Hello.  I am in the process of warping a laceweight alpaca/silk warp back to front and having a devil of a time with the lease sticks.  Does anyone have any suggestions? Should I try to save the crosses of the warp chains and warp front to back?  It never crossed my mind that this could be such a pain.  Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Comments

Sat, 03/02/2013 - 00:20

laurafry

What seems to be the problem with the lease sticks?  Is the yarn 'sticking' and catching?  Do you have the warp weighted in some way?  (A thread under tension is a thread under control.)  Do youi have the sticks really close together?  I find that a finger-width of space between them works 'better' than being really close.  If the threads are sticking, you can turn the leading stick on it's side (so to speak) to help create a shed/space which should help to separate the threads and prevent them from sticking.  But using weight will probably help the most.  Hard to really help when it's not clear what the problem is?

Laura

Sat, 03/02/2013 - 02:15

ilovefiber

Yes, the yarn is kind of binding up in the lease sticks and wants to clump together.  Will give the bigger distance between the stick and turning the leading stick a try.  Thank you so much for your input. 

Sat, 03/02/2013 - 09:31

kerstinfroberg

I don't tie the lease sticks together - I find it so much easier to have them separated. And (forever thanking you, Barbro!) the best way *ever* to do that is to have a loop on each stick. Pictures (and more words) on my website, here.

Sat, 03/02/2013 - 14:13

Sara von Tresckow

You don't describe your lease sticks. If you look at Kerstin's tip, you'll see that her lease sticks are thin and beveled - some looms come with lease sticks that are sort of thick and sq uare. The thick, non-beveled ones do not glide through a warp as well - you might want to replace your sticks if they are not optimal.

Sat, 03/02/2013 - 14:19

ilovefiber

Thanks for your tips.  It worked.  Thankfully I only had a 3-1/2 yard warp.  The wool fibers wanted to stick together so I had to really work it.  Once again, thanks for the help.

Sat, 03/02/2013 - 14:25

ilovefiber

Kerstin, thank you for the info.  I was taught to keep them together and secure them to the castle of my loom.  With that being said, if you have your sticks that wide apart, what keeps the warp from sliding off if you are at max weaving width.  To me, having the sticks tied together ensures that one won't come undone.

Sat, 03/02/2013 - 14:28

ilovefiber

Sara, I looked at mine and they are nicely beveled.  My main problem was the warp threads did not want to release the cross as easily as I am used to (am a mostly cotton weaver).  I did finally get the warp on the loom and learned a lot doing it thanks to all of you.  I appreciate your input on the beveled edges though, as I had never thought about looking for that. 

 

Sat, 03/02/2013 - 17:50

kerstinfroberg

Well, as the cord goes from one end of the stick to the other, the stick will not fall out. It can slide, of course - but so can a pair of tied-together sticks. (In my experience, the risk of sliding is higher for narrow warps than for full-width ones) With tension applied, I don't have problems winding with separate lease sticks. When it comes to threading (and thus no tension on the whole warp), I use a very cheap home-made holder, seen here.

 

Sat, 03/02/2013 - 18:18

laurafry

Which is why I have lease sticks of different lengths.  When I'm beaming a narrow warp, I use shorter sticks.  :)

cheers,

Laura