RECENT COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS

Meg in Nelson had this request:

"Oh, do please confirm that it happens with wool also. This is almost a every-warp occurrence for me, and I had thought I was the only one who managed to somehow have something like this happen!!"

Leigh left this comment:

"Interesting that this is more common than one would think! It only first happened to me since I started weaving on my Glimakra. I thought I had done something really dunce headed. It's happened more than once; with cotton warp. So there's a comfort in knowing it isn't that uncommon and that there is a logical way to deal with it."

What I thought invaluable about these two comments was their having learned that they are not alone! Weavers can be so isolated. The danger of isolation is diminishing lack of perspective. That is not good.

And I as well learned that silk is not the only culprit here!

I thank Meg and Leigh for their comments.

A QUESTION ON WEIGHTS

And Isabelle asked what I use for warp weights. Here is a picture of one of them.



These are two I-don't-know-what-they-are-called that I use for weights. The one to the right is heavier than the lower one. I have hooked them together because I need all that weight on one bout of silk.

I used six of these grouped weights on my warp, one for each bout. The result is that the silk bouts, as I wind them onto the back beam, are actually at higher tension than they will be when I weave the warp off.

You can get them at any builder's supply. Take the picture in and ask a clerk. Or just wander around Lowe's or Home Depot (one of my favorite pastimes!)

BOUTS

Meg, by the way, caught the double-entendre in the word bout: the word is used in the world of fighting as well. No further comment..............(grin!)

INTERESTING POSTS FROM OTHER WEAVING BLOGS

Some recent posts on other weaving blogs I have expecially enjoyed.

Virtually - In the Studio - Weaving Spirit
MTW With Heavier Weft - Leigh's Fiber Journal
Warping an Ashford Rigid Heddle - Deep End of the Loom
Just Right Handweave Purses - Curious Weaver
Post Partum - The Linnet Knits (a knitting blogger who is getting into weaving)
Business Paraphernalia - Constance Rose Textile Designs
Win Currie, Weaver - Unravelling

The last post is from a fabric artist's blog. But as a weaver, I found the post very interesting.

"I Love Your Work" - Studio 78 Notes

QUESTION ON UNTWISTING WARP BOUTS: A BIT MORE

I think one thing that may have confused Janice is that possibly she thought that the twist involved individual warp ends. If you look carefully at the photograph, you can see that it involves the whole bout, not just some individual ends.

Consequently, to untwist, all you have to do is to take the whole bout in your hands and turn it in the direction that will remove the twist.

QUESTION ON UNTWISTING WARP BOUTS

Janice raised the following question about untwisting twisted warps when I am in the process of beaming:

"In that part where you say you've found another twist, you say you untwist it--how do you do that at that point without making a mess of the warp?"

WEIGHTS STILL ON THE WARP

First let me note that the weights are still on, so the warps are under very strong tension, probably stronger tension than they will be on when I am actually weaving.

UNTWISTING PROCESS

I go to the spot where I see the twist. I analyze which way I need to turn the bout to untwist it. I lift it up as a group with my hands. I then rotate the bout in the right direction and lay it back down.

In the previous post, if you click on the picture of the twisted bout you can see it greatly magnified. Then you can clearly see it that it is spiraling/twisting to the right. To straighten it out, you only have to insert your right hand under it and flip the bout over to the left.

CHECKING AT FRONT OF LOOM

After doing this, I go to the front of the loom and examine that particular bout to see if the untwisting continues. If it does, I repeat the above exercise.

I try to be vigilant about this examination. If I catch the twisting as soon as I see it, it will mean rotating the warp only one turn. That was the case in the warp in the picture.

THE YARN, NOT THE WEAVER

An important thing to remember is that even if you start out beaming with the warp in lovely flat ribbons, if it's silk, those bouts at some point are probably going to start twisting. It's not your beaming technique that is your fault. It is silk's propensity to do this.

Related Post: Winding on the Warp

WINDING ON THE WARP

I'm almost ready to start winding the warp onto the back beam. I have yet to hang the weights off the front of the loom. These will tension the warp so that I can move the lease sticks up the warp to clear all the threads.

