Weaving Timings & Checks

I have finished the scarf that was started yesterday - much quicker that I thought. I took some notes of times spent  and picks woven.

My basic unit of weaving is a pirn. I am using an AVL end feed shuttle and the pirn is about 5" long. I am getting about 140 picks per pirn  which is around 9" of weaving. I takes me just under 20 minutes to weave off a pirn. It takes me just over 10 minutes to to be ready to start weaving again. During this time I do the following;

• Have a stretch
• Wind a new pirn
• Unwind more yarn for the selvedges (they are weighted separetely and hanging from the back of the loom
• Check that the live tension system is OK (sometimes the cords get twisted)
• Check that the warp is moving freely over the lease sticks
• Have some water
• Change music (if necessary)
• Have another stretch
• Feather in the new weft thread

So with the weaving time and the change over/checking time I am getting around 18" of weaving an hour. In  theory this means that I could weave a scarf in four hours but I think that six hours would be more realistic; I find that I need to take a longer break every 90 minutes - a good turn round the garden and a cup of tea sets me up nicely for the next session.