Fiber Sprite
  • Blog
  • About
    • Classes
    • Policies
  • Tutorials
  • Store

Fiber Sprite​

Design a Warp With Me!

3/9/2023

 
Picture
My test warp is off my Cricket Quartet, my studio finally has great lighting, so now it's time to get weaving! 

Most weaving videos on the internet focus on the actual weaving process, and there are plenty of those coming up. Today's videos focus more on the design process. This is the process I learned when I first started weaving, and it's let me mostly design all my own projects without having to rely on printed patterns.

I do use a few books for "design recipes," though! Here are a few of my favorites for 4-shaft looms:
  • Learning to Weave : Great for learning the basics, how to do the math, plus a few handy hints.
  • The Handweaver's Pattern Directory : Lots of different weave structures for 4-shaft looms. Color pictures!
  • A Handweaver's Pattern Book : This is a partial reprinting of "The Green Book." It has most of the patterns of the original, but not all. However, the original is out of print and sells for a lot of money! This version is easier to find and a good place to start.
​
In this first video, I walk through the math I use to make sure I have enough yarn. For this project, I'm using a 3-ply linen from Weaver House, sett at 20 ends per inch. My pattern has 268 ends, which lets me use the whole width of the Cricket Quartet.

As promised in the video, here are the free downloads:
Excel Warp Calculator
File Size: 12 kb
File Type: xlsx
Download File

Weaving Notes
File Size: 1969 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

In this second video, I walk through my process designing the warp in WeaveIt. This isn't a full tutorial of WeaveIt, but if you need one of those, Sally has created plenty of helpful tutorials on her channel. 

If you're interested in using or modifying this pattern for your own use, there are free downloads below - one is to the WIF file, and the other is a printable PDF.
Picture
blue_and_white_twill.wif
File Size: 10 kb
File Type: wif
Download File

blue_and_white_twill.pdf
File Size: 1141 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Now it's time to get warping! I'll be back with tips on how to use a warping board, check out what happened when I asked an AI chatbot how to do it.

Lighting a Fiber Arts Studio

2/9/2023

 
Last year my husband and I packed up our home and business and moved across the country. This was a huge shakeup, and one of the biggest changes was my studio space. 

Lighting has been a huge challenge in this space. My previous studio spaces had lots of windows for great natural light, plus great overhead lighting. This one doesn't. Since we've had a lot of other big expenses with this move, I've decided to hold off on hiring an electrician to install hardwired lighting. This also gives me time to figure out exactly how I want the lighting in the studio set up.

This approach has had its fair share of challenges! One of the first things that I figured out is that lighting a fiber arts studio is way different than lighting other spaces in a home. 

TL;DR - Use an online calculator to determine how much light you need. Use bright, cool light. Look for plug-in wall sconces and pendant lamps to get lots of light on the cheap. Your eyes (and your wallet) will thank you!

Design Challenge #1: All the Light is in One Corner

This room was originally meant to be either a formal living room or a large dining room. And somehow, all the light ended up in one corner of the room. There are large windows that let in a lot of natural light in the summer and fall. There's also a ceiling fan with three small lights.

I started out with using two floor lamps in the darker parts of the room, but even with a high-powered task lamp for extra lighting, I found I wasn't getting enough light.​

​This led to....

Design Problem #2: I Don't Want to Hire an Electrician Just Yet

and...

Design Problem #3: Floor Space is at a Premium

As far as I'm concerned, these two problems are related. In an ideal world, I'd have dimmable, moveable track lighting, so that everything in the room is well lit. But there are several reasons why that's not on the table right now. First, it's not in the budget. Second, I want to "live in" to the space and really make a solid decision before making big changes.

Once I'd made that decision, I found that most of the lighting options were for floor lamps - like I already had. Adding more floor lamps didn't seem like it would solve the problem. Plus, they'd take up valuable space, add to tripping hazards, and potentially increase glare. I wanted a bright room, but one without too much glare.

