And the loom is warped!

When last I left you all in my warping process I was threading the heddles on my loom. This took awhile. Really. About 6 hours all told. Each thread needed to be pulled through its individual metal heddle, which will control when I raise up that thread during the weaving process. But I tell you what: I quickly found that I need to get my eyeglass prescription updated. The light helped, but I still needed to focus that closely. Yes, yes, I'll call the eye doctor soon.

But eventually, I did manage to get all 1020 threads put in their place.

And then, I tied them on to the back apron rod.

And with a friend's help cranked all 14 yards of thread onto the back beam, under nice even tension. It will wait there until I'm ready to use it.

I've never had someone help me with the beaming process before, but I've heard it is easier so I thought I'd give it a try. I had Brian man the back beam, turning the crank and inserting sticks in between the layers of thread. I was around at the front of the loom, keeping the threads from tangling and evening out the tension. It only took us about an hour to beam on the warp, which I think is about half of what it would have taken me alone. So, cranking on the warp is in fact easier with two people. Thanks, Brian!

Now, I've finished up the rest of the fiddly warping bits this evening. With any luck, I can start actually weaving tomorrow. Yes, that is right. I'm 15 hours into this project, and now I can 'start' weaving. Folks don't realize that by the time you're throwing the shuttle back and forth, you're already half way done with the project, and all of the creative planning and figuring is already done. Now, if everything goes smoothly, I get to sit back and just enjoy the rhythm of the loom, watching the fabric finally form under my fingers.