Time to sley the reed! My favorite!
Yarn soup!
When last we spoke, I had a beautiful pile of yarn that had just come off the warping board and is now ready to go into the reed! So, let’s hop to!
Here are the players…
I prefer warping the loom front to back, allowing me to sley the reed separately from the loom. If you aren’t a weaver and that statement made no sense – no worries! What you have to know is that there are (2) very distinct theories on how to set-up or “dress” a loom. And if you fall into one camp, there’ll be no flirting with the other. Think Cubs and White Sox, IU and Purdue, Michigan and State, Clemson and University of South Carolina… you get the idea! I’m a front to back girl, versus the back to front folks that I love in spite of them being wrong (kidding!!!).
In go the lease sticks!
All in order…
First up, the lease sticks slide into the yarn keeping the top and bottom groups from the warping board in place. This will show me which yarn goes first, second, and so on, continuing in order throughout the project.
Filling in the reed
Each yarn in a slot!
I’m using an 8-dent reed, which means it has (8) slots in each inch. For this project, I’m going to plan for (1) yarn in each dent or slot. I made a few design decisions where another yarn will piggyback and share a dent. But, for the most part – (1) to a dent!
Pretty golden colors!
Grouping the yarns in inches
This part of the process usually takes a couple hours. I’m using a 36″ reed that has (8) dents per inch… doing the math… carry the (1)… well, let’s just say it takes quite a few yarns to fill it!
Ready to go into the loom!
The reed has been sleyed – woohoo! And the crowd goes wild!!! OK, that could be an exaggeration… But, I’m excited and I may as well share the enthusiasm, right? Next up, I will slide the reed into the loom and we’ll start talking heddles! I know you are on the edge of your seat…. I’ll chat with you soon!
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Art, Dressing the Loom, Planning a Project, Weaving, Weaving Fabric, Yarn
