And had to go online to find the other post--I must have deleted it for some stupid reason.
But here it is, from just 6 weeks ago. Shows how busy my April was--I was looking for this message before Christmas! Holly Yes, you can take a warp off because of tension problems, then rebeam it--I've done it a number of times over the years :) Cotton is a good choice. Many others, like linen or silk, would have stretched differing amounts and could be permanently ruined because they're very inelastic compared to cotton. Don't chain it, though, that can just add to the tension problems. In the future, use choke ties to keep warps from tangling while they await use. For the moment, secure the warp somewhat loosely as you take it off, with bow ties or the like. I'm assuming you have attached one end of the warp to your warp apron rod--don't take that end off the loom. Release the brake, and pull the warp off gently, slowly, allowing the warp to pile in front of the loom, over the breast beam. I would loosely gather the warp in a tie every yard if a shortish warp, every two if over 10 yards long. If your warp is over maybe 15 inches wide, tie each half separately. This is just to help keep it in order, not to provide tension. Keep doing this until all the warp is off, but still attached to the warp apron rod. If you hadn't already sleyed and threaded, find your cross and get the lease sticks back in, and tie them so that they are between the back beam and the shafts, and will stay put about halfway between. If you have a raddle, attach that in a convenient place (I put mine on the castle), and spread your warp in it (again, if you hadn't threaded and sleyed). If you hadn't threaded, and you don't have the cross still, then use the bouts of warp on the warp apron rod to help you 'manufacture' a loose cross (doesn't have to be one end at a time--I frequently wind my warp with a cross of 8, sometimes more, ends at a time). Next, hopefully with another person helping, you start winding on again. It will be intermittent. Step one, pull back on the warp to provide some tension. Note loose ends. Comb them out best you can. When everything looks evenly tensioned for a reasonable distance (reasonable defined by the space in front of your loom and your patience while combing :), hold the warp inside the combed section, near the end of it, while someone else winds on. Keep the warp under tension while winding, to keep ends from tangling. When the uncombed section reaches your hands, stop winding on, comb, tension, wind on. Lather, rinse, repeat :) If you can't find a second person to help, then you'll need some other way to provide tension to the warp as you wind on. The best is the trapeze, but next best is a weight on the warp, as far from the loom as possible. If the floor is smooth, a couple large books on each half works OK. I used to use the removable bench top of my weaving bench as a weight before I found out about the trapeze. Weights for working out can be used, or jugs of water (well capped!). Just make sure each part of the warp is tensioned as evenly as possible, so small, heavy objects should be on top of something that will spread their weight across the whole warp--jugs of water on top of a board, for example. This process won't give you back perfect tension, but will help relieve *your* tension enough to get you weaving, at least :)
