On a roll

This is more like it, I found that the issue I was having wasn't due to a treadling error, but that the hook to the lamm kept coming off and dropping the 8th harness skipping a thread. I quickly learned to read the lift so that when it happened a second and third time I pick up on the error really quickly. The problem with it slipping out is that when I press some of the other pedals with a similar lift configuration that one particular pedal stays stuck up pushing the hook up with it and unhooking the lamm, it also doesn't help that there is a joint with the metal lift mechanism at this particular pedal level. I've since cleaned and oiled the pedal grooves and that seems to have resolved the issue.

I wove 18" of the scarf and am really liking the pattern and the rythm of the lift plan. It's simple and going quickly, just what I wanted and needed to finish this warp.

Wee Bit of a Scarf

I've been working on the 1st scarf, um.... I think it looks like the pattern maybe. I'm not sure I still don't see it, but I'm going ahead with it, weaving 14" so far. I've had a broken warp and one of the floaters break but nothing major and for that I'm thankful. Since I slayed two picks per dent my scarf has shrunk in width considerably, to a mere 5". I figured I can still weave it off, wash it and dry it and see if it can be used as a skinny fashion scarf. My selvages on the left are good but the right is still giving me some trouble, I thought it would be different since I'm right handed but it seems that I'm over cautious when I throw the shuttle from the right side creating little loops. I also noticed that when I'm concentrating on my feet the shuttle movements seem to go better. I'm beating with both left and right hand dependent on which hand is catching. I read somewhere that you need to be able to work both hands and feet with the same motions, it takes some getting use to but I figure by the time I finish this warp, I'll have some of that worked out.

Question and Answers

I had these wonderful comments and I thought I'd share them and my thoughts.


Judy said...
It's going to be an outstanding table runner!! I can't tell you how many times I've messed up the threading or setting up the treadles....It is really easy to do, especially if you are at the back of the loom.Enjoy your new loom!
Thanks, I don't know if it's going to be outstanding but it has been exciting to see it form as I go along. I don't think I'll be threading heddle from the back of the loom again. LOL..

Spinning Out of Control said...
Yay! It looks great! I love the pattern. Thanks, it's a fun pattern, but I still get confused with it. I changed gears and am doing a Rosepath Ascending really interesting without too much stress on changing the harnesses.

Carrie said...
Inverting the threading is no big deal! Just think of it as renumbering your harnesses and change your tie-up accordingly. I did this and it worked out great thanks for the suggestion.

Benita said...
Congratulations at getting the loom loaded and going. I think your pattern looks lovely and you'll have that treadling thing down in no time. In the meantime, take breaks when you get frustrated, and don't forget to stand back and admire your work. I'm taking the breaks and am still getting use to really LOOKING and seeing what I'm doing correctly and incorrectly. I figure it will take time to read my weaving as I do my knitting to find mistakes. I still haven't found the correct height on my chair to be able to sit and use my legs comfortably, I'll get there.
Theresa said...
Woohoo! Looks great and congratulations on the maiden warp. Next time it will be easier. From your lips to God's ears, I can't handle another crazy warp just yet.

Acorn to Oak said...
It's looking great! How exciting it must be to see that pattern forming before your eyes on your new loom that you've worked so hard to get running! It sounds like you have and are learning sooooo much! Thanks, I am really excited and learning everything all over again in a different format gets the creative spark going.

Alison said...
Congrats! Twills are so much fun. Enjoy! Thanks, I can say I really do like twills and could probably spend a ton of time sampling them, really fun, amazing patterns.

Peg Cherre said...
Yay!!! In no time, you'll be weaving along smoothly, producing what you intended. (I might add that what I intended isn't always what I want -- things don't always look the way you think they will.)Enjoy Thanks for dropping by my blog, I don't really think I was intending much since I didn't know what the heck I was doing. I always figure a table runner cause I can weave without too much hassle worrying about the length, but now that it's on the loom, I can find quite a bit of unintentional uses for the weaving LOL...

On a different note I ordered some extra doodads, a bobbin winder (hand winding is a drag ), 20 extra 4" wooden bobbins(I'm going through my one bobbin after 6" of weave really quickly), , another Harrisville 12" boat shuttle (I'll get a different brand later in life right now I love my boat shuttle and wanted another just like it) and a warping paddle (I saw a you tube video on using it and thought it was a great idea don't know if I can do it just yet, but I'm willing to try it). I placed the order yesterday from The Woolery and today I got confirmation from UPS that they will be here tomorrow, I can't wait I have new toys to play with.

