# weaving with 4 harness ... I'm doing it!!



## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

I'm soo excited!!!

:buds:

Since the 'craft room' (i.e. my old loom room now shared with (and sometimes Paul) for his leather work) is finally set up and both the H-D T/6 & "J" table loom are set up, I got out Deborah Chandler's book Learning to Weave _Again_, only this time I actually warped the "J" loom and have started weaving on it.

I have read this book so many times the past seven (argh! yes Seven!) years and have applied what I know to a rigid heddle and a couple of 2 harness toy looms, but _now_ I finally warped a four harness loom!

I started with a few inches of tabby and went to a twill (then reversed the twill!!).

I'm only using Peaches & Cream cotton yarn (because I have so many cones of it), but it is turning out pretty okay!

Yes, I took pictures, but I wore down my battery!


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

I reserve my belief of this until photographic evidence is provided.


The enthusiasm lends itself towards truth though.


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## lathermaker (May 7, 2010)

This post is absolutely worthless without PICTURES! ppppppppp


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

C'mon camera battery .... CHARGE!


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

:happy:




















I'm pretty pleased with my ends. The right side is better than the left. 

The twill leaves a l-o-n-g float on the edge ... what can I do about that?? I'd like to be able to weave a tabby on the outer edges ... how do I thread something like that in my heddles??


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## SvenskaFlicka (Nov 2, 2011)

Try threading in a floating selvedge thread along each edge. This thread is caught every single time you pass the weft across, and ties in the edge better.

For a good firm selvedge, use two yarns instead of one for each of the 4 or 8 threads along each edge. It really helps. (So thread the two threads through the same dent in the reed, but through different heddles on the same harness.)


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## SvenskaFlicka (Nov 2, 2011)

P.S. Yay for you!!! It looks awesome!


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

:stars:

How do I thread a floating selvedge thread?? Which heddle on which shaft?? Or does it not go through a heddle and just hangs there?? 

Sweet!

I'm using a 8 dent and threading 1-2 for a sett of 12. (Did I say that correctly??) Set vs sett ... one is a verb, the other a noun.

Learning a whole new vocabulary here!! :thumb:


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## SvenskaFlicka (Nov 2, 2011)

Ooops. A floating selvedge thread goes through the next dent on the reed on each side, but not through any heddles. It just floats. You then always pass your weft over the one on the side you are passing from, and under on the other, or vice versa. Just so your weft always wraps it. It makes a nice edge. I've used it on several things before.


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

I thread the outer four on one side as one/three and the other side as two/four. Makes a basketweave edge, easy and simple!

Looking awesome!!!!


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Yay Cyndi!!! Looking good, keep it up.


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## jd4020 (Feb 24, 2005)

Looks nice Cyndi.
What are you making here? The horse saddle blanket?
jd


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

No, just a sample to learn warping the loom.


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## InHisName (Jan 26, 2006)

So impressed! Keep up the good work!


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

I've taken the sample off the loom. It's about a tea towel size. I still had some warp left, so I tied it back up and made a 10"x10" matching wash cloth.

OH! OH! OH!

I keep you in suspense and post what I was going to say in the FAC thread!


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## Lythrum (Dec 19, 2005)

Congratulations!!


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Photos?.....


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## Rosepath (Feb 18, 2011)

That looks so great, congrats! Nice colors, too


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## Gritty (Nov 26, 2012)

Yay!! I'm so happy for you! I have a leclerc four harness that I've warped exactly once in the past ten years that I've owned it. 
My husband and I both miscalculated and our floor rug ended up being about 2' x 2'. Our cat loved it &#55357;&#56891;. I'm finally considering driving three hours away to a beginning weaving class. My phobia of warping runs deep...


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## rabbitgeek (Mar 22, 2008)

Great start! Bravo!


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## Pearl B (Sep 27, 2008)

MLF, :thumb: way to go!


WIHH









Ive always wanted a loom. I realized that the one I would need would be one of those big ones and those are just to much for me. I wouldnt have any room for it either.


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

Okay, WIHH, I have to tell ya ... it is NOT COMPLICATED.

There are *a lot of pieces* ... but there are only a few things you really have to get your head around, and then the rest is just fiddliness and quantity.

You wind your warp yarn (the strings that will go up and down) around the back beam of the loom so it is stored neatly in a roll. 

Imagine your warp is only four strings, each three yards long. Wind those strings around the back beam, nice and neat so they are all side by side and nicely layered. 

Then you take the first string and thread it through one of the heddles (wire with loops in the centre, attached to pulleys that make them go up and down). Say, for simplicity's sake, we have a four shaft loom - string one goes through the heddle on shaft one. String two goes through the heddle on shaft two, string three on shaft three, string four on shaft four. There, you've now threaded the heddles.

In front of the heddles is thing like a big comb, the reed. Next you thread the four strings through the reed, which keeps them spaced evenly apart: string one, string two, string three, string four. Evenly spread out now in the reed.

Tie the four strings to the front beam and ratchet so it is under tension.

