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New wraps, new method

I got KM’s wrap started. She asked me to weave the tails with a different color pattern. The rest of the weft is all black.

start of KM's wrap

I’m now about halfway through the weaving. I have a long meeting to go to tomorrow, so I don’t expect to be able to finish it and move on to SB’s till Wednesday.

A few posts ago I mentioned Kati Reeder Meek‘s book and her live weight tensioning system. I wasn’t able to try it immediately, but I’m using it on this warp.

live weight tensioning

Oh. My. God. It is such a beautifully simple concept, so wonderful to weave with, so much easier on me, my warp, and probably my loom. It basically replaces the brake on your loom during weaving, although you still use the brake during beaming, threading, & tie on. I won’t explain exactly how to do it here — Kati’s book does it beautifully, plus she’s great at responding to email questions.

I’m using a broom handle I had hanging around with a total of about 22.5 pounds on it, with counterweights of only 1.25 pounds on each end. This is on a warp of 760 ends of 8/2 cotton, 31″ wide, 18 yards long. I admit it would have been easier to set up initially with another pair of hands, but it obviously wasn’t impossible to do alone. Although this is my first use of the live weight tensioning system, I am positive I’ll be using it in the future – maybe for every warp on the Macomber. So thanks to Kati for the concept & help, and Laura Fry to pointing me to her. Other weavers are a constant source of inspiration, instruction, and support.

9 comments to New wraps, new method

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