Last Pick

 

This warp is for a class project so I'm paying extra particular attention to what I'm doing and what I'm seeing.

Normally I don't do a double tap on the beat, just one single tap.  That tap is 'regulated' according to a number of factors - the elasticity of the yarn, the tension applied to the warp, etc.

Not all yarns have the same characteristics.  The yarn currently in the loom is 2/10 mercerized cotton, and it shares some of the characteristics of a line linen.  Both are dense, stiff, slippery and a bit springy.  (Linen is more of all of those things than cotton, but mercerized cotton is more like linen in how it behaves.)

Weaving plain weave with highly contrasting colours means I see the threads quite clearly. My goal here is to have as close to 'perfect' a beat as possible because every little inconsistency is going to show.  Wet finishing will take care of some *slight* differences, but only very slight differences.

Every time the web gets advanced, the tension needs to be reset.  The precise degree of tension is rarely re-applied so I feel how the loom behaves and how the yarn reacts and then adjust the pressure of the beat accordingly.

However, because this yarn is stiffer and slipperier than an unmercerized cotton and behaves much more like a line linen, when the tension is removed from the warp the threads are no longer under the same degree of tension and as the warp is pulled forward, the last pick tends to slip out of the intended path of the yarn.

If you need to see more closely, click on the image to bring it up bigger.

What happens when the last pick slips away from the fell is that the *next* pick below it also tends to slip forward - travelling in the direction of least resistance.

So for this warp I am weaving with as consistent a beat as I can manage, then when I advance the warp I give the fell a second tap before I begin weaving again.  This pushes the last pick downwards and at the same time nudges the pick below it back where it belongs as well.

For a line linen, I *may* do a double tap on every pick, depending on the weave structure.

Adding a second beat to every pick takes longer (only a micro-second, but they add up) but at times it is better to go slower to get the results you want in the cloth you are making.