Rigid Heddle For Fun

Family Day Qualicum Beach

 We ended May with one of our favourite out door events, The Qualicum Beach Family Day Celebration.  Our booth with demonstrations is popular with children and adults.  This year we gave participants a choice of trying their hand at spinning, weaving and braiding.

The small rigid heddle looms in the photo are ideal for this type of event.  They are easy for small hands to manipulate and clearly illustrate the basic principles of weaving.  Rigid heddle looms are not a new invention but they have become very popular in the last 10 years.  They can be quite narrow, almost toy like, as seen above, or they can be wide enough to make a tea towel or shawl.

rigid heddle scarf

  Rigid heddle looms are very versatile.  You can weave elaborate interlacements with one heddle and a pick up stick.  Add a second heddle and you have more flexibility than a 4 harness loom.  Rigid heddle looms are real looms not toys.

They are easier on an aging body.  Dressing the loom does not require you to bend in unnatural positions and climb under the shafts.  The loom can also be angled on a stand to reduce bending while throwing the shuttle.

Plus these looms are portable so you can weave in an RV, on the beach or at a guild meeting (like those knitters in the back row).

ribbon scarf

Many items woven on a rigid heddle feature, texture and colour rather than pattern.  The warping system is perfect for creating a mixed warp that blends different yarns, fibers and colours.  The design challenge is coming up with yarns and colours that play well together.  For an interesting detail you can add weft stripes at the beginning and end of a piece or possibly include a section of hand manipulated lace.     

variegated yarn and weft stripes

  

The studio is busy with interest groups, a pair of studio projects, and a blanket in progress on our big Fanny loom.  We have just finished our latest weaving workshop and the mentored spinning sessions are coming to an end.

recipe workshop

In lieu of a general meeting in June we are planning a pot luck lunch and member to member stash sale on June 24th.  

After that we will have a break from general meetings for July and August but interest groups and open studio days will continue.  Check out " guild events" for more information.

In The Kitchen

home made current scones

 For most families today the kitchen is the heart of the home.  It is a centre of warmth, literally and figuratively.  It is a place to prepare meals and gather informally as a family to share more than just food.

It is often the room that makes or breaks the sale of a house.  In the kitchen, efficiency, and esthetics are both important. 

For weavers, the kitchen is an inspiration to create cloth that is both beautiful and practical.  At some point in their career every hand weaver discovers the joys of hand woven tea towels.  

valentine inspired tea towel

So, what makes a good tea towel?  It must be absorbant and washable.  It should be of a practical size, not so thick that you can't use it to dry the inside of a glass and not so thin that it won't stand up to heavy use.  The colours should not fade with washing.  (The tea towel in the scone photo has been drying dishes for 10 years).  Cotton, linen (or a mix of the two) are the fibers of choice for absorbancy.  

classic twill tea towels

Weave structures that create small skips add to the absorbancy of the cloth.  Twills, huck and basket weave are good choices.  

waffle weave

simple dish cloths

dish cloths

Linda's apron

Dish cloths can be another opportunity to bring some colour and design into the kitchen.  Cotton is the ideal fiber.  Try a weave structure like waffle weave that creates a thick absorbant cloth with deep cells.  Just make sure you allow for the dramatic change in size when you first wash them.

What about dressing up the chef with an apron made from hand woven yardage.  It might be decorating in the extreme but you could match your chef's outfit with your tea towels.  You might want to reserve this special apron for baking rather than making sphagetti sauce.

Meanwhile back in the studio 

making the warp for a studio project

We have added a sunday afternoon open studio day to our schedule of regular events in order to accomodate our members who work during the week.  It takes place from 1 to 4 on the last Sunday of the month.  Drop in with whatever you are working on, borrow a book, pick up some yarn, make a warp, use the large carder or just come for a chat.

The next open studio day will be June 25th because we will be spending the afternoon of May 29th at the Qualcium Beach Family Day event.  The event runs from 1 to 4.  We will be there with our looms and spinning wheels and more.  Come along and try your hand at braiding or just stop by and say hello.