Weavers and Spinners Society of Austin (WSSA)

WARPING TECHNIQUES

By Meg Wilson

I learned how to weave in 1987 at Hill Country Weavers when it was on 12th Street. I learned how to warp from the front and my first project was one of the biggest messes that I have ever had: the yarn was a fairly fine, super overtwisted rayon. I carefully put it in the lease sticks and started threading but didn't have enough ties along the warp, and it jumped into a tangled mess in the middle. I had to get it on the loom for class the next night and dear Fred stayed up until 3:00 am with me, unsnarling it and getting it wound on. I warped from the front for 13 years, and usually had a semi-tangled mess from the heddles to 3-feet back that would have to get worked back out through the rest of the warp. As I wanted to do longer warps, that got really tough and warping my loom was a barrier to weaving - getting started annoyed me.

I was convinced that there had to be a better way. So, I went back to basics and re-read my Debbie Reading (Chandler) book. Yup, I had learned some bad habits and the next warp was a bit easier. Then checked some other books. And realized, when starting to weave after a 3-year hiatus, that people used tools I didn't know about: a raddle and a paddle and that they warped from the back. Hmmm. What could there be to that method? So, I set a resolution: I would spend the next year or two improving my warping process and doing better quality weaving. Fortunately, about then, serendipity met found-fortune. I went to Convergence in Cincinatti and found:
— warping straps (for holding the lease sticks which I had given up using 2 years into weaving. I always warped feeding the warp from my hand)
— Peggy Osterkamp's 2-volume set on Warping (two whole books on warping!!?? Winding a Warp & Using a Paddle andWarping Your Loom and Tying on New Warps)

CHT
I read Peggy Osterkamp's books and was totally mystified, mostly because her books are so full of useful tips and tricks that I couldn't see the forest for the trees. So, I took DeeDee Woodbury's class in "Warping from the Back" at CHT's San Antonio conference. She had a simplified version of winding a warp and putting it on that made great sense, and crystallized Osterkamp's methods. Then, as I was experimenting with my warping straps and trying to figure out the best placement of my newly constructed raddle, I started quizzing people about specific efforts. And I got so many suggestions! I tried most, discarded some and arrived at a warping process that became so trouble free that I was eager to finish projects so I could get the next one on!

My learning journey taught me several things:
— There is nothing sacrosanct about any process in weaving except maintaining the weaver's cross and maintaining even tension in winding and warping.
— Every loom, room, and person requires a process that works for that specific setting.
— There are few absolute rights or wrongs. The key is to find a way to get comfortable and get the job done in the most effective manner for that setting. If you don't like the way warping works for you, find a way that will!

Warping from the back solved the problems I was having because it keeps the warp under control throughout the entire process; and with some tools, allows for multicolor thread placements. It was proving faster, easier and more comfortable, with better results. Who could argue with that?
And! I found that better warping habits led to better quality weaving because I was making fewer threading errors (learned some techniques for segmenting and checking my threading), I had better overall weaving tension, and I had slightly less loom waste by not tying onto both ends.

Warping from the front is still necessary when you are doing lots of color changes and/or inventing your warp design on the fly. With many of the techniques I have learned about all aspects of warping, I might even be willing to try it from the front again: but only for a very specific color reason!

Some of the other things I did to improve my warping included getting really good light (6 halogens over my loom and warping area); tying my warps tighter and at more frequent intervals before taking them off the warping board; paying attention to yarn tension as I measured warp; getting very friendly with my loom (sit in it, inches from the heddles); and getting frisky with my loom (screwed the raddle to the top of my castle, I wind on with the warp running over my loom rather than through it, with the raddle in front of the lease sticks rather than behind them, close to the beam). Let the equipment work for you!

In my quest to improve my warping technique, I bought Peggy Osterkamp's videotape on winding a warp and warping a loom. It was delightful and had even more to teach me. We will watch that video at our February meeting and then talk about and look at our lace weaving project which is in progress, being warped.