Jun 11 2008
Raddling again
The raddle is such a valuable weaving tool.
It helps to organise the warp so it can be wound on evenly. This colourful warp slid through pretty well and I find that narrow warps are much easier to beam by myself than wider ones.
I’d really like to have another person help me each time I warp but that just doesn’t happen. Firstly who has that much patience except the weaver herself. I have to order the other around because I’m in charge of the warp and who takes kindly to that. Secondly another human just isn’t always around when you need them. In the loneliness of warping I dream of helpers. I keep thinking of ingenious new ideas to streamline the operation for next time. Adding a piece of wood here and there or tieing this or that into another position. But somehow each warp seems to have different challenges and it seems like a new adventure every time.
Bonnie takes raddling a step further and uses it as a design tool.
Serendipitously, Cally has also written about raddling recently – it must be the time of year. She has actually trained her husband as a warping helper. What an inspiration.
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That is a seriously pretty warp!
Yummy colors! Can’t wait to see what you will weave. Is the warp hand-dyed?
ooooohhhh—-beautiful! Weights solve my solo warping problems.
Beautiful warp! thanks for this post. I am a new weaver, and I did not learn how to use a raddle, but I am beginning to think that I need to incorporate it into my practice – it seems to save so many headaches!
Hi Karen. I can see several raddles in your photograph and wonder if they are permanently attached to your loom. There seem to be differing opinions about how close raddle pins should be placed. I would like to own a Leclerc raddle made from strong hardwood and corrosion resistant long metal pins spaced about 1/2 inch apart, or 2 dents per inch; or a Schacht raddle with plated pins inserted every inch but also with holes drilled every half inch with enough extra pins to allow for half-inch spacing. Wish they were available here.
LOVELY! That warp is well worth any fretting in the getting it beamed. Am looking forward to seeing what it becomes.
I dress my looms solo and dream of a beaming page — in a velvet outfit, with tights and little shoes, who is there are my command. *sigh* Ah well — one can dream.
Weave like an Egyptian,
Jane
That warp is absolutely gorgeous! Three cheers for the raddle too!
Wow, those color just pop off the screen, can’t wait to see what they’ll evolve into.
Is that the warp from your earlier post? It is beautiful. I have a few none weaver friends who have become my ‘warping buddies’. They are fascinated by the process of weaving and feel that they are participating in it when they help me wind on a warp. Of course, the offer of cake & tea or dinner helps.