Inspiration Railways and a woven band

Earlier in the month it was my birthday, another significant one.  Ten years ago I had a significant birthday and I wanted to do something unusual so I decide upon a days experience on a steam railway.  This year I had thought to take the other experience which is driving a diesel locomotive but at the moment that is not possible.
 
We had stayed on a camp site in Bury on a number of occasions and the East Lancashire Railway runs alongside the site. The company renovate, rebuild and run steam and diesel locomotives and have lots of volunteers.   http://www.eastlancsrailway.org.uk/

A Steam Footplate Experience seemed a wonderful ideas.  Eight people can pay to go on the same day and also are allowed to bring a few friends  and relatives. Of course, I was the only woman amongst the seven men.  They were all railway enthusiasts and had lots of stories about heritage railways around the UK.

Meeting the train and the real drivers!

We were given boiler suits to wear - it was a cold March day. Health and safety was stressed and we were off. We were divided into two groups of four and the other group went to spend the morning driving the train. My group had a tour of the whole site, including a visit to the signal box.

the signal box

Salvaged goods waiting to be used.

My husband took lots of photographs of the day. Here is my first sight of the train with the other part of the group having a drive.

My first glimpse of the moving train.

We met up for lunch in the railway pub and then it was my turn to get into the train.




We took turns in feeding the firebox, driving the train, being a guide on the train and checking the train when it stopped in stations to allow a change of driver. Our passengers in the carriages were our friends and relatives.


I enjoyed being the guard. It was fun to wave the flag and then get back onto the train.

Waving the flag and blowing the whistle,

Two of the group finally got to go into the drivers cab.  I was the fireman and had to learn the intricacies of  feeding the fire with coal.  Not as straightforward as you might think.  The coal has to be flung into a particular spot to keep the boiler steaming. It was also hard work, but the warmth from the firebox was welcome.

My turn to be stoker

The glowing firebox - very welcome on a cold day.

At last it was my turn to drive.  I was thrilled that my portion of the driving involved stopping the train at a level crossing and waiting for the traffic to go through at Ramsbottom Station. See the Facebook page for the Ramsbottom Heritage Society to find out more about this Lancashire town.  

I had to drive over the level crossing and then reverse the train to connect with the coaches for the return journey. I had another short stretch of driving and then it was time to relinquish the controls.

Here are the controls.

I have found the brake!

 

I think I had a broad grin on my face the whole day.

Designing a woven band

The online workshop that I ran for the Braid Society has just finished although there is still lots of lovely weaving on show.  The final booklet asked everyone to become inspired and design and weave a 'promise band'. This is a band which is exclusive to a person or group.  I decided to design a band to celebrate my footplate experience 10 years ago.  It was really lovely to relive the experience through looking at my photographs and designing this blog.  Hopefully, I will be able to book my diesel experience to celebrate later this year. 

If you are a weaver and would like to follow the workshop, go to the Braids and Bands io site https://groups.io/g/braidsandbands  

or download the booklets from    https://shop.stoorstalka.com/en/products/workshop/

So here is my design process for a bookmark to celebrate the East Lancashire Railway footplate experience. 

First design.

Now, my blog is about weaving so I thought that after the workshop on stripes I would design a band using my experience as inspiration.

Warp ends: 53

Warp:16/2 cotton in five colours with grey silk
Weft:16/2 cotton in black
Width:  12 mm

The grey thread is 16/2 cotton with a grey silk thread to give some sparkle and represents the railway lines.  The brown and white in the centre represents the wooden line supports and the white stones in between the rails.

The black and red are the colours of the ex LMS Black 5 Number 44871

drawdown for band 1

And here is the woven band.






I was not entirely happy when I saw the band as I realised that I had overlooked the position of the railway sleepers.

Second design

Railway tracks showing the sleepers

Warp ends: 65

Warp:16/2 cotton in five colours with grey silk

Weft:16/2 cotton in black

Width: 14 mm

Here is the woven band:

Drawdown for version  2

I prefer this version.  The extended area of the ladder pattern gives an improved impression of railway tracks.

I made a couple of bookmarks from the bands.

If, like me, you are a fan of Terry Pratchett, you will have read this book. I read it with my own experience in mind.  After his visit to the Watercress Line, Terry writes: 'they showed me everything, including their workshops, the footplate and the fire box of a travelling locomotive and, wonder of wonder, the signal box : a treasure in mahogany and brass. Champion!' 

And here is my certificate.  Champion!  A Wonderful Experience.

