Improvise, Improvise, Improvise

Today I thought I'd take a stab at warping one of the table looms Stephanie loaned me. I picked the larger one even though I was only going to weave a project that was about 4" wide.

What follows will probably make any legitimate weaver cringe, but I had to improvise and experiment with the equipment I had. 

I had to find a couple of dowels to use as beam dowels (I had to google 'parts of a rigid heddle loom' to find the correct terminology to use).  I cut them to the correct length and cleaned them up a bit and attached them with cord, held in place by (green) masking tape. Improvisation #1 (Sorry for the crappy photo, I used my iPhone camera in poor light.)

First I began winding the yarn on the warping board, carefully creating 'the cross'. When I went to put it on the loom, I realized I didn't know how to thread the heddle on a rigid heddle loom.

I then had to watch this YouTube video before warping the loom. I used multicoloured sock yarn for the warp. I got the warp wound around the beam, wrapping with paper as I went so as not to have the threads interlock.  I warped 32 ends and then the 16 ends through the hole in the heddle. I just used a crochet hook small enough to go through the hole. Improvisation #2.

Once I did this, I realized I had the warp on the front beam instead of the back beam so I just loosened the front beam and wound everything through onto the back beam. Improvisation #3.

The shuttle I borrowed was WAY too long so I improvised with the lid of a wooden pencil box. Improvisation #4.

I decided to use some worsted weight yarn for the weft and I began weaving.

Things went along pretty well. I experimented with beating firmly and then fairly loosely. For the most part, because of the discrepancy between the weights of the warp (fingering weight sock yarn) and the dark green weft (worsted weight), I produced a weft-faced fabric.

This photo actually makes the woven fabric look a lot better than it really does.

My edges leave a lot to be desired. However I could have probably used a floating edge thread and that would have cleared up a lot of the problem.

I then practiced my hem stitch in preparation for ending this piece and starting another using a DK weight yarn in a bright green colour.

Stay tuned...