Sunday, June 14, 2026

Winter Leaves: Sample #3

 Woven with a lighter weight weft.


Warp: 8/2 cottons in four colors
Weft: 8/2 cotton in white
Sett: 20 e.p.i.
PPI: 28

Initially, I thought the pattern might be less pronounced with the same weight weft as warp. But I think it works nicely.

Out of curiosity, I grabbed a hand mirror to take a peek at the underside. 

Sample #3 on top, sample #2 (heavier weft) on bottom.

And if I turn the photo upside down?

Flipped, sample #2 is on the top and #3 is on the bottom.

I think I may have found my leaves. 

Thursday, June 11, 2026

Winter Leaves: Sample #2

Sample #2

Yarns are cotton.
Warp is in 8/2s.
Weft is 6/2.
Sett is 20 e.p.i.

The difference between this sample and the first one is the beat. Sample #1 was beat with an open shed, sample #2 with a closed shed. I'm experimenting because with my table loom, the open shed beat makes for a better structure. On this loom, the opposite is true. Every loom is different. 

Picks per inch here is 28.

The warp colors blend nicely to a wintry leaf brown. Closeup, the 4 warp colors can be picked out.


Combined with the white weft I think it works well for winter leaves.

I like the pattern but I still have the same question - does it look like leaves?

Wednesday, June 10, 2026

Winter Leaves: Sample #1


Four inches of my first leaf motif color scheme (winter) woven. I'm experimenting with the beat and the rhythm of the treadling.  On my my table loom, I beat the weft shot with an open shed because it looks better. For this sample, beating with the shed open gave me 13 picks per inch 

I can kind of see leaves. Maybe they are upside down? I'll try a firmer beat next.

Yarns are cotton.
Warp is in 8/2s.
Weft is 6/2.
Sett is 20 e.p.i.

Sunday, June 07, 2026

At Last


 Threaded, tensioned, and header woven! I'm finally ready to test weft yarns.

At Last © 2026 by Leigh

Thursday, June 04, 2026

How To Make a Repair (Replacement) Heddle on a Glimakra Loom

 At last, I tied up the treadles for the new leaf motif draft and was ready to weave my header. Lo and behold, I had another threading error! I honestly think part of the problem is my bifocals. Even with progressive lenses, it's difficult to get that sweet spot for several activities, such as heddle threading and painting ceilings. I even have trouble viewing my computer screen comfortably. 

I had skipped a heddle, so I searched about for how to add another heddle in the middle of the shaft. I ran across this video by Underwood Textile Arts. I'm embedding it here, for future reference! 


EDIT to add a link to Peggy Osterkamp's latest blog post, Repair Heddles: New (to me) Methods. It looks like another easy method for adding Texsolv heddles.