels, which everyone who was spinning brought - a Gem, a Joy, and... shoot, I don't remember what the other one was - a Louet? Nope, it was a Lendrum. I was surprised at how large the Lendrum looked between the Gem and the Joy. I decided to spin a ball of red space-dyed (I think) roving that I picked up at the spin-in last fall. Luckily I unrolled it the night before, as I spent several hours picking out a bunch of v-m. :-( It was a tough spin too - I don't know if it was the dye used or my lack of experience with this unindentifiable wool, but it seemed to stick together and I had a time trying to draft it. That said, the spinning went pretty quickly so I'll be done with this soon, and then I need to go back and finish up the Icelandic.

People were also interested in the Flip. There was a Baby Wolf there, which attracted a lot of attention, but especially kids (maybe around 10-ish? I'm awful at judging kids' ages) were really interested in the Flip and the dishcloth project. Perhaps because I was doing color experiments and this pattern looks different when you change anything in the weft. I think it really helped that one shed is one color of warp, and the other is two different colors so it was easier to see the difference moving the heddle up and down made. I was really surprised by how interested a young boy was - he thought the color changes were "COOL!" and watched me for a little while. I can see the end of the warp already, but I think there is room for one more dishcloth which I'm saving to weave until this weekend when I go to visit the family for the holiday. I think for next year's event I'll try to figure out a way to do a plaid with worsted cotton, so it will be even easier to see what I'm doing.

The guild members were also interested in the Flip and the Spindolyn - they had never seen either and were impressed with how easy it was to fold the Flip and the relatively-small bag it fits into, the attractive yet simple pattern (thank you Betsey!), and how long the Spindolyn spins. I was getting a pretty good thread on the Spindolyn as well, though my cop-winding needs a lot of work. They were also impressed by the home-made RH stand, which worked well even with the uneven ground. I do need to change the top attachment to slots like the Harp stand, as it will be a lot easier to put the loom on the stand that way.

Pictures later!

Another quick update...

This loom stand:
is what we've been working on the past couple of evenings (though not very hard, plus I needed more hardware, which is why it has taken us two evenings). This is the stand DH originally built for my RH looms; it was to be adjustable enough that it would work with all the different sizes except the Hearthside. As it turned out, it didn't seem quite steady enough for the Harp, so I ended up ordering the Kromski stand - at least this way we would know how a stand is supposed to work. The pictures online certainly don't give you much for clues!

Anyway, it worked ok for the Mattel loom, even using just clamps (I didn't want to drill holes in the Mattel loom). And then the Flip came. And the spinning/weaving demo this weekend. I thought I would take both the Babe and the Flip, so I needed a stand. The Flip's stand-holes are way back towards the warp beam, and way up front by the cloth beam, and there was no way the homemade stand would work without re-designing it unless I wanted to sit on the floor, so...


Voilà! The redesigned stand. We (really, 'he') added adjustable arms, plus an adjustable brace at the bottom so I can still use the Mattel loom on it. It's a bit short for me the way the Flip fits on it, but it works well enough for a temporary stand at least. After the weekend I may or may not add some height to it. I also want to drill some holes for pegs to hang my tools on the stand - I love that about the Harp stand. I might add a bar across the bottom in the back with upright pegs to hold cones or balls of yarn. This stand's design will probably be a work-in-progress for some time. :-)

Speaking of cones of yarn - the order I placed with Elmore-Pisgah for Peaches & Cream yarn Sunday night? IT'S HERE ALREADY. Is that awesome or what?! I am so buying from them again. Now if only they did carpet warp....

Tomorrow night I need to start the Icelandic roving on the Babe and card some wool for the Spindolyn for the demo, wind off the cop and start another (starting is the hardest part for me). And I need to gather the weaving materials I might need, and get further along on the current dishcloth so it actually looks like something. And then take the Flip off the stand and fold it and take the stand apart and see how much I can fit on my 'hand truck'. It's like those suitcase carts you see people pulling their luggage after them at airports, but mine is sturdier (though it could use bigger wheels for 'off-roading'). Last year I was able to get my chair, Babe and fiber all packed onto the handtruck; I might have to make two trips this year though.

