Hello,
I had a lot of trouble with individual threads of 8/2 cotton sticking to each-other in the warp chains. It took 2 warp chains to wind the warp and they sat, braided, on a table overnight. The next day when I started to spread the warp in the raddle, I noticed globs of fuzz that seemed to cement threads together. I used needle-nose tweezers and small sharp scissors to carefully open up the blob and free the threads.

I've had this issue before using 8/2 cotton. I'm not sure what's causing the abrasion, especially since the yarn hasn't gone through the heddles or the reed yet. I packed it snugly on the warping board pegs. Could that have caused it to abrade so dramatically?

Thanks for your help,
Cynthia

More trouble...
I tied the warp on the front. It looked tidy and evenly tensioned. I was looking forward to weaving a little bit before going to bed, but I could not get a shed. The cotton threads stuck to each other. When I tried to separate them to manually make a shed, the lower threads were flaccid. Because I had some difficulties beaming the warp, I unwound it a bit in the back to adjust the paper better and get a tighter wind-on. It helped a little bit, but not enough to get a proper shed. The lower threads were still either sticking to other threads or flaccid.

I've had a lot of problems with the two warp braids. I realized that I had the braids in the wrong order and needed to switch them. The were already on the warp rod with the lease sticks inserted and secured to the loom a la Season 1 Episode 2. I carefully opened the lease sticks on the right; removed a braid (the cross ties were still in place, luckily); retied the lease sticks onto back of the loom; untied the lease sticks on the other side; slide the braid onto the warp rod and lease sticks on the left side; retied the lease sticks; and put rubber bands back on the warp rod and apron rod to hold them together. Then I spread the warp in the raddle. Then, I started winding on the back beam. I still had the books on the braids. I ended up holding the two braids in my hand for the last half of the winding because they were pretty much undone by then from all the fussing around.

I've had problems consistently when I try to weave 8/2 cotton, even on a rigid heddle loom. It's very disheartening. I'm not sure what the problem is: maybe the beaming issues last night, maybe the thread sticking to itself. I need to understand what the problem is and if it can be fixed. I know I can warp the loom because the three boucle' warps in Season 1 went on so nicely that I was starting to build some confidence about porting those skills to 8/2 cotton.

I'm open to suggestions as to what went wrong - was it the beaming? If so, would winding it onto the cloth bar (?) and then rewinding on the back be a place to start? I have no idea about the sticking to itself problem. If I can't solve that, I'll have to go back to cotolin instead of cotton.

Thanks for any help. It's really frustrating.

Hi Jane,
I'm embarrassed and grateful that you identified the problem! I just went downstairs and checked. Yep, I went from the warp beam directly into the heddles. I don't know why I did that. I will add notes in red about the thread beam to my warping instruction cheat sheet. (done!)

I'm thinking about the best way to fix it. I'm tempted to wind onto the cloth beam and then see if I can fix the back because the lease sticks are out and I can't get enough of a shed to re-insert them. I can't think of any way to keep the cross tidy without the lease sticks other than the existing threading. Does that sound like a reasonable plan?

The threads sticking together is a problem I've had with 8/2 cotton since I started weaving. I like cotton and would like to be able to work with it confidently and correctly. For this project, I warped with one thread at a time. I did pack the warping board a little tightly, but the threads were still lying next to - not on top of - each other. I was hoping for one warp chain rather than two, but it didn't happen. Normally, I put a stick or something in the top of the chain to prevent running, but I didn't do it this time for some reason. Next time I get one of those little "cotton balls" I'll take a picture and send it. They are nasty! If anyone out there has had this problem, please let me know if you found what causes the abrasion and solution. I'm stumped.

I have a few chores that I need to tend to before I can get back to loom.

Thank you so much, Jane. I'm relieved to know that it was, as the old IBM manuals so aptly put it, "Probable user error."

Hi Jane,
I have a 4-shaft Baby Wolf. I never thought about unscrewing the thread beam. I'll take a look. After all, if it got on there somehow, it should come off. I've been thinking about unscrewing the beater assembly when I warp it because it hurts my back so much to work with it on, even after taking the reed off. The Louet looms look a lot more body-friendly.

Maybe the cotton abrasion is a tension issue from winding. It makes sense since the problem happens before the metal heddles and reed have had a chance to rub against the thread. And, since the problem has happened consistently when I've wound an 8/2 cotton warp. I was trying to wind looser this time, but I'll loosen up a bit more. I'll wind a practice warp and I finish the Asymmetry exercises and see if I can find a better tension before I wind the warp for the Gamp example.

Thank you so much. I know what to try. I need to do some yard work and then get back to the loom. I'll post after I've fixed the warping boo-boo.

Kindest regards,
Cynthia

Hi Jane,
I took a peek at the loom on my way outside a while ago and you are right: I can easily remove the back beam. Whew! I'm still weeding the patch that be home to the indigo seedlings. I need to get them into the ground today. It might be tomorrow before I can fix the loom and start weaving. I can't believe how many times I looked at the loom and never noticed that I can remove that bar. It makes me wonder what else I'm looking at and not seeing. Something to ponder while weeding.

My tea break is almost over, so back to weeding.

Kindest regards,
Cynthia

Hello,
Loosening the warp tension, removing the thread beam, re-inserting the beam under the threads, putting the thread beam back on, and tightening the tension took less time than it did for me to type this sentence. Thank you! Thank you! As if by magic, a shed appeared when I treadled. Whew!

I noticed that the sides were curling up when I was throwing my spreading picks. I fiddled with the tightness of the outer warp bundles and then increased the angle of the thread before beating. Nothing helped. About 2 inches into it, I decided to hem stitch anyway. Then it occurred to me that the first and last thread bundles had more than the 18 ends of all the rest of the thread bundles. The curl flattened out after hem stitching and the fell was okay. Could the extra threads in the first and last thread bundles have caused the curl problem? I'll monitor as I weave (finally!) the first sample. The crispness and graphic qualities of the colors is lovely and exciting.

Kindest regards,
Cynthia

Thank you for your kind words, Jane.

I have to remember that I am learning and mistakes are how I learn. By my count, I should have learned a *lot* this last few weeks.

Kindest regards,
Cynthia