New Weaving Project

After the retreat, I went though all my stuff and found a towel kit that I bought a while ago.  I pulled it out and there was no instructions so I went off and e-mailed Lunatic Fringe for a copy.

They were nice enough to send me the pattern called In the Buff towels and I consulted Jane about it and she recommended a sett of 10.  She also helped me determine how many ends my warp needed to be.

Winding the warp took three sections and you can see the veg matter in the twist.

I ended up with 3 bouts using 2 full cones and about half of another.

One of the cones had a ton of knots and I had this leftover from cutting and winding.

Next, the bobbins were wound.

The smaller gauge yarn is for the hems.

Taking everything to the loom and preparing the paper took some doing.  I warped back to front and it was an ordeal which took me most of one day to get that warp wound on.  My back was aching by the time it was done.

Next came the heddles which I spaced since the warp took the entire width of the loom.  Another half a day threading the heddles and the reed with some corrections along the way.  More shoulder and back fatigue.

Next came the tie on the front beam.

My warp was not even at this point so I had to cut off the excess to line everything up.  I ended up with this much waste at the beginning of the project.

Weaving with waste yarn to spread out the warp was the next step.

I can see I already have an error, but I'm over it now and that will just be a design element.  I also figured out that my warp tension was not quite even especially on the edges so I put a bobbin under the warp at the paper to add a bit more tension.

The 3" hem went on next and it seems pretty even now.

One sequence of the weave pattern and I'm done for the day.  The pattern weaves for 52" and then another 3" of hem to be repeated 3 more times.  I'm crossing my fingers and hoping to finish this project before putting the loom up for sale.