Thoughts on 2.1 – Dressing Your Loom Back to Front – Warping a Loom 1, cotton boucle warp

[Ginette]

Let us know your thoughts on 2.1 – Dressing Your Loom Back to Front – Warping a Loom 1, cotton boucle warp.

[sengle685]

I noticed that your beam rod is only secured on the ends to the apron rod. It looks like it is bowed in the middle. Is this a problem?
Thanks

[Jane]

After I spread the warp I lash a cord through both aprons…that prevents the bowing.

[sengle685]

I don’t understand what you just said. Are you saying a long cord that goes around the wood piece and the metal rod after the warp goes on the rod? I am looking at your warping notes on page 7 at a picture on the bottom right corner of the page. I think I see the lashing of the cord there but the picture isn’t clear.
thanks….

[sengle685]

Actually I found a better picture on page 9. I see the metal rod but the wood part I don’t understand that piece. I am reviewing the video and hope that will answer my question too

[Sandra]

Actually – Jane gives a good close-up demonstration of securing the warping rod so it won’t bow in Season 1, Episode 2:2, at around the 7 minute mark. You will get a better idea of what is happening there by watching her do it. Have fun!

[sengle685]

Thank you Sandra

[ldmcd1]

There only seems to be 41 seconds of episode 1 available ? Where is the rest??

[ldmcd1]

Ignore my comment, have now found what I did wrong and can watch all of episode1!

[bzbbell]

I’ve been looking at season 1 videos as a review and found this idea of having the raddle be on the castle to be really interesting. I have a Schacht floor loom that comes with a lovely raddle meant to be clamped onto the back beam. However, I have always found it to be really difficult to get the the warp through the beam rod, attach it, and put all the bundles into the raddle – the hardest part of warping for me. I would love to try attaching my raddle to the castle but the clamps are not wide enough. Do you think I could use some Irwin quick grips? Would it work?

Many thanks for the advice.

[Jane]

Irwin Quick Grips…..every gal should own a pair 🙂
They will work perfectly….it is what I do with my Baby Wolf.

[Shandelin Anderson]

When warping with the rattle why are you adding empty spaces and when do you make this determination? And how do you determine how much space?

[Sandra]

The empty spaces are only needed when you are planning your weaving using the imperial system of measurement. If you have a metric raddle, as found on Louet looms, you add the space about every four inches so it is spaced out in your raddle to match your width in the reed. If you have a raddle that is measured in inches – don’t worry about needing a space.

[rlmarchand623]

Hi, on my baby wolf I clamp to the castle and it works great. My first and favorite loom is a Spring so I loved the raddle built in and just do the same thing on my Baby Wolf.

[melodyr2]

I watched this episode and put my homemade raddle on top as shown using clamps. Yay! I had the clamps already. This was the easiest and best warp I have put on yet. My ends met so nicely in the front. It was easy to stand and slip the ends in the raddle without killing my back. And all my threads are smooth and spread out neatly over the back beam without twists. I’m still a beginner (just a few months) and haven’t done many projects because I just couldn’t get the warps on correctly. (I have thrown many warps away after turning them into a tangled mess.)
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! And this is just the beginning of the episodes! I’m so excited to watch and learn more!

[laurenvaughan]

I am putting a 45″ warp on a LeClerc counter balance using your method. The 45″ raddle is clamped on to the shafts but there is not enough space between the cords to spread 45″. Should I spread the warp in the available 40 or so inches? I am really enjoying your lessons.

[Jane]

This will be fine and it is the easiest way to do it. I have in the past, undone the roller cords from the harnesses and moved the extra warp to the outside of them and then put them back on….but you need an extra pair of hands for that. Glad you are enjoying the guild.

[kbesing]

I am just now watching this video.I am confused on placing the thread in the raddle. If you warped multiple threads together then you place them all together in one space in the riddle, correct? I don’t understand how/ when you leave a space. Is it because the raddle is metric or because the you put more threads in some slots?

[Ginette]

Hi there, you’re correct, if you warped with multiple threads together in your hand, you place those threads together in the slots in the raddle. The raddle that’s on this Spring loom in the video is metric so leaving a space compensates for the conversion when you spread it onto the raddle.
When you’ve warped with multiple threads together in your hand, you don’t want to separate them in the raddle as they will tend to want to go back together and will cause snags when you’re winding onto the loom. If you find that the math is not quite working (# of threads in an inch) because you’ve made the warp holding multiple threads in your hand, keep them together even if you have to put them into the slot next to it. Having them off a tiny bit won’t affect the final outcome of spreading your warp across the loom.

[Bettie Shea]

Question. How can you tell when you come to a place where you have used multiple threads at once(so as to keep them together)? I understand the WHY but not the how to identify piece. Do I just remember from when I wound the warp or is it really obvious and easy to notice?

[Ginette]

Hi Bettie, your cross will keep each set of multiple threads together and you’ll be able to get them off the lease sticks one group at a time. Hope that makes sense 🙂

[kbesing]

Why not break a thread group?

