What a contraption! The AVL warping wheel is fantastic. So easy to understand and use.

This is the first time I’ve used this tool….and it’s a keeper.

Essentially, it allows you to warp and beam at the same time as long as you have a sectional warping beam. Mutiple yarn cones or even just one cone of yarn can be used which saves winding out many separate yarn packages. Rather than dragged to a chore, I actually looked forward to winding, like a game, as I saw the warp creeping along the warp beam so quickly.

I think I’ll also be able to use a variant of the warping process with painted warps but I’m just trialling it now. No doubt lots of weavers have already discovered how to do this. I hope to do a video soon.

On another note check out Meg’s 2010 Picture Challenge. Meg – where do you come up with such luscious exchange ideas? I’m going to commit to this one because I need a focus on designing new cloth and pushing my stash of yarns into living cloth. Meg has set out a great way to get those fibre juices activated.

Thanks to all who have offered such helpful and generous advice on my fly shuttle woes. I know I’ll get it going, but in the meantime I’ve finished the blanket that I was strugglying to weave just in time for the birth of my newest neice – Casey Eve – yay!

A nice blanket ribbon trim finished it off nicely and I’m really happy with it.

If you’ve noticed by tardiness to my blog entries it’s because I’ve temporarily been seconded to the world of e-learning design. That is designing online courses. It  shares some similarities to textile design and processes. It’s a  weaving together of different medias, rather than yarns, to create something memorable and meaningful combined with function. I’m learning so much that my head is near exploding point.

As 2009 drew to a close my fly shuttle problems didn’t resolve themselves despite my very best efforts. You can see in this video some of the problems and workarounds I’ve used but to no avail. The fly shuttle should work more like this. Not by half pushing the shuttle through the weft each row. Any suggestions are greatly welcomed.

To soothe the weave issues I’ve had this year I had to order some new yarn to work with from Avril. These super fantastic quality Japanese yarns are so wonderful that I’ve run out of adjectives to describe their beauty. I have a kilo of the natural 2/20 linen which is so soft that it is unsuitable for a wall transparency and will be better in cloth to wear. Also some stainless steel yarn and a luscious cone of white pine yarn. Happy Weaving for 2010!