How about something new? I’m thinking green. Which isn’t surprising, honestly. It would be shocking if I said I was thinking lavender. Now, that would be surprising! (Friends and family would start asking if I was feeling OK… For any hard-core lavender fans out there, I’m so sorry but I’m really not your girl! Look elsewhere for your pastel fix!) And now we’re off!
Ah, the warping board…
So, here’s what I’m thinking. I’d like to create some green fabric. But, I don’t want the warp to be all greens. Instead, I’ve pulled together lots of good earthy colors. Brown, gold, tan, green, chocolate, etc. I have put them in a set order that will be repeated faster and slower throughout the warp. (“Warp” refers to the yarns that will be in the loom, versus “weft”, which refers to the yarns in the shuttle.)
A-measuring as we go, a-measuring as we go!
Back & forth, and back & forth!
I always use a warping board for measuring the yarn. The distance of the pegs from left to right is about a yard. If I remember correctly, this particular version is considered a 14-yard warping board. I hardly ever use all the pegs. But, if you wanted to go crazy, you could put on as much as 14 yards!
The starting peg…
Twisting off the first section.
Before I even started at the warping board, I sat down with a pencil and piece of grid paper to figure out both the math for the project, as well as the layout of the warp yarns. Weaving can be pretty math intensive. If I want a project to be 60 inches when it is finished, I may need to measure out as much as 120″ to start! I have to include allowances for things like knots, the dead space at the loom, and the distance the yarns have to travel up and over each other. All these factors feed into the overall project details. (A lot of weaving is tied up in the nitty gritty, if you hadn’t guessed already!) Plus, I had to sort out which colored yarn will go where! (The designing part is much more fun than figuring out the math – as you can imagine!)
Racing around the pegs!
Love the colors!
Because the entire project won’t fit on the pegs at one time, I’ve broken it up into (3) chunks. I like to stop at a point that makes sense to me, instead of measuring exactly (200) yarns or some other random amount. It’s all about keeping it simple and logical in my head! (Things get confusing up there quickly enough without me adding to it!)
Featuring: the cross!
I’m making progress! I’ll finish winding everything on to the warping board next time, and then move the fun to the table for a little sleying! More fun than a barrel of monkeys! Promise! Talk to you soon…
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Art, Dressing the Loom, From the studio, Planning a Project, Weaving, Weaving Terms
