Zoom session from Sunday November 17, 2024 (with sources for handpainted warps at the end)
Cindy Solomon spoke about a technique she learned from Kathrin Weber – how to tie onto a dummy warp. This technique is used to avoid losing too much of your precious handpainted warps to loom waste. You can also use this technique to tie on a new warp to an existing threading to save time in dressing your loom.
A dummy warp is some inexpensive, hard-spun yarn (like 8/4 cotton, 8/2 cotton, or carpet warp) about one yard long. Wind a long enough warp that it will be anchored around your warp beam and won’t slip when you tug on a single end. The yarn should be very strong and not easily breakable. The dummy warp is threaded through the heddles and then sleyed through the reed, with the ends of the warp hanging in front of the reed. Allow plenty of dummy warp to hang in front of the reed to allow sufficient length to tie knots, at least 4 inches.
Take your handpainted warp (or whatever warp you are tying on). Hold the cross in your hand (or on a cross-holder). Take one thread at a time and tie it to the dummy warp, starting at the right. Lay two ends of the threads together (dummy warp and new warp) and tie them with a simple overhand knot. Keep the knots as even as possible (within ½ inch). Make the knots tight and small so they can go through the reed and the heddles when you’re winding on. This will probably look like a yarn tornado (see below), but with a few snaps of the new warp, you can straighten it all out so things will line up and you’ll have a nice even warp, with all the knots in a relatively straight line (see below again).
Open up a shed, preferably in plain weave, so every other thread is up. Keep the shed open by using blocks or books to hold up the shafts that need to be up for plain weave. You’re doing this to help the knots move through the heddles and not get tangled up with each other. Begin to gently wind the warp onto the warp beam. You will need to coax the knots through the reed. Generally, you can tug a small group of knots through the reed, working your way across the warp.
Continue to gently wind the warp, helping the knots go through the heddles. Once all the knots are through the heddles, move your beater so it rests against the front beam.
You can wind on the entire warp, adding warp separator sticks or paper as you go. Do this slowly, watching the beater. When the beater begins to move away from the front beam, this means there are tangles in front of the reed. Go to the front of the loom and shake the warp, straightening out the tangles. Try to avoid combing; some good snaps and shakes should do it. Lay the beater against the front beam again and continue to gently wind on, watching for tangles. This will involve a bit of a dance – wind on for a while till the beater moves, go to the front of the loom, snap and shake to straighten things out, set the beater against the front beam, wind for a while, and so on until you have beauty and order.
You can use the tying-on technique to tie on multiple warps simultaneously, interspersed with one another in stripes (see below) or alternating every other thread. When working with multiple warps, it’s useful to tape the inactive threads of the dummy warp out of the way (to the castle) to minimize confusion. Ultimately, all of the warp chains will be tied on to the dummy warp and wound on together.
Wondering what sort of structure to use? Kathrin Weber likes to use turned taquete because it can show off multiple handpainted warps really well. But really any structure that results in warp-dominant cloth will do justice to handpainted warps.
SELECTED SOURCES FOR YARNS*
Web-Based Shops
Blazing Shuttles
North Carolina, https://www.blazingshuttles.com Kathrin Weber’s shop. Also see “Blazing Shuttles Chatter,” a private Facebook group about Kathrin’s yarns.
Carr Park Artisans
Colorado, www.carrparkartisans Hand painted warps and skeins. Tencel mostly, some silk, blends.
Jane Stafford Textiles
Canada, www.janestaffordtextiles.com Beautiful solid colors, some hand-dyed silk (single colors). Flat shipping rate, so make a larger order to make the most of the shipping cost.
Peacock Yarns
Sweden, https://peacockyarn.com/ Handpainted skeins, various fibers. Slower to ship as most are not dyed until ordered but excellent yarns, varigated, good customer service.
Sanjo Silk
Canada, https://www.sanjosilk.com/handpainted/ Not a wide range of colors, but colors that you can’t find elsewhere that go so well with the handpainted yarns. Spinners might like their products as well.
Shiny Dime Fibers
Indiana, https://www.shinydimefibers.com/collections/painted-warps Wide range of handpainted warps. Also sells undyed yarns to use for your own handpainting.
Syd’s Threads
North Carolina, https://www.sydneysogol.com/ Handpainted warps and hand dyed yarn, inspired by nature.
Etsy Shops
DyeForYarn
https://www.etsy.com/shop/DyeForYarn?ref=shop_sugg_market All silk (mulberry, tussah, papersilk) solids (a little variation) all hand dyed. Beautiful colors! Based in Germany, ships promptly, free shipping.
FlyDesignsYarn
https://www.etsy.com/shop/FlyDesignsYarn?ref=shop_sugg_market Tencel and bamboo – great solid color tencel (wide range that I use with handpainted warps, colors not available at the well known yarn suppliers) and lucious varigated yarns – all hand painted yarns
FiberDyet
https://www.etsy.com/shop/FiberDyet?ref=shop_sugg_market Tencel – handpainted – luscious variegated colors.
Maverickson
https://www.etsy.com/shop/maverickson Hand dyed cotton and Tencel yarn and skeins
Nory Yarns
https://www.etsy.com/shop/NoryYarns Silk, limited but useful solid colors
THREADSbyMegannicole
https://www.etsy.com/shop/THREADSbymegannicole?ref=shop_sugg_market Range of fibers, handpainted
WillowKnits
https://www.etsy.com/shop/willowknits Hand dyed silk yarn
Inexpensive Undyed Yarns
Peter Patchis Yarns
http://www.peterpatchisyarns.com/index.php Inexpensive yarns, a purveyor of mill ends, good for dyeing. Sign up for the email club to get notifications about yarns for sale.
R&M Yarns
https://rmyarns.com/ Another source for inexpensive yarn that can be used for dyeing. Also supplies mill ends.
*Thanks to Karen Kehlenbach and Ann Rader for their recommendations of yarn sources.