Friday, February 7, 2014

Second Verse...



...same as the first...

Turns out this warp is the same length as the last, so the last one was also about 14 meters.  And, since I was able to nurse it through to the end, I won't bother cutting off mid way and re-tying, I will just nurse this one through to the end, too.

Since this warp is identical in every way to the last one, why didn't I just tie it to the old one?

There are several reasons for that.  One, I'm faster at completely re-dressing the loom than I am at tying knots.  Secondly, this yarn still has residual twist energy in it so it's a bit unruly.  Trying to tie knots into it then nursing the knots through the heddles would not be a whole lot of fun.

Thirdly, if I did want to re-tie I would beam the warp first, having cut the old warp off behind the heddles rather than tie onto the front of the loom and drag the whole mess through the heddles onto the beam.  Especially with yarn that has residual twist energy in it.  But beaming it from the back of the loom would be a pain because my valet is set up at the front of the loom.

So no, I don't tie on any more.  It's something I gave up doing a very long time ago when I was still slow at dressing the loom and tying on was a time saver.

I'm getting low on yarn to use with the textured yarn to bundle a thicker weft so this will be the last place mat warp for a while.  I'll go back to the towels and see if I can't get more of that yarn used up.

But I am struggling to get back into a routine.  Part of the reason is that none of the looming deadlines has reached 'critical' yet, although that will change very quickly.  I've promised to send the yarns and instructions for the April workshop next week.  And, since I can't find my master copies of the drafts, I will finally take the time to up-date that topic with a somewhat nicer format.  It's been on my list to do for ages and I just never seem to find my round tuit.  Now I've got to do at least this topic!  It's not a big job, just time consuming, so I will have to begin working on that over the weekend.  Next week is fraught with appointments and meetings so I'm going to have to find that round tuit quickly.

2 comments:

Peg Cherre said...

I don't tie on either. I did it once and found it very tedious and unfulfilling. Conversely, I rather enjoy threading heddles, plus get a bonus of a mini-job well done when I tie the knot for each threading bout.

I suppose if I'd found the tie on a lot quicker I might have been inclined to try again and then get faster, but not only didn't I like doing it, I didn't find it faster.

Laura Fry said...

Hi Peg, the only time I would consider tying on is if I had a very complex threading that I knew was correct and didn't want to risk making a threading mistake. But this warp is just a straight draw and like you, I find threading something simple quite satisfying, even zen like. :) Everyone has to find what works 'best' for themselves.
cheers,
Laura