You can see in this photo the three sections where the guide yarn jumped off the yarn counter and I gave the beam an extra turn of warp, just to be safe. I'm very fortunate to have made the right decision about whether to give another turn or not, all three times! Better a foot of loom waste on an end or two than to lose a foot of warp...
I finally took those knots all the way to the back of the heddles - there was no physical way I was going to be able to get even so much as another shot out of that warp. But what I did get, from a 4ish-metre warp, was two samples and two baby's blankets, one in a 5-end huck, the other slightly smaller and in a block twill. One of these days I'll have the right light to actually take photos of them.
You can see the next project(s) lining up on the rather-messy work table. I cut this blanket off on Saturday and my loom is currently naked - a highly unusual state of affairs.
I have found that if I trim the tails of the knots really short, they will go through the heddles. I do not do this trimming until they are close to the heddles for fear that the knot itself my loosen.
ReplyDeleteThat's a very interesting tip to be filed away, Peg - I presume you mean for heddles at the front?
ReplyDeleteIn this case, I had groups of eight ends ties to cables from the beam, so I'd have had to untie the knots into threads to get them through - but for some warps, it would be worth going that to minimise the foot of loom waste.
I tie on at the back by individual threads (it sounds like you tie on groups of threads?). Then, just before the knots reach the heddles (at the back of the loom), I trim off the ends. This allows the knots to pass through the heddles.
ReplyDeleteThat's how I was picturing you doing it - it must take a long time to tie all those knots, expecially with fine thread, but it must be worth it to save on loom waste with expensive yarns.
ReplyDeleteYes, in this case I'm tying inch-wide groups of threads together, to allow for the sectional beaming. But I could probably set up something with a fugitive warp that would allow me to take the full threads through the heddles to the fell...