I hate to see a naked loom; over the weekend I remedied the situation and made a white warp for the erstwhile green-warped loom. This new warp is a combination of three white or near-white yarns: natural hemp, mercerized cotton, and an odd Japanese tapelike yarn composed of four fine threads. The three yarns are held together in the cross and picked at random when threading the heddles.
Warping a loom is one of my favorite activities. Everything about the process pleases me, including using my tools. The hook at the side of the castle holds thread snips, pincushion, and a little bag containing reed hooks.
This tangled forest scene at the top of the shafts should be familiar to anyone who used Texsolv heddles.
We are now warped! Here's the first placemat on the new warp. Networked twill. I plan to replace my personal stock of placemats, which has been used nonstop for the past 25 years and needs refreshing.
A closer look. Those reed marks will disappear in the wash. It's an odd denting system, 3-2-3 and repeat, in a 10 dent reed for 26.6 epi. I wanted to go just a tad higher then 24.
And while this frenzy of activity was going forward in my studio, look at what happened outside, while I wasn't looking:
Yes, daffodils. Can you believe it?