Heddle hassle

As part of the loom cleaning I have to remove the heddles from the heddle frame (where they are strung on heddle bars) - I'm probably making some of that up, but it could be a good joke - 'two heddles walked into a bar...'

Heddles on the three cleaned frames

The process started with removing all the heddles from frame number one, and that's where the fun started.  I was being VERY careful to keep them nicely aligned as I took them off but twice, with a handful of heddles the almost predictable happened - they popped out of my hand and mixed gloriously all over the table.  So I spent some time lining them up, and discovered quite quickly that they can actually fit together in a number of ways - most of which AREN'T neatly arranged.  Each heddle has a bend at one end and straight on the other, has an eye that can fit two ways, and has a 'kinked' and a flat end.  All this is designed to keep them evenly spaced and ensure they neatly align the warp yarn that will eventually pass through the eyes when dressing the loom prior to weaving.  Needless to say my dropsy meant that I spent nearly an hour turning and sorting.

Finally sorted (I think)

With the first lot off the frame - I clean it all up, and then slip the heddles from the next frame straight onto the clean bars and then reassemble - simple :-)  Some of the heddles have some surface corrosion, but with careful ONE AT A TIME handling I can give them a quick clean before sliding them on with the rest.