This has Not been Fun

Hmm ... 30 years of weaving experience and still surprises. I cannot say this babywrap warp is the best I have ever experienced. I am having problems with it. It is turning into a 12 yard sample but I think I know what is wrong. I am using Bockens unmercerized cotton. It is a beautiful yarn and I think it will make a sumptuously comfortable wrap. However the "liveliness" is a lot of the problem. It is not as smooth as other unmercerized cottons I have used. Very few knots which is good. I followed the specifications for the person I am working for. She wants a sett of 26 epi. That means I really need a 13 dent reed, two warp threads in a dent. So it is now sett in an 8 dent reed, 3-3-3-4. The yarn is too close and the shed sticks. So that means increasing the warp tension. Not good! Then the yarn catches on a thread and makes tiny tiny loops that are really hard to see until I have woven another few inches. The yarn sticks on the selvedges. One in particular is nasty even with the rotary temples. The weaving is SLOW! So now I have a lot of burling or repair work to do. I took 5 meters of the woven cloth off of the loom. The 13 dent reed should be here soon. I will use my 2nd beam to tension the selvedge threads.

Double Action: Let the Games Begin!

  I now have "DA", "Double Action", two projects going at the same time. For a summer I worked at Harrah's in South Lake Tahoe as a keno writer. Stupid game, worst odds in the house. I could write fast and set up a lot of customers before each game began so I got a "promotion" to "Double Action" games, two games going off at the same time. I can't be weaving at both looms at the same time but now both have warps.
 I have 12+ yards on my 40" AVL FDL and because of the unusual specifications for this commission I decided to put the warp on the plain beam with heads. The heads support the edges of the warp. Before I had sectional beams this was the only warping method I used. The warp is 8/2's Bockens unmercerized cotton. It is a beautiful yarn. It looks all white but it is not. Every other thread is off-white and the effect makes the warp shimmer. I will weave it with one yarn color as tabby.