Click Click Click

I plugged in the desktop computer that came with Thing 2. It came with an early version of the Weavepoint software that is sold by AVL the loom manufacturer. Since the Compu-Dobby box would be very expensive to replace I am motivated to keep it happy. The thin foam filter that protects the fan was replaced with a cut-to-size piece of air-conditioning filter. Weaving throws off lots of lint, probably not good for a Compu-Dobby. Oh yes, it needs a decent serge protector. She boots and the solenoids in the box click through their self-check. I fired up the weaving program and loaded a random design I found. At first one of the harnesses was being bad and would raise on a tilt. I checked the springs below, jumping heddle frame wires, and possible loose heddles. No luck until I look up (metaphor for life?) and see I have crossed two cables that run across the castle (top support of the loom). Uncrossed and all is well, peddle, harnesses raise, dobby arm sweeps the electric eye, click, the solenoids tap the dobby keys, and so on, click click click. Yes!

Weigh! Heigh! and Up She Rises

Not sure a sea shanty is required but the big loom is almost ready. I don't name my looms. They aren't pets but I need to distinguish. How about Thing 1 and Thing 2?  There are no more parts left under my bed or in the spare bedroom with the exception of the very large sectional beam. I can lift it but I can't manuever it into position within the loom frame. Maybe I can get a friend to help me. Next step is to test the Compu-Dobby and see how it responds to the weaving program on the desktop computer that came with the loom. It is running under Windows 95. It is frozen in time. At one time I published an international newsletter called the "Computer Textile Exchange". I remember reviewing lots of weaving programs. It is interesting to me that many of the same programs are still out there. Computer-aided weaving design can never take the place of seeing a real weft cross a real warp. The Compu-Dobby will allow me to do more real time sampling on the loom that would otherwise require pegging up a different dobby chain.

Weaving Up to the Heddle Eye: That's All She Wrote.

This is sort of a handweaver's challenge, to weave out every last bit of warp. It actually makes no sense, unless your warp is made of gold (¡ some are ! ), to coax a warp to the screaming end. The tension starts to get flakey as the leader that attaches the warp bundles to the warp beam come up over the rollers. I put in lease sticks. The last few inches are slooooow to weave. In this case it was necessary to finish this shawl, my last one of this 35 yard warp. I wanted to have some warp to do samples. I had nothing left to sample with. Not too much loom waste but it could have been better. This was due to a shorter bout of warp. I remember I taught sectional beaming at Convergence 90'. You'd think I knew what I was doing. For all the weaving I've done certain processes are not done that often.

The last shawl

Up to the heddle eye. No further can I go.

Bringing It All Back Home

All in my car. Dobby box rides shotgun.

What is left of the 60" AVL loom to disassemble.

Almost Done

Color blocks and stripes

Not Much Left on This Warp

I am getting done, maybe three more. I will see if my calculations are right.

These need to be fringed and wet-finished. These are not all off them BTW.

Lighter colors, very nice.

Experimenting and the New-to-Me Loom

I still have about twelve yards to weave off my 40" AVL and I have been playing with some color combinations and stripes. For the most part I like what I have done.

And...  the other news is that I have purchased a new-to-me 60" AVL production dobby. It comes with a lot of extras including a 1st generation Compudobby and thankfully the old desktop computer that runs the software. I can use it on my 40" loom or leave it on the monster. The new-to-me loom weighs 450 lbs and has to be almost totally disassembled to get it into my home.

The "small stuff" in the back of my car.

A side view with the Compudobby.