How to measure woven cloth on Rigid Heddle Loom??

[subloke]

I know this will probably end up being one of those really obvious answers, but I am a self-taught weaver and it's kind of all a mystery to me. 

I have a Schacht Flip Rigid Heddle loom and I love it.  One thing I never seem to be able to get right though is the actual measurement of my finished cloth while weaving.  Is there a way to keep track of the finished length of the cloth as I go?  Does this even make sense?

Thanks.

[nicolassa]

You know, I was thinking this very thing the other day.  I thought perhaps you could take a tape measure and wind it on the beam as you wind on the finished material, lining up the end of the tape with the bottom edge of the finished cloth and letting them wind on together.  Does that make sense?  I haven't tried it out, but thought that might be a solution.

[laminathegreat]

That TOTALLY works, nicolassa.
Also, if you have a fabric tape measure, you can pin it as you go so you don't have to wind it up and if you run out of tape measure you can start it over.

Keep in mind that while you are weaving, the fabric will be under tension and will loose some length when loosened. I remember working on a project where I HAD to have a certain length and I actually released the tension, unwound the fabric and measured. (This was also on a floor loom, I assume you can do the same with a RH loom.)

[subloke]

Thanks!  The tape measure sounds like a good solution.  I'll have to give that one a try. 

[Weddy_in_Paris]

The tape measure is surely the best way, but if you don't have any or if it's too short, you can pin on the edge of your weaving a cheap ribbon (like those which are for reinforcing the seaming - well, at least in the good old time -  I don't know how they are called in English) or a thick yarn (contrasting in color is better) the length you want your fabric to be. When there is no ribbon left, then you are done.

[nicolassa]

Ooooh, nice tip, Weddy!   

[subloke]

Thanks Weddy!  That's a great tip!  I'll give it a try when I warp my loom on the weekend.

[knittinbug]

I'm self taught Rigid Heddle Weaver too.  I haven't tried winding on a tape measure, but I do use removable stitch markers (they look like orange and blue plastic safety pins made by Clover I think) to keep track of my length and keep a ruler or tape measure at hand.    Once I knit 5 inches in length, I clip an orange removable marker on the selvedge of the work at that point to mark the first 5 inches.  At the next 5 inch mark, I place a blue to mark 10 inches.  I then alternate orange and blue.  I sometimes keep a record of my accumulated length on scratch paper, sometimes I just make sure the markers protrude from the edge so I can count them.  I then know how much I've knit.  I don't always just mark 5 and 10 with the markers.  Sometimes I just measure, mark, record length on scratch paper -  and then when I advance I place another marker or just move the one I had and record the new length.

If I am doing a pattern, I do what Betty Davenport advises in one of her books.  I use a strip of paper to make a template ad mark the distances between color changes so I can get a match on the other end.

[subloke]

knittinbug- thanks for this tip!  I think this may be what i end up doing as I don't have a spare measuring tape around. 

[ni]

knittinbug, that's a great idea for the color change. I always try to keep track of exactly how many rows I knit, which can be tedious when knitting something like a blanket. I'll have to try this out.