[LYNNDYLOO58]

I just cannot visualize how to attach a raddle to the top of my Schacht or Gilmore loom. There’s nothing to set the raddle on. Is it possible?

[Ginette]

Hi Lynn,
You could attach the raddle onto the harnesses. Jane shows this in the next lesson, 2.2 Counter-balance loom, short silk warp. It works great!

[LYNNDYLOO58]

Thanks! I hadn’t gotten that far yet!

[Raewyn Broady]

Hi – I am a beginner weaver and just bought an Ashford table loom. The instructions have the raddle attached to the back beam. The method in the video of attaching it to the castle looks much better but I am not sure where it attach it on my loom as there is not flat area on the top of the loom to clamp it on to. Do you have any suggestions?
Thank you!

[Jane]

Hi Raewyn, is there anyway you could clamp it higher on the castle?

[Raewyn Broady]

Thanks for getting back to me. The top of the castle is curved – I tried attaching it to the bar the beater is attached to but it is a bit wobbly. I think I need to drill a hole and screw it on. I wish I had found your fabulous online lessons before I bought my loom or I would have paid the extra for the Louet 🙁

[aimeemorrow1]

I’ve just finished episode 2 and attached my warp to my front apron rod. However, I have JUST realised that I forgot to put my warp OVER my back beam. My warp goes directly from my warp beam to my heddles. Oops! Am I still going to be able to weave or is it going to affect the tension? Thank you!

[Ginette]

Hi aimeemorrow1, you may end up with some issues.. What kind of loom do you have? Can the back beam be removed from your loom where you could first loosen up the tension but keep your warp tied to the front apron, remove the back beam gently, place it under the warp and then place it back. Let us know how you make out.

[silverhillfarm]

Good morning Jane my question is as I was pulling up the warp through to the rattle.. That in the sequencing when making the cross I had two threads that went through the cross together so in other words four strands of my warp are not crossed properly if I can explain that correctly…. I was happily going along counting five threads to go into each section of my rattle and then I came to where two were not crossed and then another two that were not crossed so how do I correct this error? Side by side…in the sequence…

[Ginette]

Hi, sometimes we miss the cross with a few threads and as long as they are near to where they are suppose to be, it’ll be fine. Just add then in your raddle and continue on. When you’re threading the heddles and you get to them, just grab one of the ‘2s’ then thread the other 2.

[rooneymt]

Hi….I have an Ashford Jack. The raddle is part of the back beam. The twist is in front of the raddles rather than behind as in your video. I’ve only been for 6 months and I’ve followed the way the Ashford video shows. They do two twists. One for the raddle and one for the heddle.

So after I’ve wrapped the warping rod and raddle, Ashford has you removed the sticks in the twist and start winding the warp. Then when I get to the heddle twists you stop winding, reinsert the sticks into the twists and cut the ends. This seems to work fine for threading the heddles. But the thread is slightly twisted between my heddles and raddle. I haven’t used difficult yarn such as mohair and am wondering that will cause a problem with weaving? Or is the main thing to have the yarn wound tight and even and fairly close?

Also what is your take on using warping sticks rather than paper? My largest project is the one I’m working on now which is only 6.5 yards long.

If you think it’s important to only to have one twist and have the raddle in front of the twists I will change my process. But it makes it a bit more “messy” having to clamp the raddle on top rather than mount it at the rear as designed. And the same goes with the wrapping sticks. They appear to me much easier to use than trying to keep the paper straight.

Thanks for the all the info! I’ve learned so much “fine tuning”. Hopefully I’m not being too anal with the location of my raddle in regards to the twist sticks! :))

[yezemin]

I noticed you telling that the last part of this warp was done by Charlotte, but in the first video about warping you strongly recommend doing all the warping in one session because different tensioning would occur otherwise. So I assume this warp would also have different tension as it was done by 2 different people.

So as it looks like you break with your own recommendations: Would it really matter that much if you do your warping in several sessions? That’s what I’m usual doing as my arms tend to get tired if I have to do much more then 200 warp threads. I assume continue to work anyway would also affect my tension…

[Jane]

Hi There, I think that happened just because of the filming so there may have been a bit of tension difference but it wasn’t noticeable. I do like to make my warps all in one go but you need to do what is best for your body…first and foremost. If you make your warps in multiple sessions just try to make sure you keep the same tension…the best you can do. We can get rid of tension differences while we wind on…but it is nice to not have them at all. Rule #1….do what works for you :). Have fun.

[yezemin]

Thank you Jane! I never had big tension problems, even as I did my warp the lazy way (never thought about it messing with the tension), so I already assumed that I fixed that while winding on. But in the future I will take care to make my warp as much even tensioned as possible from the beginning. 🙂

I’m not far in, but I already like your videos a lot. You and your camera team take care that we really can see every detail of what you are doing. That is so great!