MOVING UP THE LEASE STICKS


I move the lease sticks individually. I have moved the first one up. This one will stay up there until I start winding the warp. The second one I will move up also, but it will slide back down to the raddle. That doesn't matter. The warp will flow nicely through the stick.

Note the excellent view of my very amateurish nail pounding........

BACK ROD


The rod is now safely on the back beam. It is running parallel to the warp beam. That is critical. If it does not run parallel, the warp will go on crooked and as you weave, the warp tension will get increasingly uneven.

PUTTING ON THE WARPING STICKS


And now it is time to put on the warping sticks. The LeClerc back beam is not round; it is octagonal. I put on eight sticks. Then I wind two to three layers and put on another eight sticks. I continue this way until the warp is wound.

Because the warp is bombyx silk, fine, and very slippery, I insert the warp sticks frequently. I don't want any slippage.









TWISTS YET AGAIN


Remember twists? I'm not done with watching for them. The bout on the right shows what they should look like as I wind them on to the beam: a ribbon of yarn.

The bout to its immediate left shows what they should not be: a round twisted group of yarns. And the bout on the left is not so great either. So I straighten them out before I even try pushing the lease sticks up in preparation for more winding on.








WARP IS WOUND ON

Below, the last of the warp has been wound on. I have removed the front beam, the cloth beam, and the top half of the beater. I have moved the lease sticks up close to the heddles and attached them to the side pieces of the loom. And I have put books under the shafts to lift them up to a comfortable threading height.


KNOTS YET AGAIN

All in all, the warp wound on nicely with little trouble. Only one small problem: a knot appeared out of nowhere on one of the warp ends. Of course it wanted to glue itself to neighboring warp ends. And I will have to watch for that little devil when I start to weave so that I can cut it out right at the back beam and treat it as a broken end. If I don't do that, its attaching to neighbors will likely raise havoc with my sheds. Another reason to get rid of knots while making the warp to begin with!

Related Post:
Even Warp Tensioning
Here are the Warp Bouts

TWIST AT LEASE STICKS

Here is a picture of one of the bouts that actually got twisted at the lease sticks. I had not seen this until I started the process of raddling. The bout that is twisted is on the right. I removed one of the lease sticks, untwisted the bout and slipped the lease stick back in.

The lease stick I removed was the lower one.

THE COUNTING THREAD TIE

The yellow counting thread is the counting thread I tied loosely on the bout as I was making the warp. I tied a bow knot in it before I removed it. This knot tells me which way the bouts go on the lease sticks and rod.

BOW KNOTS FACE ONE DIRECTION

In this case, I decided to have them all the knots face towards the right. To keep this particular one facing right, I had to remove the lower lease stick and straighten the twist there.

Doing this is probably what caused the bout to be then twisted on the rod.

On this particular warp I had no concern with what way the knots faced. I had no concern with the order of the warps. It is a solid color warp. Had I used stripes and the stripes were in a particular order, the knots would be important.

WHY BOTHER?

So, then, why did I bother with the knots? Habit. If I do this with every warp, I will probably not forget to do it when it is important.

WARP IS RADDLED

The raddling is done.

PROBLEMS

Yes, I did have problems. Twice I discovered that the warp ends twisted as they went from the rod through the lease sticks. This is easy to spot. When I select the first threads from a bout to drop into the raddle, they refuse to separate from the rest of the bout.

I used to yank at them to force them to separate. Doing that does not help. Why not?

STRAIGHTENING A WARP BOUT

Looking at the rod shows that they are coming from the wrong side of the bout. Since I raddle from right to left, I am separating the threads out at the right side of the bout. If those initial eight threads are at the right side, but on the rod are on the left side, I have twisted the bout as I led it from rod to lease sticks.

So I remove the rod (carefully), untwist the warp and slip the rod back in.

Unfortunately, doing this usually means removing neighboring bouts from the rod as well, so that I can get at the offending bout. Doing this requires even greater care. I must make sure all the loops get back on. And I must make sure that those neighboring bouts are not twisted when I put them back on the rod.

NEXT: BEAMING ON

Note that the warp yarns are now thrown over the castle. I am almost ready to start beaming on.

Related Post:
I Ought Not to be a Weaver
Preparing the Warp Bouts for the Loom