Setting it Straight

Last week, I began with a photo of the deeply tangled warp on my loom.  This weekend's task was to de-tangle.   Several cups of coffee, a few savory words and a lot of patience later, I cut off the last awful wad of knots.  It was one of those moments when, even though the job's not done, it's on its way.

 Next, I threaded those untangled threads through their 1-2-1-2 heddles while watching fat, fluffy snowflakes swirl outside and listening to NPR.
  I chose my sett, 20-40 epi, and slipped in the reed.  Last turned overshot project was 24-48, and I found it a little dense.  I want these curtains to be a little softer.  I found a threading error and needed one of those super cool replacement heddles.  Love them!

I know there must be a tool to help thread the reed from back to front, but I don't have one.  I have to tie up my loom like this.



And this is where I left off yesterday.  I had to pay attention to the house for a while, herding all the snow drifts of pet hair into the garbage and cleaning the floors.  I wish I could photograph the lovely way the shiny wood floors reflect the Christmas tree lights, but I can't quite get it right.  Trust me, it's beautiful!

Unfortunately, not all things can be as lovely.  My dirty little secret about my turned overshot warp is its behind:  one crossed-over, rumply, out of whack back.  This is what happens when I don't follow the rules and I make up what I'm doing as I go along.  If there was more information anywhere on turned overshot, I'd follow it, but there isn't, so chaos ensues instead.  Of course, this also illustrates my inability to count my warp threads when I get excited about a new project, which is what that wad of yellow is doing on the far side.  I'm going to go back to Laura Frye's blog to find her video on how to tie on vinegar jugs to weight supplemental warps.  That's next weekend's job, though.  It's back to pickled beets and strawberries for me this morning!  4,000 jars down, 2900 to go!
Have a great week of weaving!
Maggie