Preparing to weave

We continue with a tour of the process of weaving. When I am ready to actually weave a planned project there are a number of steps to take before yarns start making fabric. First step is to measure the warp threads - the ones that go the length of the cloth. While I can measure more than one warp yarn at a time, each one must still be measured. This project had 334 warp yarns. Other projects have many, many more than that.

Next the measured warp is chained up (like crochet without an implement). This allows the warp yarns to be transported without causing too many problems down the road.

The warp yarns are spread out to the width needed for the project. To do this I use a "raddle". I bought my weaving equipment when we lived in Switzerland, so my raddle and reeds are in metric rather than English measurements.

The warp yarns are wound onto the back beam, also called the "warp beam".

This is just a start in the process. More another time.