Hi Deb, Hi Sandra,

I watched a YouTube video of a woman winding warp using a paddle. She wound on a mill (again, is that the right term) rather than a warping board and it worked beautifully. My experiment with a hair comb and rubber band worked okay, but I'm not sure I want to repeat it. The warping board is much smaller space than the mill. I did find the area where I'm most like to goof (making the turn at the bottom as I'm starting back up), so that was helpful. What I didn't like about my pseudo-paddle experiment was that I was so focused on what I had to do to keep winding the threads in the right order (such as DD/L instead of L/DD) that I sometimes made a mistake at the cross. I think that's just part of the learning curve for me, but it was irritating enough that I went back to doing it by hand. I'm pretty comfortable with two threads at a time. Two runs of the beautiful blue and green boucle towels helped immensely with that!

In a response earlier in this thread, Sandra said (paraphrasing) that what matters is that the threads in the cross are correct. So I'm working with two goals: the cross is correct and my hands don't hurt. I noticed that when I use both hands, it's a lot easier - one to hold the threads separate and the other to guide them in.

I have to keep reminding myself that I'm a beginning beginner and I'm going to make boo-boos and have to fix them. Eventually, I'll find a way that works comfortably for my older body. Meanwhile, I'm getting a lot of skill at untangling knots.

Cynthia,
I watched a video of a paddle, too. The woman had a horizontal mill which is different than my vertical one, but it was helpful. So much so that I got my husband to make me a paddle. After looking them up I noticed that a lot of them are made with the same material that they use to make variable dent reeds for rigid heddles. I have one of those and all the different sized sections. So I gave him a section and he made this, which I haven't tried yet as he just finished it last night:
[url=https://ibb.co/Xtvdzxv][img][/img][/url]

Hi Deb,

Oh, that's a nice warping paddle. I tried using just the little rigid heddle section. It wasn't as comfortable as I had hoped.

Then, I had another idea. I have a wide-ish tooth comb. I threaded it for the five thread bouts. I left a space between the threads. After I threaded it, I secured the threads with a rubber band. It worked pretty well. I still had a lot of problems with the warp because I was so focused on the thread sequence that I did the bottom turn wrong a couple times and had to unwind and rewind . I like using the comb because it had a handle and I liked that I could take the rubber band off and access the threads if I needed to without having to cut them first.

I wound the warp on the back beam by myself, using books for weights as Jane showed in Season 1. Tomorrow I'll thread the heddles and sley the reed. Today is the first time I've wound on with warping sticks instead of paper. It sure was easier than using paper, especially for solo warping. I hope they work as advertised.

I'll take a picture tomorrow of my comb and rubber warping paddle. It gets the job done, but I still would like to work on doing it all by hand.

I have one of those combs, too, Cynthia. I even tried it for a second but hadn’t thought of rubber bands. Good idea.
As for paper, you need to see what my hubby rigged on the back of my David. It’s posted under loom hack, but here’s the link.
It works great and I never have to mess with it. All I have to do is tape the ends so it starts out straight.
https://www.schoolofweaving.tv/forums/miscellaneous/57416-loom-hack-for-paper-roll-management

OMG!! Help is really needed.
I warped 8 (yes 8) yards for the color and weave gamp. I was concerned about the DDDD/LLLL section, thinking the idea of two threads, then 4 threads would be a problem and after wrapping the whole thing on, I was right! on my cross ready to thread the heddles, the threads are not in the correct order, not even the correct groups.
I would love suggestions on how to handle this- the simplest of course, is to leave it as is, thread it as it comes from the cross and have a different color and weave gamp.
Picture coming: https://ibb.co/LhhW41J

Hi Anne,
In a word, YIPES!

Jane said that as long as you move threads within the same group, it's okay. I'm trying to remember which lesson that was. I just checked. It was midway through Season 1 Episode 2, Lesson 4 (1.2.4) at 14:38. I'd better watch it again, too, before I start threading the heddles.

I'm a beginner, so I don't have anything to suggest from experience. Well, one thing to suggest from the experience of being moderately right-left dyslexic. I sometimes put my warp chains on the warp rod and when I get to the loom, I've reversed the order. For example, I have 3 chains, labeled 1, 2, and 3, and put on the rod in that order with attention to which side of the chain is the beginning of the wind and which side is the end of the wind. And it looks good at the back of the loom. But when I get to the front of the loom to start threading the heddles, the pattern is exactly the reverse. I'm mentioning this because if you are looking for D/L sequence to thread first and you have D/L/DD/L first, that could be the problem.

I have my fingers crossed for you that it all works out okay and for me that when I start threading, I start with D/L "couplets."

Good luck!

Hi Anne,
I just came upstairs after a long afternoon of warping. I've looked at the picture you attached a couple times. It sounds like maybe you're going to play around with it since it's on the loom and ready to go. The L-LD-D sequence in the photo could be a cool design element in towels (and the holidays are coming). It could also be interesting to weave it as threaded and then weave it as for the gamp. Heck, with eight yards, you might have enough for a very cool summer shirt.

I'm not making light of how disappointing it is to have a warp that has a mind of its own. I tend to stomp around and then cry. It won't be the exercise gamp exactly, but I bet you make something pretty cool with it.

Kindest regards,
Cynthia

My makeshift warping paddle:
https://ibb.co/CQ40hmg

Well. I FINALLY finished the Color & Weave Gamp, and I have to say it was a lot of fun. At first I wasn't sure I wanted to do it, but I'm glad I did. I learned a lot. I did some experimenting after the gamp, which I will take pictures of after they are hemmed, and this is not wet finished yet.
[url=https://ibb.co/7pDLqxc][img][/img][/url]

Deb, the gamp is lovely!!!!!!

I had some family issues last week. I'm hoping to get back to the loom a little later in the week, maybe even a couple hours this afternoon if I get caught up on all the things I had to put aside last week.

Wow, it's very inspiring!

Thanks, Cynthia! :)

Great Looking Gamp! I loved the feel of that weave when I finished it. I made 5, as a set of napkins.

Ohh, napkins. Great idea! Thanks, Barbara. I hope to get back to warping tomorrow.

For some silly reason I keep forgetting about napkins! It’s a great idea!

I want to share what happened when I tried twill treadling on my color and weave gamp. There are some really interesting patterns going on in there.
[url=https://ibb.co/37H59m7][img][/img][/url]
And I must have run out of warp because I missed doing the last one. 🤔