Warping – A Quick Look

Recently, I have had a few questions from newer weavers about the equipment I use for warping.

I buy my silk in skeins and then hand dye it. After that it needs to be warped, but warping from skeins is not my idea of fun, so I wind them onto tubes. This also means I can wind more than one thread per colour at a time.

In the following photographs, I am warping for a deflected double weave (thank you Marian Stubenitsky). This technique requires two light colours and two dark, so I have wound the two colours onto two tubes each. The darker colour is on four tubes because occasionally I find knots and it’s easier to deal with them at the stage.

From skein to tube

So here we go – the first stage is winding from the skein to tubes. My skein holder has done years of service and is still going strong.

My tube winder is also used for winding pirns and was made by a local wood worker. It’s not perfect but it was a lot less expensive than the commercially made options. The tubes come from old cotton reels that I have used up over the years. The end result in this instance is six finished tubes.

Warping – Reel Holder

Now I have all my tubes I can wind two threads of each colour at a time. This saves a huge amount of time and effort. But first I set up my reel holder, made by my husband, and again a whole lot cheaper than things on the market.

This is a rubbish picture but you get the idea. I can hold up to ten reels on on it at one time. So it really is more efficient.

The warp is now wound, via the warping square, onto the loom.

Here, the photo shows the silk still on the square because, quite frankly, it looks prettier here than on the back of the loom!

And that is it – all the various bits and pieces required for warping.

If you have any questions please get in touch and I will do my very best to help.

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