Ask Madelyn


Ask Madelyn: What to Use for a Tabby Weft

I am weaving a small table runner using 3/2 pearl cotton for warp and weft (red and green in the warp, white in the weft). I used a draft (#479, page 129) from Carol Strickler's A Weaver's Book of 8-Shaft Patterns, which I've modified a little. 

Ask Madelyn: Causes of Uneven Warp Tension

I'm having a warp tension problem. After weaving a while, the edge warp threads are very tight and the center very loose, but all were even when I started.

Ask Madelyn: Loose Selvedge Threads

Why do my selvedge threads loosen as I weave?

Ask Madelyn: Warp Winding Woes

I have just wound a warp that took way too long to wind and I'm wondering if there is a better way.

Ask Madelyn: To Unweave or Not to Unweave

I am weaving a silk scarf in huck lace and noticed that about four inches back I had made a serious treadling error. What can I do?

Ask Madelyn: Twisting Threads

I had no idea how difficult woven rep was going to be—the threads are twisting between the reed and the heddles as I wind on. What else can I do?

Ask Madelyn: Two Ways to Wind Floating Selvedges

There are two typical methods for handling floating selvedges. One is to wind and beam the floating selvedge with the rest of the warp...

Ask Madelyn: Yarn Tracking

Yarn tracking is something that happens to some yarns when they are woven in plain weave—but why and how?

Ask Madelyn: Warping Question: Raddles and Warp Spacers

Winding the warp with spacers between the warp layers is a vital step in warping a loom. What material works best as a spacer? Cardboard? Paper? Sticks?

Ask Madelyn: Lashing Your Warp

The method you are referring to for tying the warp onto the apron rod is usually called "lashing." Madelyn gives instructions on just how this is done.