What I've Learned About My Navajo Style Loom, So Far...

About a month ago I posted on the troubles I was having with weaving on the big loom after I had finally gotten a chance to weave on it.  You can see the post here:

http://whatercolorit.blogspot.com/2014/06/learning-curve.html

I finally decided I'd better undo it all and try again instead of fighting my way through to the end.  I was dreading the whole thing.  The first time I warped it and got it set up took two full days of backbreaking work.  Not fun, fascinating, but not fun.

This week I tore it down and started over.  Boy am I glad I did!  I un-wove (is that a word?) the weft and carefully wound it up so I could re-use it, then took the warp off and set it aside to use again, too.  Here is what I've learned so far.  If anyone reading this is considering trying this, I hope what I'm posting will save them some headaches.

Use heavy gauge bars for warping boards, they won't bend in the middle with the tension of winding the warp.  I just lay my loom frame on the floor and use it as a warping frame.  

As you can see, there is no bending of the warping frame this time due to the strength of my warping bars.

The process of twining not only puts a finished edge on either end of the textile, but helps to space the warps ends evenly.  Do it more carefully, spacing the ends as you go.  

ALWAYS be aware of your knots.  Take extra pains to ensure you are tying square knots, not granny knots everywhere you need to tie off.  

To solve the problem of getting the shed stick in and out of a tight space, my husband took the loom boards (metal pipes at the top and bottom) out of the frame and made wooden brackets for them. These brackets now hold the warp out in front of the frame instead of being inside of the frame as we had it at first.  By the time we are through this first one, we'll know how to build the next one better.

All in all, taking this down and starting over has made a huge difference.  This is the third try and it is finally working like I knew it should.  Having even tension has changed almost all of the problems I was having.  Opening the pull shed is easy now, whereas before I had to carefully ease the shed stick into the shed, now there is plenty of space to quickly insert the stick.  The sides aren't pulling in yet and beating the weft down into place with the fork is quick and easy.  I'll post progress as I go.  This time, there is more enjoyment than frustration; I might like this process after all!