The promised pictures...

It's a short post - it's past my bedtime!

The red bobbins are the plied alpaca; the white bobbin is what I have left over.

(click to enlarge a little bit)

The Spindolyn spinning is improving - you can see some of the bad stuff towards the top of the cop (which appears to be about full), but my spinning is getting much more even as seen towards the bottom.

The beginning of the towels on the Harp. I either need to beat the fell line a bit harder or I have a slightly-loose warp string - can you see it?


I also made a mistake in measuring the warp - I measured the amount I needed for the actual towels, and did not include the waste and shrinkage allowances though I had done all the math on my planning sheet. And I did it BOTH TIMES I warped the Harp. SIGH.


The same pattern on the Flip (though much harder to see, as I was too lazy to move it to where I could take a better picture).



I decided I wanted to make a set of these in yellows - do you know how hard it is to find yellow coned worsted cotton??? The only site I found yellow Sugar'n Cream on a cone was eBay. BUT - I discovered that Elmore Pisgah is now selling Peaches & Cream directly. I placed an order yesterday (Sunday) and it was shipped today! I also asked a question in the course of placing the order, and had a response within a few hours. It is coming from Canada, so it might take a little bit longer, but as fast as they shipped it the difference will probably be negligible. Coned P&C appears to come in ALL the colors the balls of P&C come in, unlike S'nC, so I am very happy to have discovered this. And the prices are outstanding - $ 6.64 per cone! Sure can't get it for that here - when you can actually get it here. (And no, I didn't drop out of the Knit From Your Stash plan - these are intended as gifts.) Once I get my cotton stash down further I'll be ordering from them again!

A spinning update...

I finished the plying Saturday (YAY!) - I have a little bit left on one bobbin that I'm going to wait to ply (and I need to remember to tag that bobbin with what's on it). I'm thinking of using this yarn for a Wool Peddler's Shawl from Stahman's Shawls & Scarves, but I'll have to wait to measure how much yarn I really have before deciding for sure. I still need to skein it up and wash and set the twist, so it could shrink up a bit (and hopefully it will look better).

I played with the Spindolyn yesterday in the car, and though my fiber prep left a lot to be desired, I was getting a relatively-even thread, though finer than I prefer, after a little bit so I must be getting the hang of it. It goes slowly, but I am enjoying it.

No weaving this weekend, except for a few minutes Saturday morning when I was comparing the Harp & the Flip.

I hope to post pictures tonight.

Harp vs. Flip - my opinion

On a weaving list I was asked for my opinion regarding the Kromski Harp vs. the Schacht Flip. Since I have nothing to show for this week (and I'm going to be plying the rest of the day), I decided to use my answer for today's post. Some of it I covered last weekend, but here is my post, in a (really large) nutshell:

Here are my impressions of the two looms (with probably too much detail ). Keep in mind that I am a very inexperienced weaver - I'm on my third project on the Harp, and first on the Flip; the looms are different sizes (Harp - 24", Flip - 15"); and I'm a visual learner. I have all the heddles for the Harp (8, 10, 12) but have only used the 10 so far, and the 8-dent heddle for the Flip.

Out of the box:

The Flip wins for being the easiest and fastest to put together. All you need to do is unfold the Flip and attach the apron rods - about 5 minutes for Ms. FumbleFingers here. (I also like that you get to pick which heddle you get when you order.) You get a warping peg, two shuttles, a heddle hook, a pair of loom clamps, and an instruction booklet.

The Harp is unassembled, but comes with excellent instructions with drawings, and IIRC it took me about an hour or less; you do need a screwdriver. You also need to 'assemble' the apron strings - the Flip has the laddered kind that you just thread the ends through; the Harp has the kind you have to melt to stick together. You get a warping peg, two shuttles, a pickup stick, a heddle hook, a pair of loom clamps, a bunch of pegs for the warping board, and an instruction booklet and video.

Included instructions:

The Flip's instructions leave a lot to be desired - it is a small 10-page booklet that, had I started with a Flip instead of a Harp, I would've had a lot more difficulty learning to weave. It does list some books, magazines, and websites.

