Beginnings. Endings.

 

From time to time I see (what I assume to be) new-ish weavers lamenting that the yarn package they are working with has a knot in it.  Or they try to come up with a way to make 'endless' warps so that they don't have to keep re-dressing their looms.

Generally I sigh and scroll on by.

But the essays I've been writing means that I've been thinking more about attitudes and techniques and this one keeps coming back.  I've probably written about this before, but my 'muse' can't seem to let go so I'm here - again - to muse about beginnings, endings and the existence of knots.

Weaving has so many similarities to living a life that pretty much any advice I give for coping with problems in weaving can be extrapolated to living, but for now I'm just going to write about weaving.  If anyone wants to see anything useful beyond weaving, well, that might be A Good Thing.  It depends.

So. 

Knots in yarn.  Yarn is not endless.  To make a longer string/yarn, it has to be joined to another length of string/yarn.  There are ways that can be used that do not entail the use of a knot, but some of them simply don't work for every circumstance.

So, a knot it is.

To then get into a bit of a tizzy because the yarn you are using has a knot in it isn't very helpful.

Because a length of string can, and will, contain a knot. Sometimes more than one, depending upon the length of said string.

There is literally nothing helpful about taking a photograph of a knot in a string and posting it to the internet expressing a deep sigh at the 'poor quality' of said yarn.  Instead learn how to deal with it.  If it is weft, cut the knot out and overlap it, just like you do when you are joining in a fresh bobbin.  It's a knot.  It happens.

If it is in the warp, and you wound that warp, it should have been dealt with while you were winding that warp, not complaining about it when it appears in the loom.  If you didn't fix it during winding/beaming because it slipped your notice, there are ways to replace the knot.  Learn how.  Lamenting the loss of a few inches of yarn is really not a good attitude.  In My Humble Opinion, of course.

I've seen photos of setups where people set up a creel and mount full cones or tubes on it and then just drag the fell forward which feeds more yarn off the yarn package as each yarn is tensioned so that it doesn't pull forward during weaving, but will come forward when the fell is advanced.

But guess what?  All of those yarn packages will eventually run out and they won't be at the same place because yards/pound is only ever an approximation.  So you either replace one end at a time and wind up with knots in your warp anyway, or you 'sacrifice' the tag ends of the cones/tubes when you replace all of them at once.  If you can use them for weft, great, but maybe you can't.

I relish the end of a warp because it means I can try something different, something new.  But I get that not everyone wants to take the time to become efficient at dressing a loom.  Sectional beaming will allow for longer warps (in some looms, up to 100 yards long, depending on the thickness of the yarn).  God knows, I did 100 yard long warps for literally years.  We got good at replacing any knots noticed during beaming, using glue that would wash out and overlapping the yarn, gluing it into place, using a hair dryer to dry the glue quickly so that the beaming could continue.  The glue dissolved during wet finishing and it looked like a 'regular' needle woven in repair.

If a knot got missed during beaming, I got good at replacing it, using a replacement yarn to 'by-pass' the original with the knot in it until the original was long enough to bring back into the web.  Then needle wove the ends in during burling (inspection and repair).

Same with broken warp ends.  Repair/replacement yarn hung off the back beam until the original was long enough to bring back into the web, needle weave in during burling.

Weaving is a labour intensive activity.  Learn how to get proficient (and efficient) at doing it.  Accept that every string has a beginning AND an ending and learn how to deal with it.  Warps will frequently offer challenges with knots in the warp or warp ends breaking.  Learn how to fix those.

Don't let a minor inconvenience become a bigger issue than it is.  And don't let 'perfect' spoil 'good'.