Conquering the Warp from Hell
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Sometimes weaving should be simple and straightforward – especially when you have copious notes on a project woven many times before. But not this time! This is a photo of the tied warp segment for a warp of warp faced ikat style bookmarks. But when I got it on the loom I realised that I had forgotton to make a raddle cross and so fudged to make a cross. Mistake 1. | |
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Then after winding on the warp with the rebellious raddle cross[3 hours] and tieing it on, I realised that the warp tension was impossibly uneven for weaving. This was because the warp was set at 105 ends per inch and just a few warp threads at each side were wound on to the raddle by themselves. This caused big problems. Mistake 2. My solution here was to unwind the whole lot and re-distribute the threads evenly into 4 inch segments of the raddle. | |
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Even though the actual width of the weaving is only 2 1/2 inches, adjusting the warp spacing at the raddle makes an evenly wound tension. The tension problem is now fixed and weaving is progressing smoothly. Sometimes, I just have to fudge and think more when I’m weaving. It’s always challenging. | |
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When I weave warp faced work with a very high sett, I don’t bother using the reed as a beater but use a shuttle with a beater edge or on wider pieces a Navajo style beater. This makes a cleaner, crisper change of shed and allows a heavier beat on the weft. These bookmarks will be gifts and the next warp will go much smoother…. |
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I’ll have to try this. I never seem to think of my floor loom for very narrow pieces. I seem to be all thumbs with card weaving and inkle weaving. Or maybe just too many distrations.
Gorgeous! Sometimes the struggle is worth the effort. Nice color choices, is this a heavier weft? I like the b & w horizontal stripes at the edges.