When starting a piece of weaving, most people use spacers of cardboard, yarn, even toilet paper to spread out the warp threads. This takes up several inches of the warp. I don't like having that much wastage, so I use "slicky cord" (my name for it) instead. Simply put, slicky cord is nylon cord of a size close to matching that of the warp. In this case, I used 0.5mm yellow cord because I couldn't find the length of green 1mm I'd ordinarily have paired with 8/2 cotton, but as they say, it was "close enough for gov'mint work." There are numerous advantages to using slicky cord, the first being that it can be pulled to adjust the width. The second is that it is easy to withdraw, so after I have woven the first few inches of my piece, I pull out a few rows and do the hemstitching, then remove the slicky cord entirely. The third advantage is that it allows you to use inches of warp you'd otherwise have consigned to loom waste. I usually weave 6-10 throws of slicky cord before beginning the actual weaving, but as I mentioned, I couldn't find the longer green bit I usually use, so had to make do with three throws with the thinner yellow. Predictably, when I went to put the yellow back in the box, I discovered the green had been right there in front of me the whole time.
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