Once you have established your design then comes the calculating. I have developed my own worksheet which allows me to figure out not only my yarn requirements for warp and weft but also includes information about the vendor from which the yarn was purchased down to cost per ounce. Yours can be a simple warp and weft calculation, remember to calculate your sett and how many dents in the reed for your chosen width! There are many factors to consider including the take up (how much the yarn pulls up in length) draw in and shrinkage. There are many books and resources for how to figure out these amounts.
Once you have arrived at these figures you can begin to warp. It is always preferable to do a sample first, this will help you determine if your sett is good, if the pattern requires changing and many other factors. Better to make an error on a mini warp and sample than waste a lot of yarn!
When you have figured out the the details of your warp you can move to the warping board with your yarn. On my warping board the width across is 36″ or 1 yard. I measure out a guide string using a different color from my yarn and make it the length of my warp and tie that onto the board, using the same route/cross that will use for my warp. Then I know my warp is the correct length. Tie your yarn with a loop over the first peg at the top of the board.
Then go under the next peg and over the third peg – then the yarn will start to travel the board in a zig zag pattern until you reach your desired length. I like to go over and under the top pegs making two interlacements called a “cross”. The figure 8 cross at the top is called a “porrey cross” and consists of single interlacements. THis cross is used for threading heddles when dressing the loom. This will keep your yarn in order for all the following processes.
The second picture shows how, when you come back up to the top you will cross in the other direction; under and over. At the bottom of the board you should make one more cross, always better to have a cross in the top and the bottom of the warp! The second cross at the bottom of the warping board is the “portee cross” and can consist of groups of threads and be used for sectioning the warp in the raddle.
These pictures show how the warp builds up on the board. Notice at the bottom, the yarn also goes over and under. You have calculated for example that the warp is 5 yards long and consists of 280 threads. You will need to track how many travels of the board you have = how many ends of thread will you have. A top to bottom zig zag is 1 end, come all the way back up zig zag is 2 ends. You can use a piece of string and count how many threads you have, this is called a counting thread or string.
Of course it all sounds terribly confusing unless you have seen it in action. But this is meant to be a refresher of what we have accomplished in class. HERE I am placing my fingers in the cross so I can count the threads.
HERE you can see the counting string. You loop it over and around to secure your counted batch of threads – called a bout – you can count in any number of bouts, use even numbers of 20, 50, 100, whatever suits the warp numbers the best. I like to mark where the middle of my warp is also using this thread. When you have the correct number of ends, mine is 280, you need to secure the warp before removing it from the board (trust me – better to use a lot of little pieces of string securing the warp than losing ALL that lovely yarn).
You want to mark and save the cross. I make a cross string that will be a loop going through the cross that is a little wider than my warp. If my warp is 20 ” wide I might make it 22-24″, I thread the yarn through the spaces in the cross and tie the end. This is where the lease sticks will go and is where you will “choose” threads when threading etc.
Now I am going to put a tie around each section of the cross, 2 in the top and 2 in the bottom. This will hold open the space for the lease sticks to go through.
Next we have to choke tie the rest of the length of the warp. I like to use an over and under or in and out method.
Now its time to stand back and admire your handy work!
Now for the scary part, we are going to remove the whole thing! Starting at the bottom, put your hand through the hole of the bottom chain and pull the end off – carefully!
With your hand through the hole, reach through and grab the warp and pull through the hole to make a chain. This sounds very confusing, again, once you see it done it makes sense!
Keep on chaining until the whole warp looks like – well – Rapunzels multi colored braid!
There is more than one way to skin a cat! For all you animal lovers out there - no cruelty intended in that pun - but yes there are a number of ways to get that looooong warp onto your loom ready to weave. As time goes on and you encounter various types of looms and learn their idiosyncrasies you will also discover that what works well for one loom/yarn may be different for another type of loom/yarn.
The whole idea is to get the warp, under tension and neatly in order onto your back warp beam. Now if you find yourself considering some of the following things ie: the warp width, do I have three people to help me beam?, am I beaming alone?, I don't have a raddle (a what?), I have shaft support wires that run in the middle of my loom, do what the Swedish way?........ slow down and take it one method at a time!
If there is one method that works for almost all situations it is beaming back to front using a raddle (a device with pins or posts that lays across the back beam and spaces out the warp to the width you will be weaving). It can be a nice store bought one with a nice cap, or a simple DIY with nails or dowels using rubber bands to keep your sections of yarn in place.
Place the warp apron rod in the end of the warp, and insert lease sticks in your cross.
The apron rod will hang behind the raddle as you are facing the back of the loom (secure it with some string if necessary). Your warp will be draped in front of you. The next step is to center your warp using the guide string or to measure to one end of the raddle. For example; my warp is 24 ends per inch, I would find the center of the raddle and measure 12 inches out (half of 24). My raddle has pins spaced every half inch. So 24 div by 2 = 12 ends per space.
Use a folded piece of paper over the raddle pins to rest the warp on to prevent it getting caught in the pins while you are spacing the warp. Choose your groups of threads using the cross at your lease sticks. Use a rubber band over the top of the pins to prevent your raddled threads from coming out until you have finished the whole warp.
When the warp is spread you can interlace a lashing thread to attach the apron rod to the rod that is through the end loop of the warp. That way when you start to beam the rods tied securely together.
Once you have spread the warp and secured the rods together, replace the raddle cap onto the raddle. This secures the threads. The warp is now ready to be beamed. Keeping the warp under tension, start to wind onto the warp beam placing warp sticks - two to each revolution. The wider your warp you will need someone to assist you in holding the tension. Remove the raddle and position your warp ready for threading.
NEXT: For wider warps when you have no help! If your loom has no obstructions through the shafts or over the shafts you can still beam back to front but feed the warp from the front - use weights to tension - and beam back to front. Simply bring the warp from the front (if you are at the front of the loom your warp will be hanging on the floor). Take the ends with lease sticks and the beam rod through the loom to the back and hang the beam rod over the front of the raddle (you are now looking at the back of the loom). The lease sticks will be behind the raddle and the apron rod in front of the raddle. Same process as before, place your threads in groups throughout the raddle using the cross to make your selections. Then Secure the warp apron rod to the warp beam rod by lashing. Temporarily secure your lease sticks and then go to the front of the loom.
Divide the warp into sections make a choke tie around the warp group and hang a weight (I use S hooks and a weight). Do this across the warp width until the warp is evenly tensioned. Start to beam as usual, when the weights reach the front breast beam, slide the ties down the warp with the weights and beam that length of warp until it is all finished. See following photos:
No comments:
Post a Comment