First warp on new loom

Well here is the warp on the frame and then successfully put on my new loom. I found the process of putting it on the loom much easier than before. I don't know if this is thanks to the loom or because I'm just getting better at it.

Problems so far are that the pattern does not show up very well because the yarn is very fluffy and not dissimilar enough in warp and weft. However, the cloth produced is lovely and thick and soft and I should think will make a very comforting scarf, assuming the washing process doesn't ruin it.

A more worrying problem is that I can't seem to disengage the friction brake without a tricky process of gradually easing the wire coil around its spool. I should be able to just push a lever to do this. I think maybe I broke the brake by not realising it was on when I first wound on the warp (beaming) and perhaps I stretched it. (How stupid am I? - I thought the beam was protesting too much and I did think I'd tried the brake on and off - but there we are, I was wrong and now I've probably mucked up my new loom boo hoo). On the bright side, Mr Hamblecampbell reckons he can fix it. Let us hope.