Hi!

First, let me say hello!  My name is Karri.  I joined Weavolution a few days ago to get some advice on my first non-peg/lap loom, and tonight I'm "building" my first backstrap loom.  I'm following instructions on blogs and videos posted by Laverne, and so far, so good.

My main question is, how exactly do you gracefully transfer your crossed warps to the sticks?  I won't share with you the comedy of errors and really awkward positions I had to adopt just to get a warp with maybe 15-16 ends transferred without losing the crosses, or losing the whole thing to the floor. It wasn't pretty. I actually totally scrapped the first attempt, but I probably didn't need to. Once I awkwardly transferred it, the cross sticks held the cross firmly but everything else was completely entangled and criss-crossed. Now I think that I would have been fine - by the time I tied my heddle I could have had them straightened them out. 

 

My second attempt (with a thicker yarn) is sitting on the table while I figure out the next step - attaching the loom to myself and something else.  

 

Does anyone know of a photo series or video that shows how to transfer?  Thanks!  This is fun and challenging. :)

Comments

Mon, 09/05/2011 - 12:52

tobytottle (not verified)

Hey Karri! Nice to have you here! I can tell you now, my first attempts at backstrap weaving failed miserably at this stage! I still wonder about the very best way of doing it, but in my experience the best thing is to just try to ease the warp off onto the loom rods as best you can, with one rod in each hand. It can be really tricky! Particularly with wider warps! You essentially have to drag them off the warp stakes using the loom rods, that's what I've been doing anyway. I find that a few warps will jump over each other and get crossed at this stage, which is ok as long as you make sure they're in the right places when it comes to creating your heddles! If in doubt, refer to the cross as to which warp should sit where! My advice would be start with a small number of warps, say 10 or so, and be patient with it! I don't know of any links or photos i'm afraid. Laverne will probably have something! If not, I'll take some photos for you!
Mon, 09/05/2011 - 15:29

bolivian warmi

Hi Karri (and Toby!),

Karri there are some videos here which show warping and transferring the warp to the loom bars.

Once you have wound your warp, secure the cross with sticks rather than string as they help spread the warps. Secure the sticks with rubber bands or tape. Tie string around the two warps ends...imagine the string is replacing the warping stakes. Tie them loosely so the warps are not bunched up together.

If I have only a few ends like 15 as you mention above, I just slide my index fingers into the warp ends and slide the warp off the stakes using my fingers as replacement "stakes". Lay the warp down on a table and slide the loom bars into the warp ends. If the warps crossed or overlapped in the process, it doesn't matter as long as your cross is in place. 

Once the warp is tensioned you can straighten out the ends on the near loom bar. I lift every single warp one by one and place it on the loom bar in its correct position but you dont have to be that precise! I do that if I want a third selvedge. If I am having a fringe at the start, I don't go to that much trouble. If the ends are messy on the far loom bar, it does not matter that much. Just straighten out any major overlaps and cross overs and spread the warps along the bar to the desired width of your piece.

When winding a wide warp, you can twine a length of yarn around groups of ten or so warps and that will help keep them in order when you transfer the warp to the loom bars.

The warps will still overlap and cross a bit but there will be less straightening out to do in this case. Again, as long as your cross is in place, all is well.

I like to slide my loom bars into the warp ends while the warp is on the stakes (you will see that on the video) and then just slide the whole thing off directly onto the bars.

Let us know how you go.

 

 

Mon, 09/05/2011 - 15:51

kstover

Thank you for the tips!  Yes, it was a little frustrating, but at least now I know that a few crossed warps won't ruin the project as long as you get them straigthtened out before weaving.  Laverne, thank you for the link and advice.  I'll be warping a larger project today, so I'll let you know how I fare this time.

I posted a pix of my first backstrap loom project.  You can see my warping board - an overturned side table.  Of course it had to be the super heavy stone topped one!  But it's sturdy.  Then you see how the warps got a bit messed up even on my second try.  Fortunately it was very easy to separate them since the sticks held well during transfer. 

I made a few inches of band last night, and I'm so pleased!  You can see where I was timid about the selvages at first, but I eventually started being a bit bolder about tugging them in nice and snug.  I'm not even sure what I'm making. Maybe a belt for my daughter.  Or, if it's too small, a headband.  Who knows. I'm weaving!

Mon, 09/05/2011 - 16:38

bolivian warmi

Thanks so much for the pictures! It helps a lot to be able to see the problem you are trying to describe but it looks like you have it all under control now. Now, it is just practice, practice, practice. I am glad you are having fun with it!