[Anonymous]

I have Leclerc jack looms with no castle so I have had to put the raddle in the beater. Is there no alternative for me?

[Ginette]

Hi Sylvia, you could add your raddle to top of the harnesses and secure it with a pair of Quick Grips. In Episode 2.2, Jane demonstrate this on a counter balance loom but should work with your Jack Loom.

[suzyviajera]

Saved up for 11 months to purchase my Louet David 35.5″ loom. First project is the Sample #7 Primary/Secondary Gamp. Been watching your guild videos for about 5 months and learning sooooooo much, as well as learning from lots of my own “operator errors”.
BTW: Love all the gorgeous yarns I ordered from you a couple of weeks ago.

?#1. How do I keep better tension on my warp while I’m settling yarns into the raddle? 3.5 yard warp until I get the hang of everything,
?#2. Hoping I made a correct determination on how many yarns go into each slot of the raddle? All were individually warped-no grouping. EPI:18, I put 3 into each slot and skipped a slot every 4″. 8/2 Cotton Warp, will also use this for the weft.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Thank you from Austin, Texas.

[Sandra]

Hi Suzy, I always use Jane’s Reed Substitution Chart and follow the column under the 5 dent reed to get the number of threads needed in each slot of the raddle. Naturally, I learned this from Jane ;-)! This way you’ll be very close to the width you need in your reed when you start denting and your warp will be nicely spread on your warp beam. Looking down that column you would spread your warp out 3-4-4 across your raddle to get 18 epi. Remember to mark your centre slot and start filling your raddle half the width of your cloth from centre. Clear as mud??? BTW – I just rest my warp on the bench in front of the loom and don’t worry about tension until I start winding on. You’ll be fine as long as you have everything well chained.

[Patty]

I have the very same question about tension. When I watch the video of Jane counting the threads at the cross and plunking them in the raddle, everything looks nice and tight. I am counting and plunking, but the threads are Very loose and seemingly shifting at the loop.

[Sandra]

Have you secured your warp in the raddle? Jane uses string to stop it from sliding around. I use long elastics that I happen to have around. The weight of the warp at the front of the loom usually keeps the tension on somewhat as you thread the raddle. Don’t know if this answers your question.

[Patty]

Yes. I think the problem is that my raddle has 1” nails that I have to maneuver over every time I plunk…

[joan horwich]

I have a Lila countermarch oxabach loom. My raddle is quite long and does not fit on my sheds. I placed it on the back of the loom on the cross beams and placed the cross behind the raddle. The problem is that I cannot see my cross when attempting to thread the heddles. I have suspended the lease sticks and cross from the top of the loom and that works ok with my 5/2 threads and standing up to see each of the two threads next in line, but it’s quite time consuming and awkward. The only solution I see for future warps is to place the cross in front of the raddle. Any suggestions? joan

[Ginette]

Hi Joan, do you remove the raddle once the warp in wound onto the loom and before you thread your heddles?

[joan horwich]

I did not- It actually never occurred to me to do so- Is that what you suggest?

[Ginette]

Hi Joan,
The raddle is to help keep your threads spaced out evenly when you wind onto the back beam. Once that process is done and the warp is on the loom and you’re ready to thread the heddles, you should remove it, it has done it’s job. In the next video, 2.2 – Dressing your loom Back – Warping a Counter Balance Loom, around the 24:30 mark Jane removes the raddle, if you’d like to have a peek at that video. Removing the raddle will help you reach and see the threads on the lease sticks and make it much easier for you. I should add, the video 2.4 Threading your heddles, Jane has quite a few tips there to make it easier on our bodies. 🙂

[joan horwich]

Thank you so much for your responses. I removed the raddle and completed threading the heddles without difficulty. I love that I can review all of these episodes as needed

[Ginette]

So glad it was easier for you!

[Susan Ott]

I, too, have questions about how to attach the raddle on my Baby Wolf. My raddle has the largest flat side on the bottom but I can’t get It securely attached sitting on the top of the harnesses. The video looks like the raddle is attached to the front side of the harness, so that mine would be attaching the narrow edge of the raddle to the front. This seems like it would be more secure as the yarn is pulled through but I worry about the possibility of it not having enough contact on that narrow edge. I bought the small Irwin clamps but now I’m wondering if I should have splurged for the large ones. Would they provide a more secure grip? Help, please.

[Ginette]

Hi Susan, I have small & large Irwin grips and both work fine. The small ones are actually quite strong. Why don’t you try the small Irwin clamps without a warp on and see how stable it is, wiggle it and such. You could leave them on the loom for a while and then check back to see if they are still attached nice and sturdy.

[Linda Dorsey]

Jane,

My loom has a sectional back beam. How would you tackle warping with a heddle?

[Sandra]

Hi Linda, I’m assuming you mean a raddle. You don’t need one if you warp using a sectional back beam. You spread out the warp using the sectional beam rather than using a raddle. Hope this is what you were asking!

