What did we do before the Internet? And YouTube? And fiber friends?

One of the things I *hate* about weaving is warping. My back aches from bending over the loom, I have trouble getting an even tension across the warp, and invariably the yarn leaps off the warping peg just when I am almost done. Then there is the winding onto the back beam, the threading through the holes of the heddle, and the tying onto the front beam. And if one doesn't do a decent job warping, the weaving does not go well.

Enter two weavers and their wonderful methods for tackling warping. A fiber friend turned me onto Amy D. McKnight and her videos about hybrid warping. Instead of a warping peg, she uses a warping board, to direct warp her rigid heddles looms. Little Looms highlighted a video by Sara Goldenberg that describes a fool-proof method for tying on. Between the two of them, warping a scarf on my 24-inch Ashford was a relative breeze.

But first. The drafting table that my SO helped set up in the studio came in handy for weaving prep. I was able to attach the swift and ball winder on one side of the table and clamp down the loom and warping board on the other side. Very handy. The table is higher than any of my other tables, which made warping a bit easier on my back.

For my first project after surgery I chose a simple, plain weave scarf, which uses a 2.5' warp length. A length of nylon cord helped me determine the path the warp should take through the warping board.

Then one just follows the path while warping. Easy peasy! Amy includes in her 3-part hybrid warping videos her method for winding onto the back beam without needing another pair of hands. An added bonus is her method provides an even tension across the warp.

In Sara's video, she explains how she uses rubber bands to hold the rigid heddle and front beam steady while tying on. And she has a special method for tying on that allows one to maintain that even tension from winding on.

So, I'm weaving again! This is a rather narrow project (could have used the SampleIt, but it still has a project on it), so I am curious as to how well these techniques will "scale up" for something like cotton towels. Instead of dreading it, I am looking forward to trying it out.

Knitting: Still inching up the legs of the socks. I knit a bit everyday, usually in the morning while digesting breakfast.
Spinning: I finished spinning one of the silk/merino/tencel braids, will ply it today (probably). There is another braid, but I am going to wait until I knit up the first batch, to see if I want to try something different.
Weaving: See above. Plus I (finally) managed to knit the two blanket panels together; now I just need to add a knitted border to two sides.

This weekend was the Jay County Fiber Arts Festival, but I chose not to go this year. I looked up classes at other upcoming fiber festivals and just can't get excited about any of them. And we all know I don't need any more fiber. But I reserve the right to change my mind.