Circular Weaving

August 11, 2009 by beesybeefiber

Can anybody guess what is this?

Circular weaving has caught my attention! I found this link of a book called Weaver’s Craft by L. E. Simpson and it got me really interested and curios about it. And of course I had to try it right away! I combined some of my handspun yarn with commercial novelty yarn and some silk fabric that I cut into strips. The results where really stunning and with exciting possibilities of combining colors and textures. Now what can I do with a woven circle? How about using it for a hat! It is actually just perfect for that. I crocheted the brim, just because I like the look of the crocheted fabric. Of course it can be made with knitting needles. But I like the texture of the crocheted fabric. I’ve been searching online to find out if other fiber artists are using this concept to make it into wearable arts, but I haven’t found anything. I love weaving, and I have a couple of weaving looms, but most of the time I just don’t have the time and the energy to set the looms. This type of weaving only requires a piece of cardboard that I cut into a circle. The next thing I did was to make and odd number of small grooves around the perimeter of the circle at intervals of about 1/2 cm.

This is my “state of the art loom”! The warp was set treading the yarn on the grooves starting at one given point and then going always clockwise, from one side to the opposite side. Am I making sense? I forgot to take pictures of what it looks like in the back of the circle.

What makes me laugh is how little time it took me to set the warp. And If I don’t like the color, I can just undo the whole thing and start with a new color.

Then the fun comes with choosing the yarns for the project and with the weaving itself. This is perfect for using up all those scraps that I don’t know what to do with, but at the same time I don’t want to trow them in the garbage. They are just too precious to do that!

This circle is almost done. I have to make sure to add chunkier yarns at the end, because the gaps between the warp are more separated that in the center.

This is my first hat with the crocheted brim. This is kind of addictive, because more ideas and color combinations keep coming to me!

I made this hat using some of my handspun llama.

I think this is a goofy hat. Did I mention this is addictive? I’m very excited at the different possibilities and I’m thinking about putting it into my Etsy shop for sale. I would like to know if anybody has tried this or if you do please feel welcome to send pictures to post them here.

“Don’t stand by the water and long for fish, go home and weave a net”

Chinese proverb

Posted in Fibers, weaving | Tagged circular weaving, weaving | 14 Comments

14 Responses

on August 12, 2009 at 12:45 AM | Reply val

they look great, very artistic and individual – Im sure someone would buy one
on August 12, 2009 at 6:15 AM | Reply Michelle

What a spectacular idea! Beautiful hats, I’m sure they’d sell quickly on etsy.
on August 15, 2009 at 7:51 PM | Reply Lita

wow, very pretty…
on August 17, 2009 at 11:09 AM | Reply Linda

They are so cool!
When you stop the weaving and change to crochet how did you deal with the weaving ends that were wrapped around the cardboard? Do you just cut them and crochet the end into the crochet part for the first row of crochet?
- on August 17, 2009 at 11:26 AM | Reply beesybeefiber
  
  Hi Linda,
  
  You don’t cut the ends because they hold the stitches together. This will be the foundation to cast on your stitches if you are using knitting needles or for your crochet stitches. Because the warp wraps around the groves of the cardboard, when you finish weaving you just remove the weaving by “popping out” the yarn off the cardboard. I hope I make sense!
on August 24, 2009 at 9:17 PM | Reply Linda

So then the inside part that wraps around the cardboard hangs loose inside the hat? Or do you weave the inside of the wraps also? My guess is that they hang loss, but I could be wrong. Can you show a picture of how the inside looks? Thanks for the info!
Linda
on August 25, 2009 at 6:00 AM | Reply beesybeefiber

It shouldn’t hang too lose. Make sure to fill the ends as much as you can with more yarn when you weave them. And make sure to use chunky yarn at the end. I will take more pictures and post them soon.
Linda, thank so much for your nice words about my previous post.
on September 19, 2009 at 6:41 AM | Reply More on circular weaving « Beesybee fiber's Blog

[...] by beesybeefiber I wanted to post pictures showing more detail about the construction of the circular hats from previous posts. Here they [...]
on October 2, 2009 at 7:21 AM | Reply Secret Agent

This is such a cool idea! I love it!
on August 5, 2010 at 6:43 AM | Reply erica

I think these would look great on toddlers! I would by one for my niece. They are so whimsical.
on September 23, 2011 at 11:37 AM | Reply tucsonhorse

I did some circular weaving for a class project where I needed to combine two techniques. I made a pillow where the center is circular weaving and around the edges were crochet, I would leave a picture but I can’t seem to figure out how to do that
- on September 23, 2011 at 4:53 PM | Reply beesybeefiber
  
  I love how you can play with different colors and yarn textures. It is almost like free crocheting. If you have a link, you are welcome to post it on the comment section.
on October 7, 2011 at 4:33 AM | Reply ella

Just love your hats. I have just aquired a round loom. and have found
your pictures inspirational, and love the way you use wools and the different texures.
on November 3, 2011 at 2:31 PM | Reply Katie

Hi, what is the recommended circumference of the cardboard loom?
Awesome hats!