News

Holly Berry Placemats This month we are going to learn about weaving a weft dominant weave structure.   Weft dominant weaving provides a solid, sturdy fabric which is great for weaving placemats, runners, bags and anything that needs to have body and structure. This is easily accomplished by choosing a thinner warp and combining it with a thicker weft. The weft threads will be dominant in the weaving, but we will still see the warp colors showing through. This technique can also be called weft rib-weave.   Our project this month will be using 8/2 cotton in the warp, while the weft consists of Mop Cotton and 8/2...

Houndstooth and More Color Play! This month we are going to focus on weaving houndstooth with a bit of color play! We had so much fun in October with our "Playing with Color Challenge" that I wasn't quite ready to move on to something completely new. I wanted to bring a new technique to the table, but still have lots of color in our project.  I also wanted to keep things easy, because that's how I like weaving to be.  Easy and quick so that you can relax, have fun, and fit all of your weaving projects into your schedule. With all...

*Trick or Treat Towel Kit* Creating a yarn color palette is exciting but the process can be daunting if you're not sure how to combine colors in weaving.   I have to say that there are no wrong answers when choosing your color palette.  Everyone has their own taste in color and if it looks pleasing to you then I say, go for it! So, with that said, I will continue with some suggestions for success.   Weaving for the season:  I like to call myself a seasonal weaver because I tend to choose colors for my projects by what season we are in.  For example, in...

*Homestyle Plaid Towel Kit* Weaving plaid is so much fun and it’s a great way to make interesting color effect in your handwoven project.  Let's talk about what plaid patterns can be woven on our rigid heddle looms.  The answer to this is.... all the plaids! Quite simply, it is stripes of colors in the warp that are then repeated in the same sequence in the weft. This is also referred to as “tromp as writ” and is a balanced weave. Plaid can be achieved with any number of colors and can also be woven in any sequence. A good way to plan out your warp order is...

Are you ready for weaving with texture challenge?!  Sweet as Pie Towel Kit Through the month of August, we challenge you to weave texture on your rigid heddle looms! We all agree that plain weave can be an exciting weave structure in itself, but wouldn't it be fun to weave texture like we see being accomplished on shaft looms? With this challenge we are going to go a step further, increasing our skill and our loom’s capabilities. Let's start by thinking about what our rigid heddle loom does.  It is basically a 2-shaft loom.  Heddle up is one shed and heddle down is...