The tapestry loom experiment provided valuable data: mostly that I don’t like to sit still and weave. After taking up space on my kitchen counter for many, many months, I finally decided to take it off the loom. It is a shame that I couldn’t bear making it into a scarf size; the fabric drapes beautifully and has a nice feel, but I truly could not face the project any longer. The killer was the loose stripes. My concept for the weaving was “identity crisis” and to show that I had two striped color schemes warring across the field of fabric. I intended to have several “loose” stripes instead of just two, but those two slowed my production to a near standstill. Once I decided to move on, the remaining stripes went fairly quickly. I removed it from the loom and let it rest for a couple weeks. Then I finished the edges by braiding the warp threads, weaving in the loose weft threads, and machine sewing a hem on the top and bottom.
“Identity Crisis” weaving cotton and acrylic
I do like the “war” between the color schemes, and I may cut down the very large (to me) tapestry frame to a lap size, but for now there are many, many portable projects to pursue.
Spent another couple hours out at the lake. I spotted a different variety of grass by the edge and selected a few long strands near the mowed part to see how they behaved when woven. My weaving skills are still very rudimentary, however I’m learning so much about construction in experimentation. The basket started off as I’ve seen in pictures for twined baskets, but then when I started up the sides my spacing narrowed into more of a rough vase than a basket. (I will say that it was laid down many times for the baiting of the youngest’s hook.) I made fair progress and decided to continue the study at home.
Experimental weaving with lake grass
Since the weaving wanted to narrow, I went with it, changing the uprights to weavers, thus narrowing the number of uprights. When I was down to five uprights, I braided them to end the sculpture. (We are going to call it a sculpture since I tucked all the ends inside and it is non-functional as a vessel.) I also don’t speak basket, so my terminology leans to descriptive. (Even when I know the proper terms, though, they don’t always surface appropriately, so there we go.)
I finished the plarn bag! Or maybe it is a basket. It can stand on its own, but is still flexible. Hm.
Nålbound bag made from plastic grocery bags
I changed connection stitches mid-bag (we’ll just call it a bag, yes?) because I was aiming for the tight braided look I’ve seen produced with the Finnish 2+2 stitch. I figured out my tension at the 2/3rd mark, and the stitches finally achieved the look I wanted, so I decided to also try some decorative work (since it is an experimental object anyway).
Woven bottom of the nålbound bag
It turned out quite functional and sturdy. The handles with the three rounds are comfortable, and I made it to be large enough to hold my longest spindle. I can tell where I changed connections (from M1 F1 to F2, note to self), and where I achieved even tension, but I’m going to claim them as design choices.
Nålbound bag made of plarn
Whether the finished project is considered a bag or a basket, it is done!
P.S. This took me three weeks to complete, working in bits and pieces. The magic of the blogosphere made it seem like a few days, but it wasn’t!
P.P.S. This bag used the plastic from approximately 43 grocery bags. (And it drives me crazy when I hit “publish” instead of “save as draft” on a post.)
Back to talking about plarn. Yesterday I posted about how I connect and spin loops of plastic grocery bags as I stitch. I wanted to learn a new nålbinding stitch and using plarn was a perfect way to practice without wasting expensive fiber. The stitch is a Finnish 2+2 stitch as described here (this page also talks about how different connections affect the finished texture, I chose M1 + F1 because it looks more braided). I started my chain, and made it long enough that I could make a beach mat, if I so chose. It is easiest to do nålbinding in the round, so I continued in the round (nålbinding can absolutely be cut and tidied up later). As I progressed, I felt the texture would be better suited for a bag than a mat (it has a rough feel due to the twist). So then the dilemma was how to deal with the base of the bag. I could stitch it straight, as a tote bag, which wouldn’t stand on its own. I could sew an oval piece of hard plastic in, but what plastic, and would it still be recycling? I could nålbind an oval, which is downright tricky. What about weaving? It is an experimental piece anyway, could I weave a base? I found a box that fit snugly in my nålbound tube and connected the first loop by threading it through the edge and looping it back on itself (as you do for connecting loops).
Starting the weaving
I then gave the loop some twist and ran it the long way along the box, out through the edge, then back in through the next stitch. I added loops and twist as I went, making the warp threads for the weaving.
Setting up the warp threads with plarn
When it was time to start the weft, I realized that I didn’t have to break the plarn, I could just turn the box and keep going. I used a plain weave (over, under, over, under), and used a pick up stick to hold one shed, and a longer wooden needle to pick up the alternate threads. My nålbinding needle was best for connecting to the edge because it is smooth and doesn’t abrade the plastic.
Weaving the weft on the bottom
I had to adjust my spacing as I went; I started off putting the weft through every edge stitch, then ended up every third stitch to get the weft to be straight. At the end, I wove in the tail and clipped it on the inside of the bag. (Only one tail to weave in, hurray!)
Woven base for nålbound bag (in progress)
This was a very pleasing experiment. I really like the woven base: it feels nice and is sturdy. I will continue to build up the sides with nålbinding, but that will take awhile. I’ll post an update when it is done!
I had a small amount of two-ply hand spun merino wool left. Not enough to weave on my frame loom, but if I could rig something up a little smaller it might work. So I tried weaving on one of my wire jigs.
Weaving set up on a wire jig
I used my smallest pins to hold the warp threads and a tapestry needle to pass the weft through to make a plain weave. As the weaving progressed, I had to hold down the pins as they tended to pop up out of the jig. On the whole, the idea worked, but it wasn’t a pleasant experience since the pins were only loosely set and it was difficult to do the final passes. Mark that up as a nope.