I'm actually weaving!

Finally I can show you some pictures of actual weaving, not great weaving, but weaving none the less. It was challenging and freakly rewarding once I got it to go, I even have floating selvages because of the pattern another first. The linen/rayon warp is behaving, under and the weft which I think is 100% linen has a lot of slubs and straw, interesting effect on the warp and in the pattern. I made a sample piece and washed it, once I get home I'll have to see what happened there. I was playing around with the pattern and my feet, I still have trouble with the order in which to lift the harnesses, but I know if I practice on this warp, I will get a rhythm going. I thought I had a threading problem and took the yarn out of the reed, recounted and found everything was right. I guess maybe I'm beating too light or hard and not getting a really clear pattern.

Then I found I'd screwed up, in a massive way since I slayed the harnesses from the back towards the front I inverted the order in which I slayed the heddles, well DUH! I was really laughing at myself after that discovery, which felt great. Yeah that was stupid, but what the heck this is the sampler piece and now I know what I can and cannot do when I put the warp on my loom, only next time I'm going to try front to back and see how that works for me. This is the draft I used, Rosepath M&W Above is what I got once I started weaving. After screwing up the pattern I decided to do a simple 1,2,3,4,3,2,1 liftplan so that I could get and see what I would get. I also found a simple Rosepath1 and Rosepath Ascending, that I can follow with the same exact tie up I'm using, which is way too cool. I"ll sample tonight and see which is going to be the final pattern for the short thin table runner. I have a entry table that is perfect for the size I'm working on.

Warping Mess

I'm not a big fan of this, really someone tell me it get easier every time you do it cause this part was a serious turn off.

My mistakes:
1. The warp was too long, I cut it in half, have the rest chained up don't know if I can use it later but that's fine I can always knit it into something.
2. The warp is not wide just 48 picks, I didn't want it too wide just so I wouldn't give up, but I think I played it too safe.
3. I had no way of weighing down the front of the warp and tying it to the front beam was awkward.

My questions:
1. Does the picture below look right? (I used my knitting board as a raddle)
2. What do I use to keep the warp taut as I wind back?
3. Can I do this alone or do I need another body holding the warp?
4. If I center the warp and start in the middle, how the heck do I follow the damn draft? I reread the book twice still not clear.
5. Should I take off the extra harnesses I will not be using to thread the heddles?
6. Is warping front to back easier? (read the instruction there and wasn't really clear on that either.

Theresa, I was going to call you, but I left your number at work. I have it in my wallet now and may bother you later this week.
Definately not your average warping session, I was trained improperly with the RH and am going to need to break myself of the desire to return the buyer's money and unpack it, I confess I was really tempted yesterday to do so. My hubby has taken it to work and will UPS it tomorrow, there will be no going back once it's gone so, I guess that will be a good way to force me to learn and adapt to my Macomber and not long for the simplicity of the RH.

Planning the Maiden Warp

I was really excited yesterday with my package and forgot that we had a showing for the house. The potential buyers were there for 2 1/2 hours, they didn't leave until 7:30 pm at which point I was starving and had a headache. After we went to get something to eat and had a moment to discuss what had happened (Contract Pending) it was well after 10:00pm, to late to start a warp that would make any sense. That was really fine with me I was tired and wanted to sleep more than anything at that point. I woke up at 5:30am and decided that I needed to rummage through the yarn and find the cotton or linen I'd seen when the boxes first made it to the house. Mr. Deepend thought I was nuts, but knew that Monday was an overload to my system and just let me have my time with one of the things makes me really happy, YARN. (blogger is posting pics sideways, sorry but it seems to have a quirk today) I picked these because the only reed I have cleaned and finished is the 15 and

am limited to what I can use at the moment, but I got some Naval Jelly and woohoo is that stuff great, I'll be powering through the rusty reeds by Sunday. I forgot who suggested it in the comment, but THANK YOU, my fingers and hands love you right now.

This is the taupe looking one and it seems to be linen, burned like it was too.

