Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Crooked, but loom is tuned!

So I thought I had fixed the crooked weaving problem, but I guess I didn't.



The curtains had the same thing... the bookmarks this summer, Aunt Katie's table napkins, and all nearly all the projects on this loom have been crooked.




I thought it was the washer on the side, but no...


I finally got fed up with it all and took my loom to my friend for a tune-up.  I am hoping that the problem was fixed and the weaving will resume without crookedness shortly!!!


And this rug?  Well, it wasn't the best idea.  Don't repeat my mistakes!



They are HUGE, which is really cool!  But... the fabric is so loose and wobbly.



I haven't washed it up yet, so maybe things will be different.



If not, I have some ideas.  I want to try to quilt it (with a backing on it) using my sewing machine.  That way, the fabric will have more strength and the weave will stay put better.


I still think it's really cool, or else I wouldn't have proceeded!

And this is how you can tune-up your loom:

Put the pin in your beater bar to hold it straight up.  Use a level to make sure it is straight.  This is where my loom wasn't working out for me too well on this project.


That bubble should be in the middle.

If it is not, these screws that are down here (and on the other side) need to be loosened and a little spacer of some sort needs to be put in.  We used the head of a screw driver and wedged it in to make a space in the bottom screw.


Raise the other side until the bubble in the level is balanced.


Put the level on top of the loom and make sure it's level.

Put the level on each side to make sure it's level.


At this point if it's not level, you would put spacers under the loom to raise up the sides.  It's possible the floor is not level anymore.


 Take a board that stretch it from front to back.  Put the level on the board and make sure the bubble is balanced.


  Check each side.


An additional view:


Enjoy checking your own loom out!

While I was in my friend's yarn store, I purchased a few new yarns from the sale table!

Here are some 8/4 cotton carpet warps that I got for a really great deal!


Here is some 20/2 wool that will look great with my 20/2 in white!  Notice, it has almost 13,000 yards on it!!!



These ones were thrown in for free because my friend is real cool like that!

A wonderful blue in 8/2 wool:


And some blue crochet threads in blue:


Can't wait to weave some of this on my tuned-up loom!!!