The Harp wins here. Its booklet is downloadable in color from the Kromski site (which you might want to do so you can make the pictures bigger), and includes instructions for a first project. The video mostly covers their spinning wheels, but the rest of it covers warping, using the warping board, how to use the heddle, and IIRC it starts you on the project in the booklet.

Sturdiness:

At first glance, the Flip is more robust and sturdy-looking; the Harp is more refined and 'stylish'. The Harp seems to be just as strong, however; at least the way I've used it. I would guess that in equivalent sizes the Flip would weigh more. The Flip isn't ugly by any stretch of the imagination, but the Harp is definitely more attractive and something I wouldn't mind leaving out for company to see.

Warping:

The Harp comes with a built-in warping board, which is quite handy if you don't have one already. You can use the Harp as a warping board with a project on the loom, though I haven't done that.

One thing I really like about the Flip is that the heddle holes - at least on the 8-dent heddle - are elongated and the heddle hook has a decently-sized hook. The Harp's holes & hooks are smaller, and it's not easy to thread Sugar & Cream yarn though a 10-dent heddle hole. The Harp 8-dent heddle holes did not look any larger.

Heddles:

The heddle stability is about the same on both. I have trouble with the Harp's heddle falling off the upshed slots, unless my warp is pretty tight, but that's because I like to weave with my loom at about a 45 degree angle. If you weave at a flatter angle you shouldn't have a problem. The Harp's heddle is very secure in the downshed and neutral positions. The Flip is more stable in the upshed than the Harp, but it just hooks under the heddle blocks in the downshed position.

The good news is the less-expensive Ashford heddles fit both looms. I've been told you might have to trim the wood a bit for the Harp, though I have no personal experience; but it fits fine on the Flip though a bit wobbly.

As to the Flip being already set up for using two heddles - not so much, IMO. There is a neutral position slot for a second heddle; there also appears to be another neutral slot a ways behind that, but no upshed and I'm not sure how you are supposed to do the downshed. I haven't figured out how two-heddle weaving would work with it, and the booklet doesn't even *mention* two-heddle weaving, which has been one of it's selling points. (Disclaimer: I haven't tried multiple-heddle weaving yet so I might not be seeing how it works with the Flip, and I haven't checked their website yet.)

Weaving:

They both have close to the same size shed - the Harp might be ever-so-slightly larger (on the order of a quarter-inch, which could well be a measuring error). The Harp does have a little more usable working area in front of the heddle, by about an inch. Moving the Harp's heddle into the different positions can be a bit fiddly until you get used to it.

The pawls & ratchets are slightly different, but seem to work equally well. They are all made of nylon. I have trouble reaching the warp beam pawl and ratchet on the Flip to advance the warp, but I have short arms.

One thing I really don't like about the Flip is that it only has knobs on the right side. The Harp has them on both sides, and it is so much easier to advance the warp (for me) using opposite sides.

Folding:

Both of the looms will fold in half with a warp on them, though I haven't done it with the Harp yet.

The Flip is basically two pieces attached in the middle by the black T-knob. It will fold flatter than the Harp because the back is narrower than the front, so it folds inside of itself. The black T-knob allows you to fold the loom, and the 'lock knobs' (basically a screw with a plastic knob on it) lock it in the open position. I was able to find a tote at Hobby Lobby (in the art section) that fits the Flip well enough, though it sticks out a bit, and for a lot less than a Harp bag costs (I keep thinking I'm going to weave one, but haven't gotten around to it yet).

The Harp looks like it is one piece that was cut in the middle and hinged. It uses swing hinges, and I sometimes pinch my fingers when I'm folding the loom halfway (while on the stand, you can't fold it all the way but you can drop the front down). They don't really secure - they just catch on the 'bolt' on the side. The good thing is they are permanently attached; the Flip's lock knobs at least could easily be lost as they come completely out.

My conclusion:

Over all, they are both good looms, but if I had it to do over again I would buy another Harp instead of a Flip, as IMO the Flip isn’t worth the extra money. I still have time to return it for exchange or refund, but I haven't decided if it's worth the aggravation of shipping it back or not (plus I’d have to take the current warp off).

