Day 136: When Max, my Bergman countermarch loom, came to live at my house, he was dressed with a minimal amount of string heddles. Before I could work on a project of any size, I had to tie more, which meant that I needed a jig so they would all be the same size. The odds and ends of lumber and nails I had in my garage weren't particularly inspiring, so I cast about for anything else I might use. I'd nearly given up when the cribbage board came to mind. The pegs allowed me to set the distance from the ends to the heddle eye in a perfect match to the existing heddles, and a warping tool gave me a way to store them without tangling until I had made a batch (I tie them off in bundles of 50). I made 400 on that first run, sufficient for any of the panel widths I normally use for overshot. I thought that would hold me for the rest of my life, but then I was given a gift of enough 16/2 tartan wool (made in Scotland!) to weave a summer shawl. Drafting it out, I determined that I would need 920 ends, i.e., 920 heddles...oh, let's say another 400 just to be on the safe side. I've been pecking away at it (tying heddles is not my favourite occupation, believe me) and am making substantial progress. By the time I get "Friend Evelyn" off Max, I'll have enough tied for the tartan shawl.
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