Happy weaving

Susan J Foulkes    June 2020

Workshop Week One: Band weaving with a rigid heddle

I am running an online workshop for the Braid Society on Braids & Bands group   https://groups.io/g/braidsandbands  This blog is part of the workshop for week one.
The Woolery in the USA, has published a post about the workshop  https://woolery.com/blog/   If you live in the USA, their online shop is open for equipment etc.




I love band weaving.  The back strap is such a practical way to weave and very portable. I also love weaving equipment, from the simple to the more highly decorated. I have quite a collection and very often have more than one is use.

My one regret is that I have not found a Sami heddle made from reindeer antler.  On my recent rip to Jokkmokk, I saw a lovely heddle in an exhibition in the Sami Douji Centre but it was bought as soon as the exhibition opened.  The person waited in the queue to get in, and immediately purchased it. Here is a picture of the heddle and the person who made it.  It was a work of art and takes a skill learned over a considerable period and many months to make.

Heddle and maker

Owning something is not really the point.  Owning something that has been made with considerable skill and that I can use, adds another dimension to weaving.  I love my large loom and find myself stroking the wood sometimes. It is the feel of the object.  Handmade heddles are such a joy to use. I feel that I am in touch with the maker as well as in touch with the skills that I need to weave. In Scandinavian countries a decorated rigid heddle was often given as a betrothal gift and there are some beautiful examples in museums.


Here are some of my standard rigid heddles.

Estonian Heddle and shuttle

Here are some of my standard heddles currently in use.  I bought a set of beautiful heddles in Boras, Sweden many years ago and they are simply lovely to hold. They still sell some of the designs.

The two heddles on the right are from vavkompaniet.

https://www.vavkompaniet.se/tools-for-textile-craft/heddles/

My first workshop online was a number of years ago. At the time, rigid heddles were not easy to find.  I tried making my own and shared the process.  Nowadays,heddles are widely available and  with the advent of 3D printing and an interest in making weaving tools, you do not have to acquire new skills to start weaving.

Here are the series of pictures I posted.  I am not a wood worker, so carpenters look away now! These heddles were not works of art but I enjoyed the process of working out how to make something within the severe limits of my skill.

Making a rigid heddle

1.  You will need: wooden coffee stirrers,   glue, fine sand paper, wire wool, a drill. And a length of wood, approx 24 mm in depth.  This should be flat one side but may be shaped on the other.

Choose coffee stirrers  that are straight and not warped.  Sand them to ensure that they are completely smooth. Mark the centre and drill a small hole in each stick.

2.  Sand them again and finish with wire wool.  Make sure that the sides of the sticks are smooth.  You will need more stirrers than you eventually use for the heddle.  Some will splinter or split.  In others,  you may find that your drilled hole is not central.

3.  Cut four 24 sticks the length of one coffee stirrer.  These will form the top and bottom of the heddle. Take two coffee stirrers and glue them to two of the wide sticks on the long edge.  Leave until the glue is dry.

Now spread glue on the wide sticks and place one coffee stirrer at each end. 

4.  Start to place the rest of the narrow sticks into place.  Adjust the gap between each stick.  Make the gaps as even as possible. 

5.  Glue the other two wide sticks.  Stick them on top of the narrow sticks. Place a weight on the completed heddle and leave the glue to dry.

6.  You will need to sand the top and bottom of the heddle. 

The heddle is now complete.   Usually, heddles have a handle on the bottom edge.  This helps to balance the heddle when weaving.  You can attach a small weight to the middle of the heddle on the bottom edge which should stop it twisting.

I made a number of heddles and gave them away, but I kept this one for myself. It is still in use.

Another home made standard heddle

I also tried to make my own band lock.

Making a Band Lock

You will need:
20 x 24mm wood no longer than 140mm
2 cup hooks
A thin strip of wood narrower than the first
A belt


I made a number of versions. This one uses a square section length of wood.

Another system is using a cotton reel and a ‘clip it’ with a cord to go around your waist.

Using a band lock

Band locks are not new. They have been found in Etruscan graves.  They were made of bronze.  Two identical strips with a hook on each end hold the warp ends in place.  The  back strap was tied around this band lock to clamp the warp ends tightly.  I tried to find a blacksmith to make me a copy but I was unsuccessful. 

This is from an illustration in an article by Margarita Gleba.  However, there is no indication that they used the band lock in this way.  They may have woven in the opposite direction.  If the tablets are near to the band lock, you can weave over the tablets and beat away from you.  This means that any overtwist in the warp ends can be easily undone by the weaver as the unwoven warp ends are wrapped around and through the band lock. 

