My love and interest in textiles goes back to my Roman Catholic grade-school days. I discovered my first love ~ Crochet ~ at age 9 in a private Boarding School in upper state PA where mandatory in-house stay was from September to June each year. Before us girls could leave for Summer vacation, we had to all crochet a doily for presentation to the Mother Superior. Lessons were given by students higher up in the chain of command and sanctioned by the Mother Superior, who took upon herself the vast lesson of teaching the art of crochet to the girls, which was then handed in directly to the Mother Superior, for critique before leaving for vacation. My first endeavor, strangely, turned out to be a hat as I was woefully unable to crochet my doily so that it lay flat. However, this first brush with textiles created a love within me for crochet, which would then be followed by knit and the art of weaving, many years later.
My love for crochet blossomed as I began making hats, beanies, and scarves, both crocheted and knit, while still living in my home town. Several friends, who purchased and wore my hand-mades from me directly, suggested that I contact area stores to see if anyone would be interested in accepting my goods for sale. This led to some success with me obtaining several stores in Philadelphia which sold my goods. I also found luck after my first purchase of a small weaving loom and enrolled in classes which a local store gave. I soon was able to pick up the wonderful art of hand-weaving and had my creations exhibited at this same store – tapestries in this instance followed by linen and brushedwool shawls accompanied by crocheted hats and scarves – placed in other local stores in the downtown area. With these modest successes, I planned to broaden my knowledge of textiles by attending a local college. This did not occur, however, until I relocated here to sunny California, which enabled me to broaden and cultivate my love of hand-made items while attending both the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in downtown L.A., and afterwards, Brooks College, in Long Beach.
Using the knowledge gained from these schools, I have learned to express my love of design with crochet, weaving, and machine-knitting, as many of the products on this site are inspirations from my schooling in and my love for textiles designs.
MACHINE-KNIT VERSUS HAND-WOVEN
After discovering my love for hand-weaving, there followed the discovery of machine-knitting via a bulky knitter machine. Both the process of machine-knitting and hand-looming are vastly different. For one, hand-knitting is a simpler process when it comes to setting up your bulky knitting machine. The weaving process is much more complex, as first you must create a warp of yarn which will then be put onto your loom, followed by other steps and processes.
PROCESS FOR SETTING UP YOUR LOOM
Google search for various instructions on how to set up your loom:
https://www.google.com/search?https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+set+up+your+nilus+or+dorothea+weaving+loom&source=lnms&sa=X&ved =0ahUKEwiV05Xqpf3aAhWl54MKHd6BBc8Q_AUICSgA&biw=1366&bih=654&dpr=1
TOOLS YOU WILL NEED (Yarn Hook for threading, Warping board, Beaters, both flat and/or Boat Shuttles):
|
|
|
The process for setting up a weaving loom, in this case either the LeClerc Dorothea or the Nilus weaving loom, is rather long and tedious. Starting with casting your selected yarn onto a Warping Board, there next follows the process of threading the yarn through each reed selected located in the front beater, one by one, and thereafter through each selected heddle (open needle).You will need to use the appropriate hooking tool, as seen above, which can be purchased in any art store that supports hand or weaving supplies and accessories. Your next step is in tying the warp you have just threaded onto your loom onto the back apron, whence you can begin rolling the secure warp from the back to the front of the loom, and then tying the ending warp onto the front of the loom.
Of course, the loom beater must be stationary and tied securely so that the front part of the loom containing the reed is standing stiffly straight up for the threading process, and the warp needs to be tied securely for the weaving process. The way the warp is threaded through the reed and, more significantly, the heddles dictates the type of patterns that can be woven. The treadles, which are located at and tied to the bottom of the loom, also dictate your pattern choices, as each step on the treadles will open the warp in different ways so that various designs can be made just by the simple steps of treading either 1-2-3-4 , or by treading 1&2 and then 3&4, etc. After all the steps and processes have been done, you are ready to weave.
This set-up process can be seen in the above pic where I readied my Nilus LeClerc loom for weaving a multi-colored yarn warp. The warp that I chose, an excellent 100% glossy acrylic yarn that was also both warp and weft, (Berroco ; this yarn is no longer available), yielded various table placemats, small area ‘throw’ rugs, and a few table runners.
|
|
|
|
SETTING UP THE BULKY KNITTER
|
|
Setting up the bulky knitter is a far easier process than setting up a weaving loom, as all one has to do is to first loop the desired yarn(s) into the guide which attaches to the knitter. You then need to position your needles at the halfway mark before you introduce the yarn into the Cam slot. While holding the yarn strand end in one hand, you then move the Cam from left to right across the positioned needles so that it catches and, in effect, ‘knits’ your first row.
Thereafter, you only need to attach the knitting rod which will hold and weigh your stitches as you traverse the Cam back and forth across the knitting bed, knitting row after row.
TOOLS YOU WILL NEED:
(Claw weights, transfer tools, securing clamps for knitting machine, counter, bar weight, and other accessories.)
It is up to the operator as to how and what designs they will create as they knit, but I have found that there are a plethora of designs and creations that can be done by the operator themselves. It is easy to create your own designs by alternating how the stitches will pick up on each row and their respective needles, including making the cable stitch, and other known knit processes. There are many knitters out on the market today which can electronically create your garments and products for you; these come with their own set of patterns and instructions which are computer-based. However, for my taste, I prefer to use a bulky knitter that enables me to be hands-on, and therefore the creator of my own designs. I highly recommend a bulky knitter to all those so-inclined, who prefer to create from their own ideas a garment, scarf, poncho or shawl, and using a bulky non-electronic knitter will enable a much clearer idea of the machine-knitting process.
Although the setup process for knitting machines – in this case, the bulky knitter – is a far easier process and operation, the problems of knitting glitches, such as dropped stitches, wrong cast-on methods, etc., make a garment or article doubly difficult to resolve. Often, the operator may find themselves forced to undue the entire article to begin the process over, if they cannot bring themselves to sit for long intervals recapturing dropped stitches and erroneous cast-on methods. I can attest to this myself as having to redo scarves or shawls until they were right, and it was a torturous and exasperating exercise. Obviously, the above yarn shown here is problematic to use, even for the bulky knitter.
Nevertheless, my love for textiles and their creations, whether via crochet, hand- or machine-knit, or loom weaving are ever strong, and enable me to continue in the creative process for designing attractive, durable and excellent items for sale through my website.
|
|
|
It is very important to choose the correct and appropriate yarn for your knitter, whether it be a bulky knitter, or an electronic/computer-based one. Many yarns are difficult to use and will shred or come apart when using them or become hopelessly snagged on the needles. The yarns seen in the above three images are fine yet sturdy, not too thick, and able to withstand the rigors of the knitting machine. I highly suggest using yarns for your bulky or computer-based knitter that can be found at your local crafts store, or you might want to visit the Newton’s Yarns website, which specialize in carrying yarns specifically for all knitting machine types. Here are a few examples of their yarn stock (NOTE: These specific yarns may/may not be available; please check with them or visit their website):
|
|
|
They also have a range of knitting machines, both bulky and electronic/computer based available for purchase. Here is their contact info: www.newtons.com, Email: newtonknits@aol.com (based in Anaheim, California). Another good source is The Knitting Closet for knitter and loom supplies: http://theknittingcloset.com/.
Until my next blog …. happy crocheting, knitting or weaving to all while working on your own favorite crafts!
Please feel free to also comment directly on my Facebook Page at
https://www.facebook.com/Niema-Foxe-Creations-LLC-745596172140338/
and thank you for your comments!!
