Card Tablet Weaving the begining

I love making bags.. but knit and crochet straps not so much.. takes forever to get a nice thickness that doesn't stretch and is strong enough..

 last year I started to inkle weave bands, while I haven't made one in since last summer, in those few months I fell in love with them..
wasn't able to get back to weaving until yesterday .. I decided to give tablet/card weaving a try..

I used my inkle loom as I don't have an area where backstrap could be easily done ..
 my work area is about 1 3/4 by 4 yards .. including my rocking chair and desk.. my beads mostly fit under my desk/table , yarn is being stored in hallway leaving very little walk way lol ..thankfully it is temporary :) ..
even trying to set up the warped cards was a bit of a challenge, used 9 four hole cards, in each hole about five feet of older than my adult sons acrylic yard .. was gifted to me not long ago, great way to try this out without a big cost, total of about 60 yards.. I didn't warp up much yardage both due to having no clue if I was even going to be able to pull it off and space issues.... using this yarn did add an extra level of difficulty as it was almost felting with so much movement, even with that it went pretty fast.. 

as far as other costs I got a new deck of cards ( cut to 2 1/2 inches ) and a hole punch.. about two bucks together.. I by chance saw a video on how to use barrel swivels for fishing line to attach your yarn together if you are planning on doing a pattern that goes mostly in one direction.. great tip highly agreed after only one go at it .. those were about $3.. for 35 ( sz 5 ) plenty of extras ... had a key ring already although I will be using more than one next time.. to tie the yarn to one side and the swivels with the other end of the warp yarn hooked up to..  the simple pattern I picked is only two colors and forward turning.. had I not added the swivels it would have been a whole different story ..

I got 1 inch wide by about 22 inches long band.. I stopped a few inches short of what I could have worked up thinking it would be long enough for a hat band.. it's super dense.. flat out love it.. this is going to add a fun and hopefully pretty strong and element to my bags..
total cost of $5. ( without yarn or the supplies I already had, loom, beater and shed stick ) the cards can be used again as the swivels.. paper punch is a much needed replacement.. not bad for trying out a new craft :)

Loom Beading Bone Heart Paw

.Pulled out my beading loom.. been really missing weaving but have no were I can set up my table top loom right now, besides I've gone and pulled out all of my beads over the last few weeks.. only thing I could do was start bead weaving lol

I had only made a couple of bead loom weavings in the past.. I jumped into straight stitch and brick stitch right away..  it offers a freedom that looming doesn't in exchange for speed.. I adore free form works.. yet I love working up charts.. easy answer made my own :)

I am relearning bead weaving skills as it had been close to a decade.. my charts will progress as I do.. I do plan on jumping around between crochet beading, crochet, knit and weaving.. playing it by ear each day.. so stay tuned to see what's next ;)

here is the chart .. I don't have counts of each color yet after I get all of that together I will offer a pdf on Esty..
made with size 11/0 seed beads of iffy quality as I am just getting restarted I thought I might as well use up some of my lesser beads until my skill warrants higher cost beads lol 

Weaving sticks

 Awhile back I came across some weaving sticks in an outlet store.. while they looked neat, I couldn't see parting with the $12.00 ... on clearance..
I walked away with some nicely priced beads and didn't give it another thought.. well sort of... after getting home I told hubby about them.. he said go back and get them...

 sure why not..... at least look again....
    after all it is right next to Joann's craft store, so at some point I would be right there ;) .. came home with a stunning rose quartz piece that was begging to come home... along with the beautiful Amethyst I couldn't set down..

Third trip some time after that....same out come.. the stones were still calling..

Went back one last time and yep you guessed it... still came home with more stones instead of stick's..
what can I say they really wanted to come home with me... and felt so nice...
     and were way less than the sticks to boot ... altogether ...
by then the sticks were sold out... after that trip so were the stones ;) .. they are all quite happy here


 Fast forward a few weeks... I am working on the tapestry loom my guys made for me to practice embroidery on yarn and or with yarn.. 
faster than knitting a pair of fingerless gloves with more space.. not as easy to mess up etc.....

btw those gloves are still in the works, my skills are getting closer to what I want,
however now is not glove weather, well maybe driving gloves.. steering wheel getting a tad warm these days..  oh wait that's another story........
                            anyhow they are on the back burner for now..

                at that point I recalled those sticks.. I needed to make a set.. why didn't I think of that ages ago lol

 I had been given a packet of these bamboo sticks along with some craft supplies years ago.. they looked useful but had no clue what to do with them..
 

They are smaller than the ones I had seen and much more to my liking in price lol... now to make a set..

The points are not needed.. these are just what I had on hand
6 inch dowel sticks work great ( or cut longer ones to size wanted, I found this size easy to hold on to )

 got my tools together ...

 

be mindful to place in secure holding before attempting to drill..

 

 safety glasses are a must also.. take my word on this.. oh and watch out for smoke.. no clue they could light up so fast...

the holes are 1/2 inch from the bottom of the sticks, I wanted a bit of length to help guide the weaving over the yarn that goes through the sticks..

 

 side note ... I have seen some sticks with little eyelet screws on the bottom but felt the possibility for the weaving to stick would rise, I'm sure they would work with some thought put into the works.. but I wanted mindlessly easy here.. something that could be done while chatting or walking along 

 

 

 

these are the finished product ... after a good sanding of course 

 

 

 

 

 

   After giving them a try I added a few more

 

And a few more..

 

These are so much fun, super easy..

 

to start to weave a length of yarn twice the length need, plus about 6-8 inches for tying off ( longer for fringe ), through each stick,

 you can put a loose knot at the end of each or tie them loosely together to keep things in place..

 put a slip knot around the first stick and start weaving up the sticks..

as they fill up side them down on to the yarn threaded through the sticks ( this is call your warp yarn )

 

be careful to keep a bit of weaving on the sticks to keep things looking smooth..

when you get to the size wanted slide all the weaving down even out among the warp yarn..  

 tie off.. you can weave the ends in or leave as fringe

 

 

I am going to use the pieces I made to hang earrings on at market.. come cooler weather I plan on making scarfs.. and such..

 

First weaving Done

 

My frame weaving loom worked quite well... my weaving skills are lacking

 clearly lol.. the goal was to just whip one out so I could practice embroidery on yarns works for that it was perfect .. I left it on the loom instead of placing it on a hoop.. nice and easy

 

 

I love the look.. and it was so much fun to do.. now that I have made one I want to make more.. so the next step is to weave faster.. I am using a dowel stick to lift half of the warp lines.. makes it much faster going one way

 

 but going back is a bit slower.. as each line had to be wove by hand.. the long needle does help.. however I would like to make a few other things with it.. at a faster rate.. 
side note have you seen scarfs wove out of Lions Brands Mandala ... just wow ...

working on making a heddle out of popsicle sticks.. ok craft sticks.. way smaller than the ones I recall as a kid lol.. in this application the size is perfect.. picked them up at the dollar store, a penny a piece .. a bit of sanding is in order.. as I need 80 plus I pulled out my rotary tool for the job.. hopefully it works out... I so want one of those scarfs..  


Got to work on my next pair of flip flop slippers a bit today.. still a long way off.. next pattern Dragon Scale Baby Booties sizes for newborn to six months coming up soon