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When the end of October was upon me, I began to panic a little. I had seventy-plus yards on each of the five looms. Thirty-something yards were for baby wraps with a January deadline, rather than a Christmas one, so there was that. However, I was truly beginning to feel the stress overtake me.

Here are the baby wraps, which are well underway:

I sat down and did one of the things I do best: Made a list.

I even went one step further and set up a schedule on the calendar, prioritizing things as I went.

Miss Bobbie needed a warp on her table loom. She is still relatively new to weaving. Since she bought her loom in February, I have been preparing the warp and dressing her loom for her. We have basically stuck to six-yard warps, but over the summer, I snuck an eight-yard warp on her. At the time, she reported eight yards was too much, as the full cloth beam interfered with the beater on her Louet Erica.

Well, in September, I beamed Miss Bobbie’s loom, but did not fully dress it. I drafted tutorial instructions and walked her through how to thread the heddles, sley the reed, and tie onto the breast beam.

It took her a few weeks and she got to the point where she had begun sleying the reed when she encountered a problem. She brought the loom back. It took three hours to get everything straightened out and ready to weave. As I worked on it, she laughed and told me it probably would have taken less time if I had warped it to begin with.

My response was to smile and tell her she really was not a true weaver until she could completely the dress the loom on her own. I advised it would take seven warps for her to feel comfortable with dressing her own loom.

When she brought the bare loom back a week or so ago for a new warp, I cautioned her that I was putting ten yards on it. I also apologized and let her know I would not have time to prepare a warp or beam another one (after this one), until the first of the year.

Fortunately, Miss Bobbie completely understood and could not have been more gracious.

When she returned to collect her loom, she had a ten-yard warp on the back beam, but I had not threaded the first heddle. Not only was she to finish dressing the entire thing, after she wove four or five tea towels, she would have to cut the warp and re-tie onto the breast beam to ensure the cloth beam did not interfere with the beater.

I have every confidence she will be able to do it. She must, I simply do not have time to work on it until after the holidays.

Once I got Miss Bobbie taken care of, I turned to the new loom Evangeline, who had taken up residence in my dining room.

As I need that room for the holidays, her warp needed to be finished, so I could take her apart and get her upstairs.

Her thirteen-yard maiden warp was done in a simple stripe pattern using 8/2 cotton in natural and a deep red.

There is much joy in plain weave. Truly.

She produced a dozen yard-long towels, and I am thrilled with her.

From there, I turned to the Beast who sported a ten-yard warp of fabric for sarongs in 10/2 unmercerized cotton, which I had hand dyed. With a sett of 20, I used 10/2 cotton, both unmercerized and mercerized for the weft. I wanted a loosely woven fabric with nice drape. The fabric remains unwashed at the moment, but I think this will be lovely.

As soon as the fabric came off Beast, I immediately warped him with ten yards of 8/2 cotton in a gradient color way called “Soothe” I prepared back in June.

My daughters enjoy gifting hand towels with home made soaps to their friends for Christmas. I promised them this warp and was anxious to get it going. The plan is to pair the 8/2 warp with 5/2 weft to give a bit more weight to these towels. Reviews from the last two years have been positive.

When I began weaving, plain beaming of warps was how I learned to dress a loom.

Gosh, there is an art to preparing a warp, whether using a warping board or a warping mill.

I am basically self-taught using books and YouTube.

I did not take any kind of weaving class, until I had been doing it for two or three years.

Thus, many tears have been shed over snapped warped thread, tangles, knots, etc. when beaming a warp. While I have yet to burn a loom over the frustrations, I admit to wanting to a time or two.

I much prefer sectionally warping a loom because the tension is superior and I think it is just much easier to do; however, prior to the warping square, sectionally warping a gradient warp was extremely time consuming. (More on the warping square in a later post.)

Imagine my absolute surprise and delight last night when this particular warp went on smoothly and easily in record time with not a single snapped thread.

WOW.

According to my schedule, I had until this coming weekend to finish the sarong warp and get this one beamed.

YAY!

Now, on the list of things to do, hopefully before Thanksgiving, is to finish this warp and make every attempt to knock out the twenty-five-yard warp of Christmas towels on the wee Meg. I am four towels into these.

The next deadline is to not only finish these warps but get everything I have pulled from the looms in the last two months hemmed, washed, and ready to go!

According to my calendar, I am scheduled to go live with my offer of 20 pairs of tea towels for charitable donations on December 1^st!