How to Track Warp Threading Drafts with The Weaver's Perfect Memory
Threading the heddles using the Weaver’s Perfect Memory to keep track of the warp threading draft.
The Weaver’s Perfect Memory sits on its side with the threading draft wrapped around the cylinder. The pointer keeps your place as you thread each heddle.
The Threading Challenge: Why Warping is Stressful
I think every weaver knows the unique anxiety of threading heddles. The work is precise, demanding focus, and the consequences of an error, a skipped thread or a mistake in the sequence, can take hours or even days to fix.
Keeping track of my place when I was threading my warp, in 2015, proved to be quite a challenge.
For this project I was working with my 12 harness LeClerc and the warp was 20/1 linen and 30/2 silk, sett at 24 epi.
My warp was 4 yards and I was threading 45 inches, or 1080 threads.
The problem was that I had so little time to devote to my weaving craft —- just the time between semesters. If I made errors in the threading, it might take me an entire semester before I could get back to my loom to make the corrections.
I needed a better way to mark my place as I threaded the warp, from front to back.
My Original DIY Solution for Threading Heddles
Threading graph paper
So, first I created my threading draft on 8 1/2 x 11” paper, in a landscape format, using excel, and created a table with cells.
Each part of the draft was large enough to be visible from across the room.
I created a long strip and taped the 66 inches to my wall, like a wallpaper border. That way I could see it when I was sitting on the floor and threading.
Needless to say, I was very challenged…so many threads, such a complex threading pattern, and too little time. It was then that I asked Alan to help. Yes, he did, reading the draft to me, heddle by heddle.
Weaving my cloth was a dream come true!
This got Alan to thinking, how can I help Rhonda keep track of her draft in a way that minimizes errors, but also, physical and emotional challenges.
The Weaver’s Perfect Memory: Your Warp Threading Tool
Fast forward to today.
Now, we have The Weaver's Perfect Memory, a beautifully crafted wooden tool designed to hold the draft and mark our place.
In this video, I demonstrate the sequence for threading the heddles.
Watch as this demonstrates that when advancing the cylinder after each heddle or group of heddles, you can meticulously follow your threading draft without a costly mistake.
Demonstration of tracking warp threading with the Weaver’s Perfect Memory
Enhancing Your Workflow: Tracking Repeats with the Abacus
The Weaving Pattern Repeat Abacus is a crucial companion when keeping track of the number of repeats in a long warp threading draft.
In the first image, see how the Abacus can hang onto the shaft closest to you as you are threading.
The Abacus is a simple, tactile solution that allows you to mark when you complete an entire repeat set of the pattern, rather than trying to count hundreds of individual threads.
Ready to eliminate threading errors and focus on the joy of your craft?
Check out the How to Use page for more detailed pictures, videos, and information about using the Weaver’s Perfect Memory for warp threading. Send us a note if you would like more information.
In the next post I show how
the
weaving pattern repeat abacus
helps your weaving flow.
