A-warping we will go!

Next up, I’m getting cozy with the warping board! The warping board is a frame with pegs sticking out of it. It’s job is to provide a structure where someone can wind many lengths of yarn as smoothly as possible.

Warping Board

(A little frame of reference for you – my warping board is hung from a set of shelves containing all my yarn, plus lots of miscellaneous stuff! So, please disregard the clutter!)

The yarn being measured here is called the warp, meaning it will eventually end up in the loom, under tension. If you recall, the plan for this project is to place black yarn in between each group of colors. The colors will be randomly wound on the warping board, ’cause I’m a crazy sort of girl! (Your job here is to admire the fun, right-brained fashion in which I put the colors together – completely out of character for me!) I broke the warp up into 2 sections – whites/reds/purples in one, and blues/greens in the other.

1st Half of the Warp

2nd Half of the Warp

In addition to winding on many yards of yarn, I am winding them on in the order they’ll go into the loom. The way to do this is to use a cross. The cross is a place between 2 pegs where you change direction so the yarns can be separated later (in order) when they are off the board. A little tricky to describe – hopefully, the picture will make more sense! What you have to know is that keeping the cross is really, really important! Imagine mass chaos with over 6 yards of yarn… (A cat’s idea of heaven, I would imagine!)

The infamous “cross”

Once everything is wound on and ready to go, I use a kind of twist to keep everything together while coming off the warping board. Some weavers create the prettiest twists you’ve ever seen! Mine – a little more functional than glamorous! Next up, the warp yarns will meet up with the reed and I’ll begin sleying – my favorite!

The warp’s coming off!