Rights of Passage
By D. M. Urquidi

Last April (2004) when I purchased a child's spindle out of the catalogue for Magic Cabin just because I thought it might be a neat thing to learn about, I had no idea I would be the owner of a loom and now learning to weave cloth. The loom was a disaster. It had sat in a garage for quite some time and rust was its main disease.

The loom looked sturdy enough, but it definitely was in pieces. Not knowing anything about looms, I could not imagine putting it together so that it would work properly. One harness was broken; all heddles on the harnesses were rusted through and through. Guides for the harnesses were missing and the cloth for the cloth beam was rust and water stained badly. I had let the old owners set it up on a canvas and as I surveyed the frame and all the odd pieces of wood and yarn that came with it. As I pondered about it, they brought in two huge buckets that when I opened them had cloth for several cloth beams that was one immediate solution to a very ugly problem.

Well, if there was one solution, there had to be others. I took a deep breath and walked out of the back room, closing the door behind me. Goodbyes were said and I was left alone for the evening. From my desk, I could see the door to the back room. I turned away. I did not want to even think about what I had back there.. However, I got on the web and downloaded the Leclerc manual and catalogue. When I put it all together as a booklet, it was not only impressive, it was daunting. I could never begin to learn all of that information.

It was a day or so later that I actually opened that door again. The disaster was still there. It had not gone away. Picking through the bits and pieces of wood and metal, I decided that the harness had to be fixed first. If I could do that, then maybe . . . . .just maybe I could do the rest of it. I measured the wood and trotted off the Home Depot. I could not find _" thick wood, so I opted for two pieces of _" instead. I had a C-clamps and having done lathe work one time in my life, I knew that I could glue two pieces of wood together and make one piece.

Even though I knew what to do, it was a finger-breaking event. The metal pieces were just as rusted as the heddles themselves. Next, I sanded down the metal rods in the front. There had to be a clear polyurethane cover on them or they would rust again and again. Two dents were included, one 15 per inch and the other 12 per inch. The small was also a rust job that had to be sanded down and sealed with the polyurethane paint. I also found some finished oak to make a removable roof over the castle. Two short pegs made it semi-secure.

Since there were so many pieces either missing (harness guides, hand crank for the warp beam, connecters for the treadles, etc) or ancient (like bumpers), the catalogue was the next step. I ordered the pieces and included two lease sticks. Had no idea how to use them, but it was part of the lessons, so I thought they might be important enough to get. For less than a hundred dollars more, I had everything in place.

But then If I was going to weave anything, I would need a warping board. Back to Home Depot for more _" wood pieces to make a _" thick frame and 7/16" dowels for the pegs. When I made the frame, it was much too shaky, even to put in the dowels. So, it was back to Home Depot again. Four more pieces of _" wood and more glue were bought. The frame was not hard to make and it was painted with a brick/brown acrylic, then with the polyurethane.

Meg Wilson had a short article on a loom and she advised one to begin in the back and thread to the front with the warping threads. At the exchange meeting, I took several items for the exchange, and two items that I had no idea what they were used for. Meg spotted the paddle right away. "Are you giving that away?" "No, I just wondered if anyone knew what it was for." Not only did I find out about the two items, I also got some very good advice from Meg on setting up the loom the first time.

The main brown thread that I wanted to use was too fragile so we ran a runner of gray with it. I was advised to do every other dent in the beater and did so. Even so, some of the threads snapped here and there. I had to fix them one way or another and the T-pins would never go through the heddles. At first I used the wool needle and interwove the broken ends but, as I worked, they frayed and popped out again.

Harking back to my days in Ecuador, when I worked in a sweater factory, where they DID repair sweater holes with wool, I decided that in this case, I would try ordinary sewing thread. A short whipstitch around both raw ends of the broken strands and hiding, by interweaving, the sewing thread into the joined pieces made them strong enough to pass through the heddles and the dent. Nevertheless, I complained I did not like the weave being so open. Meg assured me that when the work was finished, it would look fine. Small pieces of white wool were used to notify me that a broken or tied thread was about to go into the heddles. It was only then that I got out my needle and thread.

Only one other problem remained: The lesson book said to measure the work by loosening the tension. Weird. My pieces are each 72" long and attached in the middle. There was no way I was going to measure it if it was already wrapped around the cloth beam. Not having gone very far though, I measured what I had done and found it was only about 15" so far. (Slow as a snail I will be.) The problem still bugged me. How would I know when I got to the end of the first 72" piece? I absent-mindedly tied another white snippet on to a knotted thread.

Then a light flashed. Why not use the wool that I had cut to measure the warp threads on the warping board. But how? The wool needle was there and why not? Run the warp measure into the weaving down the middle of the work and when it arrives at the half-way mark, I will know where I am. Who knows it might be part of the fabric design if I decided to leave it in. Did have to take out some in the center to accommodate the beginning and ends of the warp, but that was no problem.

Were there any other problems that came up? One that I remember is that single ply spinning thread could be used for warp if it was treated. How to treat single ply? Sugar water? Starch? Even light starch is icky. And sugar water brings out our friendly ants. Why not a light spray of plain gelatin? That does a hair-do very well. Why not wool-"hair"? But spray it lightly, don't do a heavy spray.

Sixteen inches and I am still standing, working the treadles. I need a seat. Hm.m.m. I do have a printer table on wheels but that is much too low, even though I no longer have the printer I have kept it around. A small two shelf with the top shelf lowered to the middle one(made it a stronger unit (since it was the cheapest kind of glued wood chip board available.) But, rats, it was still too low for comfort. Using the old corner blocks from the printer shelf, I fashioned another layer for the seat. Upholstered it (an ugly piece of wood it was) with an old black plastic cushion from an office chair seat and put wool with foam for the sides. The plastic gave me "slide ability" when needed. The bottom shelf became a three-sided box for whatever. Gee. It fit my bottom and legs at the loom fine. And the rug on the floor stops the bench from moving around too much, even with the wheels.

Next projects coming up: a small table-top (or wall) warping reel to hold my yarn spools as I wrap the warp onto the sectional warp beam. And if I ever have the chance, a drop spindle similar to one from South America.

Thanks for all at the Weavers and Spinning Society at Austin for all their help. Watching you all work, listening to your comments and getting help from Meg (also Tom B. of Leclerc, Elizabeth, Connie and Eileen) has enhanced my spinning and weaving education a thousand-fold.