How not to warp a loom

In search of something even more warped than the Israeli government, I finished curtain #1 for the dining room and had to move on to #2. Which means the dreaded warping of the loom.

I have a Kromski rigid heddle (32"), and need a full width warp, about 7' long. Using the built-in warping board just isn't going to cut it.

Step one: set up your warping area.

(Ignore the mess, aside from the lump of red on the left. That's curtain #1, all folded up.)

I have two chairs at either end of the living room, with dowels between, to hold the ends of the warp. Yes, that's my half-brained way of measuring warp.

A loom's eye view:

(Notice how much cleaner one side of the living room is than the other? Hey--you promised you would ignore the mess in the last picture!)

Since the loom is supposed to be in the up position for warping, but since there's no warp tension to keep it there, I had to improvise.

Masking tape is our friend!

Unwrap some of the warp thread from the cone, thread it through the heddle hole, around the back dowel, through the heddle slot, aruond the front dowel, tie off. Lather, rinse, and repeat.

Almost halfway done:

(Pay no attention to the tension problems. Or to the mess on the couch. I couldn't put the laundry away when half the house was blocked off--or warped off. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.)

Steps not pictured: Warping the foot, unwarping the foot. (Of me, not the loom. Why my sandals are so attractive to warp thread is something I'll never understand.)

Herbie fully loaded:


Once you have the loom fully warped, roll the entire twenty gazillion inches of thread back and forth to even out tension. Try not to break too many warp threads as your rolling casues more tangles than a kid with a can of Silly String. (Note: do not photograph the pile of spaghetti you get when your Spouse calls about something unremarkable as you're holding a dowel with your entire warp on it. Cry. Lather, rinse, repeat.) Attach dowels to the back beam and the cloth beams, and Bob's your uncle. (Yours, not mine. Mine's Arnold.)


Aside from some broekn threads and some lingering wonkiness on on cloth beam, es fini Well, aside from the months of weaving to come.