The overhaul of the Studio continues, I can't get to it everyday, but it is coming along. It feels like I just did this not too long ago, but I know it has got to be several years ago really. One clue to how long it has been since I got down to the floor, is the amount of dust bunnies and cobwebs I have been encountering! Yuck!
I do clean under and around each loom when a warp comes off, but evidently, I either need to do shorter warps or weave faster! When I last posted, I had cleaned the space that was left by the Leclerc I delivered to Bonnie this week. That space stayed there until this morning, when I started rotating looms around the room. (I had tackled a couple of tote bags full of odds and ends, and loaded some rag shuttles of fabric strips that would work with one of the warps in progress, but no real progress took place until this morning.
The first thing that needed to happen, is that the old TV had to go. It was too big for the studio, and too old to have a good picture.
It was taking up too much room on my table too! (and hiding dust!) Once the TV was on the landing, I cleared off the table and moved it to it's new location by the window.
You can be sure it did not stay this cleared off for long!
With the table moved and all the tubs pulled out I was able to clear that corner of the room of dust.
These tubs (plus several more) hold 100yd warps of 12/3 cotton in white. I got them several years ago, on one of the Tuesday Weavers escapades. I now think that nobody else was crazy enough to want to fool with them! They have been a challenge to warp, I don't have enough warp sticks and paper to load a full 100yds on any of my looms, and the warp threads like to stick together a lot. Making it an "are we there yet" kind of experience. To top it off, the warp width is only about 7 inches, so I have to use 2 warps at a time to get a towel or napkin width.
This loom, at the same time, has a braking system that is, shall we say, interesting. The brake, in fact does not hold very well, and I have been calling it my self advancing loom. All you have to do is advance the work on the cloth beam a little more often than you normally would, or you could put a weight on the brake pedal, that would do it, cause it is a "lift to release" kind of brake. Also, get a load of that warp beam, it is huge, and there is no crank, I have to load the warp by grasping the beam itself and rotating it.
I got a book recently about warping your loom with a trapeze, "Warp with a Trapeze and Dance with your loom", by Kati Meek. I was looking at the pictures, when a light bulb came on in my little brain. Why couldn't I set up a trapeze to warp this loom with those warps! If I weighted the warps and used the warp beam as one of the pivot points, I would be bypassing all the things I do not like about this loom, and all the things I do not like about the warps! Right now, that sounds like a win / win situation!
I already have a dowel to put near the ceiling on the wall behind the bench, the tubs will be on each side of the bench, just under that dowel. I can then take the warp directly from the tub, up to that doweling, then over the top of the loom, and have a raddle there ready to separate and steady the warp. I will then pass the warp thru a series of pivot points, ending with going around that huge warp beam and up over the back beam, thru the heddles, reed and attach to the front apron. Once that is all set up and tied on, I can weight both of the warps as they come out of the tub, within easy reach of the weaver!
I bought some doweling and some closet rod hanger type things to attach to the wall and to the loom, but I hadn't gotten that far yet. I needed to weave off the placemat warp that is on there now. It was a good thing I hadn't done that yet because……...
As I was going thru some things, I ran across this raddle that actually fits the loom! I will be able to put it on the back of the loom at the very top, (there are already holes there) to serve as raddle and pivot point all in one.
I also had noticed these curious block pieces, at the back of the loom. I could put a piece of doweling in there to serve as another pivot point, just not this piece of doweling!
By then, it was lunch time. Time to heat up some soup from dinner last night, and time to post my progress. I have one loom in place, 2 more to go, and an unbelievable amount of stuff to go through before I can truly say I am done. I am sure I will find more dust and more treasure as I work.
Until next time, Happy Spinning and Weaving, Tina
I do clean under and around each loom when a warp comes off, but evidently, I either need to do shorter warps or weave faster! When I last posted, I had cleaned the space that was left by the Leclerc I delivered to Bonnie this week. That space stayed there until this morning, when I started rotating looms around the room. (I had tackled a couple of tote bags full of odds and ends, and loaded some rag shuttles of fabric strips that would work with one of the warps in progress, but no real progress took place until this morning.
The first thing that needed to happen, is that the old TV had to go. It was too big for the studio, and too old to have a good picture.
You can be sure it did not stay this cleared off for long!
With the table moved and all the tubs pulled out I was able to clear that corner of the room of dust.
This loom, at the same time, has a braking system that is, shall we say, interesting. The brake, in fact does not hold very well, and I have been calling it my self advancing loom. All you have to do is advance the work on the cloth beam a little more often than you normally would, or you could put a weight on the brake pedal, that would do it, cause it is a "lift to release" kind of brake. Also, get a load of that warp beam, it is huge, and there is no crank, I have to load the warp by grasping the beam itself and rotating it.
I got a book recently about warping your loom with a trapeze, "Warp with a Trapeze and Dance with your loom", by Kati Meek. I was looking at the pictures, when a light bulb came on in my little brain. Why couldn't I set up a trapeze to warp this loom with those warps! If I weighted the warps and used the warp beam as one of the pivot points, I would be bypassing all the things I do not like about this loom, and all the things I do not like about the warps! Right now, that sounds like a win / win situation!
I already have a dowel to put near the ceiling on the wall behind the bench, the tubs will be on each side of the bench, just under that dowel. I can then take the warp directly from the tub, up to that doweling, then over the top of the loom, and have a raddle there ready to separate and steady the warp. I will then pass the warp thru a series of pivot points, ending with going around that huge warp beam and up over the back beam, thru the heddles, reed and attach to the front apron. Once that is all set up and tied on, I can weight both of the warps as they come out of the tub, within easy reach of the weaver!
I bought some doweling and some closet rod hanger type things to attach to the wall and to the loom, but I hadn't gotten that far yet. I needed to weave off the placemat warp that is on there now. It was a good thing I hadn't done that yet because……...
As I was going thru some things, I ran across this raddle that actually fits the loom! I will be able to put it on the back of the loom at the very top, (there are already holes there) to serve as raddle and pivot point all in one.I also had noticed these curious block pieces, at the back of the loom. I could put a piece of doweling in there to serve as another pivot point, just not this piece of doweling!By then, it was lunch time. Time to heat up some soup from dinner last night, and time to post my progress. I have one loom in place, 2 more to go, and an unbelievable amount of stuff to go through before I can truly say I am done. I am sure I will find more dust and more treasure as I work.
Until next time, Happy Spinning and Weaving, Tina
1 comment:
It sounds like you have a good plan for those warps in the tubs. I'm sure you are enjoying the extra room in your studio.
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