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.

New Addition to the Collection

Looms are keeping me busy.  I realized I started this post quite a while ago, sometime in late winter, and never finished it.

I recently had an opportunity to add a very large loom to my studio. I don't recall how I came across the Craig's List posting, but it was only three hours away. After checking with the seller and a couple others familiar with the Bexell Cranbrook countermarche or counterbalance looms, I found it could be upgraded to an 8-shaft loom, so I decided to make the purchase.

Near the end of February, my daughter Carolyn and I collapsed the stow-and-go seats in the van and took off for Midland, Michigan to meet my new loom and former owner Maryanne.

Here is Maryanne saying goodbye.

Here is a photo of how it is supposed to look.

On that day, though, it was just a pile of lumber, strings and chains in the back of the van.  We really had to squeeze to get the two side pieces diagonally in through the back hatch, but we were successful.

A bonus with the purchase were the extra reeds, shuttles, rug yarn, and warping reel.

Bob was a good sport and helped cart all the pieces upstairs above my studio and then did most of the assembly with my assistance.

See that beater?  It was designed for making tight rugs.  It is heavy!

It is a great loom for assembling.  Pegs and no bolts make is so easy.

Above Bob's head in the foreground is the jack mechanism for the countermarche.  There is definitely room to add four more shafts.  We just need to go purchase the hardwood.  We will need to cut eight more jacks, four treadles, eight shaft bars, four lower lamms and four upper lamms.  When I do the additions, I will probably use Texsolv cord instead of chains for all the tie-ups.

This baby is ready to warp!

I decided to try and use the four yard warp that was still on the warp beam.  It was a bit tangled, so I got a bit of weight on it and started dangling it down the stairway to get it straightened.

There was no cross, so here I am inserting a lease stick into the warp at the back.  It was a pretty warp, with lots of colors, so it was worth trying to save.  Since every two warp threads were a different color, it was pretty easy to get the cross back onto the lease sticks.

Barbell weights work nicely to add tension to the warp when winding onto the warp beam.  It went on the loom quickly.

I started the first rug and then I let Carolyn take over.  This was her first weaving experience, and she took to it right away.

She had made a quilt from her fiance (now husband) Jeremy's old tee-shirts and we cut the scraps into strips for the rugs.

Even her kitties get a rug for under their food dishes.  A good use for the short bit of warp remaining.

By the end of March, we took the rugs off the loom.

The rugs now live in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and look very nice in Carolyn and Jeremy's kitchen.