Dearest Weaver,
Have you ever been faced with the daunting and arduous task of winding a warp with an end count numbering in the hundreds, even thousands? Or have you ever wanted to weave with a striped warp but too intimidated by the prospect of cutting and tying ends to switch every color? Fear not, for I’m here to let you know about a tool available at the weaving studio that could cut your warping time in half or more!
My past couple of projects have been using 20/2 warp yarn that’s way finer than I’m used to. My next project is no different, with 60 epi at 20″ wide. Doing some math, that’s totaling to be over 1200 ends! I wound my previous 20/2 cotton warps with one cone for each color, and it took me multiple sessions over a couple of days to get all the warp ready for the next steps! I’ve been trying to stash bust some 20/2 cotton that I bought on impulse, but the thought of having to spend more time winding the warp was intimidating. There simply must be better way to go about doing this!
It was after talking with other more experienced weavers in the studio that I learned about a tool called the warping paddle that could potentially be the answer to my (self-imposed) problems!
What is a warping paddle, you might ask? A warping paddle is a tool that helps the weaver wind a warp by holding multiple ends at a time and prevents them from tangling at the same time. There are a couple of variations out there, but the one I’m using happens to be a plank of wood with two columns of holes.
Having no idea how to use a paddle, I started with Peggy Osterkamp’s New Guide to Weaving: How to wind a warp and use a paddle. It’s a comprehensive step by step guide that’s easy to understand and fun to read.
I was impatient to get going and excited to try something new, and was going to skim to get the idea. Peggy must have known there would be weavers like me reading her guide because she specifically wrote at the beginning that it was of the utmost importance to read the instructions all the way through before even attempting.
Before I get any further, I want to add a little side note that in order to use the paddle, it’s recommended that you wind with as many balls/cones as ends that you want to wind at a time with.
The paddle that I was using could hold up to 16 ends at a time, but I decided that 5 ends at a time made the most sense based on my epi and ends per dent. Peggy explains the why and how much better than I could hope, but it’s important that the balls/cones that you need to wind with are wound the same way.
Pictured to the left is my heavily DIY’ed set up to wind my spools. Between the cone of yarn and the bobbin winder is the lovely yardage counter! I needed roughly 1550 yards on each cone, and I would be at a loss without this handy dandy tool.
This yardage counter is simply a delightful object, and easy to learn how to use. I’ve been told that it’s super handy for when you get to the end of a weaving and want to eliminate guesswork on how much weft you need left. I’ll have to try that when I start throwing my shuttle!
Now that I’ve wound my spools of yarn, I’m ready to progress! Thanks to past me diligently reading Peggy’s guide, I caught my mistake of arranging the yarn to unwind over the top instead of under from the bottom (above right).
It took a couple of passes up and down the warping board with the paddle before I could get comfortable with the rhythm and pace needed to use the paddle, but once I really got into it the warping process was almost meditative.
In her guide, Peggy writes:
I’ve heard it said that in any task, 98% of your time is spent in working toward the goal. Only 2% is spent in actually realizing and enjoying the goal. Doesn’t it make sense–not just in weaving, but in life — to learn to enjoy the 98%?
Since then, I’ve learned to look for and enjoy pleasures at every step of weaving.
I’m sure every weaver might feel differently about the warping part of the weaving process, but I think that Peggy is onto something here, and winding my warp with a paddle has been a fun learning experience. This little exploration has me looking forward to winding my next warp, and I encourage you to try this out with your next project if you haven’t yet.