Help! I didn’t Go Around the Warping Stick!!!

Even the most experience weavers make mistakes. Some are big, some are small, hardly ever are they complete disasters! The first thing to do is take a deep breath and relax. Maybe walk away for a few minutes and settle with a warm cup of tea (tea solves all my weaving woes).

I was teaching a class last weekend, and when we started I asked the students that when they found a mistake, not to unwind to fix it, but call me…because there are lots of ways to fix mistakes without having to undo anything! And, how better to teach than to turn mistakes into teaching moments?

As my students warp, I wander around the room helping as needed, but really, I’m looking to make sure that everyone is getting their cotton wrapped around that back warping stick. It’s such an easy thing to miss but so important to warping! And, if you warp standing in front of your loom, you might miss this until it is time to wind your warp. The first time this happened to me I carefully unwound my warp and fixed my mistake. The second time this happened I decided there must be an easier way! And, of course, there is!

Step 1. Always check before winding to be sure that all the warp ends are wrapped around the back warping stick. Not sure? If you have an end going from one slot/hole directly to the next slot/hole on the reed, you forgot!

Step 2. Grab some scrap yarn (it doesn’t matter what it is as long as you can tie it in a knot)! Insert your finger or threading hook between the reed and the warp and pull it back a little. There should be some give.

Step 3. Loop the scrap yarn through the warp thread and tie the ends together around the warping stick.

Done! It really is that easy. Your warp will not reach all the way back to the warping stick, but the scrap yarn will hold it back and in place so that you can wind and not run into tension issues.

I’ve got a video…sadly my hands are somewhat in the way, but hopefully you can get the idea.