Warp Speed - Part One

 Warp - the threads stretched on the loom.
In this photo you can see the warp threads being loaded this is called dressing the loom.

On my Ashford rigid heddle loom I thread the warp directly on the loom using a free standing wood peg to hold all warp wraps. I thread each one through the heddle as I go. It's a great way of mixing and experimenting with warp stripes.  

 For my Saori Loom I like to make my own warps (even though you can purchase ready made warps for this make of loom). I enjoy  creating cloth that is totally unique with my own warp patterns, colour choices, yarn, widths and lengths.
 To do this I have a warping frame on which I make my warp first, before transferring it to the loom to be threaded up. It is a slower process but Slow Cloth is just that, it take time, weaving knowledge with purpose and love for the craft.

 Here is a close up of the warp threads. Each warp end is individually threaded in the reed.

 Here you can see the heddles are all threaded too. I'm ready to wind the warp on to the roller. I have a 6 metre length which is kept under a light tension as I slowly wind it on to the loom.

When all the length of the warp is on the roller, I adjust the loom until I'm happy with the evenness and tension of the warp.
Time to make cloth!

Weaving Baby Blankets, Follow The Process - Part 1

April came and went and we are well into May! and I haven't got around to writing my blog so - before I show you the weaving process for some baby blankets I told you about in my last posting,  I want to do a quick catch up with the hand spun yarn I was working too. It has been washed and  is now being woven up Saori Style.

Okay sort of caught up, let's get blogging...

 

Baby Blankets Part 1

In my previous post I told you about the inspiration, planning and practicality of these blankets. Now I will try to give you a snapshot of each stage in their making.

Before I start there is always a bit of maths to work out such things as length, width, density and of course the exciting bit yarn, colour and pattern. Once I have got this sorted I start to wind a warp.

Here is my warping frame, note the centre pegs where the cross is formed as I wind the threads. 

Once I have my warp made, I need to remove it without it getting in a tangle! to keep the cross in place, I secure it with ties of strong cord ( shoe laces are brilliant for this). then I chain off the warp which also keeps all the threads in an orderly bunch.

I can now transfer my warp to  my weaving loom. I tie it to the top frame so as it doesn't slip or pull while I'm sleying the reed.

I hold all the threads of the cross in my hand as the photo below shows, this keeps the threads in the correct order and I'm able to take the topmost thread each time and put it through the reed.

This is the loom's reed and my reed tool 

Here you can see the sleying of the reed.

Come back soon  I will show you what happens next.