Trial and Error

This week, I tried using yarn on the prototype loom that I made out of Baltic Birch. Using Yarn brought up a few interesting problems that i have to keep in mind when working on the final prototype. First, the dowels i used were too skinny and too short. When knitting on the loom, using yarn, the yarn kept slipping off the dowels and it was very difficult to keep the pattern and yarn from slipping off (see image 1 below). Secondly, using Baltic Birch was another challenge as the pressure on the wood from the knitting constriction allowed the loom to start "caving in."

In terms of the product that the loom produced. It turned
Image 1 out pretty well. The knitted fabric was close to what i expected. Some unexpected surprises were that the spaces between the dowels which were marked at an inch away from each other was too wide. This led the finished product to have unnecessarily wide gaps between them, which are undesired. In addition, the braid looking part of the knitted product is not very neat. It can be seen in the above picture that the "braids" are at times crooked.

How do i intend on fixing these problems, as i move on to the next phase? For one, i have decided to either use corrugated dowels and/or dowels that have some kind of "stoppage" at the end. This, it is projected will help prevent the yarn from slipping off the dowels when i am weaving the yarn around them.

Another thing i want to try to do on the next prototype is to make the knitting loom adjustable for different width sizes. The length size is already in place as the knitter can judge either to keep knitting a long strand or knit a short strand. In terms of adjust-ability by width, I first talked to my Lab Professor, Paulo Blikstein and he proposed the following idea that can be seen in the sketch to the left. In this sketch, two proposals are illustrated. The idea at the furthest top brings together two looms that are somehow attached. The top loom being the original and the bottom loom being the one that adds width variations. The next idea, illustrated with the arrow pointing towards it presents a loom that can open up, and a second piece, a leveler added for extension. After this ddiscussion, i drew my own versions of the two ideas, which is found here <--.

In these sketches, the furthest top represents the adjustable two tiered loom with extra pins that can be inserted depending on length preference. The second sketch shows the second loom idea that adds a third piece for extension.

Although these ideas looked very plausible, they require pieces that have to be constantly moved and adjusted. This could wear and tear on the material that is used. Thus there is a third idea, which came about with the help of a friend in the lab who specializes in mechanical engineering. The sketch below illustrates that idea:
In this sketch, there is one board that is at "maximum length." Placers with two holes on each side and a dowel in the middle are used to adjust the different width sizes. The placers go over the width preference desired, and the dowels on the main board go through the two holes. Separate placers with holes are also used to adjust for leveling.

This means that the main board has to be very solid. This coming week, i am experimenting and investigating what type of materials to use to attain stability in the next prototype.