Monday, February 06, 2017

Procrastination, Productivity and the curse of The Perfectionist

Am still procrastinating about warping up my 32" RH (The Monster) to make a start on the 'Poncho Project' & I needed something quick to occupy my mind whilst the world around me seems to be going bonkers ! !
On my travels through Ravelry, I stumbled across a wonderful picture tutorial by a Saori weaver, on how to make a woven cowl, and I had some yarn left over from my two big wrap projects... yes... you can guess what happened next :P

I accidentally warped up my loom... 






It was a pretty quick project, as it was just plain weaving... instant gratification if you will...but with quite a daunting ending!

Once I'd reached the point where I could see the threads tied onto the back beam, it was time to unravel the woven fabric on the front/fabric beam and untie it...

Then you have to bring the fabric beam end of your weaving up in front of the loom, fold it, and then wind it back around the beam and re-tension it. It's also really important to leave yourself enough warp beam end fabric to complete the next step comfortably.
Take your time to get it right... and don't tension too tightly... enough so your shed isn't sticky, but not too much so that the fabric is really deformed under the tension.



Now you have to thread the warp threads from the fabric beam end of your fabric through the warp threads still tied onto your back beam... lifting the heddle up and down as if you were going back and forth with a shuttle... again, take your time, and try not to pull too hard on the loose warp threads, or you'll end up with your fabric 'ruching' a little... at this point slow and steady will win the race (make sure to take regular breaks also, so you don't end up with neck ache)
Also important to remember you don't beat back with the heddle at this stage, I used a hand held beater (or you can use a fork/afro comb if you don't own a beater) to ease the threads down...



As you can see from this photo, I'd tensioned a bit too much, and when I took it off the loom it had to sit in the naughty corner until this morning, when I'd had a little sulk, then a sleep, so I woke up & wasn't so cross with myself... *shakes head chuckling*

I was cross with myself because:

a) It wasn't instantly perfect (yup... The Perfectionist reared her ugly head)
b) I let The perfectionist in, listened to her lies and let her steal my confidence.
c) I did cut it off too soon... if I'd loosened out the tension a bit, evened out the weave & knotted the fringe on the left before cutting it off, it would have looked a whole lot better. 

But, I took a long tined fork to it today & after knotting it, it evened out okay. I initially thought it was too long, but after wearing it out in the cold and drizzle today... it's actually just right :)

It's roughly 65 inches long to the join, and 7 inches wide & it loops around my head once :)




*Blows a big raspberry at The Perfectionist*

3 Comments:

Blogger Nicola Rutterford said...

It's gorgeous!

10:17 PM  
Blogger Yarnspider said...

Thanks for sharing, really interesting.

11:42 AM  
Blogger Treeflea said...

I can understand how your loom suddenly acquired a warp.....I was already down a rabbit hole when I found your blog post, and the photo tutorial led me down an even longer one. That was 3 hours ago. So I've now discovered that the type of clothing want to weave is what Saori weacers produce.....and I want a Saori loom.

As for the curse of the perfectionist...... I'm in the middle of a 6 day basic weaving course and I need to make a warp. I have no warping board. Just be glad you didn't see the rig I built to do the job. It involved 2 chairs, one with a leg propped up on a thick book, 2 stick shuttles, string and sticky tape.....AND it completely blocked access to the kitchen. Good news.....the warp is made.

By the way, your cowl looks great, and I am inspired to make my own......once I'm in charge of my destiny.

1:07 AM  

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