[Teresa Coons]

I have just joined the Online Guild, and have started watching the videos — very helpful! Thanks! I have a Schacht 8-harness table loom, that I learned to warp using the front to back method. I would like to try your back to front method, as it looks like it would help me keep my warp organized much better than what I have been doing. Is there anything I should know about purchasing a raddle for this table loom? (It looks like Ashford sells table loom raddle kits, but I’m not sure if they will work on my Schacht loom.).

[Sandra]

Welcome, Teresa! I think you’ll find that a lot of us have actually made their own raddles and have clamped them on their looms. Keep watching you’ll find Jane using handmade raddles in Season 1: Episode 2.

[Gwyn Weatherford]

Where are the notes?

[Gwyn Weatherford]

Found it.

[hilary.brooks]

This video won’t play for me even though I’m a member and I’m logged in.. did I do something wrong? Love these videos so really want to view it.

[Sandra]

Hi Hilary, There are some tips about accessing the videos – should you have problems – in the Forum under the thread FAQs – Housekeeping, JST Forum and/or by clicking on the Help button on the bottom left hand corner of any page of the website. Let us know if you still have problems after trying the suggested trouble shooting tips. We’ll get you going – but it’s Thanksgiving week-end here in Canada and the Studio is closed until Tuesday.

[Kali Tal]

Hi, Jane. I watched through the winding and warping lessons quite a few times. Winding the warp on the reel went well and your chaining technique is fabulous–I wound up with a nice tight chain with small links. Everything went perfectly until I tried to wind the yarn over & under the Ashford lease sticks. I’ve got an Ashford table loom, and clamped the raddle to the castle. I suspended the lease sticks in a figure-8 tied just like you show in your video,, so the sticks slid nicely. But when I went to wind the yarn on the back beam, the three wouldn’t move smoothly over them. I am working with 8/2 Tencel and it clumped and fuzzed and caught, and it took me an hour to keep picking out the fuzz-knots and wind. Do wooden lease sticks just not work well with Tencel?

[Jane]

Hi Kali, Did you make your warp with one warp yarn in your hand or three. If you made your warp with one end they might stick because of the Tencel, but if you made it with 3 in your hand I’m stumped. I always warp with multiples in my hands with sticky threads because it reduces the friction on the warp going through the lease sticks.

[Victoria Conery]

Excùse me Jane what are those claps again please thank u vicky

[Jane]

Hi Vicky, they are called Irwin Quick Grips.

[Emma Hamilton]

With a short warp, the weight of it hanging wouldn’t provide enough tension for putting it in the raddle, how would you remedy this?
I’d also like to see an example where there are two or more warp chains and how the whole process is managed in that case. Do you hold them together at the front as one when winding on?

[Jane]

Hi Emma,
There is no example of me warping on with two chains. When we do it I get someone to hold the warps out front with equal tension on both.
Hope this helps,
Jane

[Emma Hamilton]

My warp isn’t neat once it’s all wound on it’s all twisty at the end and hard to know if it’s even for cutting. What am I doing wrong?

[Sandra]

It’s hard to visualize what you are describing, Emma. Could you take a photo and post it and your question on the Forum so we can see your warp.

[Emma Hamilton]

I’ve untangled it and cut the end now but it was twisting like plying together in a spiral, and many of the ends plying together presumably from twist added whilst making the warp on the warping board?

[Cordelia]

Hello,
I am about to put on my first floor loom warp and I am rewatching these videos to prepare. My first project (before I start with the guild samples) will be a 33 cm wide cotton scarf. The loom is a 70 cm countermarch loom. QUESTION: Does Jane’s way of lashing the apron rod to the warp rod mean that I can leave the full width of beam cords without worrying about any rods bowing – even if my warp is narrow?

I have heard that some people recommend not to use the full width of beam cords if you are not weaving full width – in order to prevent bowing /breaking of the apron rod. I am not sure if it is important in this context or not but I am using the “continuous attached cord” method for the beam cords. It looks to me like Jane uses that too on the Spring in the video – only with fewer cords? (I have 6 cords for 7 holes on the 70 cm beam whereas I can only see 3 on Jane’s Spring.)

[Stephanie Thomas]

Hi, I have asked this question before and cannot find it now to see the answer so forgive me but I am asking again. I warped in three sections and have the threads through the raddle. I am wondering if I should un-chain the three separate warps and warp them as one, I am afraid if I don’t, I will have trouble keeping the tension on all three the same while winding on. What are your thoughts? Thank you.

Stephanie

[Ginette]

Hi Stephanie,

I would warp them as one for sure, that’ll keep you tension even and make it easier for you to wind on. You can unchain as much as you need to start, weigh it down with books, all 3 chains together under the same books, then when the chain reaches the point where you need to do more, unchain them all together.

[Jackie Gordon]

What kind of thread did Jane use to tie the cross stick together?

[Sandra]

Jane usually has a cone of seine twine hanging around, it’s strong and can be used over again and again.

