Endings, Beginnings

 

Today I will weave the last two towels on this warp.  There wasn't quite enough of the hairy tow linen to finish the warp, but the thicker hemp is weaving up nicely.  It will create a thicker, stiffer cloth, but should wear in nicely and do the job of drying things.  Hands, if not dishes.

But that's the thing.  Everything comes to an end.  I have learned to celebrate such endings because it means I can begin something new.  So I don't fuss about running out of things.  I don't worry about being in the position of having to set up the loom again.  Yes, I put on long warps, because the biggest investment of a weaver's time is dressing the loom.  

Rather than put on short warps, I put on 'long' ones.  However, these towel warps have been about 20 yards long and it takes me about two weeks to complete each one.  A pace much MUCH slower than my high production days when my minimum warp length was more like 40 yards and I could weave them off in about two weeks.  

It seems like a lot of people get really nervous about a warp ending because they are uncertain of how well they can dress the loom.  They wind up dealing with tangles.  Threading errors.  Sleying issues.  The whole process becomes a bit of a nightmare for them and robs the joy of weaving.

The solution (IMHO) is not to put on really really long warps so that you only have to dress the loom 2 or 3 times a year, but to put warps on the loom more frequently.  Because if you don't use it, you lose it.

I had that happen recently when I needed to use the Leclerc for some sample warps.  It had been months since I'd wound a warp on the warping board and dressed the loom by pulling it on using the warping valet.

The very first 'mistake' I made was not tying off the cross.  My weaving angel must have been watching over me because I'd only just pulled the bottom peg (opposite the cross) when I suddenly looked up and managed to tie the cross before the warp came off the board.  A clear example of how we forget steps in a lengthy complex process if we don't do it frequently enough!

So today I celebrate the end of the current series of towels.  I will now leave the Megado to gather dust while I work on the samples for the Next Big Project.  But since I only just wove on the Leclerc in July, I'm fairly confident that I won't be making any mistakes in my process!  I hope.  Time will tell.