Everyone I consulted kept saying "wall sconces," but I kept thinking of the dim mood lighting in hotels. Plus, all the wall sconces I'd ever seen had been hardwired in - work that would require hiring an electrician. This conundrum kept me stuck for longer than I care to admit.

Finally, I found out that there are plug-in wall sconces available. I bought two sets (four total), and it only set me back $60. They do require that you drill a few holes in the wall, but they are simple to install and connect to your existing outlet. No electrician needed, and no floor space sacrificed.

Design Problem #4: Light Temperature

Even after doubling the amount of light I had in my studio, I found it still wasn't bright enough. So I swapped out all my bulbs for brighter ones. And it STILL wasn't enough! 

At that point in time, all the light bulbs in our house were "soft white," or about 2700k. This is a warm light, and it seems to be popular among designers as the "best light" for homes. But we use our homes a lot differently than we did even a few years ago. A studio space is more like an office than a living room. While warm light is great for relaxing, cool light tends to be better for working. So out went the soft white bulbs, and in came (ever brighter) "Daylight" bulbs. These have a color temperature of 5000k, and helped make the studio feel better lit.

Design Problem #5: How Much Light Do You Really Need?

Switching to brighter, cooler lights was better - for a while. But I found I was still experiencing eye strain, especially when threading the heddles on my floor loom. I was limited to the times that the room was filled with natural light on a sunny day. Even then, I  needed to have all the lights on and use a task lamp to be comfortable. This was limiting me to working from about 9 am to 11 am in the winter months, and those hours didn't always line up with the other things I needed to get done. 

I used an online lighting calculator to determine how much light I needed in my space. The answer: somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000 lumens. At that point, I had about 3,000 lumens from my overhead lighting and wall sconces, plus about 1,000 from my task light. At less than half the minimum, no wonder I still felt like it was too dark!

I knew I needed lots more light, and I especially needed to add light to the middle of the room. This time, it was plug-in pendant lights to the rescue. A set of two cost only $39, and they were easy to install. 

Lastly, I made sure all the bulbs were as bright as they could be. 

There are currently 7 electric light sources in my studio - three overhead lights, three wall sconces, and one task lamp that I move around as needed. I have one more wall sconce to install (I'm waiting until I've finalized the room layout). Once that last sconce is installed, my ambient lighting will be around 10,600 lumens.

Even without that last sconce, it finally feels bright enough. I no longer find myself wandering away from a task, only to later realize that it was because I couldn't see well enough. 

​Each light is controlled by its own switch, which has definite pros and cons. On the negative side, it takes more effort to turn all the lights on. In reality, it's less than 30 seconds! On the positive side, it's easy to customize exactly how much light I need at any given moment, making it much easier to just get on with the actual work of fiber art!

Products Mentioned

  • Plug-In Wall Sconces 
  • Plug-In Pendant Lights
  • Lightbulbs (these will probably be cheaper at your hardware store)
  • Floor/task Lamp

I also have read several books that have impacted how I think about designing my studio spaces:
  • Love Your Creative Space: A Visual Guide to Creating an Inspiring & Organized Studio Without Breaking the Bank
  • Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness

Fiber Sprite Podcast Episode 005

11/6/2019

 
Here is the fourth episode of the Fiber Sprite Podcast! On this show, I'll talk about projects I've been working on and my visit to the Taos Wool Festival.

Knitting:

  • Sock blocker
  • 2BEwe (the yarn I'm using for my sweater)

Designing:

  • My initial sweater plans are here and here and also here
  • Fashionary journal. On the podcast, I complained about the size, but you can buy larger templates.
  • Head counts: fashion drawing versus reality
  • MyBodyModel
  • Using a schematic to create a pattern
  • Knitter's graph paper (this is great for working out stitch patterns, but when I'm designing to scale, I use regular old graph paper)
  • Knitting Without Tears
  • Elizabeth's Percentage System
  • The Opinionated Knitter
  • Sweater I'm wearing in the podcast, which is based on the Brooks Sweater in the Opinionated Knitter
  • Sally Melville's Knitting Pattern Essentials
  • Amy Herzog's Ultimate Sweater Book