[Gale Larsen]

What is the size of the seine twine you use to tie the lease sticks together.  I see that it is available in many weights and I want to get one that is strong enough but not too thick.

[Ginette]

Hi Gale, the #9 should work for you but if you have some 8/4 cotton kicking around, that’ll work as well 🙂

I use shoe laces, really long ones, that’s what I started with years ago and never changed them.

[Gretchen Green]

Aw! You won me over when I watched winding on from back to front! I love standing up. Also, I can see the benefit of the raddle vs. none. Yikes! Messes can happen. I love the online guild. Great info.

[Nancy Ricketts]

I am a fairly new weaver and have taken two classes but this is the first time I am trying a back to from warp.  I was confused by the use of a warp rod.  The books I referenced just talk about putting the warp directly on the apron rod.  Could you explain the advantage of using both?  I belong a guild and many members quote you often, so I really want to follow your suggestions closely and at the same time gain an understanding of the process.

 

[Sandra]

Hi Nancy.  The easiest way for me to answer your question is to cut and paste a reply from Jane, to the same question that is on The Knowledge Base on the JST website!  “I use the rod solely to save myself some grief trying to get the apron cord off the apron rod and splitting up the warp into the proper amounts and then getting the cords back on the apron rod again. I just like things to be as simple as possible. In Holland, they spread through the raddle straight from the lease sticks and then do as you suggest. Both ways work and are not right or wrong…..to each person they might be easier or harder and we get to pick which way works best for us!”

[Nancy Ricketts]

Thank you for the answer and I probably will review everything in the knowledge base, well not everything. I watched 2.2 and even though I Don’t have a counterbalance room it was helpful to watch. I am loving this online instruction

[Patricia Fear]

Hello

I have been weaving for 40 years on and off and bought myself this course – Thank you so much.  I have more looms than I should and they are all different types.
Now I am mainly working on a Varapapu Tele-Flid loom which is 32 inches wide with 8 shafts with a double back beam which is operated with shaft lift tabs at the front so I thought heck where I am I going to mount a home made raddle and of course I can put it at the back of the castle and lower all the tabs down (as otherwise they would be in the way of the chained warp and unable to lie on the castle) as I do not need to worry about the shafts being up at this stage.  I just thought this might be handy to know for those who have one of these looms.
I have always stopped when warping to put in a raddle cross and am going to try not doing so on my next piece of work to see how it goes.  Also the way to keep tension is superb when you chain.  I have a strap on finger counter that I use for counting rows when I work fairisle so I may very well use this to count my threads when warping.
This is a completely new way for me but at 69 with back problems I am hoping it will enable me to continue to weave for a long time – thank you so much.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 7 months ago by Patricia Fear.

[Marilee Peterson]

First, this online guild rocks. I’m a brand new weaver. I took one class on the rigid heddle loom and one on a four harness loom and the four harness won my heart. And Janes videos have been so very helpful. I love that I can go back to them again and again.

My question – I’m  putting my first warp on my four harness and have a question about putting the first warp thread on the rod – the end that was tied to the warping board to begin the warp. It was a challenge to manage when I was making my chain but I kept track of the end I just slipped the loop from tying it to the warping board onto the rod. Is that what I’m supposed to do? Hope I explained that well enough. Thanks in advance for your help!

[Deborah Fister]

I am reviewing these videos because warping is one of my challenges. I am notorious for putting on long warps because I hate doing it! Right now I am under strict orders to stick to 3 yard warps until I can do it with my eyes closed.

That tug/snap trick would have saved me some warp. I ended up with 2 short ends. Now I am wondering where the rest of the thread is.

I noticed that you put the loop on the metal rod rather than on the wooden apron rod. Is there a reason for this? My Harrisville had only one metal rod that went around the back beam. No lashing involved. On the other hand, my Schacht table loom has a rod attached to the back beam and it is not possible to slide the warp on that rod, so I tied the 2 rods together rather than lashing.

I know you are a long time BTF beamer but have you ever used FTB and designed at the reed using multiple warp chains. I purchased a hand dyed warp from Blazing Shuttles (Kathrin Weber) and a HD skein. I will be winding some narrow bouts of that yarn and combining it with the prewound warp. I am not exactly sure how the 2 warps will combine.

[Kathleen Birch]

Up to this point in my weaving I have done production weaving of rag rugs, first as an apprentice in a studio for several years and then on my own for several years. My floor looms (2 Cranbrook looms, a Union 36 loom and a Newcomb Studio loom) all have sectional beams so I have warped using a spool rack and tension box, winding the loom, section by section onto the warp beam. How do I accommodate the warping methods that I’m watching here? I am looking forward to having the option of warping smaller warps on my looms.

[Ginette]

Hi Kathleen,

You can still wind on a full warp like Jane demonstrates on the videos. The only difference is that you’ll be winding on the whole warp at one go and without paper separator. I actually do this now to all my warps for my AVL loom and have given up winding on section by section from the spool rack and tension box. I do long warps (12 yards) of 8/2 cotton without a problem. Give it a try with a small warp.

