Hybrid Warping on my Ashford 48″ loom

I successfully warped my Ashford 48″ RH loom using the loom as a warping board.  It was not fun, though!  I watched Amy’s YouTube videos at least 50 times each – so all of this is from Amy!  Just want to share some challenges I encountered because my loom is so big.

Here it is ready for me to take the warp off.  The heddle would not hold still so my husband helped me tie down the clamps I used to hold the heddle upright.  The clamps are tied to the table underneath.

I realize now I probably should have used a single warp peg – the warp ended up being longer on the ends and shorter in the middle (I’ll post a picture of that below).

Links to the first video in the three part series: https://youtu.be/wnloSMUKoZA

I chained the warp, removed the pegs from the bottom of the loom and flipped it over, then I moved the chained warp and the heddle to the loom.

I tucked the chained warp between the apron rod and front beam and rolled it up to create tension so I could tie the warp to the back beam.

The warp is 8/8 rug cotton.  It was too wide and too difficult to wind myself so my husband helped me.  Maybe a different more stretchy yarn would have been easier to wind by myself.

I installed the Ashford Freedom Roller (I will make a video just about that) and then tied the warp to the “new” front apron rod.  Here is a before and after – I ended up trimming the warp to make it even.

I’ll make a video on the Freedom roller – and I’ll also make a video on this post.  I got frustrated a few times and didn’t video a few steps.  I may have to try one more time with an easier warp!