Tied up in knots

[igenlode]

I've spent about five hours today attempting to thread up my 'tablets' with cotton thread instead of wool -- what with threads that got knotted inextricably together and had to be re-cut, threads that were too long, got trimmed, and then turned out not to have been secured at the other end and were now too short, the fact that tying a loop around all 32 threads and fixing this to a pencil wasn't sufficiently secure when using cotton instead of wool so the whole lot fell to the floor at the first tug and had to be painstakingly re-threaded, and the fact that after re-threading and setting up my spiral offsets with great labour I found that I was then entirely unable to make the first quarter-turn because some of the threads seemed to have got looped around the cards and could not be undone by any means.

So I have now unthreaded all 32 holes in the hopes that the problem was caused by my previous attempt to rescue the first three cards *without* taking them off the remaining threads (I had to redo the others one corner at a time anyhow), and combed out the tangled warp threads yet again, leaving one end knotted together. I'll see if it's possible to make the turns if I rethread the cards very carefully, making sure the threads are absolutely straight and free of movement to start off with.

Otherwise, it's entirely within the bounds of probability that the thread is simply too fine and/or the tablets too large in proportion. And I have virtually nothing to show for all that time spent (just a hank of coloured threads with a knot in the end...)

Comments

[watervole]

You need to learn how to do continuous warping. I did 16 x 4hole cards this afternoon and it took me about an hour - and that included the time taken to wind an extra ball of yarn.

Admittedly, I did have a six-year old helping untwist the 4 balls I was using (One for each hole). I think that was a net gain.... (It did help me avoid running out of hands.)

Use a plastic bag clip (the sort you use for freezers) to hold the ends of the yarn. Keeps them neatly in place and they don't move around.

How fine was your thread? Crochet yarn is usually really good for tablet weaving. But I don't think I'd bother with sewing thread as that would be an awful lot of effort for very little ribbon.

The size of the cards should be irrelevant.

[igenlode]

Yes, I think I really do need to look into continuous warping before attempting any further experiments -- although it may have been using the fine thread that made it so extremely slow last time.

(I like the dubiousness of the net gain comment! Fortunately/unfortunately I am not afflicted with offspring to assist or otherwise...)

I don't have any plastic bag clips, but I did manage the same effect with ordinary wooden spring-clip clothes pegs fastened across the threads above and below the cards; I'm not sure how well that would have scaled up when using more than four of the thicker warp threads, though.

I think the only crochet thread I've got is all white. I do have fine wool, but it's currently sort of tied up in another (stalled) project ;-D

[(Anonymous)]

Continuous warping is useful if you've got a lot of cards with the same combination of colours (in the same order).

If you haven't got a bag clip, there are other tricks. Do you have a small clamp?

I use all kinds of yarn for weaving. Thick, thin, wool, acrylic, etc.

I get it mostly from what other people are clearing out and from charity shops.

It doesn't have to be fine yarn.

This one - https://www.ravelry.com/projects/JudithProctor/belt-for-vera - as you can see, was a very chunky yarn, but I was very happy with the way it came out.

And I don't see any gain from using a fine weft thread. I usually use whatever yarn I'm using for the border -that way it blends in invisibly.

If you have your tension correct on the weft, then you'll never see it in the final product.