[Grace Mandle]

I am new to your forum as of yesterday, but not new to weaving – yet I am finding your common sense approach extremely valuable.  I have always dressed a loom front to back, but you definitely make me want to try back to front.  Question:  I have a Mighty Wolf and have just purchased a secondary back beam.  Am I going to need 2 raddles, and would you recommend I warp twice – once for the primary warp and a second time for the secondary warp?

[Sandra]

Jane warps her layers together on a single warp beam, and I only have single beams on my two looms.  Hopefully, someone else with a loom with 2 warp beams can answer your question.  If you want to read about how she adjusts her tension when weaving two layers – you can find her tip here:

Tensioning warp with two layers on a single warp beam

[Carrie McBride]

I have a Norwood loom with sectional back beam.  I’ve always warped front to back but I’m not sure I am getting as even a tension as I could.  When I tie on to the back beam, the ties must go around the beam on top of each other along with the threads.  Could this be the problem?  Someone suggested I take the pegs out but I don’t see how that would change the fact that everything is laying on top of each other.  Thanks for your help.  I love these classes!

[Sandra]

Hi, Carrie.  Do you have an apron rod you could attach to your back beam?  That way, you could remove your pegs and warp back to front.  You would then be able to put paper around your warp beam as you wind on.  Doing that, your warp is protected by paper as you wind it on,

[Carrie McBride]

Thanks for your reply Sandra.  I think I can attach an apron rod to my back beam.  Is a raddle necessary for warping back to front?  Not sure where it would go on this loom.

[Kellie Stapleton]

I have a Leclerc Voyageur and the apron and warp rods are both metal and the same size. So I made a loop using Texsolv and put it around the warp rod. But…….. I can’t get the end of the apron rod to fit through the Texsolv. Any ideas to get the hole bigger?

[Sandra]

Would it work doing it this way ………….

[Kellie Stapleton]

I’m assuming the pencil represents one of the rods. Say you pull the pencil out and put in the warp rod. Then you make another loop and put the apron rod through. As soon as there’s tension on the apron rod the texsolv pulls through and the loop is gone. Am I missing something in your photo?

BTW a pencil fits on my texsolv

Got this figured out. Thanks.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 6 months ago by Kellie Stapleton.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 6 months ago by Kellie Stapleton.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 6 months ago by Kellie Stapleton.

[Kellie Stapleton]

Can you put a raddle with the nails horizontal as opposed to vertical (nails pointing to ceiling) when you’re trying to find a spot not on the back beam? Is it better to have the raddle as high as you can get it?

[Deborah Fister]

Kelly, I am trying to imagine the nails pointing horizontally. The warp threads would fall out. Sometimes I put yard sticks that run from the breast beam to the back beam and secure the raddle to the yardstick. I can put mine on the back beam without much trouble. It doesn’t need to be high, but I like the lease sticks high so I can see the threads better.

[Pauline Bellecci]

What  size Irwin Clamp do you find most useful? I see that there are many sizes and I would like to avoid purchasing one too small.

[Sandra]

Measure the depth of what you need to clamp, and get one that can solidly hold that much.

[Kellie Stapleton]

When lashing the warp rod to the apron rod, I read you should lash only as wide as your project. Yes, no, doesn’t matter?

[Sandra]

One usually lashes the width of the warp, but there is no rule that you can’t lash the whole width, if that’s what you want to do 😉

 

[Margaret Davidson]

Hello, I am loving watching all the wonderful episodes we have in our Guild.

I have a specific question about the paper that goes on the back beam between the fiber layers. What is it? Is it craft paper? If so, what is the weight and where can I order it?

Thank you!

[Sandra]

Hi Margaret! I believe Jane bought hers at the post office, but I found mine in a stationary store, Staples – if I recall correctly.  You want paper that isn’t too light weight, but I honestly don’t remember the weight of mine.

[Nancy Barge]

I have a Glimakra countermarch loom. Where should I place the raddle?  I’m thinking the back beam is the best place. What do you think?  I have always warped front to back . I’m looking forward to trying your method of back to front.

 

[Mary Pedro]

This may have been asked but I see that Jane has seine twine in 3 sizes for sale. Please can you tell me which size does she use in warping the Louet Spring loom?

 

[Trish]

I too would be interested to hear about where the raddle  would go on a CM loom.  Also…re the click grips – I’d really like to buy some but have no clue what size.  What size does Jane find most useful?  I’ve done without them my whole life and can manage for the rest as there isn’t anything in particular I need/want to clamp yet…but if I know what size I’ll go ahead and purchase some as I’ll be very happy with them.  thanks

[Frank Reiter]

What diameter do you suggest for the metal rod?

[Ginette]

Hi Frank,

We use rods that are 1/2 inch stainless steel.

[Trish]

I love the texsolv idea though sadly my rods are all too big.

