Thoughts while threading the warp through the loom

10/3/16 I have a new project for the loom. It has gradations of lilac purples. It's going to be beautiful.

I was going to make a purse, but I miscalculated the number of warp strings, and there are waaaay too many. I have been trying to decide what I should do since the end of class last Tuesday.

My original plan was to continue to explore double weave techniques (weaving two separate layers of cloth at once) to do pockets and a pick up pattern. The goal for this project was/is to make one continuous piece of fabric that could be folded into a bag form with woven-in pockets.

When I was sleying the reed (pushing the threads through a grate) I forgot that since my project was to be 18 inces wide, I probably shouldn't put the warp bundles all the way across the weaving width of the loom! (36-ish inches!!!) Plus, that isn't even the whole warp! There are six bundles that wouldn't fit in the reed.

If I do the purse, I will have to take out about six to nine inches on either side of the center warps.

If I leave the threads through the reed and continue as is, I could make another double width blanket. I will still have enough warp bundles to make a purse, later.

When you weave, you have to have your plan in advance. You have to measure the threads. You have to have them wound so that they make a criss cross (or just the "cross") like an infinity symbol. that's at one end of the warp. You lay out your threads on the loom and slide the sticks through either side of the cross so you don't lose it. Bad things happen when you lose the cross. You can't weave without it on a modern loom. The cross determines which threads will go up and which will go down so the horizontal weft thread will go where it needs to.

You cannot just throw something together on the loom. The threads must be placed on the loom in order so that the pattern you have chosen to weave will be realized. You must be careful. You must go slowly. If you rush, or are upset when you are dressing the loom, you will make mistakes. You must be calm.