Lacing On

If your yarn is jumpy like linen or slippery like rayon or so expensive you don't want to waste an inch, lacing on to the apron rod may be the choice for you. This is also good for very dense warps when there isn't room to tie knots on the apron rod.

To lace on, you divide the warp into 1" bundles, knotted at the end. Using a slippery cord, lace the cord through the bundles and around the apron rod. Details are given below. I like to use slip knots at the end of the warp bundles. That way, if I later find a threading error, I can easily untie the bundle to make a correction. Slip knots take more warp than overhand knots, though, so if warp is precious, you may want to use overhand knots. However, it's fairly difficult to untie the overhand knot to correct an error. You may be able to pick it open with a strong tapestry needle or a nail.

How to lace the bundles

In succession, all across the warp, take 1" worth of warp at the reed and carefully tug and pinch the threads to get all the ends under the same tension, just like in regular tying on. Tie the warps in slip knots or overhand knots close to their cut ends. If your warp threads are very fine, you may want to tie the knots in 1/2" bundles. If the warps are at different lengths, trim the long ones so the warps are about the same length before tying the knots. Remember, you've put the warps on under even tension on the beam, so any differences here do not effect your perfect tension. Now you are ready to lace the bundles onto the apron rod. Lace the bundles as they are, dangling from the reed. The warp should be slack.

Choose a sturdy thin cord that is very smooth, even slippery, and about 10 times as wide as the warp. You can buy thin braided nylon "chalk and mason line" at the hardware store; the size is around 600 yards per pound. Tie one end of this cord to the front apron rod at one edge of the warp (with a double half hitch knot, see the Knots chapter). Now lace the cord down through the middle of the first bundle, then take the cord under and around the apron rod, down through the next bundle you tied, under and around the apron rod, and so on. See Figure A. Don't snug the bundle right up to the apron rod; leave about 2 1/2" between the cut ends of the warp and the apron rod. Do you see the "V"s being formed in the lacing cord? Always go through the middle of the bundles and be consistent about going down through the bundles and then under, and over around the apron rod. Fasten the cord by tying a double half hitch around the front apron rod at the edge of the warp.

The Trick to Lacing On

As I mentioned above, start the lacing with the warp quite slack. The tricks to lacing are: use a slippery cord, start with a slack warp, and tighten it gradually, a little at a time. Poke each bundle at the knot across the warp and back. Then tighten the tension a little bit. Poke the knots again, across the warp and back. Then tension some more, and repeat the poking and tightening. You are adjusting the tension locally here-not transferring tension from very slack sections to tighter areas. By the time the warp is under tension, all the bundles will be under equal tension. You shouldn't have to adjust the tension of any individual bundles. Remember: slippery cord, slack warp, and gradual tensioning will do the trick. When you lace the cord with a slack warp, you get the bundles under almost equal tension to start with, which is what you want. Don't agonize. If you can feel a tight or loose bundle, adjust it, but if you can't tell, then the tension must be even.

Never let the lacing cords cross over one another or get out of order. If you do, the tension can't pass along from bundle to bundle.

When some weavers find an error after they've laced on to the apron rod, they cut off the offending end and correct the error. Then they tie an extension to the warp with a short length of thread and pin the corrected thread into the lacing. You can wind the thread in a figure eight using the pin like a cleat, just as if you were correcting a broken thread during weaving. See Figure B. If worst comes to worst and you can't undo the knot and must cut it off, re-knot the bundle and re-lace it. The "V" for that bundle's cord is much longer than for the rest of the bundles, but that is okay as long as the tension is even. As I said, I prefer to use the slip knot. If I later cut the woven cloth off and retie the warp to the apron rod, then I always use overhand knots to conserve warp. By then any threading errors have been corrected, so I don't need to worry about untying the knot.

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