In quilting, when you cut a centered motif out of a printed fabric, it is called fussy cutting. Not sure what it is called when you do a similar thing with gradient yarn, but that’s what I did to warp my tapestry loom.

I needed a demonstration setup for a local kid’s camp. I was demonstrating weaving, a friend was spinning, and another was carding. I thought it would be neat to see color shift across the rainbow both in the warp and the weft. I setup string heddles because this is a step up from picking, which is what is usually demonstrated in art classes in school. String heddles are consistently sized loops of yarn that go around one warp thread, then around a heddle stick. Properly setup for plain weave, the heddles will lift every other warp thread. Switching heddles changes the shed, which is what the shuttle with the weft yarn passes through. I tested my heddles with a ruler and a pickup stick until I had everything correct. (I didn’t at first, and had to undo and redo.)

To set a secure first row and space the warp threads, I twined a row. Twining in weaving involves two threads twisting around each other and the warp threads.

The setup is ready for demonstration day!