Weaving for eTextiles
Weaving eTextiles or at least the design of them has grabbed hold of me.
After reading Lynne Bruning’s article in WeaveZine, I couldn’t resist buying some components from SparkFun Electronics to have a go.
Most references in eTextile electronics mention the memories of ’6th grade electronic projects’. This must be a distinctly American concept as I have never heard of electronics education in primary or high schools here in Australia and I was never exposed to it in any way. Thus, as school can tend to immunise you against some activities, I was just totally enthralled having had no exposure at all.
When the componets arrived in their neat little box I just looked at them wondering how I would proceed. A bit scared of tiny little, harmless looking dynamos. Then I bought Switch Craft
But I was still worried about the battery holder. Yes, I can sew it on here and there etc. etc. But wouldn’t it be better if the weaver in me could contribute more. Double weave, of course. Weavers are made to do double weave. So I experimented with a hand manipulated double weave pocket situated in the middle of the fabric. The pocket had to be accessible to take the battery in and out and change it. So I wove a slit on the front top only. Then the battery holder and battery could be inserted and connected, hidden from view and incorporated into the textile design itself. You can see the emergence of this in the photo. It has far more applications when I get onto a 24 shaft loom to further control the double weave with shafts. Another new adventure…
I’ve begun threading my heddles with my double weave design – rock weave after the frustrating warping process. It’s going nicely. However it isn’t a straight draw so I really have to keep track of the threading plan. I’ve divided the threading into about nine sections and I pull out all the heddles, on the designated shafts, that I need for each section as I thread. Then I check each section before moving onto the next one.
What I should of done is wound a different warp for each of the two yarns which would have helped. This at least would absolutely ensure that each type of thread would be tensioned correctly throughout the weaving.
I am revisiting 
This is the warping diagram for this Celtic Knot pattern. The P’s represent a thicker warp for the pattern followed each time by two thinner threads on the open and heddles. Steve also had a better visual and symbolic style of writing warping patterns but I haven’t included it here.
The first pattern diagram is the type I usually use and is a common convention. It provides a reasonable visual of how the pattern will look (
In contrast Steve’s diagrams actually inform you about the process. Only the affected pattern threads on each row are marked and the notation tells you whether the pattern thread is picked up or dropped down. Steve has also used colour to further alert us to the rhythm of the pattern. This type of notation is a true working pattern diagram but doesn’t display the ‘look’ of the completed weave very well. It’s a great format to work directly onto the loom.
I’m still enthralled with the little inkle workshop and now I’ve done a pattern that has pickup and drop down on it. I think I can weave one a night.
