Warping Your Rigid Heddle Loom - Part 3

Back at your loom, you now should have threaded the holes in your rigid heddle and be ready to tie-on.

If you have an Ashford folding rigid heddle loom, the Knitters loom, you should ensure that the back is now lifted and the knobs tightened, if you haven’t done already.

There is more than one way to tie-on, but this is the way I was taught way back in the late 60's and although I have tried a number of different ways, this is the one I always come back to for a number of reasons which I will go into later.

I always start at the centre of my rigid heddle when selection bundles of warp ends and work my way out to the sides alternating bundles from the right and the left.

Take a bundle of ends from the centre and divide into two.  Bring the two halves either side of the centre apron tie and under the stick.  If you don't have a centre apron tie, just bring the two halves under the apron stick.  I usually work in bundles of eight, divided into two halves with four ends in each half is I've a fairly fine yarn.

Bring each half up over the top of the stick and down either side of the bundles.

Now cross the two halves at the back of the bundle and bring back to the front.

You can now tie the two halves together on top of this bundle.  Take the next bundle to the right and repeat the process.

Continue, by taking the next bundle from the left of the centre bundle and repeat.

Keep going in this way, taking bundles from the right and left alternately until you get the end right edge.

So far your bundles have been tied so that the knot is at the centre of the bundle.  But if you do this at the edge you will find that the rigid heddle will rub and shred the warp ends in the selvedge.  Also, as the knot will bring the bundle in and away from he true width of the weaving you will be fighting a battle to get the selvedge out perpendicular to the end warp in the rigid heddle.

To over come both of these problems tie your knot so that it is perpendicular to the end warp.

There will be a wider gap between the bundles, but that will be sorted when you pack your warp.
Repeat this at the left side.

Now for the packing.  Again, there is more than one way to do this and I've explored a number of ways to do this and depending on my warp, it's sett and how much yarn I have to spare I do it in different ways.  In general, this is the way I pack my warps.

Take thick bundle of waste yarn or in this case a length of cotton fabric, cut into strips, measure a loop of fabric, wider than the width of your warp, open your shed and push the loop through with a stick shuttle.

Beat into place, then change your shed and repeat.

Usually three or four loops is all that is required.

Why do I use these loops?  Well, once the weaving is finished, the loom state fabric cut off and wet finished, it's really easy to pull out the loops from one side rather than having to unweave the bundles.

Next time I will show you how the weave ensuring you don't pull in the sides of the fabric.

Warping Your Rigid Heddle Loom - Part 2

So you've managed to get back to your loom and, no warps have come adrift as you secured them all and you are ready to thread the holes.

Take your first bundle of loops, undo the slip knot and cut the loops.

Cutting the loops.

Starting from the right, leave the first pair of warps, in the first slot, where they are (this will be your selvedge) and select the second pair in the second slot.

Select your next pair of warps in a slot.

Separate them and remove one of the pair.   With your threading hook, pull this thread through the hole to the right of the slot.

Threading hook inserted in the hole to the right of the slot.

A note on threading the holes:

It's really important that this is done right, otherwise you can shred your warp ends making the weaving at the beginning very difficult.

Taking the next thread to be threaded in a hole and hold it in front of the rigid heddle.

Holding the next thread to be threaded in the hole.

Keep hold of the thread at that point, move your hand to the back of the rigid heddle and hook the warp end between your fingers and thumb.

Hooking the warp between your fingers and thumb.

Pull the warp through the hole until there is a loop at the front.

The loop of the warp end at the front of the rigid heddle.

Remove the hook and with our fingers pull the loop completely through the hole.

Repeat the threading through holes for the first bundle of warp ends and re-tie with a slip knot.  This will prevent them falling out of the rigid heddle if you have to leave your loom.  Repeat this across the rigid heddle until you get to the last pair of warp ends.  Thread these both through the hole to the right to form the left selvedge.

You can stop at this point, but check all the bundles are re-tied with slip knots.

Warping your Rigid Heddle - Loom Part 1

 A quick post to help in warping your rigid heddle loom.

Clamp the back of your loom to your table and clamp your warping post at the other end of the table.

To make sure your warp will be long enough measure from the back warp stick to the post.  This distance should be:

•  the length of your project 
• + shrinkage (shrinkage is often estimated at about 10%, but ideally you should have woven a swatch, measured the length and width once off the loom, wet finished and remeasured.  This will give you the actual amount of shrinkage.
• + wastage (wastage is the amount of yarn between the back warp stick and where you estimate the fell of the cloth would be in front of your heddle and the amount of yarn between the start of your weaving and the end of the warp that has been tied to the front apron).  As a rule of thumb 18" or 45cm is about the amount of shrinkage with a rigid heddle loom.

Now you're set up you need to tie your warp yarn to the back stick and using your "fish" hook pull a loop through the fist slot.  This loop is taken round the warping post .

Pulling a loop of warp yarn through a slot with a "fish hook".

Taking the loop round the warping post.

Repeat this through all your slots until you get to the last one and cut your warp off and tie onto the back warp stick.

The warp is threaded across this loom and tied to the back stick.

Now you are ready to wind your warp onto your back beam.  But first you need something to separate your warp as they wind round your back beam.  When I learnt to weave at school back in the late 60's it was always sticks, but can be strong brown paper, my preferred choice, stiff cardboard stick or similar.  Never use newspaper, though, as it's not strong enough. 

Here are a few examples of suitable recycled packaging that I use.

Cut your chosen material to the the width of your loom, 12" in this case, and stick to the back beam with Sellotape.

My warp separating material taped to the back beam.

Remove the warp from the post and work your hands up towards the rigid heddle and stand on the side of the loom with the ratchet.  With one hand on the ratchet and the other tensioning the warp begin to turn the ratchet so that the warp winds onto the back beam.

The warp is kept under tension as you wind on .

Keep winding the warp onto the back beam, inserting stiff paper until you warp end is level with the front cloth beam.

Stop winding once your end is level with the cloth beam.

This often a good place to stop if you are short of time, but its really important to secure your warps in the rigid heddle if you are going to leave warping at this point.

Secure your warp in bunches with a slip knot.

Divide the warp into bundles and use a slip knot to keep them from slipping out of the slots.

As this is a good place to pause your warping, this is where we will stop.  So until next time enjoy warping.

See you soon, Alison.