Warped

[Sorry for the less than stellar pictures – overhead lighting and cell phone camera.]

Today I finally finished warping my loom.  It was a journey in weaving vocabulary.

First you sley the reed (this phrase always makes me think of killing something).

Then I threaded the heddles and beamed the warp (this phrase always makes me think of the Starship Enterprise).

I think I didn’t do too badly for the first time ever – I ended up with (only) three crossed warps in the shed (this sounds like some weird farm thing).

I marked the whole thing down as a learning exercise and plan to re-warp it with the following changes:

1. Finer warp – the blue yarn is too thick.
2. Longer warp chains – the two feet recommended by the book is way to short to work with easily.
3. More warp chains of fewer wraps, making it easier to keep the threads from crossing and to beam the warp more evenly.

I figure it should take me half as long the second time around.  Onward.

On the Way Home

I stayed in Bar Harbor, Maine, last night.  The crowded touristy atmosphere was something of a shock after the quiet of Nova Scotia.

Today it was a long drive down through Maine, around Boston, across Massachusetts, and down into the Hudson Valley.  There might have been a stop in Northampton.  A girl needs supplies for her new loom, right?

Tonight I’m within stone’s throw of wool mecca, but at the wrong time of year, alas.  To Pennsylvania on the morrow.

Warp and Weft

Today’s project:  break out the newly acquired loom, set up, and begin weaving, with help from Paula and Ann.

Using the beautiful setting of Ann’s deck.