Reweaving Hans Olsen 532a rocker  

Or maybe that's not even what you're asking about. If not, carry on!

I didn't mean to limit responses to Leif, sorry. But thank you, spanky, I think I will start over. What you point out makes complete sense (and is what I was asking about in my earlier post). And I think will partially address the issues I'm having figuring out the top to bottom strands.

However, I'm still unsure how exactly to approach them. Because of the crosses in these strands, the "direction" of the weave is opposite on the top and bottom rails. I tried to show what I mean in the attached picture. Because it is much easier and more secure to start a new strand and wrap over and secure the previous strand's loose end (so, for example, to the left of the strand on the top rail in my drawing) and not to tuck the loose end of the next strand underneath the already wrapped strand (what would be to the right of the strand on the top rail in my drawing), it seems like the only way to accomplish this is to attach all the strands to either the top or bottom rail first, and then go back and do the opposite rail. Does this seem right?

Sorry, this is as hard to write/talk about as it is to weave.

Thanks again!

Oh right! That little matter. I remember struggling with that when I was redoing the back of the Olsen settee a few years ago. I can't remember now how i worked it out but I do know there's a relatively simple solution. I'm sure Leif will have more to offer.

PS, i got a bit dizzy reading your description of what was going on, but your drawing made it crystal clear. I'm one of those people who learn best by doing. Reading--not so much, at least for certain kinds of things.

I think your warp strands look perfect as is. The weft should pull out against the warp. In the three of these rockers I

I think your warp strands look perfect as is. The weft should pull out against the warp. In the three of these rockers I

I couldn't figure out how to avoid the "opposite direction business," but was able to figure out how to weave it anyway.

I will have to redo all of this though, as something went awry. As you can see in the photos here, I ran out of room. Originally, there were 15 sets of crossing weft strands. I only managed to get 13 and both ran out of room amongst the warp strands, but came up short on the rails. I believe this is because the warp strands are a (mostly) straight line from side rail to side rail, whereas the top and bottom rails are curved, and therefore longer that a straight line across.

I also ended up with angled wraps on the top and bottom rails as you can see. Maybe this is because of how I started wrapping after tacking?

In any case, I'm going to go back to zero. I believe that if I do the vertical strands first it will give me more room. It was also very hard to pull the vertical strands tight through the weave with the crosses, so doing them first will get rid of that problem too.

Does it seem like I will gain enough space weaving the curved top and bottom rails first? Seems like gaining a whole 2 more sets is unlikely. I measured the cane on the original (5mm) and bought the same.

Any and all thoughts are more than welcome. I'll be icing my fingers...

Make sure you jam each row & wrap of weft cane smack up against the previous one. There should not be any gaps at all. I don't know of that will be enough to get four more strands in there but it's how it should be done.

As for pulling strands tight---as a general rule, The weft never gets pulled really taut and straight. (And technically, the warp on your chair is now the side to side strands because you wove them first and their tension is set, not adjustable as you go.) The weft strands usually have a wavy up-down shape that isn't very noticeable when you look at them straight on but if you look at a low angle you can see it. If they don't, if you pulled them straight---it's because you left enough slack in the warp to allow them to be pulled straight. However, it's really, really hard to gauge exactly how much slack to leave if you do it this way (which I learned the hard way on one of my first paper cord seats years ago). Chances are pretty good that you'll run out of slack before the weft is done and you'll end up with some very wavy weft rows.

I just looked for photos of the back of the Olsen settee that i wove for some friends years ago and apparently I never took any of the finished work except this closeup. I think it was because there wasn't a plain wall to place it against and it was impossible to see the weave clearly with all the other stuff behind the piece. Oh well!

I don't know if this will help any. Probably not. (I also had some pics of a Wegner chair seat woven in the same pattern but I apparently deleted all those, too. Grr...)

Actually now that I look at that photo, i can see that some of the top-to-bottom warp strands are wavy. Huh. Maybe i was trying to leave them slack? I don't remember now. I know I did them first though. But also the top and bottom rails on that settee are straight, not curved.

You can push the cane wraps a little closer on the frame. And it looks like the last few weft strands need to be push over on the warp to make space. And then you can fit you last pair of weft canes on. I don

Thanks again for all of your help here!

You'll also notice that I messed up the crosses (6 on the top rail, 3 on the bottom), so I'm definitely going to at least redo all of the top to bottom strands, if not the whole thing. Still wrestling with that decision.

Spanky, but "pulling tight" I meant just pulling kinks and extra material out which I had a lot of given how I had to weave the top rail. But your point is well taken and will inform how I proceed and all future weaving work.

Leif, I'm not concerned with having all 15 sets, I believe I can get 14 to fill up the top and bottom rails. I will say that, in thinking about redoing all of this and starting with the vertical strands, I realized that the number of horizontal wraps will be very important. As it is, I am one strand short of the original 30 in the top section of horizontal wraps. If I do the vertical strands first, in order to get the crosses correct, I will need to make sure to get that extra horizontal wrap in and hit that 30 number so the crosses work as they are supposed to.

Well, if it makes you feel any better, I messed up on a couple of the crosses in the 3 things I did with this pattern. It's very easy to do. It's also the kind of thing that does not stand out at all when you're done so don't sweat it too much.

And another consolation: if you do end up redoing the entire thing, it will go faster the second time. The learning curve takes about one chair and then it goes much more smoothly. I re-wove a set of Wegner "cowhorn" chairs (different weave, same cane) years ago and the first one was an absolute nightmare. I finished it but was dreading having to do three more. But they were a breeze because by then I actually knew what I was doing. Whew!

With so many things to keep straight while doing this, the crosses really are difficult. And it is comforting to think that it will be easier the second time around.

Another reason I'm thinking of redoing it vertical strands first is this original photo from the Danish furniture index that shows, I believe, that the woven back should conform to the curve of the top and bottom rails.

Good call.

I thought of something else and maybe you're already doing this but just in case---if you take breaks during the weaving process, be sure to spritz the back of the cane thoroughly with water and then give it 20-30 minutes to soften up and stretch again. It tightens up a lot as it dries, as I'm sure you've noticed, and that can make weaving difficult. You need a little slack in the cane as you work. I think the pros probably do a back like this in one sitting but that's a bit much for many DIYers, at least until they get regular practice.

I didn't spritz the cane, but I attempted to use a steamer which had little effect. I will spray during the redo.

I have been intensely studying the before photos I took, looking for any clues, and this just popped out at me...at the end of weaving the top rail there appears to be and extra wrap between each of the last two sets of crosses, which I imagine was done when, as I experienced, the weaver realized they weren't going to be able to fill the whole rail.

I'm certainly going to use this cheat when I redo everything, hoping that keeping the pattern intact won't be too hard.

I wouldn't even call that a cheat! It's just something you have to do to make up the difference every now and then when weaving cane. It happens with paper cord, too. As long as the extras are evenly distributed, it's fine. One strand extra here and there is not noticeable but if you had a regular pattern of two strands and then suddenly a clump of four or five, that would not be good.