Working with bamboo

I just finished a lovely bamboo scarf, my first with this fiber.  I wanted something light and airy for a summer scarf, and absolutely fell in love with the sheen of bamboo.  And when I got the cone (ordered it by mail), I loved the soft silky texture, too. 

But the sheen and softness spell slippery.  And since I was doing a hand-manipulated weave - Brooks Bouquet - I had to handle it more than I would normally, especially since I was using the bamboo for both warp and weft.

It's slippery, but also kind of grabby, so the warp threads tend to want to grab onto other warp threads, which can lead to tangles.  I planned on a fringe, but when I wet-finished the scarf, the fringe tangled - a lot - so I cut the fringe to a bit less than 2 inches, shorter than I'd ordinarily use.  Now it's behaving itself.  After wet finishing the scarf seemed a bit wrinkled, so I gave it a light press with a cool iron (set on the "silk" setting) and the wrinkles disappeared while the sheen seemed to increase.  The green was colorfast in cold water.

And oh, the drape is lovely, and the scarf feels nice and light, so it's just what I wanted for a summer scarf.

I used Norwood 5/2 bamboo from the Woolery, set at 10 EPI, which made for a very open weave, but that's what I was looking for.  I wanted a lacy feel and look.  

Scarf made with variable sized RH segments

    I've been experimenting with different-sized RH segments placed together in one rigid heddle.  
Having finished the scarf, this is what I've seen:

I was a bit shy about moving the heddle up and down for the two sheds - didn't want the parts that are rubber-banded together to separate.  While I often use only one hand to move the heddle, here I've been using both hands, grabbing the top left and right.  It wasn't hard to get into the rhythm of using both hands.   I still want a few more rubber bands, though, including one in the center. 

I had expected problems with the unstretchy cotton rug warp (which was on the left and right) and the very stretchy and thicker wool warp (which was in the middle).  After awhile, tension became an issue because the warp yarns have different stretch, but also because they take up different thickness on the cloth beam as the cloth is woven.  I ended up putting some sticks on the back beam under the thicker warps so that the weaving would be straighter.  After I took the cloth off the loom, though, and it wasn't under tension, much of the differences resolved.  However, as with any piece with different thickness warps, there is still some variability.  While the picks look straight, the cloth bubbles from the different thicknesses - but that's part of the fun here.

There is some "tracking" because there are spots where there were gaps in the heddle (between the different-sized segments).  These areas look fine, going along with the thick/thin flavor of the scarf.  I could minimize this next time by sleying threads through the slots between the segments; I wasn't confident this would all hold together and didn't want any stray threads, but it would have been fine.  Fulling during finishing minimized, but didn't eliminate, the tracking. 

I wove leaning the loom up against a table instead of on my lap, because it's easier to get to the down shed without wrestling with the heddle - and I did not want to wrestle my rubber-banded heddle.  
Even though the "holes" on my variable heddle are a bit lower than on the conventional heddle for my loom, the shed was still okay.  I was able to use stick shuttles, but wonder if it's too small for boat shuttles.

The differences in the yarns are nicely highlighted.  This was a stash scarf, and while I had colors I liked together (blue and white with splashes of red and black), I didn't have any "art' yarn that went with them.   Next time I'll use a different color scheme so that I can use my more funky yarn; somehow there is still a lot of yarn in my stash to choose from. 

    One thing I didn't do yet was to cut the segments smaller.  For example, the 5-dent segment is 3-4 inches wide, but I'd like to work with smaller segments of really wide yarn.  My DH says he can do it. 

    Could I have done something similar with a conventional rigid heddle that's big enough for the fattest yarn, say a 5-dent heddle? (like the 5-dent heddle section I'm using for the bulkier yarns.)  Yes, but the thinner yarns (those that are going through the 12-dent sections) would be spread out a lot, or else would be sleyed with several threads for each dent.  Either would give a different look. 

    Of course, it would be possible to have this kind of variability with a conventional table or floor loom.  You'd thread through the individual heddles, then space the threads through a reed that's big enough for the thickest yarn.  You'd also double-up the thinner yarns in the individual reed dents.

    But it's so much easier to direct warp a RH loom.  So these variable segments used in one rigid heddle are just tailor-made for a RH loom.

Experimenting with variable-sized heddles

    After seeing a discussion on Ravelry about the Majacraft dynamic heddle rigid heddle loom that has variable-sized segments of heddles, I had to try it for myself.  Not having $500 plus for the Majacraft, gorgeous as it is, I tried something else.  Here's a link to the discussion; you have to be a member of Ravelry to see it, but it's free to join.

    I purchased RH segments from Village Spin and Weave.  Folks use these segments for backstrap and other narrow weaving, and since they only cost $6.25 to $8.25 each, the outlay is small.  These are solid, sturdy plastic, made by Schacht (based on the name "Schacht" embedded in the plastic), a bit thicker than the plastic in my Ashford Knitters Loom heddles, and a bit less tall than the AKL heddles, but they're all the same height.

    My DH made me a wooden frame for the segments so that I can use them all together in whatever order I choose. The frame he made looks the same as the wooden frames for the heddles I already have.  I put the heddle segments I want to use in the frame, and hold the whole thing together with rubber bands.  Here's a picture from warping: 

    While direct warping, I was more careful than usual, as I didn't want the heddle to fall apart and leave me with a big snarl.

    From warping the scarf I'm using to play with the segments, I can already see some issues ahead.

First, the different thicknesses of the yarn will mean tension problems, so I will need to add something on the back beam for the skinnier yarn to keep the tension consistent.

Second, I think I need to get some more rubber bands, to make sure this holds together as I move the heddle up and down while I weave.

Third, the holes (vs. the slots) in the segments are not as tall as those in my AKL.  Don't know if this will make a difference or not.

Fourth, finishing will be interesting, with all these different yarns.  I used stash yarns for the warp, and will be using more stash yarns for the weft, so it's a real mix - cotton carpet warp, bulky variegated yarn (wool/acrylic), wool worsted weight, acrylic sport weight.

Fifth, there can be gaps between the segments.  Don't know if this will cause tracking, but since it's between different-sized yarns already, I don't think any tracking will be noticeable.

    Can't wait to see what develops.  Stay tuned.