Introduction to Tri-Looms (by Pamela Kelly)

I have been crocheting and knitting for the better part of my life. However, I now primarily spend my time knitting, spinning, and weaving. I fell in love with spinning the first time I sat down at a spinning wheel at one of my friend’s shop. As time progressed I decided I would like to try other fiber venues. As it turns out, I saw a tri-loom on the internet and asked my husband if he could make me one of these. Husbands are great for that sort of thing you know. With no information other than a photograph and a bit… sorry… a lot of ingenuity on his part he endeavored to build a tri-loom for me. After about three months of effort his first seven foot loom actually turned out to be only six feet long because, for whatever reason, he calculated seven feet to be seventy-two inches, which of course is only six feet. He’s over that and better now!

Jim now makes tri-looms for Sunflower Fibers (www.sunflowerfibers.com) in several sizes and is working to get his personal adjustable design patented.

Knitting and weaving is just not simply fun for me, it is a “passion”. I have wanted to weave and knit full time for years but unfortunately making a living at a full time job was preventing me from doing that. I was a computer programmer for a major international company, and as many IT jobs have done in the past several years, my husband’s and my job were both best-shored to other countries. So I have been forced to do what I love to do. How cool is that??? Besides, a job is a “job”. Weaving and knitting is “fun”!

Jim makes looms and I weave and knit. 

Triangular (tri-loom) weaving frame.

An adjustable triangle loom is for weaving pieces into various garment accessories, blankets, throws, afghans, shawls and scarves in various sizes. There are three wood rails attached at the angle or corner to create a 90 degree triangle. Each rail has nails or pins aligned in a straight row for the full length of each board. The nails are proportionally spaced in order to have the same number of nails on each board. Since the hypotenuse is longer than the two adjacent sides the nails will be a bit further apart on the hypotenuse side. The size of a tri-loom is measured by the hypotenuse side of the loom. An adjustable tri-loom has drilled holes at specified distances to allow different sized looms to be created from one set of three rails.

This invention relates to a 3-sided 90 degree weaving loom that can be adjusted to various sizes.

Background of the weaving loom.

The triangle weaving loom is used for weaving triangle shaped fabric pieces that can be used as an individual piece like a scarf or shawl; or to weave several triangular pieces that can joined together to make ponchos, afghans, bed throws and many other common household or garment items. The adjustability of the loom allows for the different sizes desired for the item that is being constructed.

Weaving on a triangular loom is much easier than normal weaving because the only measurement that is required is how much yarn is needed to complete the job. The complete piece can be woven by using a center pull ball of yarn. Other weaving projects, or weaving on a floor loom, may require measuring and cutting warp yarns, or dressing with warp yarns, winding shuttles with weft yarns before weaving.

When weaving on a triangular loom it is imperative that there be an equal number of uniformly spaced pins on each rail and that the pins intersect with no major gaps at the corner and at the 45 degree angles.

Summary of the invention

A tri-loom is a triangle made of three rails of wood with nails or pins evenly spaced on the upper side of the wooden rail for weaving the yarn. The rails are connected via a bolt and wing nut at the ends, or at the specified pre-drilled holes that allow for the adjustments to create a different sized loom. No matter what sized loom being used the loom is constructed in a way that allows for the loom to have the same number of nails for each loom depending on the loom size desired.

No matter what size loom being used the following is required and provided.

1. The invention provides an adjustable triangular loom that maintains an equal number of pins or nails on each rail.
2. The pins or nails intersect at the corner and angles with no major gaps.
3. The spacing of the pins or nails will be uniform on each rail regardless of the size of the triangle loom being used.

More unobvious and obvious features will become more apparent looking at the pictures of the looms at www.sunflowerfibers.com.

What is Rolag? (by Michele Grim)

Don’t fear!  I’m here to answer all your questions.  One of the most common types of spinning fiber that will be processed is called roving.  Roving is carded wool that is a long continuous strand of twisted fiber.   

A roving is a long and narrow bundle of fiber or fibre. It is used to spin wool yarn. A roving can be created by carding the fiber.  Because it is carded the fibers are not parallel.  Roving that is not twisted is called a sliver (pronounced SLYver).     

The first picture on the right is Llama roving.   

A batt is a wider than roving, rectangular and made from a drum carder.     

The second (white and yellow fiber) picture on the right is that of a wool batt.  

A rolag is a roll of fiber made from hand carders and generally used to spin woolen yarn.  A rolag is created by carding the fiber using handcards and then by gently rolling the fiber off the cards. If it’s properly prepared a rolag will be uniform in width distributing the fibers evenly.  A combed top is another type of long, continuous strand of fiber.   The difference is that instead of being carded it is combed with all the short hairs have been removed to create a smooth fiber.  

Animal fibers have traditionally been used to create rolags but today’s yarn spinner uses many different materials including synthetic and even plant fibers – like bamboo. 

The third picture on the right is that of a wool rolag. 

