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These are finished objects from yours truly.  Some projects are designed by me, some projects are not, all projects are here to inspire.

Warp Speed

5/30/2017

3 Comments

 
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I have decided warping a loom gets to be considered a project all on its own.  Never mind I haven't actually made anything yet.  I know as I gain experience the process will move faster, but this first (technically second) go at warping my 4-shaft loom was a Project with a capital "P."  But it is done and it is glorious.  The satisfaction I felt as I pulled each of the four shafts up and did not encounter any tangles and saw the beautiful shed created each time is beyond words.  I know, I sound like a crazy lady.  That is strangely okay with me.

I am making kitchen towels, in case you're wondering what all this warp is for.  While I do consider warping a project, I intend to take this project further than just a beautifully warped loom.  Though right now, I think it is a lovely show piece.  Granted, I'm probably the only one in my house that thinks that.  I think my husband would infinitely prefer kitchen towels.  

​I decided I would warp enough for four towels that are each (hopefully) 20x28 inch rectangles when all is said an done.  I am making sure to keep copious notes as I go...they just happen to be on the back of an envelope right now.  I have every intention of getting them onto something more permanent.  The idea is that with each of the four towels, I can try something just a little different, so in a sense, I am making four samplers of this particular twill warping.  But I am getting ahead of myself now.

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Using the equations outlined in Deborah Chandler's Learning to Weave book and the guidance of creating a project using the "rosepath" twill from Pattie Graver's Next Steps in Weaving,  I measured out 5 yards of warp thread and ended up with 258 warp ends.  The warp end count was a slight adjustment from my original 285 ends plan.  Turns out I had to make a minor change to the rosepath pattern as it was written AND I ran out of white warp yarn.  Luckily, all of these adjustments were made early in the process, so no great agonies of weaving have yet been experienced.  I used a 12-dent reed with 12 ends per inch (no doubling up nonsense this go around.)  
I found that I had an over abundance of KnitPick's "Dishie" cotton yarn  in my stash, which is what led to this project in the first place.  Because these skeins are designed for knitting and not weaving, I had to make quite a few bundles of warp threads as each ball ran out.  This was a blessing in disguise, though.  Having these smaller bundles allowed me to work in small batches as I sleyed the reed.  This turned out to be crucial as it was inevitable that every time I decided to work on my loom, there was a toddler emergency that followed.  Small bundles meant I did not have to worry about destroying my cross and tangling my warp threads.  (This was my first time using my warp board my husband made for me.  Until now, I had been using the direct warping method with a peg. Granted, this is not that terrible when you are just using a rigid heddle- I think overall the projects tend to be smaller.  But, it turns out this warping board is crazy easy to use and much more conducive to small children and pets being about the place.  I'm not sure I'll ever go back to the direct peg method.)
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I am so excited to get to weaving on my loom.  I really appreciate the labor of love it takes to even get to where weaving is possible.  So far, so good.  Let's keep our fingers crossed that once I start with the weft thread, things still work out as I intend.  You know what they say about good intentions, though.  
3 Comments
elements
1/20/2018 01:48:35 pm

Hi there! Yes, toddler (or in my case preschooler) emergencies make dressing the loom a tricky thing. I've been waiting until after bed time to get to mine but like the idea of this smaller warp sets. Hmmm.

But... I came here because I just tested out dishie on a sample where I'd strung 2/8 cotton at 18 epi. I love it! I can envision placemats when I get up to full size but I'm going to try and see how my narrow 5" wide sample works for dish clothes too. And I love seeing what you've been trying.

I just got my mum's old table loom about a month ago and while I haven't been able to spend as much time playing with it as I would like I'm having fun experimenting and am following Deborah Chandler's book too (but adapting things to use up my stash of 2/8 cotton and my knitting stash)!

Reply
Rachel link
1/20/2018 07:17:21 pm

That is so awesome you tested out some dishie, too. My kitchen towels ended up a little dense, but they work really really well. Five inch dish clothes would make awesome little scrubbies (as my kids like to call them). You'll have to keep me posted on how things go with your table loom. Right now I'm tinkering with some winter/summer weaving. It's turning out a little...different. I'll have to post some pictures of it soon.

Do you ever feel like weaving is like a superhero identity...you only get to pull it out when everybody is asleep and nobody is looking. :-)

Reply
elements
1/21/2018 02:23:45 am

Ha ha! Weaving doesn't feel like my super hero identity really, but perhaps because I mostly do my coursework while everyone else is asleep. And one night a week I have saved for crafting (which right now translates to weaving and more often than not warping since I've been able to weave during the day a bit.) I have not blogged about my sewing adventures in a very long time or my weaving ever. Hmmm...

I tied off my test mini placemats today and my children loved having them for dinner. Kind of like at school. I'm going to find more dishie (or something like it) and make some adult sized ones. I like them THAT much.




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