A Raddle For My Table Loom

The first two warping adventures on my table loom have been front to back. The was how I learned to warp a loom, and it's the first method shown in Deborah Chandler's Learning To Weave. I later switched to warping back to front, but since I'm just reacquainting myself with weaving, starting at the beginning seems like a good idea. Plus, I need a raddle. 

A raddle is basically a yarn holder for warping back to front. It's purpose is to evenly distribute the yarn across the back beam and keep it at the proper width during the beaming process. Otherwise, the yarn will tend to bunch up and make a mess. 

Raddles need to be sized for the loom. They are easy enough to make, but the one I wanted is the "special raddle" shown in Peggy Osterkamp's Warping Your Loom & Tying On New Warps.

I bought the materials and Dan assembled it for me.

One tidbit; Lowe's didn't have enough #12 eye screws, so I ended up going to Home Depot for the rest. They are made by different manufacturers; one makes them from zinc, the other from stainless steel. So even though they are technically the same size, they are not actually the same size! That won't make a difference in using the raddle, but I thought I'd mention it in case anyone else decides to make one of these. 

The appeal of the eye screws is that after the yarn is distributed across the raddle, a rod is run through the eyes to keep the threads from jumping out! Yes, that happens and can make a mess of things. I used to use rubber bands, but I like this idea much better. 

I still need to get the rod and a way to attach it to my back beam, but it will be ready to go for my next warp.

A Raddle For My Table Loom © Sept 2023

by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Related post:

B2F vs F2B: Why I Switched