Tying On

The next step in preparing to weave is "Tying on"...It really involves two parts--tying on and the winding on.  The tying part happens at the front and back end of the warp.

What you see here is the back beam with the warp wound on.  First you tie all those loose ends that you saw yesterday around  a rod, then roll it on straightening and tidying the ends as they go through the reed and the heddles.  

This part can be tricky, but if you've wound your warp well, sleyed and threaded accurately (i.e. no crossed threads) it should "shake out" and get even as you go. 

I kind of think of it as carefully untangling really really long unruly hair (since I have rather unruly hair I guess that's why I think of it that way).

One thing about the Harrisville loom that I like a lot is that the shafts are not stable front to back.  They'll give a little when the warp is winding on and that protects from breaking warp threads.

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And that's where I'm going with today's analogy.  In so many things with my life right now, I'm realigning the threads as I know them.  Sometimes this makes me very anxious and insecure.  I'm learning that while I may have expressed some emotions I kept others (the "bad" ones) hidden away.  I'm letting them out now because I'm learning that you can't really build appropriate boundaries and have healthy relationships unless you're willing to recognize when things aren't perfect.

Ummm...that's really hard...and it scares me...and it makes me want to run and hide and then I get all tangled up...so...I shake myself, let myself cry if I need to, hug the cats (Zora participates with this better than Pearl) and get back to winding on.  

It's a good thing because what I'm going to show you tomorrow, the prepared loom, is that thing that I'm striving for.  I'm not near there yet...my threads have gotten very unruly but nothing is unmanageable.