This is the black it is 75% Rayon 25% Linen

These you can actually read the labels. The colors are a bit drab, but I figure I can whip something up that looks half way decent and I get to practice on the loom.

I threaded some snippets through the reed just to make sure they would work. I'm still getting the hang of the numbering system for weaving yarn and assume I can figure it out after going through the books I have. You'd think by now that would be old hat, but I've never been able to wrap my brain around it.

I'm planning on something simple to get the feel of the loom and figure out how to warp it, although I would love to use 8 harnesses I think I may get myself confused, so I want to build up to that point. Having always warped on directly to the RH, spoiled me and the Structo was a mission, but I think that was because the loom was so small it was a bit frustrating. I think since I was accustom to warping back to front I may try to do that with this one too. I have the book Learning to Weave and will have it handy as I go about working on my loom. I also plan to weave the linen yarn with each other and the same goes for the Orlon since one set is natural fiber and the other acrylic, but very soft, maybe for a scarf or shawl.

Happy Dance New Package

I got back from lunch and had this waiting for me on my desk, I wasn't really expecting to get it today.

This label made me really happy and excited! then I peeked inside and saw my crank for the back beam and 50 superhooks for my threadles.

I was so excited to see these pieces as they are the last items I need to get started on weaving. Oh Lord, am I a happy puppy right now. I'm going to staple my straps for the rods on the front and back beam today and I'm going to start a warp on my board tonight. I have the 15 dent reed clean so I'll have to find some yarn to work with from the inherited stash. WOOOOOOT!

De-Rusting Reeds

I've been working on de-rusting the reeds for the loom. I started out with steel wool and rubbing the heck outta the reed. After a few days of this practice I'm really not getting anywhere fast and my right arm is sore enough to need and ice pack which is not good.
I then consulted Mr. Deepend and asked him if he thought I could use the small Dremel Drill with some attachments to clean the reeds. He thought it would work so we took a trip to Home Depot to pick up these Carbon Steel Brushes, I'd never been so excited to purchase brushes before, the salesman looked at me and must have thought I was crazy, but I was very happy to start working and seeing results.

I started on the #10, it's very rusty but not pitted and I think that's pretty good considering the rust on the surface. The small drill heats up quite a bit so I'd turn it off to cool and would scrub the reed with a toothbrush and some metal cleaner that Mr. Deepend had in the garage.

After about two hours of work and two attachments later I only had 1/4 of the reed with back and front cleaned off, I was very disappointed. This is what the poor brushes looked like after my torture to them, I'm holding a new one for comparison. Once I'd finished for the night I took the attachments, reed and drill back to Mr. Deepend. He looked at all of it and said "Maybe you need my drill and bigger brushes, as I suggested". Yeah I thought so too, the only thing is that his drill is massive, heavy and really powerful. I think I need to peruse the power tool isle at the Depot and see what I can handle to get these done, I guess I should warn the salesguy not to freak out at the crazy lady that going to get really excited about a damn drill.

You all had some great comments and I wanted to share with everyone my thoughts and some answers to your questions.


Delighted Hands said...
So excited for you! You will be weaving up some amazing cloth in no time now! Nice work!
Thanks, I'm really itching to start, I've been looking at drafts and saving the ones I'd like to try out. I can tell you that the draft folder is getting full pretty fast.

Acorn to Oak said...
I'm so excited for you! You must be having so much fun!! :-D
Thanks, I did have fun along with the hard work, but am looking forward to it.

Judy said...
Wow-you must be jazzed! What a nice find and I bet the previous owner is happy that the loom went to an active weaver's house.
I think jazzed just about covers it. They were happy that I took it and was planning on restoring and putting it to good use.

ladyoftheloom said...
Wow! What a great job you have done with the Mac loom. My weaving teacher Cherri LOVES her Macs and the company too.10 harnesses, I am so jealous.
I've heard quite a few people love their Mac's and don't want to weave on much else, since this is my first big loom I can only compare it to my poor RH loom and that's kind of unfair. LOL.. Truth be told I'm afraid of the 10 harnesses, I know everyone say oooohhhhh you have 10 but coming from just 2, 10 is rather daunting to think about.

Charlotte said...
Brilliant! She looks great, happy weaving, looking forward to seeing those twills!
As soon as my chubby fingers get moving I'll be posting some serious twills and much more.

