The Next Steps

Here I am, back with the next step in the on-going tablet weaving project(s) I’m working on.  This post was supposed to happen while at Pennsic, but the heat and humidity really sapped any ambition for creative writing from me.  I will keep the posts short and sweet, instead of trying to cram it all into one long slog.

Step One: Warp the Loom

I used my inkle loom to create the warp for the second project. 

As you can see in the picture, I just pushed the previous project inwards and warped the second alongside it.  I chose to do a continuous warp with enough length to have at least 18-inches of actual project to show off and extra length to practice a finishing technique I want to use on my apprentice belt.  I have a large safety pin through one set of holes to keep the cards aligned properly.  I also have a clip across all the threads between the cards and the knots to keep the cards on the project when I cut the knots.

Here is the box loom all set to begin weaving. 
The shed is to the left.  The cards may look like they’re backwards, but they’re not.  I’m left-handed, so I read them better if they are facing left instead of to the right.

What you cannot see are the modifications I had to make to the loom so it could be warped.  The vendor’s helper said all I had to do is knot the warp around the dowel and then tighten it.  As Ellisif Gydasdottir states in her Youtube video, Warping up a box loom for tablet weaving (minute 5:27) this doesn’t work.  I recommend everyone watch this before warping up your box loom for the first time. 

With a trip to Town and the help of a friend who seems to bring all-the-tools, in miniature form, to Pennsic, we added two screws to each rotating dowel and cut a ¼” dowel into two pieces which fits between the uprights of the loom on each end.  The warp then is tied to this smaller dowel, which is then placed against the screws to create tension on the warp as the larger dowel is turned.

As mentioned in my previous post, I am using wool yarn.  When wool threads are rubbed together, they will catch and hold onto each other.  This is not a desirable thing when winding a long length of wool yarn on a loom.  To alleviate this problem, strips of paper are placed between the warp as it is wound.  You can see the white paper sticking out on the right side in the above photo.  As one strip gets short, you just add another strip, overlapping the previous paper so none of the yarns touches those already wrapped.  

Once your loom is warped, you can begin weaving.

More on that next time.

~ Marjorie