New Techniques - Leno

Maybe I was just tired by the end of my exciting day of testing, but learning "Leno" was mind bending. Kenzo opened the shed took two threads and held them up, then he took two more (about 4 threads away) and crossed them over.  He repeated this four or five times to make the Leno pattern.  

My first attempt had cross overs with a straight thread in between.  It looked okay, but it wasn't what Kenzo did.  My second attempt was to keep the shed down and cross two sets of adjacent threads.  I didn't like the result.  Third attempt was to keep the shed down pick up two threads, skip four, and then pick up two and cross them.  Much better, but still not what Kenzo showed me.

He came back by and showed me again.  Then he showed me four threads alternated with four threads (shed down) - I'd already figured that one out by myself.  

To me it looks like scars.  

This is my favorite section.  I did it Kenzo's way, did a few plain rows in between, and then twisted again.  I think they look like pineapples.  

I got a little carried away by making "pineapples." 

New Techniques - Differential Tension

A wooden dowel is inserted into portion of the warp to provide differential tension.  The ends of the dowel are secured wtih rubber bands placed on the frame of the loom.  The closer the dowel is to the "X" the more tension it provides.  

This is my first attempt at differential tension.  As my son Kyle would say, "meh."  It is okay but not that different than shuttle surfing.

Sooooooo - Kenzo had me make a few adjustments - one was to use a much finer thread - in my case a very fine rayon with sparkles and two was not to leave space between sections.  He also encouraged me to beat the cloth soundly.  I wore away at least five of my edge threads but the result was stunning.

Worth the sacrifice of a few warp threads!

Level A = Adaptive Technology

Kenzo showed me all the adaptive technology he developed for encouraging people with handicaps to learn to weave.  I was blessing my father for encouraging me to take things apart and put them together, because there were a lot of things to bolt on the loom, tie together, and clamp to the loom.  One of the primary principles is to add weight to the back harness so that it falls back into place after beating the cloth.

It is hard to see, but there is a metal rod hooked to the harness that provides weight.

Two clips are added to the reed cap.  They keep the front harness in position so you can push the shuttle through the shed.

This isn't a very good picture, but Kenzo is holding a shuttle shelf.

The shuttle slides along the shelf, through the shed, and is stopped by the blue loop.

The shuttle pictured above can be pushed with a rod held in your mouth or can be pushed along with your foot if you do not have use of your hands.

This metal "box" is clamped to the shelf and helps the weaver wind a bobbin.

Picture above is a cone of yarn next to the bobbin winder.

Other adaptations include a reed hook that changes position for people with visual impairments, a special brake that can be pulled by a cord, two cones taped together that extend a person's range of motion for winding a warp, and a wheel with three prongs for winding the bobbins.  

Weaving with my feet was easier to learn than I thought.  I posted a video on Facebook.  

Hours later, Kenzo removed all the attachments.  I had to put them all back on and demonstrate how to use them.  

Level 3 Skills Test

Saorinomori adheres to the philosophy "do not teach."  Which much like its cousin Montessori is often misunderstood.  When the Saori method was first developed the Jo's travelled all around Japan and the studios did not use the same methods and techniques.  So, Kenzo Jo sought to develop the most logical and efficient ways of weaving.  These are passed from teacher to student.  The skills test is meant to check to see if student is using the proper methods/techniques.  

I was sooooooooo nervous.  The night before the test I had a weaving anxiety dream.  Who knew there was even such a thing.  I dreamed I was trying to weave on the warping board without taking the warp off the board and putting it on the loom. Eeeekkkk!

The test had a written portion and a demonstration portion.  The criteria for testing can be found on the Internet, so I don't think I am giving anything away.  I need to keep practicing sliding the loom closed and open.  I tend to use brute force and lift it to open and close it.  Other than that the test went pretty well.  It is a relief that it is over and I don't need to worry about it any more.  

New Techniques - Shuttle Surfing

The idea behind Shuttle Surfing is to use the shuttle as a beater instead of the beater bar.  You lay in a thread with peaks and valleys like a "sin" curve. Then you change treadles and pack the threads together using the shuttle.  The result looks like waves.  

Empire State Building

Pictured above is a portion of the cloth.  I added white and blue weft in short sections to the pink cloth, floated them diagonally, and continued to add them until I got what looks like a building - in my mind it is the Empire State Building.

New Techniques - Supplemental Threads

I've wound a supplemental warp before to make a ruffled skirt.  Today instead of winding a second warp I added threads directly from cones.  I threaded them through the same heddles as the original warp, threaded them through the reed, and then secured them into the cloth by using the ends as weft.  I used "Super Clips" to add tension, but I've seen other weaver just using the cone for tension.

The vertical "stripes" are individual threads added (supplemented) to the warp.

Pictured above is the back of the loom with the cones and super clips.