Not So Rigid WeaverA Creative Beginner at Rigid Heddle Weaving.2023-12-28T00:00:00Zhttps://notsorigidweaver.com/Not So Rigid Weavernotsorigidweaver@gmail.comCan I weave a shaft loom project on my rigid heddle loom?2023-12-28T00:00:00Zhttps://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/can-I-weave-shaft-loom-pattern/<p>There’s lots of 4 shaft weaving projects out there, and you may have come across one you want to weave. But can you weave it on your rigid heddle loom?</p>
<p>Like many things, it depends! You can of course always be inspired by a project and use it as a jumping off point on your planning - but here I’m talking about weaving a project or pattern you've found in a book, magazine, or purchased online or as part of a kit, without making changes that require extra calculations or sampling - weaving it pretty much as written.</p>
<p><strong>If you’re a beginner or otherwise just looking for a project you can follow easily, my advice is to stick to patterns written for rigid heddle looms.</strong> The language used to describe shaft loom projects can be a bit different, and some things that are easy on one style of loom are harder on another, and <a href="https://www.gistyarn.com/blogs/how-to-weave/how-to-convert-a-rigid-heddle-patterns-for-a-4-shaft-or-2-shaft-loom">this goes both ways</a>! You have to understand both worlds enough to understand the differences, especially if you also want to stick with direct warping. There are many wonderful patterns and books out there for rigid heddle weavers, that will be much easier to follow.</p>
<p>If you are a little more experienced and want to give it a go, the biggest and most common obstacle is sett. Shaft looms have more options for sett, and many projects designed for shaft looms will use a sett that can’t be done exactly on a rigid heddle loom, either because it's "in between" your sett options, or just too fine for a rigid heddle loom. However, there are plenty of shaft loom projects that are at a reasonable sett for a rigid heddle loom, particularly with multi heddle techniques.</p>
<p>So what setts can you do? It depends on the chosen structure, as well as your available heddles (which will vary a bit by loom brand). In rigid heddle land, we talk about density: how many threads go through how many dents (holes & slots) to achieve the threading. Most single heddle weaves are done using 100% density: 1 thread in each hole and slot, so the ends per inch (EPI) of the sett is the dents per inch (DPI) of the heddle, while basketweave is typically done at 200% density, or 2 threads per hole and slot. With 2 heddles, you can do any 4 shaft straight draw - which includes plain weave, basketweave, and many twills, and others, at 200% density, using the so called "standard" threading.</p>
<p>For a more concrete example, lets say you have all of the Schacht heddle sizes available. You can then match the heddles and do 5, 8, 10, 12 at 100% density, and 10, 16, 20, and 24 at 200% density. You could also do a weave at 50% density, by skipping every 2nd pair of hole and slot, giving you 2.5, 4, 5, and 6; this most often comes up with weft faced weaves. That will cover many shaft loom projects, but some will use setts like 18 and 22 that you can't do. A difference of 2 EPI will make a significant difference to the width of the finished item and have an impact on the feel of the fabric, both of which may lead you to wanting to make adjustments and/or sample. And if a project is sett at, say, 32 EPI, that's just too fine for most structures on a rigid heddle loom.</p>
<p>Other structures including point twills have different options, like 150%, but I won't go into those here - <a href="https://yarnworker.com/threading-part-two-sett-in-a-multi-heddle-world/">check out this post by Liz Gipson if you want to dive deeper</a>. But in short, you often have a couple different ways of threading a structure to be more or less dense, but not an unlimited number of ways.</p>
<p>Some other potential pitfalls are if the project requires too long of a warp, or if it requires a heavy beat or especially high tension. Other things that could cause issues are cramming and spacing of the warp, really warp faced weaves, and mixing structures - the 2 heddle standard threading is more flexible than straight draw, but some others might not be! Finally, shaft loom weavers often work with yarns with very little stretch, while these can be more difficult to work with a rigid heddle loom - 8/2 cotton tea towels at 20 EPI are doable on both looms, but, require double heddle techniques (or basketweave) and a lot of fussing with tension on a rigid heddle loom. These kinds of things are a little hard to describe succinctly, but, in short, if something about the project is very different from something you know you can do on your rigid heddle loom, it might not be the right one to try adapting.</p>
<p>So - a balanced-ish plain weave project at 12 EPI? Easy! At 18 EPI? Needs some adaptation as you'll need to change the sett considerably. At 20? You'll need to use 2 heddles but it's totally doable. A 6 yard long, thick, rug requiring high tension? Maybe not the project to try on rigid heddle.</p>
<p>You can weave some shaft loom projects on a rigid heddle loom more or less as is, but, just because something is plain weave, or another structure that you know how to do, doesn’t mean you can translate the project exactly to a rigid heddle loom!</p>
Why I love small rigid heddle looms, especially for beginners2023-10-24T00:00:00Zhttps://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/why-i-love-small/<p>Rigid heddle weavers seem to be of three thoughts when it comes to what loom size a beginner should get.</p>
<p>Go big, go small, or go for the middle.</p>
<p>I am firmly in the ‘start small’ camp.</p>
<p>I believe that no one loom is the best for every project or situation, and if you fall in love with weaving, you will get other looms eventually; and I think that it’s easier to fall in love with a small rigid heddle loom than a bigger one. Small rigid heddle looms are easier to use, cheaper, and overall less intimidating than big looms, especially for a beginner. And if you don’t, a small loom is less of an investment, of both money and space!</p>
<p>I started with a little 16” Ashford Sample-It. It was my only loom for about a year and a half, and it’s still the loom I reach for most often now that I also have a 24” Ashford Rigid Heddle Loom. I looked up the width you needed to weave a bunch of common projects, which I expanded into my <a href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/what-size-loom/">first blog post</a>, and figured I really wanted to be able to at least do placemats, and that I’d want the 15-16” looms for that. 10” would have been too small for the things I was interested in weaving, but 16” has been great! The 16” is just so easy to move around, while the 24” is big enough I have to be careful through doorways; I usually warp in my basement but weave upstairs and I need to be really careful taking it around the corner up the stairs!</p>
<p>I frequently see advice to beginners looking for their first loom along the lines of “get the biggest loom you can afford and have space for, you can weave a smaller project on a bigger loom but can’t weave a bigger project on a smaller loom”. I disagree with this perspective; I think that you should get the smallest loom that will keep you interested for more than a few projects.</p>
<p>It’s easiest to weave on a loom that’s big enough for the project, but not too big, and I think beginners should start with some smaller projects to get the hang of things before putting on a big warp. Smaller looms are less of an initial investment, and many accessories like heddles are also much cheaper. Smaller heddles are lighter and easier to manipulate, especially when your project is small. And this is doubly true if you’ve got shorter arms or shoulder issues.</p>
<p>And you <em>can</em> do a bigger project on a smaller loom. You can sew panels together, or you can, if you’re up for a challenge, weave double width with 2 heddles and pick up sticks. You can make it nearly invisible, or, you can turn it into a design feature. And for really big things like blankets, even if you buy the biggest loom you can you may be piecing things together for an adult sized blanket.</p>
<p>A big advantage of rigid heddle looms is the fact that they are lightweight and portable relative to the weaving width, and the little ones benefit from this the most. You can travel with it, take it outside, take it to a class or workshop, and just generally use it if you want a simple plain weave project - or to do certain kinds of designs with pick up sticks that your shaft loom can’t. They can also be great to lend to people interested in trying weaving!</p>
<p>If you stick with weaving long enough, you’ll probably end up with more than one loom, and before you start you don’t necessarily know what direction you’re going to want to go with your weaving. I think a small rigid heddle loom is a great starting point that makes a great companion for many other styles of looms, including a bigger rigid heddle loom! If you decide to go in the direction of a floor loom, for example, you’re more likely to find a use (and space!) for a small rigid heddle loom than a big one - “I got a floor loom and don't have space” is a common reason I see people selling larger rigid heddle looms. If you decide to stick with rigid heddle looms, it can be nice to have more than one project on the go - or have a loom you can lend to a friend interested in trying out weaving.</p>
<p>Now, if you’ve caught the weaving bug on something like a frame loom, inkle loom, or pin loom, then, perhaps you’ve got small covered! And if you have a designated spot to weave and don’t plan on moving the loom around much, a mid sized 24” or so loom has some advantages, and if you really, truly want to focus on blankets right from the start and don’t have many small things that interest you, then perhaps consider a larger loom. And, as noted at the beginning, there’s lots of different opinions out there, and while there’s plenty of people who tried a big rigid heddle loom and decided it’s too big, there’s also people who love them! But I think for most people, erring on the side of too small for their first loom is the better choice. You can always get a bigger loom later!</p>
So what can’t a rigid heddle loom do?2023-09-24T00:00:00Zhttps://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/what-cant-rh-do/<p>Rigid heddle looms are great little looms and I love them, but no loom is the right tool for every job, and there are some things that rigid heddle looms really fundamentally <em>can’t</em> do. This post will dive into those!</p>
<p>A lot of this comes down to sett, so I’ll define a couple related terms that I’m going to use:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Dents Per Inch (DPI)</strong>: How many holes and slots there are per inch in the heddle or reed.</li>
