Today was Aboriginal Day at the Forks. The St Boniface Museum had invited me to provide my ‘Sash Weaving Dance’ activity. Several groups of twelve participated, working together to weave threads suspended from the roof of the tent. Meanwhile I’ve been working on another idea for sprang socks. Noting that there is a difference in yarn uptake between interlinking and interlacing, I’ve decided to use this to create a bulge for a heel. I set up a long warp, and attached it to a door. Later, as the weaving progressed and the who thing became shorter, I attached it to a wall hook and sat at my work. Here are the finished socks, one a mirror image of the other: These socks were completed in a single afternoon, lots quicker than I could have knit them.
Now, I am thinking that the stitching at the heel is rather loose and open. If I take a darning needle and work another thread over and under, following the path of the threads in that interlacing at the heel, I’ll have a nicely reinforced heel.
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I’ve made a variety of sprang sweaters (child size). Using cheap cotton, the type you use to knit dishrags, the same number of threads and always using the same frame, I’ve been exploring different patterns. Clearly different patterns have different amounts of lateral stretch. The moral of the story is (as in knitting) always, always make a sample swatch first.
I’ve been trying a few more variations of the sprang sock. Here’s a straight tube sock. It was made from a figure-8 warp, two rectangles worked at the same time. Cut apart, you get two socks for the work of making one … well, you have to do the finishing on the socks separately, gather the toe, sew the side seam, and deal with the fringes. This sock is a real tube sock: no fancy extra work to create the heel. The only problem with this sock is that people with sensitive feet might find all that gathering at the toe to be uncomfortable. The only solution for this that I can think of (decreasing the bulk at the toe) is to work from the toe up. This means you must work ‘free-end’ method, which technically is not sprang. It does give a lovely sock. I used several colors to emphasize the way threads were added. This sock has eliminated that bump at the toe. You begin with very few threads, and add more each row. This sock also features a short-row heel, and increases along the calf.
Yes, I’d like to post the directions on-line … but there’s so much to say, how to set up, how to do the interlinking, how to keep things even …. it needs a whole book. Yes, I’m still working on the book. It’s getting to the ‘proof’ stage. I keep finding errors, and want an error-free product to give to the world. Trying another method for a pair of socks using sprang. Here are the socks: How did I do this? I figured I’d measure out a warp with extra length in the strings that would be the sole of the foot, and more importantly, the heel. I thought I’d just have two passes each time I shoved the shed, once with the shorter strings for the top of the foot, and once for the sole threads. It’s been a real pain to work on this sock. The strings for the top of the foot go just fine. The extra long threads for the sole and heel are a Royal Pain. It’s been all afternoon and I’ve only woven two inches. Now I see that the finished cloth is pretty uneven. I’m ready to cut this into two, work the socks one-at-a time as free-end sprang. Work went much more smoothly, working ‘free end’. The top is tied to a hook in the wall. I secured the cut ends with a loop knot, and held them down with my foot. Each row, I pulled out the ‘falseweave’. You might be surprised how easy this is. And voilà, the completed sock: For those who want to know, I used a wool blend ‘sock yarn’. Knitters will understand the concept of ‘short rows’ to form the heel. In this piece I also explored adding strands at the ankle, at the back of the leg. Yes, sprang is stretchy, but I figure that if I’m eventually going to make a sock that goes up to the knee, I might want to add strands to allow for the difference in circumference ankle to calf.
Interested in more details? How do you do sprang? What’s this loop knot? How do you get the colors to work? How do you do the heel? It’s hard to answer just one question. Best to start at the beginning and work all the way through. Know that I’m writing a how-to book, step-by-step from the beginning. There will be Lots of detailed patterns. The first draft is already making its way through layout. I’m bound and determined to have this book in print by April 2011. At the same time I’m still open to comments, requests on what you really need to have explained. Been wanting to try a pair of socks, using the sprang technique. Today was the day. After taking 50 pages of my book to the layout people, I came home and set up to sprang a pair of socks. I worked several ‘short rows’ over the middle 50% of the stitches for a few rows.
I’ve also been playing with different means of finishing the cut ends. Here I pulled each strand back along the path it travelled over the past two rows. It makes a nice fringe just below the edge. Challenged myself recently to make a garment using the sprang technique. Using an egyptian cotton I began with a very large rectangular shape, working from hem to hem. At about armpit level I added warp to allow for sleeves. Yes the work was very wide at that point. I worked from right to left in sections, each tied off with a safety cord. I left a slit for the neck, and finished with a safety cord that goes from wrist to wrist, across the back of the neck. The finished garment was worn, seen by many at the Handweavers Guild of America Convergence in Albuquerque. At Congergence I kept hearing about the ‘Ancient One’s Shirt’. Finally tracked it down on the net. You can view it at http://www.statemuseum.arizona.edu/coll/peris2.shtml Based on images of this garment, I’ve spent the last two days working out the pattern. I’ve now created a scarf, playing with the design. While at Convergence I saw the perfect frame for smaller sprang projects. It’s called ‘Loom in a Tube’ from Rebecca Smith. She sells a set of plumbing pipes that fit together to make the frame. Adjustment as the cloth grows and shrinks are easily made with threaded pipe and screws. Check it out at http://www.loominatube.com/
I’ve been wanting to try something more than straight long pieces with this fingerweaving. To this end, I borrowed my daughter’s dressform, measured out lengths of wool, laid them over the shoulders and started weaving. Voilà the end result! A seamless garment! No shoulder seams, no sideseams. Next time, I’ll start with longer lengths so it will extend beyond my middrift. Nevertheless, I declare this attempt a success!
In other news, at the invitation of the Social Studies Teachers Association, I attended a teacher inservice day. I was invited to teach teachers to weave. What fun! I met a woman who had purchased my book last Summer, and was well into weaving her sash. So, you see, it is possible to learn using only the book Fingerweaving Untangled! That bit of sprang that I started for the Viking Weekend in July 2008 has been sitting there, calling to me. So I finally finished it. Having learned from this experience, I’d do the next one a bit differently. The tablet woven band was wider where I left the weft for the sprang, and tightened up when I began weaving them separately for the ties. Next time I’d have two wefts going while I’m leaving off lengths for the sprang. I’d have one weft of a very fine thread (to hold the tablet weaving tight, and a second one to be shooting from one band to the other, making the warp for the sprang.
Joining the two tabletwoven bands at the back of the neck was another challenge. I am thinking that that fine weft would also help me to make this join. |
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