Benita said...
Congratulations!!! All that hard (and dusty) work has paid off nicely. You have a gem of a loom there and I can't wait to see what you create with it. Have you named the loom, BTW?
Thanks, yes it was hard, dusty, hot as hell, but rewarding, I've been happy tired if that makes any sense. I can't wait either, I really want to see how she works. The naming of the loom has been a bit of a conflict within my mind. I'm an avid Debbie Macomber reader, she's one of my favorite writers (I like happy endings) and since her last name is Macomber my first reaction was to name the loom Debbie, but then the previous owner is Peggy and I would like to honor her for the awesome gift she gave me. So I haven't really wanted to name her anything yet. I was thinking of a hybrid name like Deggy, Pebbie, De'pegy Pegbie.... but nothing really works in my mind.

Let me think about a "naming the loom" contest...

WOOHOOOOO!!!

I finished counting, cleaning, and putting the harnesses back on the castle last night, it was cloudy and a bit cooler than the scorching 99* we had during the day. I also emptied out the milk can and found that I have three lease stick pairs all tied together with shoe laces that I thought under the dust were leather straps. One is the size of the loom 40" the other two are 30", one being homemade from yard sticks. I have a bunch of yard sticks that I can only imagine Peggy used for warp tension. I think it's a great idea and kept them to see how that works out for me. I got rid of the all the small and broken pieces, kept most of the dowels, including some steel ones that I know are for tying up the warp. I'm planning on getting rid of the milk can, if anyone is interested please let me know, I'll send it to you if you pay for the shipping, if not it's going to the dumpster by the end of the month. I did keep a really great rattan basket, hosed it off and let it sit in the sun to dry, looks wonderful and holds all the warping sticks and dowels. (Blogger has decided that this pic needs to be posted sideways) I bought some strapping like what is used for the purse handles, after reading Learning to Weave by Deb Chandler, there is a section on tie up with canvas apron, the strings that this loom had and something like my structo, I'm going to go with that type of of tie on, I'll take a pick once I get it on the beams, but this I plan on doing inside the house.I decided to tie up the lamms to the treadles with some jewelry wire just to test things out and make sure I hadn't screwed anything up. Works like a charm with no hiccups smooth movements. I even used the little notched dowel for the 4th lamm wonderful little tool.

(another blogger pic turned sideways)

This is the break release for the back beam, I see there are some holes towards the front and need to ask Sarah if I'm missing something there, I think it needs to be tied to the front but not sure yet.

I have 2031 heddles on 10 harnesses.

1= 240 6=90

2=-426 7=78

3=80 8=172

4=90 9=224

5=430 10=201

I figure that Peggy used 1-4 more than any of other harnesses and had them set up with most of the heddles. I keep 1-6 with with 240 each and 7-10 - with the remainder. I think that will works unless someone has a better suggestion for me.

Here she is, finally finish with only the hooks, strapping and a crank missing. Those items haves been ordered, once those arrive we will be weaving even if it's just twills to start, I'm sure someone needs a twill table runner in their house

CLEANING AND COUNTING

The piece with the notches does fit into the bar with the cutouts = foot rest. Thank you for letting me know it's suppose to be tight.


I've been cleaning heddles, bars and frames. The heddle still are white-ish, not shiny aluminum. but I guess I can live with that, it doesn't effect the yarn that I strung through to test them out.

So far I've clean three harnesses with 590 heddles some of the harness have more heddles than others, but I want to get through them all and then even out the numbers on each harness. I'm keeping and individual count on each harness and writing it on the bar with a white grease pencil so that I don't get confused or lose my notes.
This is as clean as I got the 15 reed, I strung some yarn through it and did a dental floss type of cleaning, I think that's about as clean as I can hope for.

I've placed my other looms on ebay and hope to sell them, once that happens I will order the missing pieces for the Macomber and she will be permanently placed inside the house. Then my friends we'll have our maiden warping session.

Some Mystery Parts and Answers

I called Macomber yesterday and spoke with a really great gentleman, he informed me the my loom was built July 1967, it's actually only two years younger than I am. I will need regular lamm hooks because the super hooks will not work. I have a list of items I need and when I get ready he told me to just give him a call.

