Work 2 - Houndstooth Check Table Runner

Work 1 - - the primitive childlike weaving of incredible unevenness and unintentional loops - - went much better than expected, actually.  Along the way we discovered that part of my issues with keeping an even tension in my work were because our pawls were on the ratchets backwards so the gears kept slipping.  Good thing to discover on a piece of scrap work.

For work #2 I wanted to try a simple houndstooth check using a 2 x 2 pattern (2 warp threads of each colour and 2 picks of each colour, alternating one after the other).   I also wanted to try getting the tension right this time, so I really took my time setting up my warp.  I switched to a 10-dent heddle because the 8-dent heddle was very very airy using my 3/2 mercerized cotton yarn - - I kept the fiber the same as in work #1 because I liked the colours and thought that the red and garnet combination would still have an adequate contrast for the houndstooth. 

I used the single warping peg again this time to help set up the warp, because I thought that trying to play with tension, colour, and a completely new warping method was one innovation too many. 

I am almost certain that I set up my back end of my warp in the most labour intensive way possible, tying off knots on each end of each colour, all the way along the warp assist dowel.  This took literally hours.  I started on Saturday evening and finished Sunday around lunch time.  At first it just felt like it took forever, and then I started to get into a rhythm and the time seemed to pass faster.  Don't get me wrong - - it still took hours, I just didn't mind it as much.

With the pawls on facing the right way and using warp sticks I was able to maintain a nice tight tension on my warp while I wound the warp onto the back beam.  The next step was figuring out how to tie off my warp threads onto the front warp assist dowel.  The first time I set up my loom I used a giant loose bow because I couldn't figure out the knot that would permit me to adjust the tension. 

This time I watched more Tim Horchler videos on warping my loom and I called in an expert: the Nerd.  He was able to figure out the first knot, and he showed it to me.  It was really head smacking time - - it was so easy, a simple overhand knot!  D'oh!

These half knots permitted me to adjust the tension on my warp across the groups of warp threads, ensuring a much more even tension across the whole width of my warp.  It will come as a shock to no one when I tell you that these little knots have a much lower profile than big loopy bows (!), so they caused less bumpiness when I began winding the work onto the front beam.

Speaking of the bumpiness of winding over the knots on the front beam, this time I actually used warp sticks to help hold the finished weave up over the knots as I wound the fabric around the beam, and it helped keep my work much flatter in the working portion. 

With the warp nicely set up it was time to begin weaving, and this is where the fun began.  I am sure all practiced weavers will nod their heads when I say that it took me as long to set up the warp as it took me to weave the entire work. 

I loved the way that the houndstooth pattern wove up.  Once again the boat shuttles and preloaded bobbins work a treat - - it was so easy to swap out empty bobbins for preloaded bobbins as required. 

I started weaving just after lunch and finished weaving the length of the warp and knotting up the fringes by 10.30 pm.  I set up my warp initially across 12" of the heddle, 6" on either side of center.  Coming off the loom the finished work was about 11.5" wide x 45.25".  After washing the work shrunk up by about 8%, so that the new dimensions were 10.25" x 41.5".   

I wasn't trying to achieve a specific width or length because this was still a test project so it was a bit of a surprise to see the dimensions both when the work came off the loom and after washing.  I am beginning to see why we always need to add inches on the warp and weft to accommodate shrinkage and tightening of the woven fabric.

I am more convinced than ever than my next test work needs to be warped using the warping board rather than a single warping peg, to create a longer work.  I also found this work was still a bit airy so I might use a 12-dent heddle the next time I use the mercerized cotton yarn, or I may change to a different fiber. 

All in all I was extremely pleased with the result for work #2.  For another largely test project I thought it went pretty well.  My selvedges were pretty straight and even, the tension regular, and the pattern showed up nicely.  I wished the finished work had been a little bit longer, but that is the limitation of direct warping the loom.