<li><strong>Ends Per Inch (EPI):</strong> How many warp ends there are per inch in the fabric. EPI and DPI are equal if there is one thread in each ‘dent’ (aka hole or slot)</li>
<li><strong>Sett:</strong> How many EPI there are.</li>
<li><strong>Density:</strong> The ratio of DPI to EPI. 100% density is 1 end per dent. 200% density is 2 ends per dent. This is affected by doubling yarns, using multiple heddles, and using fancier structures, for example a point twill might end up at 150% or 75%. For more detail on density and structure, check out Liz Gipson’s post on <strong><a href="https://yarnworker.com/threading-part-two-sett-in-a-multi-heddle-world/">Threading Part Two: Sett In A Multi-Heddle World</a>.</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>Now onto the things rigid heddle looms can't do!</p>
<h2 id="precise-control-over-sett">Precise control over sett <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/what-cant-rh-do/#precise-control-over-sett">#</a></h2>
<p>On shaft looms, the reed and heddles are separate, and it’s very common to thread multiple yarns per slot in the reed. With just one reed you can usually sett things to within about 3EPI and with access to a couple different reed sizes you can usually get to within 2 EPI or less. But on a rigid heddle loom, your structure and sett are tied together, there’s fewer options of reed sizes, and particularly in the double heddle range you can have options that are more like 5 EPI apart.</p>
<p>This matters most when you really want a balanced weave, like a pattern that needs to be square, that also isn’t too loose or too stiff! This also makes rigid heddle looms less flexible for ‘crammed and spaced’ effects. Variable dent heddles help with this, but still limit your options somewhat. Many fabrics aren't perfectly balanced though!</p>
<p>The advantage of this is that there’s fewer options to sample given a particular yarn, and the differences between them will be bigger, so if you’re the sort to obsess over details, you don’t need to spend time deciding if 18, 20, or 22 EPI is best because you can only do 20 EPI!</p>
<h2 id="really-fine-fabric">Really fine fabric <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/what-cant-rh-do/#really-fine-fabric">#</a></h2>
<p>Rigid heddle looms are best suited for thicker fabric. The finest rigid heddle on the market is Ashford’s 15 DPI and many other brands go down to 12 - there’s only so fine they can be made and still be strong enough, and the hole and slot design necessitates thicker material than a metal reed for a shaft loom.</p>
<p>There are lots of ways to go below 15 EPI in the fabric, using double and triple heddle techniques, doubling (or more!) yarns in each slot and hole, and combining the two together, but, to weave a structure using single yarns, you’re mostly limited to 200% density (so up to 30 EPI) or if you’re working with smooth yarns and have a lot of patience to deal with not very clean sheds you may be able to pull of 300% with triple heddles, which could conceivably take you to 45 EPI; this is definitely pushing the limits and I haven't really seen 300% density in the wild.</p>
<p>This range is thick compared to most commercial fabric, but a great deal of handweaving is in the range achievable with 2 heddles - flipping through a couple issues of Handwoven, which focuses on floor and table loom weaving, their most common setts are 20 and 24, with a project or two being lower than that and a few projects being higher.</p>
<p>This doesn’t mean that you can’t weave with fine yarns though! As an extreme example, the ‘Spider Silk Shawl’ project in Inventive Weaving on a Little Loom uses a very fine silk yarn using 6 strands and double heddle techniques. While the end result is lovely and takes advantage of multiple strands for some interesting color blending, it is a very different fabric from weaving the same silk as a plain weave structure, and in many ways more like working with thicker yarns to begin with.</p>
<h2 id="wide-warp-faced-weaves">Wide warp faced weaves <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/what-cant-rh-do/#wide-warp-faced-weaves">#</a></h2>
<p>Warp faced weaves are those where the warp ends up completely covering the weft (except at the edges). This requires a tight sett. Rigid heddle looms can make narrow warp faced bands, and in fact historically that’s been a common use of the rigid heddle concept. In this case, you don’t use the heddle to beat and expect a lot of draw in. But wider warped faced weaves don’t work well with a rigid heddle as the rigid heddle is “chunkier” than a reed of the same DPI.</p>
<p>However, I think it would be possible to use backstrap style techniques like string heddles and a weaving sword (or shuttle!) to beat, but using the frame of a rigid heddle loom for tension. I haven't tried it yet, I have more ideas of things to weave than time to weave them! I debated including this on my ‘can't’ list, but with this setup it's not really being used as a rigid heddle loom!</p>
<h2 id="very-long-fabric">Very long fabric <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/what-cant-rh-do/#very-long-fabric">#</a></h2>
<p>Rigid heddle looms are not usually designed to take on huge warps. There’s not really a precise number here as it’s more about the thickness of the fabric on the roller, but think 4-5 yards or so - less if it’s thicker, maybe a little more on the very fine end. The Leclerc Bergere may take a longer warp than most as I believe it uses a table loom frame; and the Ashford Freedom Roller attachment for their Rigid Heddle line can also extend the warp length. Unlike the points about sett, this one is more about the design of available looms rather than a fundamental limitation of the rigid heddle design - rigid heddle looms are mostly fairly compact but holding a huge warp requires a bigger loom.</p>
<p>There are other things that other styles of loom are better at, but can be done on a rigid heddle loom with difficulty. There are also some people who get creative with modifying their rigid heddle looms and making them work as simple shaft looms, or the Cricket Quartet attachment which truly turns it into a small 4 shaft loom - but the things above really can’t be done using a standard rigid heddle loom!</p>
<p> </p>
What is Saori weaving, and is it something I can do on a rigid heddle loom?2023-08-25T00:00:00Zhttps://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/saori-weaving/<p>Saori is a philosophy of creative expression through weaving developed by the late Misao Jo (1913-2018) in Japan. It emphasizes developing individual creativity, embracing flaws, and making fabric that a machine can’t. Saori fabrics are one of a kind pieces often exploring color and texture in fairly irregular ways.</p>
<p>SAORI is a trademarked brand name, and encompasses both the philosophy, the looms and other equipment, and a network of registered SAORI studios and teachers worldwide that teach this style of weaving. In this post I’m going to make a distinction and use “Saori” when talking about the general philosophy as described in sources like Misao Jo’s book <em>SAORI: Self Innovation through Free Weaving</em>, and “SAORI” to refer to the looms or the whole package. SAORI Global has a list of <a href="https://www.saoriglobal.com/classes">registered SAORI studios worldwide</a>. To be clear, I'm not a SAORI instructor, just someone who likes learning about different styles of weaving!</p>
<p>Where a lot of weaving focuses on detailed planning, repetitive, structured patterns, color changes in regular patterns like stripes and plaids, and neat edges and an even beat, Saori throws all this out and focuses on spontaneity and embracing imperfection. One thing that comes up frequently in Jo’s book is the idea that machines are great at producing perfect fabric but only humans can make imperfect fabric. There’s no such thing as a mistake in Saori!</p>
<p>Saori weaving embraces the simplicity of plain weave to make fabrics that are anything but plain! Saori makes use of techniques like spontaneous color and texture changes, clasped weft, and inlay, and choosing these in the moment rather than pre-planning a design beyond perhaps things like the overall size of fabric and selecting some yarns. Saori style projects are a great way to use up small odds and ends of yarn!</p>
<p>Saori often uses a basic black warp as a blank canvas (as white tends to wash out colors), and this is a common setup in classes or when a loom will be used by many people, but this is by no means a requirement and you can do whatever you like with the warp! Like the weft, irregularity is encouraged! You can leave some gaps, put in some irregular stripes, mix yarns, etc.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>See SAORI instructor Heather from <a href="https://www.artweaverstudio.com.au/">Art Weaver Studio</a> in Australia talking about Saori, showing off some fabrics, and teaching a newbie the basics!</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0msQ8wHikM">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0msQ8wHikM</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>SAORI looms are small 2 shaft floor looms designed to get you into the flow of weaving, and you have the option of purchasing pre-wound warps, but you can also wind the warp yourself. They have a compact 40cm (16”) version, various 60cm (24”) models, and a large 90cm (35”) model. They have a kit to extend some models to 4 shafts, but the focus of SAORI is really on the smaller, 2 shaft looms.</p>
<p>SAORI classes teach students the basic operation of the loom and then let the students explore and express themselves with the weaving with some hints from the instructor. SAORI fabrics often involve a lot of color and texture but the design is up to you and there are no rules!</p>
<p>Saori aims to be accessible to all and can be used in art therapy programs; Jo talks about the creativity of intellectually disabled weavers in her book and there are a number of accessories available for the looms to make them more accessible to various physical challenges, including one model that is wheelchair accessible.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Watch SAORI instructor Chiaki O’Brien from <a href="https://saoristudiofun.com/">Studio FUN</a> warping and weaving, and working with developmentally disabled weavers to teach SAORI weaving!</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyXouawRRtI">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyXouawRRtI</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>There are several SAORI weaving books, many of which include “patterns” for simple garments. I put patterns in quotes because they are more general suggestions of how to piece together fabric into garments than a typical sewing pattern with precise measurements. Some of the pattern books are only in Japanese but are highly visual with minimal text so people find them useful without a translation! These garments are influenced by Japanese kimonos, origami, and western clothing shapes, to make garments that are simple to assemble but anything but plain!</p>
