The 80’s music references just pop up at unexpected times! And how do you argue with Dead or Alive! (I had to look up the band name- so don’t be too impressed!)
Time to wind the yarn onto the loom!
Bird’s eye view
When we last chatted, I had finished measuring the yarn, sleying the reed, and threading the heddles – all the necessary steps to maneuver the yarn through the middle of the loom. Now, I need to tie the yarn to the back and starting winding!
Tying the yarn to the back rod
Ready to wind on!
If you remember back to last week’s post, I had collapsed the back of the loom so I could sit really close when threading the heddles. For this part of the process, I like to go ahead and extend the back before I tie the yarns. (You need to extend the back eventually! So, why not now? Right?)
Here we go!
So, when setting up the loom, the ultimate goal is to start with all the yarn on the back of loom – wound on evenly and with equal tension. By the time you’ve finished the project, all the yarn has been magically transformed into fabric on the front of the loom! So as you can imagine, this part of the process is pretty important!
Yay! Yard sticks!!
Love a close-up!
To help with the “equal tension” part of the program, I like to use yard sticks to ensure that the yarn is laying nice and flat! If you don’t use something (sticks or heavy paper), the yarn will begin to stack up in mountains and valleys as you wind on, causing some unexpected tension problems. Not good… really, really not good!
Moving from the front to the back!
At the front of the loom, I have separated the yarn into chunks. I give each one a yank, release the brake on the loom, and spin the back beam about 2/3 of a turn. Add a yard stick, rinse and repeat!
Nearly ready to tie the yarn to the front!
The yarn is all wound on the back! Next time, I’ll tie everyone to the front and then, the weaving will commence! Happiness is…
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