False starts

Is there such a thing as tie-up blindness? If so I think I am a sufferer.

A few weeks ago it was the 4CDW liftplan, now it’s the Delta countermarche tie-up. And I haven’t even touched it! I am using exactly the same 1-2-3-2 twill tie-up that I have used for several recent warps, so there is nothing wrong with the way the loom is set up – just with the way I can’t remember how the loom is set up. Sigh.

The key to my difficulty is that I have tied up all 14 treadles, so I kept forgetting where the sequence ‘officially’ begins. I’ve forgotten again now – it’s either treadle 3 or treadle 4 – but fortunately, after two false starts and several trips down to the floor to check, I finally managed to identify the treadling I wanted and start weaving it. Now I just need to keep going. A sensible person would print out a plan of the tie-up and pin it to their loom (or perhaps their face) so that this wouldn’t happen again. I wish I had a sensible person in my studio.

I was worried about the shed being too sticky. I have had the occasional skipped thread on the Megado because I haven’t managed to clear the shed properly, and it was bothering me that the fly shuttle might go cannoning into a stray end somewhere in the middle. However, the shed on the Delta is so enormous that it is given me no trouble at all. At least, I am giving credit to the shed, although the sectional warping may be a positive factor as well. The yarn seems to travel through the shuttle very easily too, which is a relief.

Since starting to use the fly shuttle I have been finding that I get a better edge without a temple, but so far have only been using cotton. The lambswool is more elastic and I have put the temple back on. You can see what a difference it makes:

Meanwhile at home it is that pressing time again.

“False starts” was posted by Cally on 10 August 2014 at http://callybooker.co.uk