Warping Board and bobbin winder

Once the loom was set up in the studio it was time to dress it. Hooray! Okay, how, precisely do you dress a loom? 

Well, first you have to wind a warp. Cool. How do you do that? 

Well, you can use all kinds of work-arounds (ladder back chairs, clamped broom handles?!?, the hands/arms of patient friends and family) or you can use a warping board. Awesome. Since I don't own ladder back chairs I figured we'd just build a warping board. Easy to find pictures and figure out what size would be good. Plus there was one at the shop where I took my weaving class and I had a photo of that to use too.

There were a lot of pegs to cut and holes to be drilled. Took a while as Chris used oak for the frame and that wood was hard! Had to keep stopping to let the drill bit cool down.

Drilling holes for the pegs

Once all the holes were drilled Chris assembled the frame and banged in the pegs. 

Cleverly protecting the wood floor

Then it was a simple matter to mount to the wall at a comfortable working height.

Screwing in the frame

I can wind 10 yards of warp on this baby. Woot!

I'll oil it this summer when ventilation is better

Videos on YouTube were my salvation here. So many people giving time and energy for us newbies! Seems like it'd be a simple matter to wind on string but there are crosses and counting ties and it's easy to get off track.

Waste yarn as a guide

Not sure if you can see the cross that keeps the warp threads separated but it's there at the top. Then you have ties to keep the warp neat when you cut it off the board, ties that count ends per inch (I was doing groups of 12), and ties that provide assistance when you actually get to put it on the loom. That's a lot of little pieces of yarn! I was nervous about how many strands would fit comfortably on the pegs and took off the first section way too soon. I got better though.

Taking off the first section of warp

Oh! Another thing you need when getting ready to weave is a bobbin of weft. So you need a bobbin winder. These things are ridiculously expensive so Chris offered to build me one. It wouldn't be powered (just hand cranked) but it would work well and it wouldn't cost me a small fortune. Then he had a thought, did some internet research, and saw some ideas on adapting a power drill.

Ta-dah! A powered bobbin winder that works great!

Amazing!

I've finished winding the warp and will now dress the loom. Wish me luck!