Old Dog, New Tricks

The water warp is partly beamed. I didn't get started until today, after a weekend away from home. Here's the overall view:



And the "new trick" part:



I've read postings on WeaveTech a number of times about these gadgets. You find some tubing that fits over the hoops or pegs that separate the sections on your sectional beam. You cut a length that will form a "bridge" that prevents the edge threads from creeping into an adjacent section. That means it's faster to wind on from the warping wheel to the beam, because you don't have to worry about creeping threads, or back up to reposition them. Seems to work like a charm! Some people use bicycle tubes, I found some vinyl tubing at Home Depot that was the right size for the AVL hoops. As there are 6 rows of hoops, it takes 12 "bridges," one on each side of the section all the way around the beam. After I finish one section, I just move the "bridges" over to the next section to be beamed.

In case you wonder, the hoop on the right was painted with red nail polish to mark the center of the beam in those cases where using a fly-shuttle means you have to offset the warp. This is required only for narrow warps (i.e. almost all warps, for me, because scarves fall into the narrow category); for a full-width warp, you don't need to offset the warp. Also, if you use a hand shuttle, the offset isn't necessary either.