How this project of mine turned out if anyone wants to read it :-)
First, thank you to all who offered words of encouragement and advice. I have learned my lesson about sizing warps before winding. I finished the shawl yesterday, including washing and wet finishing. I learned several things from this project. * Softly spun singles make lousy warps. * I need to think about the use I want to put a yarn to rather than just thinking about the color. * White glue (Elmers) diluted with 2 parts water and applied with a paint brush lets you add sizing while on the loom. * I need to invest in a temple, does anyone have any recommendations? (no religion jokes please) * If I'm going to try to weave the full width of my loom, I need to take the extra heddles off. * Floating selvages are not worth the hassle, at least for this project. I'll put pictures up as soon as I can. As much of a pain as this warp was, I think the shawl turned our very nicely. Good thing since it is a gift. John S. _____ From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Holly Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 6:14 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [fibernet] Warp help needed Hi, John :) Sizing helps most *before* the warp goes on the loom, whether commercial or handspun yarn :) Is there a lot of mohair or a longwool with similar properties in the yarn? Those need relatively tight twist to keep them from shredding, even with sizing sometimes. I've heard, but not tried, hairspray and spray starch on warps that are on the loom already--the advantage being they dry very quickly, but I don't know how effective they actually are. Another approach I've heard but not tried is using a bit of dilute water-soluable (Elmer's) craft glue. Dilute it slightly, then rub it into a weak spot on the warp before it has a chance to do more than let you know it's weak, rolling the yarn between your fingers to get all the stray fibers stuck in, and of course let dry before you weave. Then it washes out easily after weaving. Other sizes that are sometimes recommended are flaxseed (never tried, usually said to be traditional for linen), strong milk solution mixed from powdered milk (tried, ineffective), flour/water solution (very hard to rinse out of wool textiles, might be OK on stuff you can machine wash), and Paula Simmons' favorite, hide glue, which I have no idea where to get it unless she sells it. I use gelatin sizing (instructions pasted below--for next time :), on the skeins of warp yarn, and if you're really desperate, you might try applying it to your warp now. But it would be very slow, as you'd have to apply it and let it dry, then gently gently open each shed to separate the yarns (which might make the hairiness worse, not better, alas), before weaving the section that's been sized, and repeating for the rest of the warp. I've occasionally seen medieval and early industrial pictures of looms with warps on them that have a bucket and other evidence suggesting liquid sizing is being applied as the warp is unwound from the beam. I don't know what they used, or whether they wove with it wet or not. Seems unlikely; but then there's no indication of what the fiber is, and of course linen, at least, is stronger when wet. Wool, however, is weaker when wet. You'd have to be careful of the loom--those made of timbers back in the olden days would be less affected I expect than today's looms of fine, polished woods! Finally, you might find that it's not so bad--that you just had a couple weak parts and the rest will be fine. Or the other extreme--I've cut off several handspun warps over the years because they just weren't spun right to be warp yarns. (No, that doesn't mean warp yarn in general needs lots of twist--another enduring myth!) Depending on the situation and your degree of patience/perseverance, you could struggle through repairing ends that break--you'll never be afraid of a broken end again! Hope *something* of this helps--the last handspun warp I cut off was I guess about 5 years ago, a sample reproducing one of the textiles found in York, England, in digs, of Icelandic tog warp, thel weft. It needed more twist in the warp--need I say more? And taught me that equipment type DOES matter when doing reproduction textile work (a drop spindle would have given the yarn a lot more twist, and perhaps saved me the headaches :) I cut off the 3.5 yard warp after 8 inches of weaving, with at least one broken end in every inch. However, I was able to give the bit I manaed to weave to a scholar in the field, and she was thrilled :) Holly ~~~~~~~~~ I use the gelatin size I first saw mentioned in an old Handwoven, in a recipe by Stephenie Gausted. The ingredients are cheap and easy to find, it's quite effective, and is easy to wash out. I've tried both dry milk and flour sizings, but they were ineffective and very hard to wash out. I haven't tried Paula Simmons' hide glue, or linseed sizings. 1. Mix 2 packets unflavored gelatin in 1/4 cup cold water. 2. Ad 1 cup boiling water and stir til gelatin is completely dissolved. 3. Add 3/4 cup cold water, and the size is ready to use. If you have some left over, you can store it in the fridge for a few days, or in the freezer pretty much indefinitely. I reheat in the microwave to get it liquid again. Immerse your SKEINS of yarn in the solution. I typically soak a skein, squeeze it out gently, set it aside, repeating til all skeins are saturated. Then I go through it over again. Note I wrote SKEINS :) If you size a warp, it's about impossible to make sure the sizing doesn't pool in the low points, and the strands are so glued together that beaming and threading and weaving are all a real pain. Yes, the voice of experience :) Hang the skeins to dry. If outside on a warm, breezy day, be out there every 10 minutes or less to squeeze out the drippings at the bottom of the skein and rearrange it so the top is at the bottom. If indoors, it's a lot slower, but you'll still need to rearrange the skeins and squeeze out pooled gelatin. I hang indoor skeins in my shower stall to catch the messy drips. Be sure to rinse the floor with hot water so no one slips afterwards. Let the skeins dry completely. Toward the end of the drying time, gently separate as many strands as you can without disarranging the skein. Wind into center-pull balls, and you're ready to wind your warp. To remove sizing after weaving, just soak the finished cloth in hot water. I usually agitate a little, to full as well as remove the gelatin. Then I spin out the water and throw it in the dryer for a few minutes on fluff to take out any wrinkles set in by the spinning. Finally, I dry the cloth draped over the top of my loom. Sizing won't make a poor warp, singles or plied, be better quality. What it does effectively is sort of glue the fibers together so that the warp, even low-twist warp, is unlikely to shred from the changing of the sheds. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
