Perfection is an Illusion
One of the most important things I do in this life is to manage
expectations for myself and others.
I have one of those type A, overachiever personalities that
constantly strives for perfection, which is never close to reality, but I have
learned that is okay.
In a typical day or week, I get a lot done; however, I have
yet to accomplish everything on my list.
I see weavers, particularly production, baby wrap weavers, routinely beam 40 meters (43.745 yards) on a plain beam and knock them out week to week. This
truly boggles my mind, and I am in awe of them.
Most of my warps are between 10 and 13 yards with fairly frequent
warps between 20 and 35 yards.
Last year, I did a 50.5-yard run of sarong fabric using 20/2
cotton as warp 40-inches wide with a sett of 40.
The weaving gods must have been smiling upon me because it went on like butter. I used the warping square to beam it sectionally with 1-inch sections.
Contemporaneously, I did a second run of more sarong fabric
of 25-yards with the same 20/2 cotton, although this loom had 2-inch sections.
Like the first, it went on smoothly and without issue.
Earlier this year, I decided to repeat the 50.5-yard run of 20/2 cotton for even more sarongs. (In addition to my own friends, I have two daughters with friends, and, as far as I can tell, everyone loves their sarongs.)
However, I decided to use the loom with 2-inch sections,
which meant I would have to beam 80 threads at a time over 2-inches and 50.5
yards long.
As I had encountered zero problems with the other two runs,
I did not blink when making my plans and calculations.
To make it even easier, I decided to pull from 40 spools at
a time on a spool rack, rather than 10 cones on a cone stand. To this end, I loaded
over 80,000 yards of 20/2 thread onto the spools.
Winding the warp sections onto the square was easy, as was beaming them onto the loom.
The first five sections (or 10-inches) went on beautifully
with each section taking about fifteen minutes from start to finish.
The sixth section was a mess for some reason. After 20 or so yards, I had a dozen threads that were hanging loosely from the square.
The further I went, the worse it became until almost all of
the threads were loose.
Unhappy and frustrated, I cut it from the square and pulled
it off the beam.
To be completely honest, I had a moment there if I had had
an ax in my hands, I would have laid waste to the entire studio, I was so completely
undone.
I had no idea what in Hades had happened to cause such a disaster.
Once the mess was gone, I went back to the spool rack and
loaded the square again.
After 20-plus yards, I had another epic tangle due to uneven
threads.
While still frustrated, my fury was on simmer and a false calm
had descended. I was livid, but my tenacity had kicked in, and I refused to let
this chaos get the better of me.
I spent the next two hours pulling the tangles back half a
yard on the square, maintaining tension with one hand, and beaming the warp
onto the loom with the other. It was painstakingly slow, but I did it.
As soon as it was done, I went back to the spool rack and
square again; however, this time, I slowed down and paid attention to
everything I was doing.
Going through the steps, I was certain I had done
everything, just as I had been doing it for the last two years.
For the third time in a row, around the 30-yard mark, the
threads began to sag, and I had another mess.
I wanted to cry, but that only made me angry. So, I spent
another hour and a half pulling the tangles back and continuing.
Then I went to bed.
After work the following day, I went back to the studio and
tried again.
This time, I decided not to adjust the swing of the arm
which held the comb through which the threads passed from the rack to the
wheel. It was my practice to move it slightly to direct the threads onto the
square, something I had done since the beginning when I brought it home
(without issues).
This is how I angled the arm to place the threads where I wanted them on the square:
Yet again, around the 30-yard mark, I began having tension issues again, but they were not nearly as extensive as they had been.
The next time I loaded the square, I made sure the arm
holding the comb was perfectly square and perpendicular to both the square and
the spool rack.
Like this:
Within fifteen minutes I had loaded the square and beamed
the section. Each of the next eight sections went on perfectly.
Everything ran smoothly until I was close to running out of thread on the
spools.
I had calculated to within a cush of 20 yards of how much I needed on
each spool to complete all 20 of the 2-inch sections I needed for this warp.
What I did not anticipate was cutting off and throwing away
one of the sections.
Not surprisingly, I ended up one section short.
My options were to load 50.75 yards of thread onto each of
the 40 spools or to pull directly from cones.
I was well aware the proper thing to have done was to reload
the spools to ensure they pulled off the spools with the same tension as ALL
the other sections; however, I was pissy about the whole thing by then. I went
with the path of least resistance and pulled from ten cones for the last
section.
I made certain the arm with the cone was still square and
perpendicular to both the square and the cone rack.
I loaded the square without a problem.
I was halfway through the 50.5-yard warp when I began to
notice hanging threads again.
After I had beamed 30 or so yards onto the loom, I had another
tangled mess.
I had to beam the remaining warp 23-inches at a time (I
measured).
It is now done.
I fully expect to have tension issues throughout this warp
as I weave. I have already reconciled that every so often, I will have to cut
the cloth and re-lash on.
That is fine.
I knew 50-yards of fabric would not fit on the cloth beam. I had already anticipated having to do this, at least, once.
If I have to do it every ten yards, I do it every ten yards.
Notes:
1) Any additional 50-yard warps will be restricted to the looms with 1-inch sections (Beast, Meg, and Lil Miss).
2) Evangeline with her 2-inch sections is hereby relegated to warps no longer than 30-yards.
3) A pox on the nethers of every single person who has ever said to me I have no patience.
4) Weaving or doing anything well does not mean everything is smooth sailing all the time.
5) Yay me!
Now that all that is behind me, I wonder if I can load 100-yards of 8/2 or 10/2 cotton with a sett of 20 or 24, respectively, onto the wee 24" Meg...
I know I should go ahead and finish dressing the sarong warp on Evangeline, but I am a bit done with that warp at present.
Besides, these delightful napkins are calling my name.
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