Running a Cotton Warp for an 8-Shaft Waffle Weave Bath Towel Project

  

 5 or 6 bundles of new warp 

•  8/2 cotton  
• 5-1/2 yard warp
• It's about 700 ends total (I always wind a few extra for repair strings)

 This is what it should look like when it's done:  an 8-shaft waffle weave with lots of texture!

Sumptuous Spa Towels - Kit from Lunatic Fringe

 

This is a kit from Lunatic Fringe.  I don't think they have it anymore ...  I purchased it a few years ago.  It's a bath towel kit (2 towels) that can be done with 4 or 8 shafts.  I've had it for a while, but since my smaller loom isn't quite wide enough, I put off making this one earlier.  It should work well on the wider 8-shaft loom -- and will be a good introduction to using all 8 shafts.  Up until now, I've only used 4 shafts on the Big Loom.  There was enough else to get used to using it without worrying about the extra shafts.  Now is the time to do it!

The last bundle of warp strings -- 100 ends
 

Because it's a shorter warp and the yarn came as part of a kit, I will not be using the new spool rack and the sectional warp on this project.    I am using my trusty and reliable vertical * warping mill--What a game-changer that was!  And I'll be using the old non-sectional warp beam warping front-to-back as I used to always do before the sectional warp.   That makes sense for longer warps, not for a relatively short project like this one.

All run this afternoon!  And I'm not flat on my back in pain.  Like I said, the vertical warping mill was a game changer for me.  If I was still using the warping board, I'd have given up weaving in sheer frustration due to tension issues not only in the strings, but also in my body.    It helps that it's a shorter warp, too -- not 12 yards done in 1-inch increments.

This has been on my to-do list for a couple of months now, so I'm glad to have this step done.  Onto the next step of dressing the loom.  Each step seems like it will take forever, when what I really want to be doing is the fun part -- making cloth!  The truth is that if you want to weave, you have to make peace with the boring and meticulous parts of weaving too.