<h3 id="can-i-practice-saori-weaving-on-a-rigid-heddle-loom%3F">Can I practice SAORI weaving on a rigid heddle loom? <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/saori-weaving/#can-i-practice-saori-weaving-on-a-rigid-heddle-loom%3F">#</a></h3>
<p>You can certainly take the philosophy and techniques of Saori from the books or a SAORI class and weave the same kind of fabrics on a rigid heddle loom, or pretty much any loom. Like a SAORI loom, rigid heddle looms focus on plain weave and the techniques used in SAORI weaving like clasped weft and inlay are also common within rigid heddle weaving. The SAORI clothing patterns work well with the kinds of narrow fabrics you can make on a rigid heddle loom. I have seen one thing done on a SAORI loom that a rigid heddle loom couldn’t do - the top of the reed was able to open and the weaver lifted up and twisted around a few warp threads; but this was a special 'comb' reed. A SAORI loom is also going to be more flexible with cramming and spacing a warp and using very different thicknesses of warp; if that sort of weaving interests you, you can take a look at the variable dent heddles available for many models of rigid heddle loom.</p>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="My Saori style project, mixing a thin yarn, a thick chenille yarn, and some pieces of handspun" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-08/SaoriStyleThickAndThinWithInlay.jpg" style="max-height:500px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block img-fluid shadow" />
<figcaption class="text-center text-muted">Part of my Saori style project, mixing a thin yarn, a thick chenille yarn, and some pieces of beginner handspun</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, note that SAORI is a trademarked brand name. To use the SAORI name to teach a class, you must be a certified instructor, use SAORI equipment, and otherwise follow the requirements of SAORI Global, likewise there are requirements if you wish to sell completed items using the SAORI name. So you will see other terms like “freestyle weaving” or “freeform weaving”, by people teaching similar techniques without the whole package, or “Saori style” or “Saori inspired” to describe a project.</p>
<p>Rigid heddle looms are much cheaper than the SAORI looms, and there may not be a SAORI studio nearby, so for many that makes them a more affordable way of embracing the philosophy of Saori, but it's not quite the same experience as a SAORI loom.</p>
<h3 id="advantages-of-a-saori-loom-over-a-rigid-heddle-loom">Advantages of a SAORI loom over a rigid heddle loom <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/saori-weaving/#advantages-of-a-saori-loom-over-a-rigid-heddle-loom">#</a></h3>
<p>The SAORI looms are designed around keeping things simple, getting you into the flow of weaving plain weave. and being comfortable to use. They are floor looms and so are controlled with foot treadles; some people find the full body experience of using foot treadles and throwing a boat shuttle gets them into a better flow. They come with built-in bobbin winders and a shelf to make frequent color changes with a boat shuttle easy. They are also designed to accommodate much longer warps than a rigid heddle loom, and you can purchase pre wound warps which greatly simplifies the setup process if you enjoy the weaving more than warping.</p>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="Another section of my Saori inspired project, mixing thick and thin handspun yarns" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-08/ThickAndThinHandspun.jpg" style="max-height:500px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block img-fluid shadow" />
<figcaption class="text-center text-muted">Another part of my Saori style project, mixing some thick and thin handspun (the thick is mine, the thin is by another member of my guild!)</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I’d love to take a proper SAORI class some day, but there aren’t any studios nearby. My current project is Saori inspired and it is interesting to play with texture and it’s been great for playing with my very beginner handspun yarns! I put on a warp with a random gradient using a light pink, medium pink, and a brown, with some gaps in it, and am using up yarns from my guild’s summer challenge mystery bag and some of my beginner, highly textured, hand spun and other odds and ends. I also enjoy the more “left brained” aspects of more traditional weaving and pre-planning projects (after all, I’ve been building <a href="https://designer.notsorigidweaver.com/">design software for rigid heddle weavers</a>!), but it’s been fun to mix things up for a project!</p>
<h2 id="some-saori-and-saori-inspired-resources">Some SAORI and Saori inspired Resources <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/saori-weaving/#some-saori-and-saori-inspired-resources">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.saoriglobal.com/about-saori">SAORI Global's overview</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://curiousweaver.id.au/archives/category/video-tutorial">CuriousWeaver</a> is a SAORI instructor in Australia who has a great blog with some tips on Saori clothing.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://schachtspindle.com/freeform-saori-inspired-weaving-on-the-cricket-loom/">Schacht's Blog on weaving a Saori inspired scarf on the Cricket loom</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://centeringwithfiber.blogspot.com/">Saori Santa Cruz</a> is both a SAORI studio and an Ashford dealer. Jill is active in both Saori and rigid heddle groups on Ravelry.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
Ravelry for Weavers2023-07-21T00:00:00Zhttps://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/ravelry-for-weavers/<p>Sometimes I see people ask “Is there a Ravelry for weavers?” and, well, the answer is… Ravelry!</p>
<a href="https://www.ravelry.com/" aria-label="Ravelry.com">
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="Ravelry's logo - orange handwritten style font" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-07/RavelryPrimaryLogo2020-Color.svg" style="max-height:100px" class="mx-auto d-block img-fluid" />
</figure>
</a>
<p>If you’re not familiar with <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/">Ravelry</a>, it’s a niche social network site focused primarily on knitting and crochet, with over 9 million users, that's been around since 2007. Ravelry lets you track your projects, your yarn stash, connect with other fiber art enthusiasts, and browse through other user’s projects and find projects made with a specific yarn.</p>
<p>It has a database of yarns, patterns, designers, local yarn stores, and projects, a ‘notebook’ for tracking your own projects, stash, tools, and library, and a community, consisting of some default forums and a large number of groups organized around specific topics. Accessing anything in Ravelry requires making a free account (so the links to specific parts of Ravelry in this post won't be useful without one!). Ravelry is run by a small team and supported by ads from fiber arts related businesses, a few inexpensive paid features, and pattern sales via their marketplace.</p>
<p>Many features in Ravelry support 5 crafts, in order of number of projects: Knitting, Crochet, Weaving, Machine Knitting, and Loom Knitting. There are also some features around tracking handspun yarns and fiber for Spinners, and there’s groups discussing many other fiber arts.</p>
<p>However, one major part of Ravelry, Patterns, does not support weaving, but you can browse through over 150,000 weaving Projects for inspiration - check out Projects in the Advanced Search menu. Patterns are free and paid patterns made by designers, while Projects are people’s records of their own work and thus vary greatly in level of detail, and some projects are not yet complete or are abandoned.</p>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="A screenshot of Ravelry's Project search page" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-07/RavelryProjects.png" style="max-height:500px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block img-fluid shadow" />
<figcaption class="text-center text-muted">Searching Projects in Ravelry using the Advanced Search menu</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2 id="projects-%26-yarn-database">Projects & Yarn Database <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/ravelry-for-weavers/#projects-%26-yarn-database">#</a></h2>
<p>Ravelry has a huge database of other users Projects; use the Craft filter to restrict it to weaving projects, and there's lots of other filters like how happy people were with the project, whether it's complete, what kind of item it is, what kind of yarn was used, and many more. For example, <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/projects/search#craft=weaving&happiness=4&status=finished&sort=updated&view=thumbs">here's a search of finished weaving projects that the creator was very happy with, sorted by most recently updated</a>. Projects generally include some notes and photos of people’s work, which can be great for inspiration - some write ups are very detailed and some are just a photo or two.</p>
<p>You can also look up a specific yarn and find weaving projects that were done with it, and you can track your stash of yarn (and also your equipment and books). One word of warning is that the yarn database is crowd sourced and the knitting & crochet oriented size categories aren’t applied very consistently to weaving yarns. But it’s still a very useful resource!</p>
<p>One thing that’s a bit harder to do is focus on a specific type of weaving - it’s all just weaving, so you’ll find everything from pin looms to tablet weaving to 16 shaft projects; but one way of finding Rigid Heddle specific projects is to look on the Projects section of a group page like one of the more rigid heddle specific groups listed below to find projects shared to that groups, and then you can also take a look at other projects by the same user.</p>
<h2 id="groups-%26-community-features">Groups & Community Features <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/ravelry-for-weavers/#groups-%26-community-features">#</a></h2>
<p>The Ravelry community consists of a handful of default forums, groups on a wide range of different topics, and also features around connecting with friends and direct messaging. While most of the default groups aren’t very useful for weavers, there are a ton of groups on all kinds of different topics, a number of which are weaving focused. Ravelry groups often have some resources and links in the Pages tab, and you can find projects completed by group members as well. Another thing is that if like me you have a blog Ravelry can read in the RSS feed and link to your posts, and you can link to relevant blog posts on your Project pages.</p>
