Warping the Spear's Size 4 Weaving Loom: First impressions and Planning.

I've been scouring the web, trying different word combinations, trying to find either a video tutorial or just a plain print one for this loom with not a lot of luck. A lot of people post photos of projects completed on this loom, and I've come across blogs that discuss getting one of the Spear's looms in a variety of sizes, but not one that discusses in detail how to go about warping the Size 4 with the rigid heddle.

First of all, I've misplaced my instruction manual. I read it when I first got the loom, of course, but I didn't find it very helpful. Someone posted pictures of the size 4 instruction booklet on Flicker, and I read the instructions again and found my original opinion to be correct. It was difficult to understand. I know why I'm having difficulties, but that doesn't help. The instructions fail to detail how to tie on the warp...at least, I'm having difficulty figuring them out.

I am in the process of warping the loom. I'm using warp from a project that I had abandoned and cut off a different loom. I didn't measure it...I think the strands are around 5 feet long. I don't really care how long it is. The purpose of this project is so to give the fourth graders at a local elementary the experience of weaving during a "pioneer living" day.

The loom itself was originally sold as a toy. The box says that it has a 16 inch weaving width. The front and back beams have "teeth". That is, there are grooves or slits cut into both beams. The beams are identical. They are also not smooth, which is a problem if you have a hairy yarn that snags.

A heddle is a warp lifting device. It lifts a group of threads at one time so you can weave more efficiently. Most simple rigid heddles will have a slot and hole construction. Think of a picket fence as the heddle. There are spaces in between each picket post. Those are the slots. Imagine each picket board with a knot hole in the center and you have the idea.

The wire heddle has twice as many spaces as the beams. This means that you have to put two threads in each of the "teeth" on the beams. One of the two goes through the wire loop and the other goes in the space in between. There will be 168 warp threads then, if you use the original heddle and if you use the teeth on the beams. Since I'm using Paton's Classic Wool, the beam teeth are full. If you had a thinner yarn or thread, it wouldn't be so bad.

So those are my impressions, so far. I will take photos to show what I'm doing and keep you posted.

If you want to ask questions, leave me an e-mail so I can get back with you. Thank you, Jackie and Angela for posting comments on previous blog entries!