First Inkle is Complete in Varigated Green

First Inkle weaving is off the loom.

I used some"junk" yarn from my stash.  It's a chenille in variegated greens.
I still think it was a good choice for a first inkle where I could concentrate on the weaving and  rhythm and tension, and the yarn did all the color work.


 This is to show how much open fiber was left when I couldn't weave anymore.

I can't really call this loom waste, because it wasn't really wasted-- if you cut in the middle, you can use the remainder for braid or tassled ends.  In fact, I was surprised at how little was wasted.


You can also see how much take-up the the up-and-down of weaving takes up. The knob on the left was set in the middle of the slot when I started.  By the end of the weaving, it was as far right as it could go.

 
The most I could get on my inkle loom for warp was 110 inches.
I ended up with an inkle that was XX inches long.

 
Finished off with tassles.
I tried braiding the ends first, but I much prefer the tassles treatment.

This first inkle was a practice piece.
I knew I would need to work on finding the right tension.
In the photo above, the bit at the top is how things started out -- wide and sloppy.
It's the very same warp, with the same yarn, same number of strings, but by the end, I had it figured out, and things are nice and tidy by the finish.  It's considerably narrower, too.


Here they are laid on top of each other, and you can see the overhang at the beginning.
I probably should have taken that out, shortened it and started it further up, but I do see some value in keeping these practice pieces around, if only to show how far I've come -- how much I've learned -- and what NOT to do in future.

Inkle Loom Weaving : First Attempts

 

 Almost ready to go!

Setting up the Inkle Loom for Weaving.

The last post had a couple of videos to demonstrate how to set up the loom for weaving. 

The first thing to do is to make some string heddles.

Here I am using some cotton rug warp because I have it on hand, and I know it's stable and strong.  

Once the heddles are ready, you can begin running the warp, one strand at a time.

Every other string gets a heddle.  

This appears to be the most I can put on this loom.  If I wanted a longer warp, I could ask my husband to add more pegs and do a longer zig-zag.  One run around the pegs = about 110 inches -- which is longer than I expected!    Keep in mind, you'll lose a certain amount to loom waste (12 inches maybe?)

I am using a verigated green acrylic chenille-like yarn.

One of the videos I saw on You Tube said varigated yarns add interest if you're just doing plane weave.  And the acrylic stays stable, doesn't stretch or distort.  Just what I need as a beginner!

I'm using the Lacis stick shuttle, because the yarn is a little bulkier than would easily fit on the other shuttles.

I know -- It's crap yarn, but good enough for practice.

 

Here's a detail shot of the open shed with the heddle strings pulling keeping 1/2 the strings in the same place.  

You can push the heddle-free strands up or down to make the opposite shed for common cloth or plain weave.    Here I am demonstrating the opposite shed.

 

First attempts at weaving on the Inkle Loom!   

It seems to go pretty fast.

Here's I an getting used to / practicing 

1) getting good selvedge edges along the sides

2) the rhythm of right to left / left to right and altering the shed.

3) beating the weft yarn into place.

It's getting a little tighter and cleaner as I go a long.

At one point, I realized, I'd skipped on the the warp strings, and had 2 heddled strands next to each other.  You can see it towards the bottom of the photo, if you know what to look for.

I decided to fix it by moving one of the loose edge strings to the left to fill in the space.

Almost immediately, the weaving got cleaner and more stable. ;-)

Inkle loom weaving is known as a weft facing weaving, meaning you could almost use anything for the weft (the yarn on the shuttle) becuase you don't really see it except for the edges rounding the corners.  When it goes through the shed, the weft strand pushes up all the warp strands.  Those are the ones you see in the patterning. 

Preparations for a Journey: Setting Up to Weave on an Inkle Loom

After attending the Holiday Folk Fair in Milwaukee last November (as we do most years), I was once again fascinated with the woven belts many of the dancers wear.  Woven belts that were very likely done on an inkle loom.

So that's what I asked my DH to make me for Christmas.  We found some plans on the internet (This one is very similar to the Schacht Inkle Loom.), and he disappeared into the basement to pick out some wood, and set to work on it ...  Mostly made from wood already in his stash.  He did buy some of the hardware.  The tension rod (closest to the foreground) is cot off from a recycled shovel handle.  It's bigger than the other dowels

BOOKS

I also ILL-ed the classic Peter Collingwood reference on the subject.  It covers everything, but is really more of an academic treatment.  It would be more useful if I already knew what I was doing with this technique.  So I returned it, knowing it was far too advanced for me  at this point.  I may return to it some day ...  For now, the Candace Crockett book above is enough.

