A few weeks ago, I wound a new warp to make more circle scarves, using the new black alpaca and silk, rated for weaving. This task is so much easier with my warping mill, than it ever was on a warping board. I'm so glad I made the transition. I am much happier, and so is my body! Now instead of sheer frustration, aches and pains that come out in a warp plagued with tension problems, using the warping mill makes it an even flow meditation. Nice and easy! And the click counter app on my phone helps me keep track of how many ends/strings. Read more about making your own DIY warping mill. [Thank you (again), CL, for making this for me. I LOVE it!]
The specifics of this warp:
This is about a 5-1/2 yard warp with 146 ends (10 extra in case any break and need repairs, mid project).
Laceweight alpaca and silk. It's strong, but just a little "sticky."
The pattern calls for 134 ends and a 3-yard warp. I am hoping to squeeze 2 scarves out of this warp, so I added a little extra.
On to loading the warp to the loom. This stage always takes longer than I ever think it should. So many starts and stops here. My first thought was to tie onto the ends of the old warp, since I'd be making more of the same circle scarves. So nothing about the general set-up of heddles or treadles would change. So I had the picture showing how to tie a Weaver's Knot in front of me as a reference, and began tying the new warp ends onto the old. It started out very awkward, but eventually, I found a groove and developed a system -- or so I thought ...
Weaver's Knot
When I thought I was done, and pulled them through the reed and heddles to the back of the loom -- It turns out about 1/3 of my weaver's knots failed [YIKES!] and let go before they got through the obstacle course I'd set for them-- through reed and heddles. It was such a mess through the heddles that I finally decided to pull them all and just start from scratch with threading the heddles. That way, I could keep track of the pattern and what was supposed to be where. That didn't take so long as I thought it would. Happy me!
I always have to do this in stages over a couple of days (even weekends), so I can be fresh for the next step. I have my Guide-at-the-Side with me: The Tom Kniesley weaving videos on Interweave on my ipad to lead me through every step of the warping process. Today it was tieing onto the back, and winding on the warp. Again-- you'd think it would be quick and easy-Zip-Zip--but no!
I pulled it all through once, got the tangles out--I am always amazed that the snarled mess on the front side eventually resolves without too much fuss and bother. But the tension was pretty bad and I broke 3 strings in the process. So I repaired the 3 broken strings, grateful I'd run a few extra in anticipation.
Angel Wings Tension Device at the back of the loom.
Then I pulled the entire warp through again -- this time, nice and straight, no tangles. This time I used the tension device at the back of the loom -- it's just 4 rods to help even out the tension as I'm winding on. This helps immensely! Things wound on much easier this time, with much better tension. Whew! But I broke 2 more strings this time. So I fixed those ...
And tied onto the front. This time I used a cord like my weaving friend Lynda Collins showed me. TK has you tie on to the apron with knots just like you do at the back. The cord makes it much easier to adjust tension as things shift.
Next, it was time to check my work. "Let's see how we did." -- as Steve Reichlin says on Barbecue U on PBS.
Open Shed from the side. Nice and clear!
I checked the sheds for shafts 1+3 and 2+4. This is the basic common weave /plain weave configuration. So far so good! No strings out of place, or hanging loose (except for the floaters on either end) which are expected, as they are not tied to any heddles. This alpaca silk yarn is kind of "sticky," so I'm also hoping that the tension bars at the back will also help keep them separated so that they behave by the time they get to me on the weaving side at the front.
Next it was time to spread the warp by weaving some waste yarn to get things started--see the blue weft above. So far so good! All the ups and downs for plain weave look good so far. No missing strings. Nothing mis-threaded. Yeah! Progress!
Time to start weaving the first real shots. What to use for warp?
- The alpaca/silk?
- Or the remainder of the black merino from the red circle scarf? Do I have enough to finish a scarf? I wound the remainder of the black merino from the last project. 5-1/2 bobbins. I should have kept better records, but I didn't think that was going to be enough to finish a whole scarf, though it would be easy enough tot get more Jaggerspun black merino if I needed more.
- I went with the new black alpaca silk mix. Same as the warp. That wove very nicely for the first band of plain weave. So far so good!
Black Bobbins - Black alpaca and silk. Same as the warp. It has a little sparkle to it.
The Weft:
Turns out I wasn't crazy about the 'spensive cashmere yarn I bought a few weeks ago to make more circle scarves. I think I'm going to return or exchange them ... The colors were not true to what I thought I'd be getting. Maybe they'll work for some other project? In my mind, this scarf pattern calls for a solid dye job. Even though the gradients were pretty, I don't think they'll work for this pattern -- there's too much going on with the pattern, and the color changes will not add to it. So I fired up the dye pots!
Treadle Tracking System made easy with beads. I would never be able to keep track of where I am in this long and complicated pattern without this ingeniously simple system. Read more about it.
Neptune green cashmere yarn ball and sample weaving.
After I knew the plain weave worked, it was time to test the pattern, so I ran through 1 cycle of the pattern (72 treadlings!). See the 2 rows of circles in the green/blue gradient. The pattern looks like it's working as far as threading goes -- sort of -- I need to check the heddles on either edge to be sure ...
But the coloring of this yarn (beautiful though it is in and of itself) is not appropriate for this project. The pattern gets lost ... See the comparison with the crisp and clear red version above.
I'll put this down to sampling, and unpick it, by running the beads/treadles in reverse.
Ugh! I think there's still something wrong with the threading through the heddles. I'll need to check that in daylight -- which means I won't get to it until next weekend. Getting ready to weave takes as long as it does to actually do the weaving!
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