Turned Twill Floats

[Elysa Dennett]

Hi Jane

I had long floats in my warp for the Turned Twill project.  Many were 1 -2 inches. It was really strange to have so many.

Part of the problem I think was due to my warp on heddles 5,6,7,8 sitting elevated on my reed race.

I initially adjusted my beater to be higher, but I noticed that reduced the shed equally. So when I raised the beater 1 inch to get the 5,6,7,8 warp to lie flat, my shed reduced by 1 inch to be only 3 inches high.

I found it really strange that only the warp strung on 5,6,7,8 heddles had the issue of being too high, but not the warp strung on 1,2,3,4.

Also interesting, the problem was worse the closer the fell line got to the reed. When fully advanced the warp sat on the shuttle race, but by the time the fell line was 1/2 way to the reed, I had about a 1/4″ space between the shuttle race and the warp… but, again only for warp on heddles 5,6,7,8. The warp on heddles 1,2,3,4 stayed on the raceway for a lot longer with warp advances. Does this happen on your Spring Loom as well?

Anyway, I do have a habit of waiting too long to advance, so that and the raising warp threads I think is my problem for the floats.

I loved the project so much, I warped it up again!   This time I am watching more carefully for floats and trying to advance more often.

Elysa

[Jane]

Hi Elysa,

Even if your shed was reduced to 3”…that is bigger than the sheds on most looms :). It is completely normal on any loom for the warp to lift up the closer you get to the castle. The closer you get to the castle the shed gets smaller because it just can’t open any wider due to the reduced distance it can move, hence your warp lifts off the shuttle race. Advancing your warp more frequently will definitely help this situation. I know it is a pain to do…but it is very important. I talk about it in Season 1 in the episode about good weaving technique….finding the sweet spot and not going beyond is so helpful to prevent skips and it also keeps your selvedges cleaner. So yes, this happens on my loom but I try to advance quite often. It is so tempting to keep going….I know….. sometimes I find myself doing it too, but smack my wrists when I catch myself. 🙂
You will be fine if you make those 2 adjustments….raise your beater a tad and advance more often.
Turned twill is such a wonderful structure….I’m so glad you are trying again.
You can do it sweetie pie,
Cheers,
Jane

[Author]

Posts