Beam me on, Scotty!

After way too many hours of struggling with tangles (henceforth I shall weight my warp to prevent tangling), I have finished winding the warp onto the back beam of the loom.  It looks nice:

I’m pleased with the gradual color transitions.

I discovered along the way that no, you cannot beam a 24″ warp onto a back beam that’s only 24″ wide (at least, I can’t; if you know how to, please let me know!); the warp ends tend to slip off the edges.  I had started using brown paper in an effort to get closer to the edges, but (as I had half-expected) it really didn’t work well.  So I switched to warp sticks and set the raddle at an angle (which is why it appears slanted in the photo) to make the warp about 23″ wide as it beamed on.  It’s not the best of options, because it can create problems in the weaving (especially if you have much draw-in), but it rescued the warp, so who am I to complain?

Anyway, the warp is safely beamed on and is ready to thread.  Which means it’s just about time to take a break and eat something for the first time in 16 hours, and maybe take a nap.  I’ve been insomniac the last few nights (caffeine + stress over potential-job- related-stuff) so I could definitely use a power nap.

I am now way behind schedule (I hadn’t expected beaming on to take so long) so I suspect I will not be able to finish this in time for the Thanksgiving holiday, but I’m still going to give it a try.