u/Adventurous-Pen-5625

I’ve been using some art paper for my warp separator. I had this warp all wound on only to realize my usual paper wasn’t wide enough. Ugh! I’m not good at making paper grocery bags smooth enough and I looked all around for something and gave up. I gambled and ordered this bulletin board plasticized paper (as well as some soft corrugated cardboard $$$) and some thin poster board. Wow. This Better than Paper bulletin board stuff was the winner and worked SO WELL! And it’s affordable. I cut it into four 23” x 36” sections for my RHL, and still have half the roll left. Just thought I’d share because it’s so light and smooth and easy.

Link in comments if I can get it to go through.

Hi, all. I can't believe October is almost here. I've only recently picked up weaving, and am finishing my 5th project on my RHL. After this, I think it's time to create gifts for friends and neighbors for the holidays. Something quick, simple, worth keeping, and not too advanced! What are some ideas you like for weaving lots of gifts quickly? A set of mug rugs? Dishtowels? (I'm not yet happy with any of the dishtowels I've made.) Small table runners? Dishrags? Please share your ideas and favorites! Thanks!

Hi, all. This is only my 4th or 5th project. I’m using an Ashford 24” rigid heddle loom. I’m doing a placemat pattern and it says I should get 10 PPI. It has a 4 pick pattern with a pickup stick. After 20”, or 200 picks, or 50 repeats of the pattern, I am supposed to hemstitch and prep for the next. But I’m only getting 8 PPI. The photo shows 30 repeats of the 4-pick pattern in 15”. I am beating so firmly and even pressing down with a weaving comb. What am I doing wrong? And for this project, do I stop at 20” even if it’s only 40 repeats of the pattern? That would be my instinct since there is only so much warp. Thanks for any help!

I was cutting apart towels in my lap and accidentally caught an edge below. Can this be fixed or do I just sew a new zig zag further up and cut that part off and make it a shorter towel?

Hi, all. Weaving some towels w 8/4 cotton on a 24" RHL. Can anyone tell me why the right weft threads (2nd photo) are doing this dip and the left (1st photo) are staying straight? I'm beating very straight and it's straight as I finish the beat, but then seems to wiggle. It looks like the tension is too tight just there, but it doesn't feel that way. Would love your input, please. Thx.

Hi, all. Ok, I'm launching on my 4th project on my RHL. This is my longest warp so far - about 3 yards - it will be 3 towels. 8/4 cotton, 10 dent reed. After I finished this warp, I noticed a handful of the warps drooped down in each bundle. I kept a really nice tension as I went, and the drooping seemed to happen as time went on. I think I can fix it as I wind on, but why does this happen? Also, my last few projects always had crossed-over warp threads that I had to sort of undo as I went along. What can I do at this stage to avoid that as I wind it on? Thanks! I love learning from you guys.

Baby weaver here - this is my third project on my rigid heddle loom. I wanted to use up some mercerized cotton (that I got before realizing it's not the best for dishtowels) so I decided on a little table runner. I wanted it to have some dimension to it - some lacy-ness or pattern - so I decided to try pickup sticks in the very center. So cool! It was fascinating to watch that work. I was winging it mostly, so I didn't really measure the warp and got afraid I'd run out and not be able to center the pattern, and I was overly conservative, so I ended up with about 8" spare warp at the end, so I just wiggled in a few mug rugs to match! It's Omega Sinfonia mercerized cotton from Woolery, on a 12.5 dent heddle.

I needed a little towel or placemat under the pet's waterbowls in our upstairs bathrooms so I decided to just weave them! My second project. They shrunk a bit unevenly (I've got a few mixes of cotton and cotton blend yarns in there) but I think they're pretty cute. Sort of a big mug rug. I hope the pets like them. ;)

About 6 months after installation, this little crescent shaped black spot (pointed to by the pen) appeared in my quartzite countertop. It doesn't budge and in the right light, it sure looks like it's deep in the stone, not something from the surface. It wasn't there before - I've gone back and looked at pictures and it was not there. It's small - I can deal with it, but sometimes it looks very dark. I'm very curious if anyone knows what this is? Could something have emerged from within the stone? Thanks for any input.

New weaver here. Just finished my first project on my Ashford 24” Rigid Heddle Loom. I did two dish towels and 3 little plaid baby cloths. Both projects were in Beam 3/2 cotton. I learned that I have a lot to learn! Seeking some advice from you amazing weavers out there:

1. I feel like I’m doing ok with tension when warping, but I seem to end up with little saggy sections of warp that come and go (especially at the selvages). How do I avoid that and what do I do with them – they aren’t enough to add a weight to, but they are noticeable. Though, after I wind the weaving a bit, they seem to fade away or even out. And they don’t show up in the finished project. Don't worry?

2. I noticed my edges dip down a bit on one side for a while. (3rd pic I hope.) Again, they straightened out after a while. Was this because my tie-on was not even? Or am I beating irregularly?

3. How do you avoid twists? (4th pic) For both projects, I ended up with tiny twists in my warp. I was so super careful warping the baby cloths because I noticed the twists in the towels, but I still had twists in the baby cloths. It didn’t cause any problem, I sort of pushed the twist back as I went, but I imagine it’s best to have no twists.

Thanks for any input. Now I just have to figure out how to hem them!

Hi, all. My mother's day gift arrived today - my new Ashford Rigid Heddle 24" loom. I'm excited to put it together but of course it's unfinished. It's beautiful unfinished, I don't mind the look. I'm tempted to leave it, but is that a bad idea? Did anyone leave theirs unfinished? Did it hold up ok? Or should I wax or seal it? If so, what product do you recommend? Thanks for any advice on this step. I'm anxious to get it set up!