Okay – I’ve gotten to start warping the Leclerc and I thought I would blog for my own journaling sake, but also to solicit all the tips I can get. It’s working so far, but I am certain I am not working in a conventional way. So, I apologize upfront to any and all that I might shock or offend ;-)
First off, I’ve chosen a “simple” warping project. On one of my walks with Shadow I came across a large pile of bamboo that had been cleared from someone’s yard. James was kind enough to go with the trailer and help me bring it home. Then he also started with taking off branches. It’s been slow going. They are rather tough, so we do a few here and there. With all the rain, I did get the leaves cleared off of them.
I can hear you now – what does that have to do with warping a loom??? My plan is to make an outdoor wall hanging or rug for the front porch. With the introduction of the loom, I knew this could be a good means of getting the job done. So the warp I bought was a thin nylon with a number of colors from the bamboo. My intent is to have warp every 3 inches along the length to let the bamboo shine through.
So I got all the instructions I could find – including those online.
I started filling up the warping board. Shadow was fascinated with the spool flying around in the basket! He wasn’t always this calm – of course it wasn’t moving while I took the picture! We still made it! 
I did use the rattle I had made. Tommye Scanlin shows on her website using the reed as her rattle. Once I had everything spread, I realized at that moment her great wisdom. I had the bar from the top apron through the loops. I wanted to start from there to let gravity help me through the heddles and the reed, but how was I going to to attach it to the bar on the loom and keep the warp spread in the rattle??? I resorted to putting a “cap” of painter’s tape over the nails around each group. So I was able to pull without losing all the work I had just done.
What I’ve done is place 4 warps in a group and spaced those groups out every 3 inches. My thought is to have the two outside warps in one harness and the two inside in the other. I have bamboo blinds that are warped this way. 
Now hopefully this weekend we’ll get to the heddles and reed!
6 comments:
I'm still sort of confused about what you're doing....but I see bamboo and yarn and warping. I'm sure it will be cool - and I'll understand at some point.
My one tip is that I usually use rubber bands to hold stuff on the raddle. You can twist the rubberband every few nails (just twist once) and it's pretty secure - at least in the way I use a raddle. And overlap the end of one rubber band with the beginning of the next. Hope that makes sense.....but since you're dressing a tapestry loom it might all be different.
Have fun!!!
Sue
PS: Gotta love a hubby who will bring home a huge amount of wood found in the forest! I once got Jim to do something similar with a lot of birch bark from a tree that fell in a storm.
What a super idea! Isn't it wonderful when a found object can inspire something completely creative. I can hardly wait to see this come together.
I use tape sometimes too to hold everything in it's spot on the raddle. The hoop raddle I have I just run a stick through, although from what I can see, you are warping what would be considered front to back if the loom was horizontal instead of vertical? It's a beautiful loom and I love the colors you've chosen to pull out the variations in the bamboo.
Sue - oh - rubber bands make perfect sense and I have pile of them!!! The mail for a while came with one every day! Thanks! You are probably like me and need to see it visually to know what I'm doing. I've got the benefit of the blinds, I'll see if I can get a good pic of them.
Theresa, I am excited about using the "found" objects. It wasn't long that ne home owner asked if I had gotten enough bamboo and directed me to where more is! We'll see if this works out. I'm thinking this is back to front warping if it were horizontal. The finished weaving would wind up at my feet below the reed. I've wound the warp up on the top apron for not to make the threading shorter for the heddles and reed. I think once it's through there I may need to wind to the bottom apron and back to get the spacing right on the top apron. Like I said, I'm not sure this is conventional, but it's working so far!
This is a very exciting project, I love the idea of weaving with nylon and bamboo! I look very much forward to see the work in progress.
I was anxious to know exactly what you are weaving and by the comments I am guessing bamboo blinds? Are you leaving the bamboo whole and green, that would be cool but I guess it would age to brown. Good luck, wish I had that loom, not that I would know what to do with it...
Lauren - I am leaving the bamboo whole and I'm not sure what colors it will turn with time. Some have turned quite golden, but the larger they are the more they have stayed green. The piece when it is through will end up as a wall hanging or a rug depending on how the bamboo holds up. I have a feeling it will end up hanging.
The loom is new to me and I really have no idea what I am doing, but I'm learning each time I work with it. Tommye did have one like it available on her blogsite. And I do know of another if you are serious!
Jennifer
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