<p>As a rigid heddle weaver, <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/groups/rigid-heddle-looms">Rigid Heddle Looms</a> is a fairly active group. <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/groups/beginning-weavers">Beginning Weavers</a> is another slightly less active one for beginners to all kinds of weaving. <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/groups/warped-weavers">Warped Weavers</a> is an extremely active group, however, it tends to focus much more on shaft looms. <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/groups/looms-to-go">Looms to Go</a> focuses on small looms in general, particularly pin looms, but also includes some rigid heddle discussion. There are also some groups focused on particular brands and models of of looms, like <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/groups/ashford-knitters-loomies?s=tab">Ashford Knitter’s Loomies</a> (which talks about all kinds of Ashford looms!), and <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/groups/the-cricket-club">The Cricket Club</a> for the Schacht Cricket, <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/groups/glimakra-loom-lovers">Glimakra Loom Lovers</a> for Glimakra, and probably others I’m not aware of! To find more groups, you can search for groups, but you can also check out the “Neighbors” tab on a group to see similar groups.</p>
<h2 id="places-to-find-formal-patterns">Places to find formal Patterns <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/ravelry-for-weavers/#places-to-find-formal-patterns">#</a></h2>
<p>As mentioned, Ravelry doesn't include weaving patterns in their pattern marketplace. If that's the part of Ravelry you're looking for, and you want more detail than most Projects, there are a number of people selling weaving patterns via <a href="https://www.etsy.com/ca/search?q=rigid%20heddle%20weaving%20pattern&ref=search_bar">Etsy</a>, and on their own websites. Some yarn brands like <a href="https://www.gistyarn.com/collections/weaving-patterns-and-kits?pf_t_loom_type=loom%3ARigid+Heddle">Gist Yarn</a> and <a href="https://cottonclouds.com/collections/patterns">Cotton Clouds</a> also have a number of free and paid weaving patterns and kits!</p>
<p>Overall, Ravelry has a ton of great features for weavers, and plenty of active weaving groups, though it's clear that they’re more focused on knitting and crochet. You can find me on Ravelry as <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/people/NotSoRigidWeaver">NotSoRigidWeaver</a>!</p>
Designing a Project using Not So Rigid Designer2023-07-07T00:00:00Zhttps://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/making-a-design-with-designer/<p><a href="https://designer.notsorigidweaver.com/">Not So Rigid Designer</a> is the online weaving software I’ve been building. It lets you make designs in terms of heddles and pick up sticks, rather than doing the mental gymnastics to convert from shafts - I’ve been doing those gymnastics on hard mode for you! So far as I am aware it’s the only software designed specifically for rigid heddle weavers.</p>
<p>I figured it was past time to show an example of creating and weaving a design using this tool!</p>
<p>I have multiple partial cones of a gorgeous copper silk that a friend gave to me (she’d gotten it at a stash sale and had come to the conclusion she was never going to knit anything with it!). I’ve been trying to figure out what to weave with it for a while - it’s not a color I love in large quantities, but lovely as an accent. More recently, I came across some light blue and charcoal yarn at a guild event, and realized that these would work well with the copper. I’m not sure of exact fiber composition but it seems like a wool blend of some kind. All of it is around a fingering weight, so great for a rigid heddle loom! In this case, I had tons of the copper, a decently full cone of charcoal, and a smaller amount of the blue.</p>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="Photo of the copper, charcoal, and blue yarns used for this project" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-07/Yarns.jpg" style="max-height:500px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block img-fluid shadow" />
<figcaption class="text-center text-muted">The yarns - I took this after warping</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>First off, I was really uncertain about the sett, so I made a sample, I played around with some options in Not So Rigid Designer and warped up something like this:</p>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="Sample design with a mix of options including wide copper and black stripes, and narrow stripes alternating copper, black, blue, and black" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-07/BlackCopperandBlueSample.png" style="max-height:500px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block img-fluid shadow" />
<figcaption class="text-center text-muted">Sample Design - a bit of a mash up of a few different ideas</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The questions I wanted to answer with this sample included things like what sett do I want to use, what kind of warp pattern do I like, what weft should I use, and how can I incorporate a fairly small quantity of blue and have an impact. I warped this up in a 12.5 DPI heddle - I thought it might be too loose, but I wanted to try it because it’s the smallest I have on my 24” loom and preferred to use it rather than double heddle if I could. Of course once I got the sample on, I went to town and tried out a bunch of different weft options. It’s not pretty, but, it’s purpose is to try out some different ideas using a small amount of yarn, and get some idea of things like shrinkage.</p>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="The woven sample, with a mix of different wefts" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-07/BlackCopperAndBlueSampleWoven.jpg" style="max-height:500px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block img-fluid shadow" />
<figcaption class="text-center text-muted">My woven sample. It isn't pretty but I learned from it!</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The sample told me that the sett was fine, and that I really liked the doubled stripes of blue and copper with the charcoal weft. I also liked the simplicity of just warp floats in the copper. I tried out some fingerloop braids on the fringe - I think the 5 loop square braids are a bit fat with this thickness of yarn, though the one on the right which was a 5 loop split braid is a good size.</p>
<p>So then I went back to the designer and played around with some options. I was a bit worried about how much blue I had and came up with a design that used fewer blue stripes as an option as well.</p>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="Shawl stripe design option 1: alternating black, copper, black, blue, black, copper throughout" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-07/BlackCopperandBlueShawl.png" style="max-height:500px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block img-fluid shadow" />
<figcaption class="text-center text-muted">Stripe design option 1</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="Shawl stripe design option 2: skipping every 2nd blue so it's more of a 3 step repeat starting and ending with copper" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-07/BlackCopperandBlueStripedShawlwithlessblue.png" style="max-height:500px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block img-fluid shadow" />
<figcaption class="text-center text-muted">Stripe design option 2 with less blue</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There was a bunch of back and forth on estimating how much blue and black I had using various methods to try and decide between these designs! I decided I had enough for the alternating copper and blue version. But then I messed up my calculations and had to recalculate in a panic after getting partway through warping to see if I still had enough. One thing that was helpful there was that I’d weighted the cone before starting, so I knew how much weight I had used doing 10 repeats, so I was able to confidently work out that I had enough yarn to do the total number of repeats.</p>
<p>When warping, I carried the black along, and tied off the copper and blue every time. I direct warped as normal except that every 3rd hole got a loop of blue. I did make sure to double check frequently and caught a few mistakes before they got too hard to deal with! While threading, I then just had to move black ones around to the nearest empty hole (which meant sometimes it was right and sometimes it was left).</p>
<p>In the end, I warped up the pattern about as wide as I could based on my biggest pick up stick, which is about 21” without the pointed part (I’m going to need to buy myself a 25” pick up stick so I can do full width!). Because I was pushing the stick to it’s limits, I put a cardboard warp separator in to save the pick up pattern in case the stick slips.</p>
<p>I’m now partway through weaving and it’s absolutely gorgeous! The overall final sett is mostly 16.6 EPI as it’s at 133% density through most of the warp. I think my shawl is coming out a little bit more warp dominant than the sample because I had the stripes throughout rather than a small accent in the sample, but it definitely was on the loose side at 12.5.</p>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="A photo of the design on the loom" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-07/CopperAndBlueProgress.jpg" style="max-height:500px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block img-fluid shadow" />
<figcaption class="text-center text-muted">Progress photo while weaving</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Using <a href="https://designer.notsorigidweaver.com/">Not So Rigid Designer</a> helped me iterate on some ideas faster than sampling, but since I was working with unknown yarns a sample was still important! It’s still early in it’s life, with lots more to come! <a href="https://app.notsorigidweaver.com/demo">Give the free demo a try!</a>!</p>
History of the Rigid Heddle Loom2023-06-09T00:00:00Zhttps://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/rigid-heddle-loom-history/<p>Rigid heddles are ancient, but rigid heddle looms as I define them in my post on <a href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/what-is-a-rigid-heddle-loom/">What is a rigid heddle loom?</a> are a much more more modern invention.</p>
