a handweaver's journey
What do you weave into the fabric that will be cradling your future granddaughter? Love, and lots of it, of course. The baby wrap has been woven, and is cut from the loom! All that is left is the finishing work–examining for errors, washing and drying, and hemming. …And Melody learning how to wrap a baby wrap. Soon enough, baby Lucia will be wrapped in this love-made piece of cloth.
May your loved ones enjoy your gifts of love.
Happy weaving,
Karen
I can let my mind wander for this part. I am threading 664 warp ends in a straight draw, one warp end at a time (1-2-3-4). This is repetitive and easy. Relaxing. Of course, I have safeguards to prevent mind-wandering errors. First, I count the ends into threading groups before I start threading. Second, I double-check each threaded group of heddles, one warp end at a time.
In quiet moments like this, my mind drifts over recent events, and ponders plans for the near and distant future. I think about friends and family–dear ones going through struggles. I remember things I’m thankful for, and who I’m thankful to. I often wish threading could go on a little longer. I like to linger there.
The wondrous thing is that I can turn all these thoughts into prayers. The Lord hears us when we pray. The Lord hears the sound of your voice. In our quiet moments we have the sweet assurance that when we call upon the Lord, he bends down and listens. Instead of wishful thinking or fruitless worrying, prayer turns thoughts into faith.
May you linger in quiet moments.
All the best,
Karen
Weaving a baby wrap is something I have been interested in doing. I am pleased, therefore, that my daughter wants to try babywearing. It’s the perfect excuse for me to put a colorful warp on the loom–a warp with wide stripes of blended colors. After research and careful planning, I am ready to start. Baby Lu will be here before we know it!
It is exciting to weave something on purpose to give to someone you love. The whole process has meaning–from planning, to dressing the loom, to throwing the shuttle. You hope it turns out as you envision, or better. Making something to give is the best kind of making. The thought you put into it shows up as a gift of love.
Our words can be thoughtful gifts, as well. It takes thought to speak sentences and paragraphs, and conversations, that bless and enrich. Our considerate words give our recipient the means for wrapping someone else with love. Words can heal. These are the words to speak, words that give life. Weave comfort and encouragement into the things you say, touching others with kindness. Let the little ones be wrapped in their mother’s love. And let the rest of us practice sweet thoughtfulness day after day.
May your words be thoughtful gifts from your heart.
With love,
Karen
Having a cart beside my loom is the next best thing to a loom-side assistant! A turquoise utility cart from IKEA sits beside my Glimåkra Ideal. An Elfa drawer system on casters is right beside the Glimåkra Standard, and keeps oft-used tools within arm’s reach.
The IKEA cart (Råskog Utility Cart) serves as a holding space for any project on the Ideal. Since this loom is not in the room where I keep my weaving supplies, it helps to have a rolling cart that holds items as needed. The three tiers hold tools and supplies for dressing the loom, like sley hook, extra Texsolv heddles, and treadle cords. While weaving, I keep extra shuttles and small tools on the top tier. All the weft thread or yarn for the project goes on the second or third tier. When I weave rag rugs, fabric strips that are sorted by design and/or color are piled up on the three tiers.
The Elfa cart enhances efficiency at the big loom. It houses frequently-used essentials, especially small tools and supplies needed to dress the loom. It is near my work table where I wind quills, so yarn for the current project goes in the deep bottom drawer. The woodblock top adds a nice touch that compliments the wood of my Swedish loom.
May your loom-side assistant serve you well.
Happy Weaving,
Karen
“Put on many short warps.” This was the best piece of advice I received as a new weaver! Repeated practice of the back-to-front warping steps accelerated my confidence at the loom. If I can get it on the loom, surely I can weave it, right? When you are comfortable dressing the loom, you start feeling like a “real” handweaver. And before you know it, you are planning, designing, and weaving. And having the time of your life!
Tips for Preparing the Warp for Beaming
Warping Back to Front
1 Lay warp chains across the breast beam, and through the beater, with the lease cross of each warp chain on the other side of the beater.
2 Raise the shafts out of the way, and place support sticks over the beater and the back beam to hold the lease sticks and the pre-sley reed. Thread the lease sticks through the cross of each chain. Lease sticks in the picture are being tied together.
3 Use tape measure and reed hook to mark the starting dent for pre-sleying the reed.
4 Divide warp into sections corresponding to the cords on the back tie-on bar. Insert the tie-on bar through the loops that form at the end of the warp.
5 Install the warping trapeze at the front of the loom, or use another method to extend the warp and weight it. Texsolv cord is connected to the end of each warp chain to extend the length. (This is a 3.5 meter warp–not long enough to go over the trapeze cross bar.) Weights are suspended from the texsolv cords with S-hooks.
6 Transfer the lease sticks from in front of the reed to behind the reed. This is a gutsy way of transferring lease sticks. (Please don’t try this method unless you read about it first in Becky Ashenden’s book, noted below.)
7 Straighten out each warp end from the reed to the back tie-on bar.
8 Place the reed in the beater. Center the reed in the beater.
9 Remove choke ties between the beater and the trapeze cross bar, but do not remove choke ties from the very end of the warp. Starting at the reed, separate each warp bout in the middle.
10 After sliding lease sticks toward the reed, wind the warp onto the beam. Place a warping slat on each flat side of the warp beam for one revolution. (Octagonal beam uses eight sticks.) Advance weight at the front of the loom as needed. After two additional revolutions of the beam, add warping slats for one revolution again. Continue this pattern as beaming progresses.
11 Tie beater back to allow a little more warp to be wound on.
12 Tie lease sticks to the back beam. Do not forget this step!
If you missed step 12, do it now, or you will be yelling for help as you try to hold the cut ends with one hand while trying to keep the lease sticks from slipping out with your other hand. I speak from experience.
13 Loop the end of the warp chain around your hand, and then remove the remaining choke ties. Cut the loop.
14 Remove a group of warp threads from the reed and tie in a loose slipknot. Continue across the warp. Remove the reed.
15 Use the threading draft to count the warp ends into threading groups, tying each grouping with a slipknot.
16 Adjust the loom for threading. For this Glimåkra Standard loom, I move the countermarch assembly to the back of the loom, put the bench in the “playhouse,” and lower the shafts for threading.
For more thorough instructions about warping your loom, please consult these excellent resources:
May you find yourself beaming, inside and out.
Resurrection blessings,
Karen