I can already see that my Year of Projects will fill like a slog to anyone reading it – I am slow at the best of times when knitting, and even more at weaving it seems: so much for thinking it would make me a faster crafter!
So this week was all about warping my loom.
It took me three evenings to wind the warp – I had 7.5m/8yds of 672 ends to warp without a warping board.
This is my hack:
Like all hacks, it is far from perfect, so the first evening the ties of the chairs gave in, the chairs rushed towards each other under the tension, and that first bout of warp was truly messed up. I still have it there and will at some point untangle it. I redoubled all ties, made it really solid, and finally I was off again:
It took me two more evenings to end up with my two warp chains:
Then it was the turn of beaming – I beamed without a raddle, and using a reed instead (post to come here), and gosh, this Valley Yarn 10/2 cotton IS sticky.
So with a ton of patience and three more evenings, the warp was finally beamed!
The last evening I finally managed to remove any errors (look at the horror of this cross before fixing!)
and, having fixed the cross, I could start threading my heddles – 24 four warp ends threaded, only 648 more to go…
This is a year of projects (YOP) update. YOP is a Ravelry Group, and an idea – make a plan for the year ahead for all your fibre activities, then update your blog every week if you manage. The objective is to keep track of progress on any fiber crafts with maximum flexibility: post, don’t post, follow your list, change it – so really it is just an opportunity to get to know of more blogs and activities of those who share a passion for anything fibre crafts. My YOP graphics “nicked” with thanks from Backstageknits!
lovestoswatch 
Far from being a slog, it is truly fascinating. I love to see the background and detail of how things are achieved. Thank you for sharing with us and the yarn you have used is beautiful.
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Thank you Lucy! I guess it is a good thing that I do not mind the warping part of weaving, as it does take a considerable proportion of the total time to get to a finished object!
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I’d say that’s a lot of progress! I have a friend that weaves but I’ve never seen the starting process, All those ends, and I’ve been complaining about a blankets that I’m working on, you surely have me beat, I’m looking forward to seeing the next steps. Thanks for such and educational post.
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Thank you! This time last year I would never have known that I’d fall far down into this rabbit hole! I felt heroic knitting dresses, but boy, blankets ARE an achievement. And they’ll be treasured for a long time to come. I still have a couple of blankets crocheted by my granmohter – I won’t tell you how old I am, but my granma was born in 1898… And they still look absolutely perfect, not to mention they are incredibly cosy. Well done you! 👍
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Thank you for showing us how it all happens. That seems like so much work to get it set up. So many threads to warp. Crazy! Not being a weaver, I find this fascinating. What will you be making with this woven fabric?
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well, I just hope I am not putting you off from ever having a go at weaving!
The plan for this yardage is to become a summer casual jacket for my husband – though at this pace it won’t be ready before summer next year 😜
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Oh my goodness! This looks like a real adventure, not a hobby … It’s fascinating all the same. I really must learn more about weaving. Thanks for sharing the parts one doesn’t get to see all that often.
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eh eh, definitely the parts I am not proud of… but boy, I am learning 😊
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I too find it very interesting and I’m saving your other post to read this week when my husband is back at work and I can take it all in. I keep dreaming for a wider loom but I guess it comes with a lot more work and a 4 or 8 shaft perhaps more than a rigid heddle which I just direct warp and tend to keep it short warps as I’m still learning. I’m going to love your weaving posts and I think one of our members has a loom in a cupboard so perhaps you’ll inspire them to dig it out. 😀
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for sure the setting up of a rigid heddle loom is much quicker; and I suspect that the setting up of a floor loom is much longer! I am happy I have 8S though, and also that I resisted the temptation of the 16 shafts, as that might have been overwhelming. But it allows so much!
I think there is a lot that you can do on your 40cm loom (if I remember correctly that this is what you have) – I certainly plan to keep using it, though this table loom is definitely a class act!
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Its only 25cm 10″ and I only end up with about 20cm 8″
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ah, I see, sorry. Well, not impossible to do stripes, but indeed far more challenging. Still you can do scarves easily, but also more! In “Weave, Knit, Wear” there are some patterns all based on rectangles, and I think there is at least one tunic, in stripes, that you could do (I think it is called “Olive Garden Tunic”, I added the pattern to Ravelry). In that book they use knitting a lot to put pieces together and add “missing” bits, like sleeves. They also have patterns for bags and hats, so worth a look, as I am pretty sure there are patterns you could follow there if you get tired of scarves.
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Thanks very much 😀
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Even if you were slogging, it would be okay, but my goodness… that looks like a lot of work. And what an interesting structure you assembled for winding up the warp yarn (or is it thread – it looks so fine). This is really interesting watching your project from the very beginning!
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thank you Becky! indeed, it is a very fine yarn, probably it would be thread, there are 847m in 100g, I don’t see myself knitting with this one… But once you get to the point of actually weaving, you “catch up” with the time, it must be close to the experience of kntting with a knitting machine (not that I have tried though, just my expectation).
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I have no clue what you are doing here but it looks fairly involved. Anything that requires hacks is impressive 🙂
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indeed you are right, I should have explained a bit more for non weavers… I will amend in the next few days!
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I am so impressed with your hacks and how it all turns out, but I must admit I think seeing this means that I will leave learning to weave for another lifetime (unless I am rich enough to hire someone to Warp my loom. lol
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oh, no! But what I would suggest, is (IF you are curious) take a dip with a rigid heddle loom. They are quick to setup, and cost a fraction of a fraction of a table loom, let alone a floor loom, that goes in the thousands of whatever currency you use!
I also have to say that warping is (wait for it!) fun: you get to stroke your yarn over and over, and you really get into the structure of what you are doing. I do find it more pleasurable than casting on in knitting. YOu only need the bug to bite you 😜
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Wow that is truly amazing to me. I have never done weaving aside from a tiny A4 sized loom and this looks so intimidating! Well done.
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oh, I AM sorry, scaring people off surely wasn’t my intention! It is a big warp, for a big project with a complicated structure (doubleweave), so very many ends – one wouldn’t jump straight to that!
It is a fascinating craft, just a matter of taking time with it. A Rigid Heddle Loom is an easy way to get started, and a lot can be done with it!
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Not being a weaver, most of this was gibberish to me, which isn’t a bad thing. I’ve been contemplating a loom for awhile….but I’m torn between an Inkle or something like a Cricket. Oh well.
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they are quite different: while I haven’t tried inkle loom weaving yet, you can use a rigid heddle loom for band weaving too. I have amassed info on this, so will do a blog about it (though I’d like to do it after I’ve tried), but here is a video on how to weave bands on what looks like a Cricket:
You may also be able to find a “Complete weaving kit” by Ashford, which gives you a lot of stuff for a great price! Just a word of warning though, weaving is highly addictive!
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