Come sley with me!

So, here I am with piles of gorgeous brown yarn! (Imagine rolling around on a bed of money – almost that level of happiness!) To add to the euphoria, it’s time to sley the reed! I think this part of the process really appeals to the organizer in me. Every yarn goes into its own slot. It’s a clean, methodical process and my left brain is WAY happy!

Sleying the Reed!

Because I measured the warp yarns in 2 equal halves, I picked a half and started in the middle of the reed working out to the edges. You’ll note the lease sticks sitting above the reed, keeping the cross in place. Without the lease sticks, life becomes challenging fast! All that effort you put into winding everything in order on the warping board goes down the drain! It only takes forgetting it once, before you learn your lesson – spoken from someone who’s been there!

Each yarn gets a dent

The reed you see in the picture is a 36″ wide, 12 dent reed. Translation – it is the size of the width of my loom and there are 12 slots in each inch, keeping the yarn spaced the way I prefer. Because I use a fatter mix of yarns in the shuttle, I don’t want to space the warp yarns too close together in the loom. And let me tell you, there are lots of guidelines written about how to space yarns for different types of weaving. But, in the end, it’s trial and error and determining how you want things to look! So, like most skills, you learn the rules and then break them accordingly!

Starting the 2nd half

Almost done!

So, to give you an idea of total yarns, the plan is to fill all 36″ at 12 yarns per inch = 432 yarns. This took me over 3 hours to finish, and it’s not my first rodeo! I have to admire my fellow weavers who enjoy using much smaller yarns. For them, this part of the process might take 2 and 3 times longer! Don’t get me wrong – I love this part! But, let’s not stay all day!

Knotting as I go…

I like to knot every inch to keep me honest. It’s a way to double check where I am and where I’m supposed to be. By the way, did you notice my funny little table? I opted for a change of scenery, not really taking into account that the reed doesn’t completely fit! It was a tricky, balancing act for sure!

Yum…

Now that every yarn is safely tucked away in the reed, I’ll move it over to the loom. I’ll keep the lease sticks wedged in the yarn as a way to help with the tension while I’m winding on. No worries – I’ll walk you through it when I get there! Talk to you soon…

Ready for the loom!