Ready to weave!

I have 4 floor looms in my garage studio. We used to have a garage. We really don't need one. Our winters aren't that bad here, so we closed it in and made it part of my studio! Right now there are 4 floor looms there. I've got my new ashford table loom in there as well, but it's still in the box!

All 4 looms have warps on them right now. Of course my baby wolf has the scarves that have been on there for months. They're done, ready to come off. I wove the last bit last week! I don't have another warp wound for it so they're just waiting for a new warp to take their place!

 My Nilus is my workhorse and I usually show a picture of what's on it. Is Nilus a guy name or a girl name? I think I should call him a he since we've been encouraged to name our looms. So, Nilus has a rich warm warp on him right now. I do hope to have him woven off today. There are just 3 vests left on here. I want to finish this quickly because one of the jackets on him is due to be finished and shipped to Asheville for the Southern Highland Fashion show that is later in May on Fiber weekend. I will also send one of the painted warp/weft vests I wove as well.  I really like the richness of this warp. The brown is a nice warm one plus the olive and brick make for a good combination. I might keep one of the vests from this bunch!!

 This is the other warp I painted using bamboo when I did the one on the baby wolf. I also painted the weft. I have this on my pup now that the woven shibori samples are off. I love the way this one is weaving. I've just started and there are a couple of scarves on here as well. It's going to be fun to see how they turn out once I've woven them all. This warp will probably be on here for some time. I weave on it when Nilus isn't demanding my attention!!

 About a year ago I got Thelma. Thelma is also a Nilus leclerc. I love jack looms and when this one became available I was so excited. The problem is that it's a sectional. There's also a second beam that I can add which can be sectional. This loom is from 1973. She comes from New Orleans and has seen alot of work on her but is in great shape. I dreaded trying to figure out how to put a warp on with the sectional on her since the sections are every inch. I finally tried last week. The threads just hung up on the metal and it took 3 of us to wind her on. My DD is still recovering from a couple of knee surgeries repairing her ACLs last year so she sat on a stool and wound it on and I had DH flip the threads off the dividers as she wound and I held that warp for all it was worth trying to keep it taut as it went on. I normally wind on by myself without tension and then pull each section tighter before I wind on the next part. I'm not used to having to ask for help. I may just unscrew the sectional part off the beam and add an apron!
My questions are: Anyone having luck winding a warp on a sectional beam without doing it the traditional way of a section at a time? I like winding my warps and then putting them on back to front.
Second question:  Anyone seen or added a second beam to a Nilus LeClerc? Seems like alot of weight for that poor back section! I have all the parts needed to do it, just need to drill a couple of holes and add the brake system...

I have a placemat warp on Thelma. I haven't started weaving on her yet but I'm planning to use the nylon fabric we got a few weeks ago. This cone was pretty huge and dirty on the outside round. So I wound 3 big skeins, tied them off well and put them in the washing machine on gentle. The dirt all came off nicely. However, in the machine those ties migrated together. I have 3 skeins but they look awful. I got one open and put on the back of a chair and it wound off nicely but I have 2 more skeins. I'll wait til I weave off this one before I try to separate the other ones so I can wind directly onto my shuttles. I hope that like this one, the ties will just have migrated and I can find the circle!!

We're already using our air conditioning since it's getting warm here during the day. Yesterday afternoon we were outside working on clearing the deck to get ready to bring our plants out from the greenhouse that we winter through. I know, we're a bit behind but it's been a hectic few months.  DH got happy with the clipper as he was cutting vines that grow around the deck. He went over to the air conditioner unit to clip some vines that were getting too close. He thought he was clipping vine. He cut the power cord to the unit......for the main level and basement!! Yup, no air conditioning here until we get that fixed! Good thing the basement where my studios are is cooler and I have a fan angled right to where I sit on Nilus!!
I do hear Nilus calling me. Gotta run! Have a good week!
Carol