the frugal weaver strikes again

left over crepe wool that could not possibly be cut and thrown away. since the tough part was already done which was the warping, it was only a matter of re tightening and re sleying. note the stylish printed cloth on the table serving as a threading eye-saving number   ^_^

it came out narrow, no choice. here's han damask

with a light beat and some more tightly beaten using the same wool crepe as weft. 

other wefts will follow and i am hoping this albeit narrow, will be a useful sample.

neki desu

the importance of small things

a little over the height of a penny was causing



this total jam havoc going from left to right with the lace carriage. live and learn.









neki desu
 

the art of flying

cloth, what else.
enjoy your fall weekend



neki desu
 

taken to the bottle

and doing cheap alcohol

and if you think moving, adding or taking out heddles is awful try removing 200 needles from the  knitting machine's needle bed. that was the option that did not include taking the machine apart and sending it to the uk for repairs.

needles were cleaned in alcohol, the inside of the bed was vacuumed and if you have ever dyed you know how much 5grams is. the lint, which had stopped being fluffy, as lint tends to be, had matted almost to felting stage added by years of lubricating oils. so gross that i am going to spare you the sight. 

it would not squeeze through the vents in the needle bed and had to be fished with an assortment of diy tools.

i think all that gunk prevented the sponge bar from acting properly in returning the needles to their  correct position hence jamming the lace carriage.

the task continued by salvaging already
used ribbons putting them in alcohol
and scraping the glue off. their lives have thus been extended and i feel virtuous. it would be easier to buy new ones, but easy is a relative concept as i'd have to change clothes
and go out to buy new ones.









here's the other ribbon being glued and pinned in place on top of the sponge. the sponge bar aka needle retainer bar helps keep needles bouncing back to place after being selected to form the stitch pattern.
 hopefully now the lace carriage will operate properly as lace carriages are notoriously finicky











neki desu

jamming

thanks to this vid i was spared of buying a new lace carriage. a simple hack with a magnet  made the non electronic lace carriage from the other machine talk to the electronic machine.

 now i have other problems to solve the lace carriage gets jammed going left to right, but works well going right to left.    ﾟДﾟ
it also happens with the proper carriage so it has to be something related to the needle bed.
as a last resource i will have to go inside the machine ﾟДﾟ






neki desu
 

nihongo benkyo suru

 japanophilia 101
have a great weekend






neki desu
 

when the going gets tough

so far no luck with sourcing a knit fabric. could someone please  explain why to a structurally stretchy fabric there is a need to add elastene? seems that knits are meant to be polyester and acrylic in all their variations plus elastane.
i knew it was going to be nearly impossible to find a medium weight silk knit.that said it was a matter of time i'd realize that i have kilos of coned silk and that i could knit a length of fabric. found a nice tuck stitch pattern and  therefore i'm at the sampling stage. it won't full to the compactness of the black knit. ever. and it has to be dyed. but the though are getting to go.



neki desu