Hi Julia,

As you missed three threads and plainweave is a two thread sequence, adding in the three threads will throw off the plainweave sequence. But don't despair, you can just go in the other direction with the correction that needs to be done. So use repair heddles to bring in the three forgotten threads, then rethread from the repair heddles back to the beginning, which you said you were close to.

Alternatively, you could just hang those three threads off the back beam and pretend they never happened. If they aren't absolutely necessary for width or patterning, you can just ignore them. Your choice.

Happy weaving!

Hello That Logan Chick- I have wondered before about how leaving threads within a warp hanging from the back of the loom doesn't affect the tension of the threads close to them in the warp....I can't quite explain why I think this might cause problems, but maybe you can explain why it doesn't! Thanks. :-)

It actually does, not at the beginning of the warp but as you get near the end, yes, the tension of any connecting threads can be impacted. To that end, put a tension on those hanging threads that is about equal to the tension you have on your warp, to keep everything in balance. I personally don't bother with tensioning threads hanging off the back until within a couple of yards of the end of the warp. At that point I will wrap the offending threads around an empty yarn cone core for weight.

As you come to the very end of the warp, any live loops on the warp rod that are connected to the threads off the back will have their tension affected by the hanging yarn weight and position. But I have woven like this successfully until the warp rod was on a few inches behind my heddles. It's just a matter of keeping an eye on what is happening at the back every time you advance your warp.

So, yes, your gut feeling is correct. In a long warp, you don't need to worry until nearly the end. In a short warp, you need to start controlling those threads with tension / weight right away. Just another quirky detail to add to your weavers' arsenal of tools and knowledge!

Thanks very much for that information. Makes total sense and that's another little niggle removed from my brain! Hurray! Your message to Julia saying 'Don't despair' is also excellent advice for all weavers I suspect....and of course the source of hope is always to be found on this forum!! Thanks for all the advice and help you provide on it. :-)

Julia, you might want to read the reply to Katherine, above, re tensioning the threads you are going to hang off the back of your back beam. It has information that might aid you as you get near the end of your warp.