This controls the lamms which are connected to these side bar which lift the harness with the levers at the top of the high castle. I took this pic from the back of the loom to get a good shot of the assembly. It's been cleaned up and oiled, I'm posting for Kimberly who had a question.

.
This is the crank that when I depress a corner foot pedal releases the back beam and a pic of the controls from the side of the loom. That rusty bolt, I'm assuming it's missing a piece so that I can manually turn the back beam to warp.

This is one of my mystery pieces this thing is on both sides of the front legs it goes back and has the little stoppers to keep it in position, I'm at a lost as to what this is for.

This other piece of wood is the same length of the interior of the loom and has notches on each side. I have no clue on this one either.

This is the back beam you can see were the strings were at one point and were cut off.

My rusty heddle bar that got a good wipe and rub with steel wool.

A close up of the heddles which are in great condition just a wipe and they clean up real nice.

And the final pics of of yarn because I'm also trying to figure out how I can clean it before using.

This is a cone of wool/mohair, and as you can see it's really dusty, How do I clean this or should I just skein off the first few layers and start there?

This is the true color without flash it's really a great looking deep blue.

Thanks for all the comments and help.

I wanted to thank you all for being so supportive with my mini-meltdown on the loom. I was a bit nervous on how to attack the cleaning and restoration of it. I plan on blogging about refurbishment of the loom and hope that doesn't bore anyone to death :), but it will be a good record for me or anyone else that may need it, I just have to remember to take before and after shots.


Judy - I love to know that you have looms that have been built to last, 30 years is a lot for equipment but worth it's weight in gold if it still does the job. I don't know how old the loom is but will find out once I get to talking with Macomber.
Geodyn - It's great to hear from you, I did start to breathe and I guess it will be on day at a time, I'll take you up on the web pages once I get it to that point.
Delighted - I can't believe your keep up with my saga while your in GA, I hope your having a great time saw the pics of the kids they look like they're loving grandma and grandpa's visit.
Leigh - There seems to be some controversy on what the loom is, I've gotten Jack and CM. I can't say I don't have a clue, but I know I'm gonna find out. I loved your garden shots made me hungry for fresh veggies in a bit of butter and garlic.
Acorn - All I can say is Amen to that!

Theresa - I agree with you on the heddles, I will save the ones that look good and just order new ones if the rusted ones are beyond help. I just have so many heddles on just as many harnesses it boggles the mind. I've visited Sarah's blog but haven't started pestering her yet since I can't even ask to many questions right now, but she's bookmarked, I appreciate it.
Restless - Thanks for the the recommendation, I didn't think I would have a problem with Sarah, her blog is really informative and I've been looking through it from the point she started. Loads of great info and pics that explain some things. Your right I am missing the strings, there are some attached with staples that were cut off. The reeds are rusty but I plan to get the wire brush to clean them up with some WD40 and then I'll take yarn and pass through each one to get it all cleaned up, sort of like dental flossing them. As for the super hooks I haven't come across them yet, but once I get the milk can empty I might find them there. You are right the heddles are in good shape they are mostly coated with some white dust, once I started cleaning them, they look fantastic and it's one less thing on my to order list.

The Clean up Begins!

I went home yesterday and took a 2 hour nap, I felt really exhausted and had a headache that wouldn't stop even though I popped Advils. After that power nap I woke up and was ready to roll .

This is the before and after shots of the cleaning, these are the harness levers, I can tell that the loom was mostly used as a four harness because the front notches are nicely worn in, compared the the other six. Mr Deepend has a blower with a hose for mechanic work on the cars and it's been a God send, love that thing.

I took the front beam off that was really cool since this is my first big loom, I'm finding that it's going to teach me so much just by cleaning, disassembling and re-assembling. I love that since everything you learn you get to keep with you. This portion are the bars that control the harnesses with the lamms and foot pedals. (please excuse me with the terminology I'll get it all down as I get this loom cleaned up and do my research).

Now this little piece of dowel is notched at the end and attached to where the lamms are this is a mystery, I don't know what it's for. I looked on Sarah's blog but didn't see that she made any reference to it either. There is also a longer piece of wood that has notches at the ends that I don't know where it goes (wasn't attached to the loom when I went to see it just in the corner), I have to get a pic of that too. The wood is really starting to look good, I'm using Old English Polish/Cleaner and I love the richness its bring out.