Regarding the stands - I have the Harp stand but not the Schacht, so I didn't cover those but I imagine they are both pretty equal. The Harp stand is lightweight - I have to keep my feet on it when I beat the fell line, but it is styled like the Harp, plus it has holes in several places where you can put the warp pegs (I put some on the arms to hold my tools) so it also is attractive and quite functional.


I don't want to put anyone off the Flip if they have their heart set on it; it's a perfectly good loom. And, each loom has its good points and bad points. I just happen to prefer the Harp.

Oops!

I forgot to post yesterday - but you didn't miss anything as I had nothing to report.

Last night was spent plying; I'm still not very impressed with how it's turning out but a good part of that might be that the singles aren't as well-spun as I thought; I'm seeing parts that are very loosely-spun, and of course parts that are really thin. I need more practice. Good thing I have a roomfull of fiber!

I plan to start weaving the towels on the Harp tonight, if I don't get sidetracked by plying again.

The Sunday Dishcloth Edition...

Of course I forgot to take a picture of dishcloth number 2 before I wound it on the cloth beam, but here is what I can show you:


This was two picks of each color (white & blue) - you don't have to pay as much attention to this as you do with the one-each. With one-each, you need to remember to 'catch' the first warp thread, so you have to watch what you're doing.


Here is number two - with 3 colors one pick each:


It's hard to see, but the third color is a pale yellow. It doesn't show up in the pictures too well, but it looks nice in person. I do prefer the all-blue, probably because blue is my favorite color.

And here is #1, #2, and #3 close-up (of varying picture quality - I'm not sure why #1 looks so much more blue).




I'm using the cut-off warp from the first Harp warping attempt for weft on these, and using the russian-join instead of overlapping them as weavers usually do (there would be an awful lot of overlapping in each piece otherwise). It's not very obvious so far, and these are just dishcloths anyway. I'll probably be learning how to hem these with the sewing machine; though I did hemstitch the bottom of the first cloth, I can't imagine how that would hold up to anything. From what I can see so far, hemstitching makes a nice base for fringe, but it's not really a hem. I'm also trying out old venetian blind slats for spacers - they seem to work ok, but so far I'm only using one at a time since I'll be sewing hems instead of doing fringe, so I don't need so much space between each cloth/towel.

It looks like I have plenty of warp, so I'll stop and think about whether I want to do more combinations (if I can think of them - I'm not very outside-the-box creative-wise). Actually I probably should be doing housework thinking about them - I've been busy playing with the loom all weekend. :-) And it's looking like I might need to buy more weft yarn - I'll have to check my stash, but the blue is looking kind of low (and I started with a cone!). I think I would like doing these cloths in yellows as well, but I don't think I have any yellow carpet warp for warping, and probably not enough yellow Peaches & Cream either.

I also need to get started on the Harp's weaving, but I sure am enjoying this small project (I might be tired of it by the time I get to the end of the warp though!).

A quick update

since I was lazy and frittered the morning away. I have started the dishcloths on the Flip - the first one is finished in fact. Here are pics of it in progress:

I really like how this is turning out, although I have to think a little more than usual for plain weave. This is the back (I don't know why this pic has a sepia-like tone):


And this is the bag I picked up at Hobby Lobby. It's called a "Seminar Tote", and though the Flip sticks out a couple of inches I think it will be sufficient, especially since it has a shoulder strap. It has a bit of padding, plus some pockets (which of course aren't the right size for anything).

I might do some color experiments on these dishcloths as well, since they are going relatively fast (about an hour and a half to two hours each with interruptions and watching TV). Right now I'm doing one pick of blue, then one pick of white. Next I'm going to see what two picks per color looks like, and I may end up adding a third color on the third cloth if I can find a complimentary color in my stash. This is fun!


A Preliminary Flip Review:

So far, the Flip isn't uncomfortable to use, but I really wish there were knobs on both sides of the beams, instead of just on the right. Also, it's a bit long for my taste, but then I have short arms so it might just be me. I do like how compactly it folds; I'm not sure how it would compare to a folded 16" Harp with a warp on it. I'm using it propped up against a table, and it seems to work ok that way. At this point though, I'm not seeing any advantage to the Flip over the Harp. One drawback of the Flip is the limited instructions you get with it - that could be a problem for new weavers. The Harp comes with better instructions plus a video - a huge help to us visual learners.