<p>Small Rigid heddles for band weaving, go back to at least <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/306219509_Roman_rigid_heddles_A_survey">Roman times</a>. These could have been used with a backstrap setup, suspended between posts, or any number of simple setups. Wider rigid heddles used with a backstrap setup were also used in the Americas, such as by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We%27wha">Zuni</a>.</p>
<p>A more direct precursor to rigid heddle looms are are “<a href="https://handywomanshop.blogspot.com/2020/02/new-handywoman-box-loom-design.html">box</a>” and “<a href="https://www.jkseidel.com/">tape</a>” looms, which are also used for narrow bands - in some of these the heddle is fixed in place while the woven end of the band is held in the weavers hands, in others it is a free floating rigid heddle on a small loom not unlike a small rigid heddle loom without heddle blocks. I've seen examples of both styles of loom with both names. These looms are particularly associated with the American colonial era, though I have also seen references to medieval box looms.</p>
<p>But rigid heddle looms similar to what’s on the market today, suitable for weaving wider fabric and with supports for the heddle(s), are probably less than 100 years old. The earliest dated reference I’ve come across (thanks to a <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/weaving/comments/11dqo9o/kircher_rahmen_loom_but_no_directions/">Reddit thread</a>!) for what is clearly what I’d call a rigid heddle loom is an article "Handweaving on Loom Frames" by Cecelia Cleveland Willard, published in <a href="https://www2.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/periodicals/hc_3_7.pdf">Bernat Handicrafter, November-December 1931</a>, which details how to assemble and use a then new loom by Kircher.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The Kircher Loom is the second loom in this group, and devotees of the craft of weaving will welcome with great enthusiasm the introduction of this new loom fitted to the needs of beginners and yet so well constructed as to be far removed from the class of a toy.</p>
<p>The Kircher loom is distinguished by its adaptability to the production of a 2- or 3-yard length of fabric and by mechanical features usually found in more expensive looms. The relatively low cost of this useful little apparatus will recommend it to the use of craft teachers in schools and camps, to mature students making their first efforts in weaving with or without a teacher, and to persons who pursue craft work for it’s beneficial effects.”</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="Kircher Loom with weaving in place" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-06/KircherIllustration1.png" style="max-height:500px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block img-fluid shadow" />
<figcaption class="text-center text-muted">Kircher Loom</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This loom is very clearly a rigid heddle loom (though it might be warped backwards in that photo!). The article is part 2 of a 4 part series, but the <a href="https://www2.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/handicrafter.html">archive</a> doesn’t seem to have the issues with the other parts (and the numbering of volumes is very confusing!). The loom is described as coming in 3 sizes, from 14 to 30 inches, and that they can take about 8 warp threads to the inch, and the reed was made of wood.</p>
<p>Kircher is still around and their <a href="http://holzkircher.de/impressum/index.htm">history</a> (German) says they were founded in 1924 and “within a few years” expanded to include “large weaving frames”, which is how they refer to their rigid heddle looms, which they still sell in the German market. So if the Kircher looms are the first true rigid heddle looms, that puts the origins likely in the late 1920s, as one could expect it takes some time for the loom to make it from Germany to the US and for the article to be written and published. This is a couple decades before the 1953 Spear's example which is the oldest Liz Gipson mentions in a footnote on her post on <a href="https://yarnworker.com/when-if-ever-do-i-need-a-floor-loom/">When if ever do I need a floor loom?</a></p>
<p>What I’ve learned from that article and from various vintage weaving books from the 50s-70s is that there are various terms used to refer to rigid heddles and rigid heddle looms in older books, which may be why others have concluded they likely developed post WWII with looms like the Spear's looms.</p>
<p><em>The Joy of Hand Weaving</em> (first edition is from 1950; photos are from the 1964 second edition) includes details of how to make a “Heddle-Frame” also known as a “Slot-and-Hole Heddle”, and how it can be a good choice if you’re making your own loom. The diagrams don’t quite show a full loom set up with supports etc., but the other diagrams in the book are often missing that kind of detail. “Heddle-Frame” also seems to be used in other sources to refer to a shaft or harness, including in patents for power looms.</p>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="Diagram of Loom with a Heddle Frame from The Joy of Hand Weaving" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-06/JoyOfHandweaving.jpg" style="max-height:500px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block img-fluid shadow" />
<figcaption class="text-center text-muted">Diagram of Loom with a Heddle Frame from The Joy of Hand Weaving</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>Hand Weaving for Pleasure and Profit: A Guide to Two Harness Weaving</em>, by Harriette J. Brown, from 1952, includes a clear example of a rigid heddle loom as a kind of 2 shaft loom - it refers to it as a “heddle-reed combination”, and refers to "longs and shorts" instead of slots and holes.</p>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="Rigid Heddle loom as a 'heddle-reed combination'" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-06/Handweaving%20for%20Pleasure%20Collage.png" style="max-height:500px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block img-fluid shadow" />
<figcaption class="text-center text-muted">3 pages referring to 'Heddle-Reed Combinations' from Hand Weaving for Pleasure and Profit</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As late as 1978, Nina Holland’s <em>The Weaving Primer: A Complete Guide to Inkle, Backstrap, and Frame Looms</em> groups rigid heddle looms as a kind of frame loom, and refers to several different makers of rigid heddle looms, including Beka and Schacht, and provides plans for a frame loom using string heddles in the same category. It doesn’t use the term rigid heddle loom in the book, but does in the index.</p>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="List of manufacturers of 'Frame Looms' from The Weaving Primer, 1978" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-06/WeavingPrimer2.jpg" style="max-height:500px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block img-fluid shadow" />
<figcaption class="text-center text-muted">List of manufacturers of 'Frame Looms' from The Weaving Primer, 1978 - Schacht and Beka still make these looms</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="Photos of 'Frame Looms' from The Weaving Primer, 1978 - The Beka loom is much the same as today." src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-06/WeavingPrimer1.jpg" style="max-height:500px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block img-fluid shadow" />
<figcaption class="text-center text-muted">Photos of 'Frame Looms' from The Weaving Primer, 1978 - The Beka loom is much the same as today.</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The <a href="https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=rigid+heddle+loom%2Cframe+loom%2Cweaving+frame%2Crigid-heddle+loom&year_start=1800&year_end=2019&corpus=en-2019&smoothing=3">Google Books Ngram viewer</a> tracks the frequency of short combinations of words in their archive of scanned books, and can give some insight into the popularity of different names for these looms. Some of the terms I found like 'heddle-reed combination' were too rare to show up at all, or, like 'slot-and-hole' were very rare in comparison to others. As we can see, 'weaving frame' and 'frame loom' are much more common in general (they are more generic terms), but weaving frame in particular is much more common until around 1950. The phrase “Rigid Heddle Loom” started to pick up in the 1970s, with a very small number of references to “rigid-heddle loom” in the 1930s, and it doesn’t have any usage of “rigid heddle loom” prior to 1950.</p>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="Google Books Ngram viewer comparing 4 different terms - Weaving Frame is the most common prior to 1950 or so, when Frame Loom starts to become more comon. Rigid-heddle loom with or without the hyphen is rare until around 1970." src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-06/ngrams-4.png" style="max-height:500px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block img-fluid shadow" />
<figcaption class="text-center text-muted">Google Books Ngram viewer comparing 4 different terms</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I was surprised at the drop off of Rigid Heddle Loom post ~2010, but then I see a lot of the recent books use the hyphenated version “Rigid-Heddle Loom” which gets counted separately! I hadn’t even noticed that half my books use one and half the other!</p>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="Google Books Ngram viewer showing rigid heddle loom vs rigid-heddle loom, with the latter being more popular in the oldest and most recent books" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-06/ngrams-2.png" style="max-height:500px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block img-fluid shadow" />
<figcaption class="text-center text-muted">Google Books Ngram viewer showing rigid heddle loom vs rigid-heddle loom</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There was a particular wave of interest in the 1970s and 1980s that led to a number of books dedicated to these looms, rather than a chapter in a more general book, and focusing on more complex techniques, like the three heddle books by Xenaxis and McKinney and Betty Linn Davenport’s <em>Textures and Patterns for the Rigid Heddle Loom</em>. David Xenakis’s 1978 book sometimes refers to “rigid-heddle loom” and to “rigid-heddle frame loom”.</p>
<p>Interest in this kind of loom seems to have waned through most of the 90’s, picking up more recently since the mid 2000s with a wave of new and improved loom designs. I haven’t found any Rigid Heddle focused books published between Betty Linn Davenport's 1987 <em>Hands on Rigid Heddle Weaving</em> and <em>The Ashford Book of Rigid Heddle Weaving</em> in 2002, but it’s picked up again since!</p>