[Frank Reiter]

Thank you Ginette.

[Ann Nez]

Jane, thank you!  I’ve  been weaving for over ten years and constantly struggled with warping. I adopted all your techniques : dropped the counting string and ties, bolted the warping board securely, improved position of the cross, moved the raddle to the castle, seine twine on the castle … all these together And the warp looks great! I’ve even removed the breast beam for threading, a major improvement.

Now I’m threading (fingers only!) and have two extra threads in one of my colored stripes. I had planned to do some color and weave 8shaft twills and this will throw off the pattern. Is there a way to remove these two threads, or should I just stick with plain weave so they won’t be obvious? 440 ends and they are around thread 300 in threading.

[Sandra]

I’d just take them out and hang them off the back of the loom.  Keep an eye on them so the don’t get tangled in the warp moving forward.  Jane does this when she changes one “zinger” colour to another in our very first sample – Season 2: Episode 2.  You’ll be fine 😉

[SaDonna Heathman]

Like another participant (Carrie McBride) mentioned in the comments above, I have a Norwood sectional loom. There isn’t really a castle to speak of for installing a raddle, the top of the loom (Highest point) is at the 4 shafts. I would love to follow along with your warping the loom videos on my Norwood, but I’m stuck looking at this sectional beam and wondering where to put a raddle. I feel like nothing on my loom looks remotely the same back there compared to what you are showing, and being a complete beginner I’m not sure where or how to even begin. I would love some advice! Thank you so much.

[Marilee Peterson]

Hi SaDonna,

I also have a Norwood Sectional and my husband made some changes to it so that it was easier to warp from back to front, including attaching the raddle.  I made a short video showing it but I can’t attach it to this thread. If you are comfortable providing me with your email I’m happy to send the video to you. Basically he cut a couple wooden blocks and hot glued them to the back of the castle at the top and attached the raddle to the blocks. The hot glue will allow us to remove the blocks if needed and the positioning is such that the raddle is not in the way of the shaft’s moving up and down.  My email is marilee.peterson@gmail.com if you would like to reach out.

[SaDonna Heathman]

Thanks so much for your help Marilee. I will definitely be making those modifications. Much appreciated.

[Daniela Pardo]

I’ve dressed my loom, and I’m ready to weave. I’ve noticed that my threads are not flat, they look like floating a bit, any idea what’s wrong?

 

[Sandra]

Your shafts aren’t exactly the same height – shouldn’t be a problem weaving with just that small bit of difference.  Have fun!

[Daniela Pardo]

thank you!!!

[Patty]

I ordered this nifty attachable raddle online, and it works great.  It comes in small segments that slide together to any length you need.

[Trish]

Can you share a link of where you purchased this?  It looks wonderful!

[linda pelech]

i have a loom made by a small company. I am looking to buy a raddle. I seen you’re black one online in 4 inch sections.  can i attached that to a different style loom?  also i am not understanding how to spread the warp out on the raddle. you say don’t split the sections. Is that meaning the color groups as well?

[Sandra]

Hi Linda, I have a handy friend who does woodworking, and he made attachable raddles for his wife and me using the Louet segments inserted into a strip across the raddle.  I attach it to the top of my table loom and it works well.  I could take a photo of it if you are interested.  What Jane is saying that when you are spreading your warp across your loom – it matters that you don’t have two sides of the cross in a section of the raddle.  Keep threads on the top and bottom of your warp separate in your raddle, and the colour of the groups don’t even matter in this case.

[linda pelech]

yes if you could take a photo that would be great 🙂

[Sandra]

[Sandra]

I use it on my old Woolhouse table loom and it sits on the castle and slips into the ends past the harness cords.  Hope this helps.  BTW – I do tape it down with duct tape while I’m winding on 😏

[Andrea Valentine]

I’m still having trouble getting an evenly tensioned warp.  I have a Harrisville loom that uses several ribbons on the beam that are attached to the apron rod.  The ribbon seems to be too thick once it winds around the beam, even when I try and get it to wind from side to side to keep it from bunching up, which seems to be pulling the woven fabric unevenly as it winds onto the beam.  Do looms that use Texsolv to connect the apron rod to the beam have this issue?  Or, do you have any other suggestions?  TIA.  I have been looking all over FB and this site to see if anyone offers any solutions but haven’t found any and am getting ready to try another warp.

[Sandra]

You should be winding your warp straight onto the back beam and in the width that it will be when you dent the reed and tie it on.  You won’t get even tension if you move it back and forth as you wind on.  I don’t have a problem with bumps on my warp beam but I do have it on the cloth beam of my table loom.  In that case I have a piece of cardboard bent to the shape of the cloth beam that buffers the cloth beam as I start weaving.  Others use paper rolls, etc. for the same purpose.  Once you get a couple of  layers on, separated with your paper, you should have a smooth warp on your back beam.  Hope this helps.

