Hi All,

This is my first 8 harness project. As I started what will become the first inch of a shawl I noticed two warp threads that are being missed.I'm attaching a photo. I have no idea how to fix this. It's a gift for my mother-in-law. Short of starting over- is there anything I can do to fix?

Thanks in advance,

Michelle skipped threads

Comments

Sun, 03/16/2014 - 15:47

SallyE (not verified)

I'm not sure what you mean when you say "two warp threads that are being missed."  

Do you mean that these two threads aren't going through any heddles? If that is the case, and if the threads are needed for the pattern but you just missed threading them through a heddle, then the fix is easy - you need to make two string heddles.

You simply take a piece of strong but fine chord, wrap it around the correct shaft bar (the bottom one) so that both ends come up on either side of the missed thread.   Now, tie a knot in the chords at the point below the warp thread at about the same place as the bottom of the adjacent heddle eyes.  

Bring the chord ends up on either side of the warp thread and tie another knot above the warp thread at about the same place as the top of the adjacent heddle eyes.   Finally, bring the chords up around the top shaft bar and tie the ends of chord together.   You have just created a stringle heddle.

This can be a bit tricky to do in the middle of the warp, so before you start, loosen the tension on the warp and, if you have to, use some chord to temporarily pull the shafts you aren't working with a little bit out of the way, forward and back.

Once you are done, you will need to start the piece over again.   Or, before you do this you can unweave it if you didn't plan in any extra warp.

 

Sun, 03/16/2014 - 17:38

mrdubyah (not verified)

I'd say Sally has hit the nail on the head.  Those two warp threads aren't being raised or lowered by the harness, meaning they aren't threaded through the heddles in the right place (or not at all).  Use your finger to follow the offending thread back in to the harness.  If you're uncommonly lucky, there could be an empty heddle waiting there.  If not, (much more likely) follow Sally's procedure and put a string heddle onto the frame where the thread SHOULD have been attached.  Check your pattern draft to find the mistake. 

Sun, 03/16/2014 - 17:46

ReedGuy

Yip, seen it a few times like Sally said, not threaded through the heddle eye. Don't panic. Made a few heddles from polyster fishing line (backing on the reel). :)

Sun, 03/16/2014 - 19:16

mmurphy613

what it's looking like is that they are threaded through heddles, but the yarn is crossed behind the reed- between the reed and before they are threaded through the heddles. Don't know what do do about that...

Sun, 03/16/2014 - 19:32

SallyE (not verified)

Well then, in that case you have a couple of choices.   If you are worried about having enough warp, then you unweave, remove the beginning packing, undo the tie-on knotts, fix the problem and start again.

If you have plenty of warp, it's easier.    In that case, pull on the "offending" warp thead and cut it (carefully!) as far towards the front as you can.   Then pull it out from behind the reed,  correct the crossing threads, pull it back through the reed and reattach it to the cloth you have woven so far.   You will need to tie on a short length of warp thread to do this, but that knot will end up in the waste area anyway.   You might need to start fresh with more weft packing if you had planned to use that area for fringe, etc.  

And of course, when you are tying it to the cloth, make the tension the same as the rest of the warp.

And next time, before you start weaving, treddle each treddle in turn, and while the shafts are raised, look down the shed from the side of the open shed.   If you had done that, you would have seen this cross before you started weaving.  But don't feel bad, we have all done this!

 

 

Mon, 03/17/2014 - 14:07

mmurphy613

Sigh... I guess I'll tear out what I've done and make the repairs- I have more than one of these. 

I did raise each harness and didn't see any hanging threads- it only became an issue when the harnesses were tied up together- does that make sense?

So much to learn- I really appreciate the forum as a place to turn to for advice. Thanks so much!

Mon, 03/17/2014 - 14:28

SallyE (not verified)

You need to raise the shafts using the treddles, after completing the tie-up.  Because of the way you phrased it, "I did raise each harness," and "it only became an issue when the harnesses were tied up together," I'm thinking that you did not use the tie-up and treddles to raise the shafts.   If you do that, you won't necessarily see the crossed threads.

Also, when you raise the shafts you need to look at the warp on both sides of the reed.

 

 

Mon, 03/17/2014 - 15:30

mmurphy613

You're right- that's the part I missed. I'm guessing this is one of those things that you mess up once, b/c it's so painful to correct :-)

Thanks so much for your help!

Mon, 03/17/2014 - 15:30

mmurphy613

You're right- that's the part I missed. I'm guessing this is one of those things that you mess up once, b/c it's so painful to correct :-)

Thanks so much for your help!

Mon, 03/17/2014 - 15:51

SallyE (not verified)

Like I said, we have all been there.   Personally, I've made that mistake more recently than I want to admit.   I have a 12 shaft Macomber with 18 treddles.   I've made the mistake of tying all 18 up, but not testing every single one and then finding out later that the one or two I missed testing created an issue.

(BTW, a "harness" is a set of shafts, just like a wiring harness is a set of wires.   So for example, a draw loom that has pattern shafts and ground shafts, is a 2 harness loom.)

Mon, 03/17/2014 - 23:00

laurafry

Sleying errors happen.  They happen to experienced weavers as well as new ones.  Ask me how I know.  :-/  They really aren't that hard to fix once you know how.  :)  But first you have to find them.  I once wove an entire 30 yard long warp with a sleying error which didn't show up until I was done and cutting the web off the loom.  Fortunately it was a fine yarn, the colours and weave structure 'hid' the problem and I went ahead and finished the tea towels, with no one the wiser.  (Now my secret is out!!!!)  

cheers,

Laura

Tue, 03/18/2014 - 00:49

SallyE (not verified)

Yes, I did a warp once with a threading error that only showed up on the under side.   Needless to say, I didn't see that right away!   Now I weave a bit and get under the loom with a flashlight, or loosen the tension and try to look at the back side before I get too far along.

 

Tue, 03/18/2014 - 03:17

Queezle

I've done this more times than I care to admit, including on the warp I am currently weaving.  You do learn to check really carefully.  I have also learned to just accept un-weaving as one of the steps toward a nice product. 

For me, warping errors was the first sign that I needed reading glasses.  Those tiny threads are much less forgiving than squinting to read something.