<p>Many of the looms currently for sale have been introduced or majorly redesigned since the mid 2000s. For example, Ashford has produced their Rigid Heddle loom for over 70 years as of 2020 (<a href="https://kellycasanovaweavinglessons.com/2020/07/how-is-a-knitters-loom-different-to-a-rigid-heddle-loom.html">Kelly Casanova has a photo of an early model</a>), but introduced their Knitter's Loom in 2005 and the Sample It in 2013, with a major redesign of the ‘classic’ rigid heddle loom in 2012, and Schacht introduced the Flip and Cricket in the late 2000s, replacing an earlier non folding model dating back to the 60s or 70s; Kromski's Presto line was introduced in 2018 and their Harp turned into the Harp Forte at some point.</p>
<p>More recent loom designs tend to use ratchet and pawl systems instead of wing nuts or even simpler mechanisms for adjusting tension, and use an apron bars (also called warp sticks) instead of a beam with teeth to attach the warp. These modern designs offer an improved weaving experience on these affordable looms!</p>
<p>The books cited here are largely books I came across through chance, though I also did some searching on Google Books to see if I could find any interesting references to these terms. I didn't find anything that was a clear example of a rigid heddle loom older than the Bernat Handicrafter reference to the Kircher, but it can be hard to tell from some of the snippets! And I've only searched English sources.</p>
What’s the difference between braiding and weaving?2023-05-19T00:00:00Zhttps://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/braiding-vs-weaving/<p>I was traveling last week, and decided it was a good time to take a look at braiding since I couldn't bring my loom! I’d picked up an old book on braiding a couple months ago at a guild giveaway, “The Basic Book of Fingerweaving” by Esther Warner Dendel, and I hadn’t had a chance to really look at it. So I packed up some scrap yarns, made myself a kumihimo disk out of scrap cardboard, and have been playing with braids! Which leaves me thinking about how these two crafts differ.</p>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="7 different braids I made" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-05/mybraids.jpg" style="max-height:500px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block img-fluid shadow" />
<figcaption class="text-center text-muted">Braids I made: The left 3 are fingerloop braids. The middle one is a 4 strand "edge to center" braid, and the flat one is a "Peruvian Flat Braid" with 6 strands, and the right two are kumihimo.</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Braiding (or plaiting) and weaving are both ways of making textiles by interlacing yarn in an over/under pattern (and a wide range of variations!). We’re all familiar with the basic 3 strand braid but there’s a huge range of techniques that fall under braiding - kumihimo, fingerloop braiding, fingerweaving, ply-split braiding, bobbin lace, and more.</p>
<p>Many braiding techniques don’t need any tools but there’s a wide range of ways to manage longer and more complex braids, like bobbins and frames like the marudai and takudai used in traditional kumihimo.</p>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="A Takadai, a frame for making complex, flat kumihimo braids" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-05/Takadai.jpg" style="max-height:500px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block img-fluid shadow" />
<figcaption class="text-center text-muted">A Takadai, a frame for making complex, flat kumihimo braids <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takadai#/media/File:Takadai.jpg">(Public Domain)</a></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Braiding and weaving are more similar to each other than they are to knitting or crochet, which work with loops of yarn, or techniques based around knots, like macramé. They are also both related to basketry techniques that work with stiffer materials; braiding, weaving, and basketry are all ancient and go back to the stone age, with braiding and basketry likely being older than weaving. And of course to add to the confusion the actions used in braiding are sometimes referred to as weaving, and braiding is sometimes referred to as a kind of “off loom weaving”.</p>
<p>And ‘Fingerweaving’? It’s a term sometimes used to describe making braided textiles (as opposed to hairstyling) in general, as in the vintage book I picked up, but more often it refers to a specific technique for making flat braids that originated with indigenous peoples in the Americas.</p>
<p>The following are the main ways braiding and weaving are different:</p>
<ul>
<li>Weaving has a distinct warp (lengthwise) and weft (widthwise) yarns, while in braiding all yarns are used similarly (and often referred to as strands). This allows for weaving to use heddles to raise groups of warp threads to speed up the process.</li>
<li>In weaving the interlacements are based on 90 degree angles, while braiding uses "oblique" angles (aka not 90 degrees).</li>
<li>Braiding <strong>requires</strong> that one end of the strands can be manipulated. In weaving both ends of the warp are fixed to some kind of loom and only the weft is freely manipulated. If it seems more like braiding but <em>both</em> ends are fixed, it might be <a href="https://www.spranglady.com/sprang.html">sprang</a>.</li>
<li>Braiding is worked with the braid forming at the “far” end and coming closer, as it’s the loose ends being manipulated, while weaving is the opposite, as the weft is usually pressed into place towards the weaver.</li>
<li>Braiding can use as few as 3 yarns for the basic braid that most people know how to do. While you can sort of weave with just 2 warp and a weft, it’s not very stable and the smallest weaving pattern I’ve come across is shoelaces with 9 warp + a weft.</li>
<li>The exact number of yarns used has more influence on difficulty, patterns, and techniques in braiding than in weaving. Some braiding techniques work with specific numbers of strands, or must have an even or odd number, and adding a single strand might dramatically change the pattern rather than make a stripe wider. 20 strands is a complex braid but a small narrow weave.</li>
<li>Weaving most often makes flat fabric, and can make tubes or have slits. Braids can be flat, round, square, tubular, and more; and they can split apart and join together again or form zig zag shapes. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobbin_lace">Bobbin lace</a> is an elaborate braiding technique to make intricate laces. While both braiding and weaving can produce flat structures, braids are usually much narrower, though they can be joined to make larger pieces.</li>
<li>Braids can make a very strong rope or cord that holds up well under tension, but is often not as strong widthwise or when it’s compressed; weaving is about equally strong in both warp and weft directions.</li>
</ul>
<p>There’s a wide range of techniques for both weaving and braiding, and not every point applies to every technique, but you’ll find that all but a couple of them will be on one side or the other! Most definitions focus on the distinct warp and weft and 90 degree interlacements, but there are some circumstances where those don’t quite work, like continuous strand or circular weaving.</p>
<p>This past week I’ve played around with a few techniques to make flat braids from the book as well as 8 strand round kumihimo and 5 loop square fingerloop braids (which have 10 strands). I’ve found the kumihimo and fingerloop quite easy to get the hang of with the odd error, while I found some of the flat braid techniques like “Peruvian Flat Braid” easier to lose my place in and keep tight! Kumihimo on a disk is particularly handy for being very easy to put down and pick up again later.</p>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="A homemade kumihimo disk with a braid in progress" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-05/kumihimo_in_progress.jpg" style="max-height:500px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block img-fluid shadow" />
<figcaption class="text-center text-muted">A homemade kumihimo disk with a braid in progress</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If you want to play around with braiding as a weaver, your thrums make great material to practice with! You can combine braiding with weaving by braiding your fringes, using braids to make a cord for a bag or trim for a pillow, braiding hang loops for towels, and I’m sure many other things!</p>
<p>Here are some resources on different kinds of braiding:<br />
<a href="https://thebraidsociety.wildapricot.org/page-1857688">The Braid Society - Begin Braiding</a> - Covers a range of different styles.<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y40cudjj76o">Kumihimo Tutorial</a> - a simple tutorial video to get you started on 8 strand round braids with a DIY cardboard Kumihimo disk.<br />
<a href="https://loopbraider.com/2011/06/05/5-loop-v-fell-fingerloop-braids-cobbled-together-tutorial-video/">LoopBraider.com - 5-loop square and flat braids</a> - This site has a ton of resources on all things fingerloop braiding.<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHKb9EE3WhY">Fingerloop braid for fringe</a> - this video shows how to braid your fringe using fingerloop braids.</p>
Not So Rigid Designer: Now in Open Beta2023-05-01T00:00:00Zhttps://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/not-so-rigid-designer-open-beta/<p>Not So Rigid Designer is so far as I know the first software for rigid heddle weavers. Today, it’s entering open beta!</p>
<p>Not So Rigid Designer lets you design pick up patterns for your rigid heddle loom, in a format similar to a floor loom draft but adapted for rigid heddle looms. It’s perfect for anyone experienced with weaving pick up patterns who would like to be able to play with designs on their computer.</p>
<p>I have had a number of newsletter subscribers using it for a bit, and I’m now opening up the beta!</p>
<div class="mx-auto mb-5" style="width: 300px;">
<a href="https://app.notsorigidweaver.com/" class="btn btn-primary text-light fs-2">Join the Beta!</a>
</div>
<p>Since launching to newsletter subscribers, I’ve improved the documentation including adding some short videos like the one below, and I’ve been adding some enhancements to the editor, like the ability to change multiple colors at once and add a hole & slot as a pair.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUCLEUYSekg">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUCLEUYSekg</a></p>
<p>I plan to run an open beta for about a month. The beta is completely free with no credit card required, however, when it switches over to the released version it will be a paid tool.</p>