Though the jury is still out on whether I will return the Flip for a Harp, if I had it to do over again I would buy a Harp instead - they are less expensive, more attractive, and I like the knobs better. Being already set up for two heddles isn't that big of a deal for me, as I'm sure DH can make up some heddle blocks that will work on the Harp for me when and if I decide to use two or more heddles. I do like the heddle hook a lot, but it won't work in the Harp's heddle holes so it's use is limited. I like the Flip's warping peg better too, but I can easily make something similar. The Ashford heddles fit both looms, so that's not a consideration. Hopefully I'll get this warp finished off before I have to decide for sure, and I'll be weaving the towels on the Harp at the same time to get a better of idea of what works better for me.

Pet Food Recall

Though I tend to stick with fibery things, I wanted to bring your attention to the new Pet Food Recall button I added to the sidebar of the blog. This will take you to the latest information regarding pet foods recalls.

The pet food recall is expanding EVERY DAY, for both dogs and cats, and wet and dry foods (and it includes treats as well). Yesterday the FDA said that up to 8500 pets may have died from bad food (up from yesterday's report of 4000). It is outrageous that ingredients in our pets' foods were not tested for safety first, and that the company that knew there was a problem delayed reporting it.

Please write your congresscritters regarding this; Senator Durbin of Illinois has added an amendment to the FDA's budget appropriation regarding food safety - please let your representatives know you support this. Informational link here.

Thank you!

Short update...

I've threaded the Harp heddle (correctly, I hope!), but didn't tie on the cloth beam yet.

Last night I decided I'd better continue plying the alpaca, as I need to get that project finished since I am supposed to be demo'ing spinning in a couple of weeks and I want to be doing something I don't have to pay too much attention to. (I think it's too funny that I am demonstrating spinning! LOL)

I did this last year and it was a blast! It was the first time I had gotten together with a bunch of other fiber people to craft, and they were so nice (I really need to join that guild, but they are not local to me so I keep putting it off). Since it was a fiber-craft demo, not just spinning, I got to see a bunch of different looms (though no rigid heddles, of course), and someone was using a drop spindle. My friend brought her Ashford Traditional and we were the only two wheel-spinning - my Babe was a BIG attention-getter. I'm thinking of taking the Spindolyn too.

Anyway, I'm about halfway through the alpaca. I'll probably tie-on on the Harp tonight, and then ply some more tomorrow night. I plan to get started on the Flip Saturday, if not sooner, as I have 30 days to return it if it's uncomfortable for me to use (that darn back problem). So far I like it, though how much of that is just that it is narrower I can't say. I even found a 'tote bag' at Hobby Lobby (in the art portofolios section) to carry it in (hmm... I could take the Flip to the demo...). It doesn't fit perfectly, but well enough. I'm going to have to do something with the loom stand too, to make it work for the Flip.

Pics on Saturday!

A sleying we will go...

Sunday night I sleyed the Flip - wow was it nice to work on a narrower loom! I really like the large holes in the 8-dent heddle as well - it was quite easy to get the worsted weight Sugar n' Cream through the heddle holes. (Not having seen the 10-dent heddle, I don't know if the holes are large in that one as well; but judging by the size of the heddle hook I would imagine they are.)

Last night I started sleying the Harp. I'm struggling getting the Sugar n'Cream through the much-smaller holes on the Harp heddle, so this is taking awhile. I only have a third of it sleyed, because of: the small hole-size; I'm having trouble seeing what I'm doing (I really need new glasses and I'm sleying the Harp on the stand - I think it's too high); and I found a warping mistake - I missed a slot. So I'll have to measure out a piece of carpet warp and attach a weight to it so that the weight hangs off the back of the warp beam.

I'm itching to get to weaving, but tonight I'll split my time between putting the header on the Flip and continuing sleying on the Harp. Maybe I'll even throw a couple of picks on the Mattel loom!