Saving a Tangled Warp

About a week ago, I decided to wind a warp to make more Teddy bears for our two youngest grandchildren. I chose this fine yellow wool. I wanted a brown color though, so I prepared for dyeing by loosening the choke and cross ties on the warp so the dye could reach all the yarn.

After dyeing and drying the yarn, I could tell it was going to be a difficult warp because it had start to felt slightly and I could see several broken threads.

Sticky yarns are never fun to wind on a loom but can be done with some care.

 I started by stretching out the full six yards with weights for a couple days. In hindsight, I should have soaked the yarn in some dilute hair conditioner first before hanging with the weights to dry.

It was especially important to put this warp on the loom under tension, so as I usually do, I got out the trapeze to stretch out the warp as much as possible.

I warp back to front, so I slipped the end loops onto the back rod, inserted and secured the lease sticks so they wouldn’t accidentally slip out and then hung the weights.

I attempted to use the raddle that fits in the beater, but quickly realized it was working as a comb and broke a few more warp threads.

I switched to a raddle attached to the back beam so I could separate the yarn strands before it went through the raddle.

 To facilitate separating the yarn strands, I mixed up a diluted solution of hair conditioner and water and put it in a squirt bottle. I sprayed it on about a foot of warp at a time and gently worked it into the yarn.

I gently separated the yarn on both sides of the cross until I could move the lease sticks against the heddles in the back of the loom. I did not ever comb the yarn! If it was stuck together, I gently pulled the strands up and down and to the sides with my fingers.

When the warp was wound on as far as possible, I moved the lease sticks toward the back of the loom and secured them in my “angel wings” holder. Even though I always make two crosses on my warps, one at each end, I’m still really careful to not accidentally have the lease sticks fall out while trying to do something else.

The weights were removed. The ends were still pretty tangled at the front of the loom, so I sprayed the remaining yarn and worked it in well.

It was now time to cut the beginning loop off so I could prepare to thread the heddles.

Reaching to the back of the loom, I started separating two half inch sections at a time in the raddle and then up to the end of the warp in front of the loom.

I gently separated the last few inches of each section.

I was quite pleased with how small the difference was in the final length of warp, especially with something as stretchy as wool.

The warp is tamed and ready to thread.

Tension is key to preventing tangles with any warp, not just sticky yarns. Using this method with any yarn will keep it from becoming an unmanageable mess. Most smooth yarns will wind on without much fuss at all.