[Gerri Barosso]

I am weaving away and was happily weaving away until I realized that I forgot to lash the apron rod to the warp rod. My understanding is that it will start to bow.

Do I weave until I see it appear, release some tension and lash them?

Am I doomed??? 😉

 

Thanks,

 

Gerri

[Sandra]

You’ve got it, Gerri!  You’ll be fine as long as you lash it as soon as it comes into view.

[Gerri Barosso]

Thank, Sandra! Nice to be able to back to happily weaving along.

[Rebecca Marculescu]

I’m just thinking about ordering a pair! Are those the 6 inch or 12 inch variety?  Thanks!

 

Edited to add: sorry, this reply turned up in the wrong place, I’m not use to this system yet. I meant to reply to Jane’s comment about how everyone should have a pair of those Irwin quick grips.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 10 months ago by Rebecca Marculescu.

[Sandra]

It all depends on your loom, Rebecca.  The ones I use on my 12 shaft table loom are 12”.

[Marieta Francis]

Hi!  I just signed up for the Guild and so far, I really enjoy it.  I’ve been weaving for 4 years – started out on Rigid Heddle and then bought a Schacht Baby Wolf.  I’m wondering if Jane every demonstrates any wapring techniques on a Schacht floor loom?  Thank you

Marieta Francis

[Andrea Valentine]

When putting the warp rod thru the cross do you need to catch any single threads that were tied on at the end of the warp after the cross (e.g. if you have a single divider thread or didn’t pay attention to the need to always tie onto the warp thread and not the peg)?  I’m thinking if I don’t I may end up pulling a thread out……..

[Sandra]

Andrea, you are going to have to be careful to attach that thread to the bar that you put your warp through before spreading it out across your beam and in your raddle.  As long as it’s secured, you’ll be fine.

[Bonnie Gebhart]

Hi — I’m new to the guild and have an Ashford table loom and have the same question about how to attached the raddle to the top of the loom (given the curve piece).  Did you figure anything out?  Many thanks!!

[david]

Hi. This is wonderful thankyou.  Already learned things from session 1 on warps.

I have warped front to back and not used  the lease sticks that came with my Louet David 27″.

I decided to learn back to front .. only to see that the lease sticks are long, 38″ and 40″.  Likely, that
does not matter but I thought I would ask just in case.

Thanks  David.

 

[Judith Tarrant]

I would like you to explain a little bit more on the importance of keeping a thread group/family together in the raddle? What if they are a group of thicker threads and need more space, is there an exception to this rule?

[Shannon Wittman]

I have been using my Louet Megado for eleven years and never once thought to not break up the family groups when winding two threads together!  What a game changer!  I can’t believe the difference!  Thank you so much for sharing this!  I’m just….wow!  I took a picture but the file is 5.2MB and I have no idea how to make it smaller! 🙂

Shannon Wittman

[Mary Boucher]

Hello!  I’m looking at the Irwin quick grips.  They come in a variety of lengths.  Is the 6 inch or 12 inch better?  Thank you!

[Sandra]

It really depends on your loom, and how deep an area they have to stretch to get a good grip.  It a question whose answer is “it depends” 😉

[Charlene Brown]

I have this lovely old table loom I’ve been warping front to back. Will it work back to front with the levers (jacks) on the top?

I’m loving the videos!

Charlene

[Sandra]

Yes, you can Charlene.  I do it on my table loom.  You can lift the beater out, put your raddle on the back beam – a good use of Jane’s favourite Irwin Quick Grips, and feed your warp through and onto your warp beam.

[Janny]

Hello, Have just joined your class already have some new ideas you have shown in warping. It has been sometime since i did any serious weaving seemed to have lost my mojo until a youtuber I watch suggested your online classes. Not sure about multi colour warping have had a look at it again and found it interesting about making sure when you warp two or more threads together then you place them in the raddle in a different way like you would when you dent them never been taught about that before so will have to look again at your articles to get my head around it. ie always keep the thread families together.

Janette

[Judith Dutton]

I have a Norwood loom with a sectional beam.  I’ve read your response about just spreading the threads out across the beam but am confused about how to go about it.  Maybe there is an easy way to do it but with no apron rod but simply cords to tie to I just can’t visualize it.

[SaDonna Heathman]

I also have a Norwood loom with sectional beam. this is my first project (Asymmetry Season 2). My husband built the raddle and did a few other modifications so that I could follow along with JST. I just use the sectional beam as is and don’t use paper. I made sure that the threads stayed in the individual sections as I wound on. It seems to be working fine so far. 🙂

• This reply was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by SaDonna Heathman.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by SaDonna Heathman.

[Judith Dutton]

Thanks,SaDonna, that’s very helpful. I wonder if it’s necessary to have both the stick and the rod but I see you just removed all the tie on cords on the sectional beam. It makes a lot more sense to me now.

[Sheryl Caldwell]

I love that part of the instruction is to go and have a cup of tea…doesn’t get better than that.

 

[Author]

Posts