Week 8

This week, my post is a step-by-step instruction on back to front warping that includes pictures. I was not able to get any shots of warping, so this post will focus on putting the warp onto the loom.

1. Securely attach the rattle to the castle of the loom
2. Find the cross in the warp and put the leash sticks through the cross, remove the tie holding the cross and make sure the leash sticks are at the front of the loom
3. Split the warp in half and proceed to slip each half onto the metal bar in the back attached to the warp beam
4. slip another metal bar in for added weight and wrap with string
5. make sure the reed is centered as well as rattle -- At this point you want to know how many dents per inch your reed has, the space between the pegs of your rattle, and how many epi (ends per inch) your project has - for this project I have 16 epi, am using an 8 dent reed and there is approximately 1/2" between each of my pegs. I will divide 16 by 8 to get how many strings per dent I use (2) and then I will divide 16 by 2 to get how many strings I put between the pegs of my rattle (8).
6. After dividing the strings between the pegs of the rattle, I secure it by wrapping string or rubber bands around the pegs. During this time, it is a good idea to secure the leash sticks to the castle and front beam so that they may slide, but not slip to the side. If you are doing this yourself, tie the warp to the front beam so that you may work with tension.
7. Next, you "clean & crank" - the idea is to make sure that the warp does not twist or stick to itself and after you have done that, crank it onto the warp beam. You can use your fingers, or a smooth stick to clean the warp.
8. Pull the leash sticks down to create a small shed as you 'clean' the warp.
9. Continue to release more of the warp until you have enough with which to thread and tie on to the cloth beam. Once you have cleaned the warp, transfer the cross to the back and secure the leash sticks.
10. Now, cut the end of the warp and split the heddle count for each harness between the two sides, counting out only one side. Thread from the outside in. (in this photo I've tied the threads into bundles of so that I may untie them and thread them with ease without worry of grabbing the wrong end)
11. This is a quick fix when I miscalculated how many ends I needed - I threaded it through the proper heddle and added it into the reed as a group of 3 on the end instead of 2.
12. After threading through the heddles, tie the beater into an upright, position so that you can thread the reed with ease. Start from the middle and work your way out.
13. After you have threaded the reed, tie the ends onto the metal bar, which is attached to the cloth beam.
14. Before you begin to weave, you need to spread the warp out a bit more evenly. Use a fat yarn and weave that through a few times. after it is sufficienctly spread, you hemstitch and begin to weave!