First of Four Weaving Classes

I once again am taking classes at the Fiber Factory in downtown Mesa. Two years ago I learned to spin. This year I have enrolled in a weaving class with the owner, Susan. There are two of us in the class, myself and a Pueblo Indian woman named Hope.   

We began by learning how to wind a warp thread. We achieved this by running the yarn over and under a bunch of pegs on a board. This winding gives the yardage you need and keeps the threads separated for threading the loom. I am using burgundy and blue on my warp. 

Once we got 12 yards wound we chained a slip knot over those to keep them together. (Each 12 rows of yarn will create an inch width of fabric.). After making 12 bundles of 12 threads we were done winding and we secured it with slip knots and gently took it off the board and set it on the loom. 

Threading the loom is a tricky procedure. One in which you need at least three hands. Susan taught us ways to help hold parts of the loom so we could do this on our own, with just our two hands!

Once we got the thread bundles lined up on the loom then we had to thread each individual thread in the heddles (little wire slots). The threads can then be lifted by pushing a treadle with your foot, that lifts one of four bars that heddles are attached to. This action creates the gap where you weave your crosswise or weft thread through that ultimately makes the pattern. 

By the end of our first three hour class I still had two more bundles of threads to thread through heddles. I will do that next week. Then we will have to tie those all on the loom before we can begin weaving the sampler cloth with a variety of patterns.