Some people make very long warps thinking that they need to make one that justifies all the effort but I think that short and narrow warps are better. You need just as much practice with warping and setup as you do with weaving.

Keep us posted.:-)

Tue, 09/06/2011 - 22:07

kstover

I finished the small strap, and proceeded to warp a small flap bag to attach it to.  It was a little less messy transferring this time, but I had the idea to try strips of masking tape to hold everything in place next time. That might just make a worse mess. I guess I'll let you know! :)

I had SUCH a hard time getting this piece set up and started!  I wanted one edge without fringe and one with, so I followed the instructions to slip an end onto a knitting needle.  This was serendipitous - I was trying to figure out what to use in place of one, since I don't knit.  The extra sticks I have are too thin to be trusted with much tension.  Then, a knock at the door brought my friend, who saw my Facebook postings about starting to weave, and she had a bag full of cotton yarn and some extra knitting needles! Yay!

Well, that thing took a while to tie down properly. It kept slipping around. I wasn't used to the longer warp, and everything kept getting wonky.  I spent almost four - yes, four! - hours just warping and tying it all up! LOL  Then, feeling a bit more comfy, I started weaving only to have the heddle completely jam up after two or three rows.  I made a new heddle. Same problem. New one with another yarn - two hours later - same problem again.  I couldn't get the shed to open at all. I gave up. The next day, the problem persisted and I almost scrapped the project.  Then I remembered - practice, practice ;) - so I very carefully tied a new heddle. I watched the videos again.  This time, I fanned out the ends opposite me, I stopped moving the heddle back and forth across the warps so much, and mostly importantly, I learned to lean IN when lifting the heddle, then lean back slightly when working the shed stick (sorry, I still don't know all the technical terminology) so that I could get the warp strings to  separate. 

Anyway, all of that slightly off-topic stuff to say that after a few days, I found myself this past hour sitting comfortably with my loom for the first time, weaving steadily and easily, although very slowly.  Tying all those heddles in frustration has cut my tying time in half. And I've learned that there doesn't have to be much movement in all the parts, just enought to clear the shed. :)  

Still working...

Wed, 09/07/2011 - 00:25

bolivian warmi

This is such a wonderful post. Thank you so much for taking the time to write all this. See how much you have alreday learned!! There is a lot of information to take in all at once when you start out...impossible to remember it all... and you have taught yourself some of the major lessons by just doing it and not giving up...good for you!

BTW I have not found knitting needles to be good for creating that third selvedge. I was lucky enough to find some steel ones here but regular knitting needles are usually too weak (and slippery as you say). You might want to try a bicycle spoke. Apparently there are thin ones for child size bikes that are good. The slightly thicker ones are okay too or, if you can't get those, a piece of sturdy coat hanger wire will do. It's a bit thick for my liking but then that also depends on what size yarn you are using. Best of all is piano wire if you can get it.

Weave on!

 

 

Wed, 09/07/2011 - 03:19

kstover

Laverne,

 

Thank *you* for being my long-distance teacher. :)  

I finished the bag tonight.  I will post a few pictures tomorrow.  I'm mostly pleased with my first effort, which is very pink and fringey at my daughter's request. It's her bag.   Anyway, I dropped some warps at the beginning, and couple times throughout, so I have to watch for that.  Also, I have some questions regarding finishing, but I'm going to look for videos to see if I can get my answers before asking here. 

The knitting needle was fairly large gauge, and it left quite a gap.  I hope the shrinkage will fix that problem, but I'll try to find something thinner for the next project where I want the same clean edge.  

Also, the whole thing was not woven very compact.  There are areas where I can poke my finger through if I try hard enough.  Again, washing and shrinking will take care of that.   Actually, I'm amazed I came through with anything usable after all the starts and stops, etc.

Thank you so much for your help, all of you who have answered my questions so far, and especially you Laverne for your wonderfully instructive videos!   

Next up, my backstrap! :)

Sun, 10/02/2011 - 11:56

Aunt Janet (not verified)

Good perserverance!  Nice bag, too.  I'll bet your daughter gets a lot of use of that bag.

I like to use a long weaving needle for the third selvedge.  It has an eye to pull the thread through.  If it is a little thick for the thread, I might put a double or triple thickness of thread through on the needle.  It makes the edge thicker, but helps take up the slack where the needle was.