<p>I’m still working out the details of pricing, but my plan is to have a basic tier at $25/year and a higher tier at a price that is still TBD. My aim for the basic tier is for it to cover most people looking to design patterns for personal use, while the more advanced tier will be aimed at people publishing patterns, wanting to interact with other weaving software, who have more advanced needs, or who just want to show extra love for this tool. Rigid heddle weaving is a very small niche and I hope this pricing will allow me to keep most of the features affordable while covering my costs and making a side income from it.</p>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="A red and black design from Not So Rigid Designer with some doubled slots" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-04/DramaticRedandBlack.png" style="max-height:500px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block img-fluid shadow" />
<figcaption class="text-center text-muted">3 Stick Design with some doubled slots</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Not So Rigid Designer runs in your browser and should work on a range of devices, including tablets and phones, though a larger screen is better and some features may work best with a mouse.</p>
<p>I have a number of improvements on my todo list, but feedback helps me prioritize - I'd love to hear from you at <a href="mailto:lisa@notsorigidweaver.com">lisa@notsorigidweaver.com</a>.</p>
A few thoughts on sustainability and textiles on Earth Day2023-04-22T00:00:00Zhttps://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/ways-to-reduce-impact/<p>Today is Earth Day!</p>
<p>I thought I’d take a moment to discuss the impact of textiles and the fashion industry on the environment.</p>
<p>The modern fashion industry, and in particular so called ‘fast fashion’, produces a massive amount of waste. Globally we produce about twice as much clothing as we did 20 years ago, and we probably had more than enough back then! Much of this clothing is made out of cheap synthetic fabrics which don’t decompose. Discarded clothing often ends up being shipped to <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-12/fast-fashion-turning-parts-ghana-into-toxic-landfill/100358702">Africa</a> where some of it gets re-sold but much of it ends up in dumps there. The fashion industry is responsible for <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-60382624">approximately 8-10% of global CO2 emissions</a>, contributing more than aviation and shipping combined to climate change. And much of this is to produce low quality items that get worn a couple times before being discarded. What a waste!</p>
<p>The biggest problem is overconsumption of clothing, though some of this is driven by clothing that is very low quality to begin with that wears out quickly. The best way to reduce your impact is to take care of and repair the clothing you already have to extend it’s life, and, when you buy new things, buy second hand and/or higher quality items, or consider renting where appropriate (though relying on this for every day wear can add to shipping waste!). Visible Mending is a great trend (loom waste aka thrums makes great darning yarn!), and if you sew upcycling items can be another way to extend the life of fabrics while also being creative.</p>
<blockquote class="blockquote">The most sustainable thing is the thing you already have!</blockquote>
<p>To reduce your impact as a weaver, there’s many projects you can do to reuse textiles, particularly as weft. Old sweaters can be unraveled back into yarn, t-shirts can be cut into t-shirt yarn, and other fabrics can be used for rag weaving - I grew up with placemats made of denim strips woven by my grandmother. You can also get lots of yarn second hand at thrift stores, estate sales, and de-stash events. And shop your stash! Yarn you already have is more sustainable than new yarn.</p>
<p>You can also try to obtain more locally produced materials. <a href="https://fibershed.org/">Fibershed</a> (or Fibreshed in some countries!) is an international movement that started in California promoting local textile systems and slow fashion. For example, here in Canada, our wool supply is very much under-utilized and many fleeces go to waste. It’s often easier to obtain local yarn than truly local fabric, but as a weaver you can make your fabric!</p>
<p>And take some time to learn about the environmental impacts of different fiber and dye types, and consider that when buying yarn - but no fiber is perfect, and it's also important to use a suitable fiber for the intended use case so that the item is actually used!</p>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="5 things weavers can do to reduce their impact: Use your weaving projects to reuse textiles, Shop thrift stores, estate stales, de-stash events, and your own stash, Support local yarn producers, Learn about the impacts of different types of yarns, Use your thrums for darning and mending" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-04/Earth%20Day.png" style="max-height:500px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block" />
</figure>
<p>Personally, for clothing I am trying to buy fewer, high quality items that are as local as possible, and be conscious about my use of synthetic materials to where they provide the most benefit; for yarn I’ve taken advantage of some guild events to pick up some second hand yarn, and I try to support my local yarn producers as much as possible when I do buy new, and I’ve learned a lot about the environmental impact of rayon and decided to stick to Tencel within that family of yarns.</p>
<p>The more you make your own items the more you appreciate them!</p>
Coming soon: The first Software for Rigid Heddle Weavers!2023-04-13T00:00:00Zhttps://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/not-so-rigid-designer/<aside class="alert alert-info mt-3 rounded">
<h3 class="alert-heading">Update</h3>
<p>
Not So Rigid Designer is now in Open Beta! <a href="https://app.notsorigidweaver.com/" class="alert-link">Try the beta</a>, or check out the <a href="https://designer.notsorigidweaver.com/docs">documentation</a>
</p>
</aside>
<p>Subscribers to my newsletter will know that I’ve been working on some software for planning projects for rigid heddle looms, but now it’s time to shout it from the rooftops as I approach launch!</p>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="An teal and white design from Not So Rigid Designer with warp and weft floats" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-04/RHDesignerLogo.png" style="max-height:500px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block img-fluid shadow" />
<figcaption class="text-center text-muted">2 Stick Design with warp and weft floats</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>Not So Rigid Designer</strong> is online weaving software for rigid heddle weavers. To start with, I have focused on designing pick up patterns, in a format that resembles a weaving draft for shaft looms but that I’ve adapted for rigid heddle looms and the unique abilities of pick up sticks. The Pick Up Designer tool currently supports working with up to 6 pick up patterns, some basic color editing, and can use fancy threading patterns like doubling the yarn in some or all slots or holes. This tool is just a start for the platform and I have some ideas for the future around making threading diagrams for multiple heddles, converting shaft loom drafts, improving the pick up designer, and more.</p>
<p>I am very close to launching the beta, which will be free for a bit to work out initial kinks, get feedback, write some documentation and tutorials, and add a few more features. To be the first to know when it’s live, subscribe to my newsletter using the form at the bottom of this page! After the beta, it will be a paid tool starting at $25 USD per year so that I can cover my costs and devote more time to it.</p>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="A red and black design from Not So Rigid Designer with some doubled slots" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-04/DramaticRedandBlack.png" style="max-height:500px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block img-fluid shadow" />
<figcaption class="text-center text-muted">3 Stick Design with some doubled slots</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So far as I can tell, this is the only software designed specifically for rigid heddle looms - there are a number of different programs around shaft looms, and some online tools for inkle and tablet weaving, but rigid heddle looms are different and deserve their own tools!</p>
<p>It runs online, in your web browser, and doesn’t require installing anything and should work on all devices; designing on the small screen of a phone may be difficult but it should work fine on tablets.</p>
What is a rigid heddle loom?2023-04-06T00:00:00Zhttps://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/what-is-a-rigid-heddle-loom/<p>The very short version is a rigid heddle loom is a loom that uses a rigid heddle to weave by moving the heddle up and down to create a space (the shed) to pass a shuttle through.</p>
<p>That’s great, but what is a rigid heddle? A rigid heddle is a solid piece with holes and slots that can be moved up and down to produce a shed. The holes and slots are fully enclosed and not simply notches or hooks. When the heddle is moved up and down, the hole yarns move up and down while the slot yarns stay in one plane. I have a whole <a href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/reed-heddle-rigid-heddle">post</a> discussing it in comparison to some related pieces of shaft looms if you want more detail.</p>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="A rigid heddle from a rigid heddle loom, showing the slots and holes" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-01/RigidHeddle.jpg" style="max-height:400px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block" />
<figcaption class="text-center">Rigid Heddle from an Ashford Rigid Heddle Loom</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>My basic requirements for a rigid heddle loom are:</p>
<ol>
<li>It is designed to produce a shed with a single rigid heddle, with a concept of up, down, and neutral positions.</li>
<li>The loom holds the tension and has a mechanism to roll up cloth and warp to produce a fabric longer than the frame of the loom.</li>
<li>The rigid heddle is not attached to the loom, except via the warp.</li>
</ol>
<p>Additionally, the following features are present in most modern rigid heddle looms by the main manufacturers and make for a better weaving experience:</p>
<ol>
<li>Multiple sizes of heddles are available to work with different thicknesses of yarn.</li>
<li>Has a way to support the rigid heddle in the up, down, and neutral positions; and often has supports for 2 and sometimes 3 heddles.</li>
<li>Provides a secure mechanism like a ratchet and pawl to advance the warp and maintain tension (designs like wing nuts, a rotating bar, or clamps are more fiddly).</li>
<li>The rigid heddle is designed to be used as a beater (some older designs using wire are a bit more fragile).</li>