Spinning:

  • The Woolly Lizard
    • Chain ply vs. Three Ply Yarn
  • Galaxy
  • Glacier Sunrise
  • Manx Loaghtan
  • Using the Spinner's Multitool to spin a consistent yarn

Weaving:

  • The seam I used is a French seam that I then flat felled. More on seam finishes here.
  • Jacket Band Yarns
    • Malabrigo Silkpaca (warp yarn)
    • Yampa Valley Fiberworks (weft yarn)
  • Gingerbread Cottage

Books:

  • Vanishing Fleece
  • Making a Life

Fiber Sprite Podcast Episode 004

10/10/2019

 
Here is the fourth episode of the Fiber Sprite Podcast! On this show, I'll talk about projects I've been working on and my visit to the Taos Wool Festival.

Knitting:

  • Camaro
  • Techknitting on how to lengthen or shorten a knit garment
  • Estimating yardage for a sweater. Or, you could use Stashbot for a quick-and-dirty estimator. 

Spinning:

  • Midnight Southdown Top​

Weaving:

  • Joining strips of fabric for rag rugs

Books:

  • Weaving a Life: The Story of Mary Meigs Atwater
  • Weaving in Miniature
  • Finishing Touches for the Handweaver
  • Handbook of Timesaving Tables for Weavers, Spinners, and Dyers
  • Vanishing Fleece
  • Handwoven Magazine

Taos Wool Festival:

  • Mudita Camel Dairy
    • Camels and a Yurt
  • Dyer's Wool
  • Sundance Leather
  • Yampa ValleyFiberworks
  • Hummingbird Moon
  • 2BEwe
  • The Natural Twist
  • Cactus Hill Farm​

Fiber Sprite Podcast Episode 2

8/26/2019

 
Here is the second episode of the Fiber Sprite Podcast! On this show, I'll talk about projects I've been working on, sources of inspiration, share tutorials, and more. 

Knitting:

  • Here's how to do a tubular bind-off.
  • Sock Blockers 
  • Camaro
  • Needle Gauge
  • Yarn trackers - circular and flower-shaped

Spinning:

  • Marine Bloom
  • Galaxy
  • Glacier Sunrise
  • Sheepy Multitool
  • Where I bought the Cormo. (Purchased as pin-drafted roving)
  • Where I bought my first fleece.

Weaving:
  • RedFish Dye Works
  • American Maid Cotton. 
  • More information about color-grown cotton.

Books:

  • Master Your Craft
  • Finding Your Artistic Voice​

<<Previous

    Archives

    January 2025
    July 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    May 2022
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    October 2020
    September 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Affiliate
    Annavestkal
    Bangoutasweater
    Basketweaving
    Books
    Breed Swatch
    Cables
    Classes
    Color Theory
    Colorwork
    Design
    Differential Shrinkage
    Diz
    Dog
    Downloads
    Drum Carder
    Dyeing
    Embroidery
    Ergonomics
    Felting
    Fiber Fix
    FOs
    Freebies
    Knitting
    Konmarie
    Kumihimo
    Lace
    Links
    Log Cabin
    Mending
    Multitool
    Onesockkal
    Patterns
    Podcast
    Ravelry
    Rigid Heddle
    Rug Hooking
    Samplealong
    Sashiko
    Sewing
    Shop
    Slow Fashion October
    Socks
    Spinning
    Spinzilla
    Stash
    Steek
    Swatching
    Sweaters
    Tour De Fleece
    Travel
    Tutorial
    Tutorials
    Upcycling
    Video
    Warp
    Weaving
    WIP
    Wool
    Wovember
    Wpi

    This website uses marketing and tracking technologies. Opting out of this will opt you out of all cookies, except for those needed to run the website. Note that some products may not work as well without tracking cookies.

    Opt Out of Cookies
Copyright P.S. Kreative LLC © 2015-2024
  • Blog
  • About
    • Classes
    • Policies
  • Tutorials
  • Store