Monday, March 23, 2015

Cross Purposes

One of the things we forgot to tape for the DVD The Efficient Weaver was how I rough sley the reed as a raddle and how it gets put into the loom.  Since someone also asked about transferring the cross, here is a photo essay showing those steps.





Laying the reed across a couple of small boxes, I sley the warp into the reed.  In this instance I want 10 epi, but have wound two ends at a time.  Since you never want to separate the loops at the end of the warp chain, a complete loops goes into one dent, then three are left empty to achieve 10 epi density.


Once done, the reed is flipped over top of the lease sticks.


The loop of the warp is now picked up and held by a third lease stick.


The bundle of reed and lease sticks is laid across the bin (or box) and carried to the loom.  In this instance I also threw in the cones I expect to use for weft, just to keep everything together.


The reed is inserted into the beater (see picture below) and the third lease stick holding the loops is carried to the back of the loom.  The apron rod then picks up the loops from the stick.  In this picture you can see the loops are messy.  These uneven loops straighten out quickly by going to the front of the loom and gently pulling on the warp chain at the choke tie, which hopefully has done it's job and not allowed any unevenness to transfer beyond the choke to to the rest of the warp.


The loops have been straightened out.  Since this yarn is textured, it needs a little extra grooming.  I do this by grasping the choke tie, applying gentle tension on the chain and then sliding the lease stick back and forth to encourage the threads to even out.


The weight is applied to the warp chain to provide tension for beaming and the lease sticks are raised as close to the warping valet as possible without snagging any of the threads.  The goal here is to have equal tension on the threads.  Snags will increase tension on those threads caught up. in the snag.


The warp is beamed by rolling the warp forward.  The lease sticks will descend to the breast beam at which point the weight is removed and moved further down the chain and lease sticks raised as high as they can easily go.  Repeat, inserting warp packing, until done.  Here I've divided the warp chain into two sections.  If I didn't the warp is wide enough that the outside ends will have more tension than the inside ends for the last few feet.


Removing the masking tape (or whatever is used to secure the lease sticks) the stick closest to the reed is tipped up on it's edge to form a shed.


Using a longer set of lease sticks I insert one into the shed behind the beater and...


slide it to the back where it is inserted into the Angel Wings (sold by Purrington Looms).  I've found the front set of holes is about perfect for me to thread from.


Removing the first lease stick, the second one now forms the other shed of the cross and another long lease stick picks up the shed behind the beater and...


gets inserted into the front hole of the Angel Wings.  The clamps hold the lease sticks so that they can't pop out of the Angel Wings and the warp is secure.

I cut the loops at the beater and the warp is now ready to be threaded.

15 comments:

Nancy said...

Thank you for the photo essay, I just bought your DVD today and have started watching. This is a real help.

wendyk said...

This is wonderful, exactly what I was trying to figure out yesterday!

Anonymous said...

Thank you Laura! That's what I was looking for. I have the DVD, but was hoping for this info.
I know you say 'rough sley' but I was always wondering what the difference is. Now I know. I haven't done it yet, but I have used the trapeze with great success thanks to you. Now, with the r/s info, I think I can get the full glory of this warping method. ;-)

I'll also have to try the winding more than one at a time. Baby steps.

Thanks again, and keep up the recovery!! Spring is here.
Tom Z in IL USA

Lotus Baker said...

Thank you, thank you!!
I have been trying to piece that info from your blog, but this clears it up!
I love the pole and bottle method, it has saved my husband a lot of time:) Keep getting healed up!

Laura Fry said...

Of course there are various ways to do this. Some people don't have a lot of room in their studio and find it is easier to lay the reed across the front of the loom and rough sley there. Then it is a simple matter to just insert the reed with warp into the beater. What anyone actually does will be dependent upon their space, their looms and what is comfortable for them to do.

I offer these suggestions as just that...suggestions. We are all creative people. We can figure out what is 'efficient' for our own situation. Nothing about weaving is truly written in stone. It all depends. My ultimate goal is that everyone enjoy the process, not wind up fighting with it.

cheers,
Laura

Anonymous said...

Thank you for sharing this tutorial. I wish for you continued success in healing.

I do have the Efficient Weaver DVD and I play it as I'm weaving, you are the GUIDE at the SIDE!!!!

Happy Spring, Kelli Page

RedKate said...

Hello!
Thank you so much for posting this! I'm very new to weaving and this was the part that was giving me so much trouble - it takes mt a whole day to just get the warp on - so frustrating. Your instructions are immensely helpful!

Hope you are feeling better. :)

Pam said...

I love the dvd Efficient Weaver!! So many great ideas! Did you have someone make the Warp Valet for the ceiling or can it be purchased somewhere? And where can the Angel Wings (?) for warping be purchased? Thanks again for a great video.

Laura Fry said...

Purrington Looms makes the Angel Wings. He also makes a trapeze that fits on the loom rather than being affixed to the ceiling.

Glad you found the DVD helpful. :)

Cheers
Laura

Pam said...

I loved the ceiling idea. I will have to show my brother in law and see if he could build one for me. Thanks again!! While weaving yesterday, I used one of your tips to prevent the selvedges from curling up by wrapping the weft around the apron bar. You are an inspiration.

mly said...

I am so excited about warping back to front under tension. Hung two over-the-door hooks and a dowel to create a valet, temporarily, which sort of seems to work, but I have a question about something not included in the video:

When you rough sley this way, with the reed on the boxes, are you holding the threads in one hand above and the sley hook in the other hand from below? Or do you use the same method described in an older post about sleying the reed after seeing Syne Mitchell / akin to how you thread the heddles?

Laura Fry said...

I hold the hook below the reed and pull each loop through one at a time. The method for sleying once the warp is threaded is the methods I learned from Syne.

cheers,
Laura

mly said...

Thank you! So the April 3, 2009 post is still the way you sley the reed (not threading heddles, sorry, I got mixed up). The rough sley is two or more ends per slot in the reed, while the final sley is one per dent (or whatever is desired to achieve the correct width in the reed), presumably? It would be super helpful to include pix and a description in the bookbookbook, if it's that kind of book. I can stop the frames in the DVD to re-watch but have only warped front-to-back in the past.

Laura Fry said...

Yes, I intend to have more detailed info in The Book. There are many ways to achieve the end result - I'm just mainly sharing how I have wound up doing it with the expectation that others will adjust or adapt to suit their circumstances.

The main thing is knowing that it doesn't have to take forever, nor should it be 'painful'.

cheers,
Laura

Anonymous said...

That's what I've been looking for Laura!!!! You're the best m'dear!
NOW...I'll go searching for a 6 dent!

Tom Z. in IL