This band lock uses a slightly rounded length of wood. 

When you tension the warp, the band locks into place.

Week One of the workshop for the Braid Society, gives examples of woven bands from northern Europe, South America and Japan. Remember you can use an inkle loom or a two shaft table or floor loom. You do not have to use a standard heddle.

A Striped Band 

Here is a band inspired by a patterned band from Peru.

This is another beautiful Swedish heddle.

Close up of band.

Warp Chart

Blue                     6                                               6
Dk green                  2
Medium green              2
Emerald  green                 2
Yellow                                  1
White                                       1
Light pink                                      2
Medium pink                                    2
Bright pink                                           2
Burgundy                                                 1

There are 27 warp ends in total.  I used 4 ply sock yarn and the band width is 15mm. I love the way that the colours glow against the dark blue edges.

Here is the drawdown with the nine colours.

Nine colour Peruvian band

I hope you enjoy trying this band.  It is a great way to use up small quantities of yarn.

I have been making some book marks with an adapted  pattern but this time using 16/2 cotton.

Using a different yarn will alter the width of the band. i will be showing you the bookmarks and the revised pattern on another blog.


Of course other equipment can be used. I am weaving a red and white band for a belt on my floor inkle loom.

I am using double knit cotton two colours  with a red weft.

Warp Chart

red        11        1     1      2    1     1     2     1      1      12
white            1      2     1     1     2    1      1     2      1




Here is the draw down.  There are 45 warp ends in total.  The width of the band on the loom is 3 cms  1.25 inches.

Here is another way of displaying the band pattern.  We will be looking at this in a later blog.

Next week there will more patterns for you to try

Weaving equipment can be bought online from Stoorstalka who ship world-wide. They are also publishing the booklets for the online weaving workshop. I want to encourage as many people as possible to get weaving!   Here is the link  https://shop.stoorstalka.com/en/products/workshop/

All the bands in the workshop can be woven using a standard rigid heddle with a band weaving shuttle.

Susan J Foulkes  May 1st 2020

Stripes

I love stripes and I enjoy designing new stripes.  After finishing my last blog I thought about the lovely book about Estonian skirt stripes  Virumaa Seelikud. Taking inspiration from the book I decided to design two stripes to share with you. For details of the book look at the previous blog entry in March or the  book list on the blog.

Here is a sample page so that you can see the high quality of this book.

Virumaa Seelikud  by Kersti Loite

Making yarn wraps.

Making a yarn wrap is a good way of looking at colour and proportion before you start weaving. Here is yarn wrap taken from the skirt material which dates from 1909. The yarn wrap is a guide.

Yarn wrap

If you look at the yarn wrap you can see 2 white yarns 4 pale pink 4 dark pink then 4 black.  In the centre there are 4 pale blue.

If you wanted to weave a narrow band so that this is what appears on the surface you need to double the warp ends for each colour. There are 90 warp ends.  I wove the band using 16/2 cotton and it is 2.4 cm in width.

band woven with 16/2 cotton

drawdown for weaving a narrow band

On page 89 there is a lovely stripe design for woven material for a skirt.  I looked at one element of the stripe pattern and made a yarn wrap using 16/2 cotton. For a narrower band you can alter the width of each strip.  Here I have halved the number for each stripe.  Using different yarn will also affect the width of the band.

Yarn wrap for narrow band

For this band I used 55 warp ends.  I used the number of yarns that can be seen on the surface of the yarn wrap.

Band woven with 16/2 cotton.

drawdown for narrow band

The woven bands

Do look at the page on Plain Weave Warp Faced Bands on my blog for another example.

Stripe Inspiration.

Here are two more books which I bought several years ago which are a good source of inspiration for stripes.

Stripe Design Textile Patterns in Japan
2005  ISBN 4-89444-422-4















The second book is small but contains 650 examples of patterns from Japan

Japanese Textiles II Stripes and Lattices
ISBN 4-86152-024-X

Tea Towels

I have just finished weaving a set of small tea towels for our motor home.
Warp: cottolin in four shades: pale grey dark grey burgundy and pale burgundy.
Weft: One towel -  burgundy; one towel - pale burgundy and the final towel is woven as drawn in.
Sett: 20 ends per inch

Woven on 8 shafts 

Weave structure: plain weave.  I used 8 shafts but plain weave can be woven using any even number of shafts.

Stripes can be turned into checks very easily but take longer to weave as more shuttles have to be used.

Three tea towels

Check pattern on loom

Susan J Foulkes  April 2015