Pillow Sampler Weave-along Day 2

October 6, 2020

Welcome to Day 2 of the Weave-along!

Today we’ll cover: Loops

Materials & equipment:

• weft yarn(s)—Stephanie combined a worsted-weight yarn and a textured bouclé yarn
• shuttle
• a long spacer for making loops—big knitting needle, handle of a wooden kitchen spoon, dowel (maybe your loom came with an extra apron bar). It should be as long as your weaving width.

Wind weft onto a shuttle. If you’re combining two or more yarns, they can have different elasticities; be gentle as you wind them onto the shuttle. Loops uses a lot of yarn, so wind a full shuttle.

1. Make the first shed (opposite from your last pick). Lay the weft in, leaving a 6″ tail. Loop the tail around the selvedge thread, then lay it into the shed for about 1″. (This is the same weaving-in technique Stephanie used for clasped weft.)
2. Leave the shed open. Loop the weft yarn around your spacer, starting from the selvedge where the yarn was attached—in other words, if you laid the weft in from right to left, go in the same direction to pick up loops. You can use the tip of the knitting needle to lift up loops, or you can reach in with your fingers to pick up the yarn. You can space the loops evenly across your warp, or you can space them randomly. Make as many loops as you want across the weaving width, then adjust the tension of the weft. Beat, packing the loops in as closely as possible, change sheds, and remove the spacer.
3. Repeat step 2 to make loops in each pick. As you lay in the weft, leave plenty of yarn available—you’ll need a lot for each row of loops and you don’t want to tug out the previous pick of loops. Always pick up loops starting from the selvedge where the yarn was attached, as described above. Place the loops anywhere you like across the warp ends; Stephanie likes to position new loops between the loops of the previous pick.

Weave the loops section for 3″. You can weave row after row of loops, or you can weave bands of plainweave between the bands of loops, as Stephanie did here.

TIP for slippery yarns: beat a second time after removing the spacer. If that’s not enough to secure the weft, work a plainweave row after each pick of loops.

We’ll see you tomorrow! End your day with some inspiration from Madelyn van der Hoogt!

Madelyn van der Hoogt has been inducted into the Weaver’s Hall of Fame, a well-deserved honor acknowledging her many contributions to handweaving over a career spanning decades. Her weaving life began in Guatemala in the 1970s, then continued for more than 26 years as she edited the magazines Weaver’s and Handwoven, plus numerous edited collections—all while establishing The Weavers’ School. Madelyn published The Complete Book of Drafting in 1993 and is currently working on a new book, The Complete Book of Weaving. Keep up with her at www.weaversschool.com.

Interview highlights

• Madelyn’s yarn origin story—see her first and second weaving projects!
• weaving for a living
• teaching and editing weaving
• starting a weaving school
• a loom for each weave structure
• community among weavers
• Madelyn’s new book
• deadlines and challenges

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