Well I did know, in a way. When I asked about sizing the cotton singles warp and someone said "size the chained warp", I did have reservations. Something in the back of my head was saying "Danger! Danger Will Robinson! it should be under tension when it dries, it really should" but I couldn't come up with a precise reason - the chained warp was twisting a little but not much, as the twist was semi-dormant - and anyway, I tend to believe apparent authority. If someone who seems to know what they're doing tells me to do something, I tend to do it.
So I made a batch of flour size from the recipe in the BBoH and soaked the warp in it. I stretched it over a radiator to dry: not under tension, but as straight as I could manage. Every hour or so I separated the threads, trying to stop them drying in clumps stuck together by, basically, wallpaper paste. When it was fully dry I stretched it a bit, tentatively, and took it to the loom.
It didn't look too bad in places. The raddle cross in particular was almost good, in fact. But when I looked closely, there were problems.
Patiently and carefully I started separating the strands that are stuck together. Regardless of the outcome I will say right now, loudly, that I am proud of my cotton spinning. Those threads are well and truly glued together, but in 90 minutes of tugging and pulling and generally messing them about, only three snapped. I think I can spin cotton warp. It's reassuring. Because I may have to spin more, as I can't find the other ends of two of those broken threads. At the moment it doesn't matter, as nothing is going to pull out/unwind, it's stuck together in too many places.
But even if I unstick all of it - I can do that, it's not impossible - I don't think this will weave well.
See the little corkscrews? They're actually set with with size. If I pull hard enough to straighten them all, bad things will happen because too many threads are catching. I think worse things would happen if I threaded the warp and tried to tension it: the little voice says it will be difficult or impossible to get even tension on this as it is, and I am learning to listen to it. So I'm waiting for some dry weather. I'll put the warp to soak in cold water for a couple of days with a view to rinsing out a lot of the size, and then I will rig something to dry it under some kind of tension. And I'll see how that works. Sooner or later I WILL weave my handspun cotton singles, because I WANT TO. And I'm discovering that, while I've always thought A. is a stubborn so-and-so, I can be even worse.
But i confess I'd really like the next weaving project to go well, which is why I'm doing the math and thinking it through.
After all, even the semi-failures aren't all that bad. I'm sort of looking forward to an outright success! The tea towels in their native habitat. Slightly peculiar shapes, but perfectly functional. The 24epi is a little bit stiff, the 22.5 is about right, but I'm guessing the hand will change over time. I'd hoped some of the samples could be used to clean our eyeglasses, but they shed too much lint. I'm guessing that's a function of the cotton and how it's spun, another reason to spin and weave my own. Also dye it. That's on the list of things to do. Lynn, I could farm all sorts of projects out to you!
Oh, beautiful towels! Look how they brighten up the white wall! Look how they pick up the orange in the frying pan! Look at that gorgeous big pestle, too!
ReplyDeleteAnd you have my sympathy on the cotton warp - I do hope washing out most of the size will help. Does Stephenie have any suggestions?
I gotta say, I agree with Lynn. Those towels look downright cheerful and happy up against that white wall. And now that you've made some you know what you like, what you don't and your next one should go more smoothly! Well done.
ReplyDeleteAnd what an annoyance about the sizing. Stephenie, when I last asked, sizes her yarn in skeins and allows them to dry on a stretcher. Effectively a horizontal warping mill. She then winds the warp from that. It would seem that soaking and then rinsing should address some, if not all, of the sizing and yes, under tension is best. For obvious reasons. Because of the way warps are wound, I'm not sure there's a clean way to go back into a skein as that, mentally, seems like a much better way to attack this.
Somewhat separately, were your singles corkscrewing while they were in the warp? Also, did you rewind them off of your spinning bobbins and onto storage bobbins to help even the twist? Not sure that's more or less effective, but I'd be interested regardless in the overall process from roving to warp.
Given patience and time I think I could get the warp back on the warping frame/board, but I don't see a good reason to do so. I have the crosses, and nothing's been cut so I can put a stick through each end and do something to stretch it while it dries with a little less size in it. The best way to do this is on a blocking reel, but I haven't got one or space to keep one. The little voice in my head says I'd have done better to size it on the warping frame carefully and lightly, then redo bits of it on the loom if necessary.
ReplyDeleteThe cotton singles were allowed to rest on the quill (spun on charkha and Suzie Pro stylus) for a couple of days before I skeined and boiled them. No corkscrewing in the warp - I'd actually have had no hesitation at all about putting the unsized warp on the loom save that Stephenie advised me that she'd never do so. I didn't even think about rewinding; it's my impression that cotton, lacking elasticity, takes twist much more permanently than wool. Once it has set for a couple of days the twist energy has semi-permanently deformed the fibres. Wetting that warp activated it a bit, but not nearly as much as if it had been wool - that's seriously spun cotton :-)
I meant to say the best way to size the warp from scratch would have been to wind it onto a blocking reel, not to deal with the rewashed skein. Also, cotton was from Stephenie's dyed punis, not roving :-)
ReplyDeleteFWIW, I understand that it's also possible to size warp on the loom. I understand that spray starch (I use it to starch Chris' shirts) works well and dries quickly. Advance the warp, spray the starch onto the new length, open/close sheds and let the reed run across and you're all set. It can also be done on the length of warp behind the heddles and prior to hitting the back beam.
ReplyDeleteCan you refresh my memory as to why Stephanie wants the warp to be sized? Is it the abrasion of the reed that she fears? Or a general softness of single?
I wonder if Phredde sizes her singles. Also, would you mind sharing a picture of the singles? I do have a need to spin more cotton, and my instinct is always to ply, but I'm sure I could get away without if pressed.
Also, whaddaya mean, farm projects out to me? I get to dye your yarn? Wind your warp? What?
ReplyDelete