"Warping The Oxaback Floor Loom Again......."

With the rush for weaving scarves for Christmas gifts (all woven on my Ashford Table Loom) over, it was time to warp my floor loom once again. My plan was to begin weaving rugs using the 4 colors of Pendleton Wool Blanket selvages (December 16, 2011 post) I had bought last month.

My warping board will only allow a 25' warp to be measured out, so that is what I did. Here is the chained warp passed through the shafts and ready to be wound onto the warp beam. Some people measure out their warp in only 2 sections, dividing it in the middle of the loom. I measure out mine for each section between the Texsolv cord attached to the warp rod/beam.

Here is a view of my warp in each section, prior to untying and spreading out in the raddle. I used 6 ends per inch for this warp.

The warp spread out in the raddle and being wound onto the back warp beam.

Once the warp was short enough to separate into inch increments, it seemed easier to wind. I'm using my Harrisville tensioning device clamped onto the breast beam to help with keeping an even tension on the warp threads.

After winding the warp onto the warp beam, it is then threaded through the heddles and reed. The rugs will be woven in plain weave/tabby, so the threading sequence is 1, 2, 3, 4, repeat. This photo shows all that completed with the warp tied onto the cloth rod and I'm ready to begin weaving.

Here is a view from the back of the loom. It looks pretty good, although I did notice that some of the warp isn't as tight as I'd hoped.

My target length for the rugs was 5'. The warp is 3' wide, which will draw in some after it is off the loom, but my calculations were figured for 3' x 5' rugs. Not having used this type of selvage before, I wasn't sure how far it would go, so I needed to weigh it to figure out that little detail "after the fact", meaning I needed to start weaving with the goal of 5', and measure accurately as I wove. This selvage weighed just over 5#'s and weaving all of it, my 1st rug ended just short of my 5' target length, so now I know it takes a little over a pound for 1 running foot of rug, 3' wide. I have 1 more selvage of about the same weight, with the other 2 weighing more, so I will be able to hit my 5' target length at least twice. ;)

Backing up a bit, I began weaving by using some of the "Jazz Strings" from Great Northern Weaving Supply (http://www.rugwarp.com/index.asp) to spread the warp out evenly from the knots.

My header is in and I'm ready to begin weaving the selvage. I didn't notice it at the time, but from this photo, you can see I wove the header weft too tightly so that it drew in somewhat. Yet another thing to keep an eye on and try to do better...... ;)

Here is the selvage woven. I am VERY pleased with the look and texture of this selvage material woven.

I did complete this rug as you no doubt realize since I mentioned the calculations of weight versus length already, but I did not cut it off the loom after completing it. Instead, I woven in a few rows of Jazz Strings again for a spacer, and began my 2nd selvage rug. I wove quite a bit yesterday, so I'm sure I will finish #2 today, and will then cut both rugs from the loom. I have to do this as I do not have enough room on the cloth beam to weave yet another rug onto it. In truth, I am not unhappy with having to do this because I am anxious to see the rugs off the loom and fully laid out. :) Yep......you'll see them in tomorrow's post!