Case of the crossed heddles

Well my current warp on my floor loom has been very instructive. It started off great with a reed sleyed in 2 days. Threading went very smoothly. Beaming while time intensive due to use of weights, went relatively well. There were a few crossed threads but easily fixed by resleying with the gal next door. It wasn't until I actually started to weave that real issues came up.

Not sure why I did not have the problem until about 1/2 inch into weaving (and after the header was in too) but all of a sudden shaft 15 would not cooperate at all. I did finally figure out that the issue was when the evens were up for tabby. Problem seemed to be with the cables as the cable for shaft 15 kept getting slid over with 14 on the right side (as facing) of the loom.

Hum, I thought maybe this has something to do with my issues with 14 not rising, an issue I've been trying to solve for over a year. I took a good look at the cables and discovered that they were further forward on the left side than the right. As I bought the loom used, these came that way.

So I managed to get them moved back and way more in line with the ones on the left. Working at the top of the castle is not fun but it got done. I fired her up and tried out some tabby. Noooooo, and other choice words were soon to be heard. It was late and the issue was still there. Back to the drawing board so to speak.

I finally dug back there and looked at the heddles on the left side. Wait a minute, that looks like one from shaft 14 is on 15. I folded up the loom so I could get back there and straighten them out. Not sure how that happened other than when I shifted some outside the cables to even out the weight. Got these straightened out and fired her up again. Yippee!! Now my loom was working again.

But the tale is not fully told. Remember my issue with shaft 14 not rising properly. Well it was not just 14, 10 and 2 were also big culprits. Next day I start weaving. The shafts did not usually start dropping until 10-20 minutes into weaving. Eleven minutes in and all is well. Twenty-one minutes in and all is well. Wait a minute, 30 straight minutes of weaving and no dropped shafts. A miracle has occurred.

Next day, 30 minutes of well behaved loom. I begin to think that the shifting of the cables on the castle fixed the dropping shaft problem. Midway the second tea towel, I am beginning to think I really have solved the problem. Now I hope I have not jinxed it by telling you it was fixed. My towels are looking great and hopefully will be done next week.

One finished another begun

My SoySilk (tm) Chenille scarves are now completed. I love the way they turned out. Such a beautiful mix of colors - real eye candy in pastels. The feel is so soft and cuddly I want to curl up and snuggle them. Thinking this might make a good stuffed animal yarn if it is sturdy enough. The picture above is the final product.

Meanwhile I got a warp going on the floor loom for some nice "German Birds Eye" towels. Good old Margurite Davidson comes through again. I get more inspiration and use out of that book of drafts. The towels are in production but not enough good light to get good photos. More on that later.

Soy Chenille Fun

Oh boy is this ever fun. I am weaving up some Soy Silk Chenille. It is in a glorious color way which has all the colors of the beach. It in no way feels like sand on the beach. It is so soft and cuddly. I'm in love and cannot wait to get them off the loom and wet finished. This is what weaving is all about for me - soft yarns and marvelous colors. More on this when the scarves are finished.