Either one you pick will give you some very beautiful yarn. Stay tuned for more fiber spinning related articles.  I’d sure like to hear from you if you also dye and spin your own yarns.  If you visit Misfit Yarns you’ll see some of my work.  Naughty Knitterz will soon be displaying some of my work on a newly created Yarn & Fiber Shop page.  No matter if you spell it fiber or fibre you’ll find it there.  

If you have email me ( michele@naughtyknitterz.com ) with any questions you might have.      

Spin & Grin you Naughty Knitterz!     

Source: Start Spinning: Everything You Need to Know to Make Great Yarn, Maggie Casey, Interweave Press, 2008.  Pictures taken by Michele Grim. 

Introduction to Spinning, Part 2 (video)

Relax and Enjoy the Spin! (by fireflysummer)

Hi All,

I have been a knitter & crocheter for about 32 years now, taught like most, by my grandmother when I was a child.  I love anything craft related and now my new passion is fibre. Spinning and dyeing my own yarn to use for projects is so satisfying.  I live on the east coast of Australia. I am a nurse by trade but have decided to be a stay at home mum to nurture my family while they grow.   I had decided that I wanted to spin my own yarn, but due to a lack of fundage, my options were limited.

I had heard about a craft Exhibition that was on at my local community centre and that the local weaving and spinning group would be there demonstrating. So I went along to have a look.  I chatted with the ladies while they spun away with such ease and expressed my wish to one day have my own spinning wheel. One of the ladies took me by the hand and said “there is a wheel inside for sale, it’s a great buy”.  Well…. I came home with a sheepish look on my face and said to my DH, “Darling, guess what I just bought”.

I got my first wheel. A traditional Ashford 1982, a Lazy Kate, 9 bobbins, a pair of hand carders, some Chinook and a few craft books all for AU$100. A real bargain. Apart from needing a new string and a little oil she is in perfect condition.  Ok. Now that I had my wheel I needed to learn how to use it. While I was at the Craft exhibition I had grabbed a flyer for the Spinning and Weaving groups’ Annual Exhibition and fashion parade that was about 6 weeks away.

So I grabbed all the books I could find on ebay that fit my very very slim budget and read and read. All the time counting the days until the groups exhibition and meeting. I was so eager to join the group and start absorbing information from a collective knowledge of over 500 years on spinning. 

It wasn’t to be. I came home with my hopes of joining quite squished because there was a waiting list of 9 people already waiting to join the group.  What was I to do.  The books covered a lot, but there were a lot of grey areas and some things were not covered at all. Being a visual person I learn much better from watching, so I decided to consult the “Oracle” (Internet) in particular YouTube (www.youtube.com).  YouTube is a massive craft education resource. Wow.  I did have to filter through many videos that were not very good to find the gems.

Firstly I found Sue Macniven’s (http://www.youtube.com/user/chicksinrubber) video that explained all the different parts of the spinning wheel.  Then I came across the New Voyage Videos (http://www.youtube.com/user/NewVoyagerVideo). Tim has a three part series on spinning wheel maintenance, where I learnt how to take care of my wheel and keep it running at it’s best.  With the technical stuff on board I headed back to Sue’s videos to learn about carding, combing and some spinning basics. Sue is a great teacher to listen too, she explains things very clearly and thoroughly.  

Another video maker that I found and really enjoyed was Rexenne (http://www.youtube.com/user/rexenne). This lady has a very, in her own words “dorky” approach. I love watching these videos, especially if I have a had a crappy day. Rexenne’s approach is light and heaps of fun and a little crazy, which I can relate to well.  Rexenne taught me probably the most important lesson so far in my learning experience. Relax and enjoy, everything does not need to be perfect.

I really loved the fact that if I needed to watch a video 200 times for it to sink in, I was the only one that knew it. I was able to feel really comfortable in my own home, mind you my kids did tell me I was a sight, set up in front of the computer with the spinning wheel doing as I watched. But hey, it really worked.  Perfection will come with practice.  I was still a little stressed about getting my yarn to be a perfect 5ply or what ever ply I wanted. Then I realised that my knobbly, loopy, lumpy yarn resembled the “fancy fibres” being sold in yarn stores.  It was then I really relaxed and started enjoying the whole process.  

The moral of the story is do not be hard on your self and try for perfection with your first yarn, enjoy it. Be open to learning via different methods. Explore the Internet, there are so many talented people out there to learn from.  We have school holidays here Down Under, and I have spent the first week of the holidays with my 3 kiddlies Master 11, Miss 6 and Miss 4 along with my niece Miss 8 dyeing mohair the kid safe way.  I am writing an article to follow this one with pictures and advice on dyeing yarn. So keep your eyes peeled.

Introduction to Spinning, Part 1 (video)

If you’re interested in spinning your own yarn, this video provides you with all the information you need to get started. Park and draft with a drop spindle with this tutorial!

Spinning Yarn on a Drop Spindle – Tutorial (video)

Hello Naughty Knitterz! Here you’ll see how to make yarn on a top whorl drop spindle. Megan shows starting a leader yarn, the park method, the drop method, and connecting more fiber.