Scary time - warping the loom

So let's try follow Deborah Chandler's front-back warping. Holding all those cross threads is really scary - don't even think about dropping them. Sleying is immensely satisfying. The first warp goes in 12 dents and then misses 12 then in the next 12 etc.
Sleying is pretty easy but counting the 12 missing dents is harder - I used the reed hook to go in and out of each dent until I got to the 12th and sleyed the next one and then counted the gap, and then counted it again. Also after each group of 12 had been theaded I pushed them down to the bottom of the reed and checked

• there were 12


• there were no empty dents


• there weren't 2 threads in any dent

Actually I made few mistakes.

One lesson learned - the second (darker) warp I pulled further past the reed and so when sleyed the ends were all 4-5" longer then the first (lighter) threads. This was a nuisance which I kept encountering right until tying to the back beam - I should have sort it out earlier.

I did seem to lose the cross on the first warp but still managed to seem to keep order - the second warp went perfectly.

Threading the heddles was far more mistake prone, Getting the wrong shaft or wrong heddle order seemed to be all to easy. Again I checked every 12 threads for mistakes and there were a few but it was easy to sort out. Once I was sure everything was OK I checked again - paranoia is setting in with this weaving lark.

Once threaded it was easy tying to the back bar and beaming. I had surprisingly few out of order threads and it beamed pretty straightforwardly. I didn't have thick paper and UK stores don't have brown bags so I couldn't use the lack of brown bags as a good excuse to stock the liquor cabinet :-( I did find some sturdy A4 (about US letter size) envelopes and they look like they work fine. Tying to the front beam was again easy - the larks head knot method of adjusting tension in the groups is really easy and I was happy with the result.

If there is one thing I need to be sure of - If I'm going to use this front-back warping method with the cross held in my hand then the phone just has to be switched OFF! I don't want any interruptions. I suspect this took me a good two hours to do - although much of that time was popping out to read the book or watch the video Deborah made - "Beginning Four Harness Weaving". The video is useful but the book
probably covers everything as well if not better.

Whilst sleying and heddle threading I paid tribute to my Ashford loom's New Zealand heritage by listening to a fabulous CD called "Maori" with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and some Maoris singing traditional NZ folk songs, some to more modern accompanyment

Anyway here's the front beam with a header weaved. I couldn't find the stick shuttle so I quickly made one out of plastic - mistake, it's a pig to weave with, it's zen nature is to snag anywhere it can.

Front Beam 

And here's the back beam - this is a nice photo - it looks so neat and tidy!!!

Back beam