Now when you press down on treadle 1, heddle 1 will lift (ok this actually depends which heddles you've connected to which treadles, but let's just pretend you hooked them up one for one). When you press treadle 2, heddle 2 lifts. Etc.

For a balanced weave you would thread it so that one treadle lifted 1 and 3, and another treadle lifted 2 and 4. Step on the first treadle and the odd threads are lifted, step on the other and the evens are lifted. You put the weft through the opening, beat it in place, switch to the other shed (lift the other heddles/press the other treadle) and pass the weft back through. Over under over under happens for you because of the way the threads are lifted.

Really, that's how you set up a loom. You just have multiple sets of four threads, that's all. 

It's not *complicated*, just fussy.


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## Ana Bluebird (Dec 8, 2002)

A weaver that is camera-talented. What more could I want??? Thanks.


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Hey Cyndi, how's your progress going?


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

Welp, I warped the loom again tonight and made a couple of dish cloths. I'm hunting around for the 'perfect' yarn for Paul's saddle blanket.

I may make up a few Civil War Spanish Moss carbine slings until I find what I'm looking for.

Just got in "Spinning for Weaving" dvd today.


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

I was thinking about that moss and wondering if your going to use that as a weft. Wasn't the original goal to make saddle blankets with it?

Good luck on your search, I'll be watching to see what you do. I'm loving watching all you new weavers.


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

I will use the Spanish moss as both warp and weft. I will make a saddle pad from it. 

(and sometimes Paul) is going to/speaking at a national Civil War instruction event next week (Confederate Cavalry Camp of Instruction). I discovered yesterday during research that carbine slings from Spanish moss were also used. (and sometimes Paul) forges carbine hardware in his blacksmith shop. We thought we would combine efforts and whip out a couple of complete Sp moss carbine slings before the CoI.

My Sp moss resource will be at CoI, so I am getting in a fresh supply of moss!

Pics of yesterday's endeavors fresh off the loom. 

The planned dish cloths:










I had a tremendous amount of warp left (calculated using weavolution ... must have plugged in a wrong number somewhere!) so I took my basket of small bits of handspun and started weaving some more.


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

This is awesome!

It's just amazing how fast it goes, isn't it?


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## Chief Cook (Apr 24, 2011)

Just landed on this thread and even though I have no idea what you are saying, I love what you are making! DH will KILL me if I find one more thing to get in to doing! LOL


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

Once you get the loom dressed, it just breezes by! 

I started & finished a Spanish Moss carbine sling last night. I had a couple of false starts (my heddles could stand up to the strength of the Sp moss and my reed was shredding it).

I warped using just mercerized cotton (0-1-1 in my 8 dent) and used the Sp moss as the weft. I plan on doing one or two more today.

Question for you, Frazzle ... just how do you know when you've reached the length you want so you can start a 2nd piece? Do you unwind it from the front beam and measure??


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

Oh you can unwind it (though sometimes it gets a bit testy putting it back on) but if you are organized, you hook a measuring tape on the end of the work (I use a big paperclip stuck to the edge of the fabric) and let the tape roll up with the work. If the work is longer than your tape or you haven't got a convenient one, use a thick piece of yarn that has a knot at the right length. 

Very cool about the Spanish Moss. I wonder if it might be easier to use a backstrap type loom and string heddles, and then a beating sword ... or if it can tolerate the heddles but not the reed, beat with a sword instead of the reed...?

ETA or get a really big reed.


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

OH! What a wonderful and simple way to measure it!! Thanks!!

For the carbine slings (3.5" x 58"-72") I'll continue to use the mercerized cotton for warp and Spanish moss for the weft.

When I weave the saddle pad, I am thinking I will core spin the moss around the mercerized cotton and twine the pad.

I won't have to get any new equipment so I'll have more $$ for fiber!!

eta ... a beating sword???


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

Finished items:

Dish Cloths ... same number of weft passes. The cloth on the left was the first one (guess I was beating it to death!).










My new table runner.










The Spanish moss carbine sling.


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Nice work Cyndi! Can't wait to see what you do with that Spanish moss.


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

Awesome work!!!

Yes, a sword. Think of a wooden practice sword ... You put it in the open shed then slip it downward to pack the weft. Was used with the warp weighted looms of Iceland etc. 

(Using phone to type!)


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

Cool!! I used a beating sword and didn't even know it!!


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## SvenskaFlicka (Nov 2, 2011)

You have not have proper fun with a weaving sword til you get to chase your little brother around with one while you're both in Viking clothes.

:viking:

(I really need to just bite the bullet and find room for a warp weighted loom...)


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## mtnviewpottery (Feb 15, 2013)

Very nice! I'm impressed!


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

SvenskaFlicka said:


> You have not have proper fun with a weaving sword til you get to chase your little brother around with one while you're both in Viking clothes.
> 
> :viking:


I'll remember to take it the next time I visit FR, but I don't think he'll dress up in Viking clothes!!

(no FR is not a blood relation)


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## romysbaskets (Aug 29, 2009)

How fun and lovely! You are doing great with your loom. I have done some hand work with a homemade little loom in my youth, it has been some time but wow, I can only imagine having a big loom like yours! I love your projects, how inspiring!


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