 I did purchase this book as a good reference to keep on hand.  It covers the basics, along with more advanced patterns and techniques.  An inkle loom is not required for card weaving, but it is the structure that holds the warp without other means, such as a belt.    Be aware that his book is not specific to inkle looms. 

 I also got this one from my local public library, but it seems like a much more advanced book than for where I'm at at present.  I may revisit it later.  She also uses a different method -- more like a rigid heddle or pick-up method.  My little brain wasn't ready to do the required translating for cards.

Tablet Weaving Made Easy with John Mullarkey DVD - ILLed through my local public library.  I'd read about and seen the set-up for card weaving, but I just could not picture it in motion.  What were they really doing with those cards?  Now I get it!  It's really quite simple and ingenious!    He does use an inkle loom.

CARDS - which sort of act like shafts on a floor loom, but not quite.

SHUTTLES

HandyWoman on Etsy makes hand-made and affordable weaving tools.  I was able to order a variety of shuttles from her to let me get a feel for which style I might like / prefer.  As with the larger looms, it may depend on the yarns I'd be using for any given project, which shuttle would work best.

I bought 2 of these smaller curved shuttles -- one maple and one cherry.  They are very thin and light, but still sturdy.  Nice finish on them, too.  One edge is sharper than the other, which is designed to act as a beater, or to push the new weft yarns into place.

The next two  2 inkle shuttles take bobbins.

The first one one is more like a regular boat shuttle, in miniature.  It's really lovely in cherry--and light.  And she sent a glass bobbin to go with it.

The one on the bottom is a Lacis stick shuttle purchased on Amazon, along with the cards. 


WEFT - YARNS AND THREADS
I picked up a variety of crochet threads at the local thrift store.  I thought I'd start with these to practice with, before I invest in some more expensive Pearle cotton with a nice sheen.  Red, white and black should be basic enough to start with.  I can dye small quantities of the white to get other colors, too.  Another video I saw said you could use a variegated yarn -- acrylics might be good to start with, just to get the hang of the basics, and will give a nice patterned effect for an otherwise plain weave.  Otherwise, once you get into specific patterns, you'd want to stick with single color strands, so that you can control the pattern. 

I am also planning to use the box of embroidery floss I was gifted a few years ago.

I think I can also use some of the Rayon slub, leftover from a recent weaving project.

PATTERNS
Weaving on an inkle loom is an ancient craft, literally.    There are lots of patterns in the public domain, and freely available on the internet.  Try Pinterest ...  

I picked up this card weaving pattern book as a reference.  The cards let you do more complicated patterns, but they are not necessary if you just want to do some simple plain weave patterns.  I was already familiar with Anne Dixon, as she published other books for hand weaving.

Plus -- one of the Amazon reviews for this book was rather amusing, by Paul Morse:

"Never have I heard as much fowl language from my wife than after Christmas, than due to this book. Moments of quiet focused work followed by loud, vulgar cursing. I don't think I have enjoyed a Christmas present this much in years. I will say however that when she finished her weaves, they are OUTSTANDING! The patterns are simply described and just takes time to go through them. Great book."

Now to choose a pattern and start playing with it!
Here are a couple of videos showing how to set it up.  The loom my husband built for me is very similar to this one by Schacht.  





I know what you're thinking -- Another loom?  Another hobby?

This one is infinitely more portable than my Kessenich floor loom!   I was also attracted to the idea of smaller projects that could be finished sooner.

What can you use those woven bands for?
Remember a couple years ago at Quilt Camp, when one of the ladies had a pretty woven blue trim on the ankle cuffs of her jeans?    Trims and embellishments was one idea.

These woven belts are also very strong -- that's why ancient peoples used them for utilitarian and practical purposes, for belts and straps.    You could use them for camera straps, or guitar straps, or straps for a bag / purse.  Any place you'd use webbing or strapping.  Lots of options!  Shorter bits could be used for book markers, or key chains.

For further reference:

Inkle Weaving FAQs and Answers

Stay tuned to see how it all turns out!