Happy Camper

Remember in my last post complaining venting about tension issues using the AVL warping wheel? Well after fighting with the last 10 inches of the first scarf I decided I couldn't weave the entire warp like that. I cut off that first scarf and set it aside for washing with the others once all are woven. I then pulled the warp forward, chaining as I went, pulled the metal dividers on the sectional beam off, and then wound the warp back on using corrugated cardboard as I always do when not warping sectionally. Perfect tension like I'm used to. I'm thrilled that I can warp this V-Series sectionally or non-sectionally which allowed me to do this quickly.

I've been weaving since 1986 and tension has never been an issue until the warping wheel. I have gotten it down pat how to use the wheel but when I'm winding the warp onto the back beam I can see that the threads want to move/catch/go in-between other threads. The tension on the wheel seems to be good. Next time I'll put more sectional metal dividers in and only wind 1" sections rather than 2" sections, maybe that will be the trick to solve the problem, less area for these thin threads to migrate. Would it help to put my tension box (from my other loom) on? It's not supposed to be needed but maybe it would help. Can anyone else out there with a warping wheel give me more words of wisdom?

...scarves....warping wheel

Thought I'd post a picture of the finished, well almost finished, tencel scarves....still need to twist the fringe on them, haven't ironed them either since washing which will give the tencel a beautiful sheen.

Here's a picture of the AVL warping wheel I posted a couple pix of yesterday. It's a big thing, awkward to move around and tough to find a place to store but it's a very cool piece of equipment. Fiber friend Nadine emailed this morning after seeing my post and said she used to put weights on the 'legs' to keep it from moving while winding the warp on the sectional beam - will be using that tip next time. I think I mentioned this before but this is not exclusive to AVL looms, this can be used on any loom with a sectional beam. It eliminates the need to wind spools, no tension box needed. I have no clue which way is faster (haven't warped sectionally using spools & tension box in a long time) but I do like the cross maker on this so I can keep my ends in exact order for threading the heddles, I just slide the lease sticks through each cross after all sections are wound on the back beam - no tape needed to keep threads in order.

Try #2 - AVL Warping Wheel

This is my 2nd attempt at putting on a warp using the AVL warping wheel. This time it went on smoothly although I still look at it winding on wondering how there could not be tension issues since it's not perfectly flat winding on but kind of rounded. But I guess I need to have faith - the first warp where I caused a problem by not putting the top on the raddle when moving so all the threads fell out turned out ok in the end. After a sample at the beginning of the warp the tension seemed to be wack-a-do so I cut off that sample and tied back on - no issue for the remaining 12 yards. I'm not used to feeling like I don't have perfect tension so it bothers me.

This is what it looks like on the wheel where I start, then go around the wheel, 4 times in this case for 12 yards, then thru the raddle and back around again for the next warp end. You can't see it in this picture but there is a cross maker to the right.

Here I am starting to wind on the second 2" section. I've moved the raddle to the front of the wheel, attached the warp to a cord on the beam and start winding. Bailey is pretty bored with this process.

Here it is from another angle. I wish I could get a picture of the entire wheel in action but I'm backed up against a shelf in this process and there's no room to back up for a picture. At some point I'll take a pictue of the wheel itself. So, one issue I'm having is that as I wind on the wheel on the heavy stand wants to pull forward - I'm putting one foot on it to hold it down while winding....will have to search for a better solution. This is a pretty cool piece of equipment from AVL, I just don't think I've mastered it yet, once I feel more comfortable I'll start putting on longer warps like I've always done winding on the warping board or reel.

So what's going on the loom - an 8/2 rayon slub in a light peach color. I'm not sure I'll like this slub as much as a smooth yarn in the twill variation I'll be weaving but I love the color. I've had great success with other rayon slubs in the past. Still have to thread heddles and reed, after that I'll show the pattern. It's a 32 harness draft I found on Handweaving.net , I turned the draft at which time it became 20 harnesses.

I should have known...

I should have known that the warp put on Saturday using the warping wheel might have some issues....there was that first section that pulled out of the little raddle (because I didn't put the top on it) that tangled and pulled so it wound on tighter than the other sections. Then there was my question on the length of warp from one end of the raddle to the other which was answered in comments to my last post by Restless Knitter and Janet (thank you!). I was trying to follow the warping wheel instructions, they never addressed this issue, neither did the online video. I had a bad feeling about it, should have paid more attention to my intuition. So, after 6" of the first scarf the tension was wack-a-doo.....I can't ever remember having tension issues since I started weaving in 1986. So, I cut off that piece and called it my sample, pulled a number of yards of the warp forward to where I thought the tension all looked equal, wound it back on, tied on the front and started weaving. Phew!

First scarf woven, no tension issues so far, another pattern from the Complex Weavers Greatest Hits book with a few changes on my part. While weaving I kept looking at the area between the bands thinking what could I design to put in those - this only used 24 of the 40 harnesses so I could put all kinds of designs in those spaces....will work on those later after I spend time learning the software, right now just learning what I need to know to do what I want to do...by the seat of my pants.

Learning so much the brain hurts....

There were pictures to go with this post but I accidently deleted them before editing.....pictures of the AVL warping wheel process.Oh well, if you want to see one in action there's a video on the AVL website - go to Resources, Library and then click on Video - there are a couple there. You don't need an AVL to use this wheel - any loom will work, sectional or not.

Lesson learned today - put the warping wheel raddle top on the raddle before moving it to the front of the warping wheel...not a good thing to have all 60 warp ends for a 2" section fall out....leads to a tangled mess winding it on the back beam. I think that section may have been wound on tighter due to my error.

Lesson #2 learned - print out the draft before threading to catch any errors, for some reason it's easier to spot them in print than on the screen...luckily I figured this one out on the first warp so I fixed the errors before winding the warp today.

I think I like the warping wheel, I only put on a 12 yard warp since it was my first time. I think I could have wound and beamed it faster using a warping board but I'll get better at it, I was already getting faster by the time I got to the third 2" section.

If anyone uses one of these I do have one question. When I've finished winding a section and cut the warp, tie an overhand knot in preparation for beaming I find the ends aren't even when I move the raddle to the front of the wheel. It stands to reason because the first ones wound travel further to get through the slots on the raddle. Should I be waiting to tie my knot after I move the raddle? Or actually re-tie it because heaven forbid I drop it not tied! I don't know yet if this will affect this warp, possibly not at all, will find out after I finished weaving the 4 scarves. Speaking of which I also had a picture of the woven sample but that was deleted too.

Gourmet dinner tonight - Kettle Cooked Sea Salt & Cracked Pepper Chips and a Diet Mug Rootbeer. I rarely eat chips and am not much of a soda drinker. Sam had a very late lunch at a golf tournament so no cooking tonight.