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.

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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:

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.

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.

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!

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....

and...

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.

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.

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!

• 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

This summer, Schacht Spindle released the Cricket Quartet, an attachment that converts their Cricket rigid heddle loom into a 4-shaft table loom.  The claim is that the Quartet allows you to switch back and forth at will between a rigid heddle loom and a 4-shaft loom. At $450, this is pretty expensive, considering you also need to have the Cricket, which is currently running around $240. So all in, this would cost $700, which is a lot for a table loom. (For comparison, a used 4-shaft table loom in working condition should be around $400).

However, I already had a 15" Cricket rigid heddle loom that I used to use for teaching and demonstrations. I enjoy using it, but I knew I would use a 4-shaft table loom more. We recently moved, and my weaving space is much smaller than it used to be, so space is at a premium. Gone are my days of acquiring looms just for fun! After looking at used table looms on Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, and Ravelry, I realized that I had already had some experience with a lot of the looms out there, and found them to be too big, too loud, or too flimsy. So I decided to give the Cricket Quartet a try.

As always, Schacht does a really nice job of packaging with minimal waste, while still protecting everything inside. 

Soon I will be putting the loom together and using it - I'll be sure to report back!

There are as many ways to spin a gorgeous yarn as there are people who spin. Sometimes, getting a consistent yarn is really important - especially if we're spinning lots of yarn for a big project.

There are lots of ways to make sure you're spinning a consistent yarn. One of my favorite ways is to use the Spinner's Multitool. It helps me prepare fiber, and then check my yarn as I'm spinning to make sure I'm getting the yarn I want. 
The Spinner's Multitool functions as a diz, WPI (wraps per inch) tool, and twist angle. The Ultimate Multitool also has a small 2" ruler that can help you determine twists per inch. These are all factors that can help you spin a consistent yarn. They're also helpful if you're trying to replicate another yarn in your stash. 

In this post, I'll walk you through all the ways you can use the Spinner's Multitool. In this video, I'm using the Ultimate Multitool. but if you're into something a little different, we also have a Sheep Shaped Spinner's Multitool, an Alpaca, a Bunny, and the Original. If you still have questions after watching the video, I've added some more information and closeup images to help.

Here you can see a yarn that is Z twist, at a 30 degree angle. I've added a red dash to show how the angle of the twist lines up with the 30 degree angle. ​

Here are some key things to remember when you're using your Spinner's Multitool:

• Don't pull the yarn too tight - this will distort your reading, making the yarn look thinner than it really is. It can also distort the twist angle.
• Remember that most handspun yarns bloom and lose twist after they are washed - so your readings will be different at your wheel and in the same yarn after it's finished. 
• The best way to account for these differences is to sample, sample, sample! Record your measurements before and after washing your sample. Knit, weave, or crochet a swatch with your finished sample to make sure you like the yarn. Sample as many times as you need to before diving in to your project.
• Always be as consistent as possible with yourself. If you always measure in a certain way, then keep measuring that way. If you alter your measurement methods halfway through a project, you might end up with different results at the beginning of your bobbin and at the end!

​Happy Spinning!