Three Looms, Three Warps, Three Ways
Last week I warped all three of my larger looms: the Tissart, Zeus, and Shannock. Not because an empty loom haunts me (although it kinda does!)… but because I have a design for each one and I couldn’t decide which to start first. Besides, I usually work on more than one weaving in the same time period. That way when I need to pause and think something through on one tapestry, I still have another one to work on. Granted, I’ve not done this with three large (ish) weavings.
The (LeClerc) Tissart
The Tissart was the first one I warped. This is the newest-to-me loom and I have only warped it one time before- to weave Murmurations. I had put on a fairly long warp then so also had enough to weave Winter Walk that I just completed last month.
On the Tissart, I’m planning on a 40” square (ish) weaving all in the Rya technique. The design is from a quick sketch I’d made a couple of years ago in my weaving journal.
Notes on warping the Tissart
I don’t warp this loom in the standard way that I’ve seen demonstrated online. I warp from the back to front. I do this because it’s easier on my neck when threading the heddles. This way, I can use a small ladder and get above the heddles so that l can thread down to the heddles instead of craning my neck to look up.
I also like the reed for helping to initially spread the warp threads out. I use a nylon cording to weave until they are consistently spaced.
The (Mirrix) Zeus
Next I warped the Zeus loom for another square (ish) weaving- this time about 34” wide. This Zeus loom was the first true tapestry loom I bought. It was my birthday gift to myself the year I returned to tapestry. Even though that was 7 years ago, I’ve really only warped it twice. I later bought smaller Mirrix looms and, sadly, it sat neglected for years (although it was warped 😊).
I have accumulated a lot of looms over these seven years and I’ve been slowly working to fine tune that (pass on the ones I no longer use). Before I warped the Zeus loom, I considered whether it would be a task I no longer enjoyed. I really enjoy (almost) every step of warping the large vertical looms (Tissart and Shannock) but the Mirrix, as many of you know, is a different warping method. I was facing the fact that I’m older than I was when I warped this loom last and since it’s done as a continuous warp, once it begins, there’s no stopping until you’re all the way across. Or, at least that’s my preference. I wasn’t sure my body would be happy with me standing - and reaching- for that long. So as I began, I was actually imagining the extra space I’d have in my studio if I parted with it after finishing this weaving. But, you know what? It wasn’t bad! Plus, time-wise, if that’s a factor, it took much less than the Tissart.
It’s warped nearly full width at thirty four inches. If you’re familiar with this loom, then you will know that in spite of having the stand for it, it has to be put on a table propped up with books to guide the warping cone front to back, then to front again- but even that was no issue. I’m keeping it! And I suspect I’ll be warping it again much sooner than in the past.
Notes on warping the Zeus loom
I’ve already said it wasn’t as troublesome as I had anticipated. I do have a bottom coil system and I highly recommend that. I kept track of my time and luckily my husband didn’t forget and let the cat in. It took me 2 hours to get from one side to the other- and with one cone of cotton seine twine. Beautiful! What takes more time and I admit is a bit tedious, is evening out the tension. I work across all the threads 3 times and I’m always amazed how much slack I find. Each time! But, the beauty of this system is that you don’t need to make the knots to secure the warp to the bottom beams. That’s definitely my least favorite step.
Here’s my plan for the Zeus: lots of Soumak texture and French Knots
Remember that image? It was from my college sketch book I found last year.
And lastly, the Shannock.
This one has taken the most preparation. As with the Tissart, it’s only the second time I’ve warped it. The first time I had warped it full width at six feet. I only need about 40 inches for my design this time, so I pondered whether I wanted to tie on to the existing warp. It’s really not tedious to warp, so that wasn’t the issue. I finally decided to do it for two reasons: 1) I wanted to practice the “weaver’s knot” and 2) it would save some warp. (The warp on the Shannock is supposed to wrap completely around the top and bottom beams before applying full tension - so that’s an extra 24 inches).
I also needed to decide on the size before I could get started which is why I left this loom until the last to tackle. I wanted to transfer the 3 pods (below) to a cartoon so I’d have a gauge for placement once I got started weaving and needed to roll the weaving under. To do this, I used my projector and traced the pods on large paper to create a cartoon.
I am planning to use the image below as my design. This one will be done in the more traditional manner when we think of tapestry, although I may not be able to resist a little extra texture in places. I’m weaving it sideways and the length (or width) will be about 48 inches.
Notes on warping the Shannock
First, I’ll say that I am a “picker” so I don’t normally use sheds. I find them helpful on the Tissart to get started with the header, and maybe even the Zeus for the same reason, but the Shannock system for heddles doesn’t seem worth the effort when I use the shed so little.
I really love the Shannock system and how easy it is to tension and adjust. The tying on of the warps is my least favorite part (as I may have mentioned before). It’s just a little more awkward - to me - on this loom than the Tissart. Instead of the round bar, the warps are tied around a flat metal bar which screw into the beam. I find adjusting the tension to be a little trickier this way, plus it then winds around the bottom beam before putting in the header so there’s a little less room for error. So far, so good, though.
While finishing up the warping process on the Shannock, it occurred to me that I might have been better served to do this piece on the Zeus instead. I say this because with Soumak and French Knots I definitely do not need the shedding system, and after deciding on the size- there would have been enough room to weave it on the Mirrix.
So that’s 3 designs that have been appearing in and out of my journals for years. It feels good to finally be getting started.