Friday, May 18, 2018

Cha, Cha, Changes,




One of the things that one hopefully learns as they begin to master this craft is how things are likely to change when what you are doing changes.

I know I've posted about this before, but that was after I did it 'wrong'.  This time, I'm hoping I will have done it 'right', right from the start.

My usual warp on the Fanny is about 11 meters or approximately 12 yards.  The warp that went onto the loom today is not only longer at 16.5 yards, it is also slippery - mercerized cotton.

A couple of years ago I had a large warping reel and I started winding longer warps - about 14 meters or about 16 yards long.

The very first of the longer warps I started weaving I began noticing weird tension issues happening.  There were areas of inconsistent tension.  The brake wasn't slipping - there were actual patches or groups of warp ends that would get slightly looser, even out as weaving commenced, then a group elsewhere would exhibit loose tension.

It occurred to me that these longer warps required higher tension during beaming.  So I increased the amount of water in my water jugs and beamed using higher tension, and...voila!...everything was just fine again.

So, with this warp of slippery cotton at 16.5 yards, I added four cups of water to each of my weights and got Doug to help me beam the warp.  I could have done it myself except my back and neck aren't very happy with me right now, and having someone else add the warp packing and crank on while I groomed the warp chains made the whole job go a lot more quickly and easily.

This isn't my warp, there is none to waste, and I want to do a good job because these samples are for another weaver to use in her teaching, not mine to do over or make a big mistake on!  I'm just hoping that 4 cups of water was enough.

Time will tell...

Currently reading The Paris Spy by Susan Elia Macneal

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