<li>The holes are oval and not a tiny circle so that they allow using a larger hook to thread.</li>
<li>The heddle is big enough to make a good shed - tiny heddles produce tiny sheds. The visible plastic on my Ashford heddles is a bit over 3”, the entire piece with the wood is well over 4” tall, while the heddle on the toy loom I describe below was probably less than 2".</li>
<li>Uses an apron rod to attach the warp.</li>
<li>Can handle a warp that's a few yards long, e.g. to make an adult sized scarf, 4-6 placemats, etc.</li>
</ol>
<p>The rigid heddle looms by Ashford, Glimakra, Schacht, Leclerc, and Kromski meet all of those requirements. The larger Beka looms don’t use an apron rod, while their 4 and 10” Beginner’s Loom models are missing most of the quality of life features to keep costs low.</p>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="A toy rigid heddle loom on the left, compared to 2 full featured looms on the right" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-04/Toy%20Loom%20vs%202%20Modern%20Rigid%20Heddle%20Looms.png" style="max-height:400px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block" />
<figcaption class="text-center">A toy rigid heddle loom on the left, compared to 2 full featured looms on the right</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The photo above has an example of a simple toy loom on the left, a Spears loom from the 1980s. It meets the basic definition, but has none of the quality of life features, and it's really only suitable for very small projects. The heddle is tiny, and was difficult to use without getting fingers in the way, causing floats, and while the warp can be rolled up a little - the pieces that hold the warp and the fabric lift out and can be turned, but it's hard to maintain tension while doing so and some of the yarns would fall out of the teeth that hold them in place. I was able to play around with a pick up pattern though - it functions as a rigid heddle loom, just not very well.</p>
<p>On the right, I've got my 16" Ashford Sample-It (with a narrow band on) sitting inside my 24" Ashford Rigid heddle loom. There are heddle blocks on the sides, a ratchet and pawl system to advance the warp, and the warp is attached with an apron rod.</p>
<h2 id="what-are-some-advantages-of-this-design%3F">What are some advantages of this design? <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/what-is-a-rigid-heddle-loom/#what-are-some-advantages-of-this-design%3F">#</a></h2>
<p>Rigid heddle looms are lightweight and inexpensive compared to shaft looms and offer a wide range of patterning capabilities through using pick up sticks or multiple heddles. They are simple to learn to weave on, but can also offer a great deal of flexibility with a bit more effort. You can use them to weave moderately long, moderately wide fabric.</p>
<p>The magic of a rigid heddle loom for patterning is that the slot yarns can be freely manipulated to enhance the patterning capabilities beyond plain weave. Importantly, you can insert a pick up stick <em>and leave it in place</em>; pick up patterning can be done on most looms, but usually the stick can’t be left in place and saved. But you can also change the pick up pattern easily at different places in your warp, which can lend itself to some kinds of designs that are impractical on shaft looms, or at least on the 4-8 shafts most weavers have!</p>
<p>You can also use 2-3 heddles in sequence to produce patterns you would need 3-4 shafts for, or beyond when combined with the flexibility of pick up. When doing even more intricate designs that use multiple pick up patterns in sequence, you can also use string heddles on a heddle rod to save more than one pattern.</p>
<h2 id="and-some-disadvantages%3F">And some disadvantages? <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/what-is-a-rigid-heddle-loom/#and-some-disadvantages%3F">#</a></h2>
<p>While rigid heddle looms are very flexible tools, they are slower to weave on than a shaft loom, particularly when doing more intricate patterns that work well with the constraints of a shaft loom. Rigid heddle looms are also not very good at dealing with fine fabric.</p>
<p>Because the weaver needs to manipulate the entire heddle, many people find narrower rigid heddle looms much easier to work with; they are available in widths up to 48”, though most manufacturers only go up to 30-32”, and many people prefer to stick to 24” or narrower.</p>
<p>All told, rigid heddle looms are a great place to start with weaving, or, a great place to move up to from an even simpler loom!</p>
How to convert a 3 shaft draft to weave with 1 pick up stick2023-03-21T00:00:00Zhttps://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/how-to-weave-3-shaft-on-one-stick/<p>As discussed in <a href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/can-you-weave-3-shaft-on-one-stick">my last post</a>, some 3 shaft drafts can be woven using 1 rigid heddle and 1 pick up stick. But given that a draft <strong>can</strong> be woven with 1 stick, <strong>how</strong> do you weave it?</p>
<p>As a super quick summary of that post, you can tell if you can weave a draft with 1 pick up stick by looking at the unique 'treadles', that is the columns in the tie up section, and following these rules:</p>
<ol>
<li>If there’s more than 4 columns, the draft can’t be woven with 1 stick.</li>
<li>If more than 2 columns use only one shaft, the draft can’t be woven with 1 stick.</li>
<li>If more than 2 columns use two shafts together, the draft can’t be woven with 1 stick.</li>
<li>If there are 4 treadles, there will be 1 shaft that isn’t used alone. If it’s used in both paired shafts, the draft can’t be woven with 1 stick.</li>
</ol>
<p>If the draft doesn't satisfy those rules, it can instead be woven with 2 heddles or a heddle and 2 pick up patterns; this post is specifically about the subset of 3 shaft drafts that can be woven with 1 pick up pattern.</p>
<p>For much more detail check out <a href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/can-you-weave-3-shaft-on-one-stick">How can you tell if you can weave a 3 shaft draft with just 1 pick up stick?</a>.</p>
<aside class="alert alert-warning">
This post and the previous one are written assuming a standard draft using one treadle per row in the treadling section. If there's more than one, you've either got a lift plan draft or a skeleton tie up and you need to convert it to a standard draft to use these instructions!
</aside>
<h2 id="so-how-do-you-convert-a-draft-to-weaving-with-1-pick-up-stick%3F">So how do you convert a draft to weaving with 1 pick up stick? <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/how-to-weave-3-shaft-on-one-stick/#so-how-do-you-convert-a-draft-to-weaving-with-1-pick-up-stick%3F">#</a></h2>
<p>The first step to converting the draft is to figure out which shaft in the draft gets mapped to the various heddle and stick 'shafts': holes, slot yarns that are picked up, and slot yarns that aren't picked up. This is based on the tie up section of the draft, and typically only one configuration will work due to the limitations of the slot yarns that aren't picked up.</p>
<p>Next, you need to work out the weaving sequence based on the shaft mapping and the treadling. Each distinct treadle in the draft represents a different shed, which will use one of 4 different combinations of the heddle and pick up stick positions. This is based on the tie up and treadling sections of the draft.</p>
<p>Finally, you need to work out the threading. Often you will be putting multiple yarns into some slots or holes, and/or skipping some slots or holes. This uses the shaft mapping you came up with and the threading section of the draft.</p>
<p>I'll go through those steps in detail, and then follow up with examples from a sampler I wove using some drafts from <a href="http://handweaving.net/">Handweaving.net</a>, a great source of mostly historical weaving drafts.</p>
<h2 id="1.-map-the-shafts-to-the-heddle-and-stick-positions">1. Map the shafts to the heddle and stick positions <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/how-to-weave-3-shaft-on-one-stick/#1.-map-the-shafts-to-the-heddle-and-stick-positions">#</a></h2>
<p>In most cases, the tie up will have 3 or 4 distinct columns, representing different sheds, all shafts are used in at least one column, and no shaft is used in every column. This covers any draft that actually needs 3 shafts and produces a stable fabric; see the section on Edge Cases if that doesn't apply to your draft.</p>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="Diagram of Mapping Shafts to Pick Up with the rows highlighted." src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-03/Shafts.png" style="max-height:500px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block" />
<figcaption class="text-center">Mapping Shafts to Holes, Picked up Slots, and not picked up slots</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The first step is to figure out which shaft in the draft corresponds to the slot yarns that <em>aren’t</em> picked up, as it's the most limited.</p>
<p>There will be one row in the tie up that is only used (filled in) once, and there will be another box used in the same column. That shaft is the slot yarns that aren’t picked up, shown in the first row of the image. That column in the tie up represents your "Down" heddle position - all of the slot yarns are on top of the shed.</p>
<p>The other shaft used in that column is the slot yarns that <strong>are</strong> picked up, see the second row in the image for some examples.</p>
<p>The remaining shaft is the holes, highlighted in the last row of the image.</p>
<p>It may be helpful to write this down next to the corresponding tie up row on the draft as you’ll be referring to this later.</p>
<aside class="alert alert-secondary">
<h3>Edge Cases</h3>
<h4>2 Treadles only</h4>
<p>
You could encounter a 3 shaft draft that only uses 2 treadles (aka has just 2 columns in the tie up). For example, it might use shaft 1 alone, and then 2 and 3 together. This could be re-written as a 2 shaft draft with the 2 shafts always used together combined into one shaft, and thus doesn’t even need a stick. In that case you can just pick one to be the slots and one to be the holes. Typically if it’s uneven it’s better to have more threads in the slots vs. the holes.</p>
<h4>A shaft is never or always used</h4>
<p>If a shaft is either never used in the tie up, or a shaft used in every treadle, this would produce warp floats the entire length of the pattern and not produce a stable fabric. Most likely the draft is a profile draft, which represents an overall design made up of smaller blocks while omitting the details of those blocks, and would need more than 3 shafts to actually weave.</p>
</aside>
<h2 id="2.-figure-out-the-weaving-sequence">2. Figure out the Weaving Sequence <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/how-to-weave-3-shaft-on-one-stick/#2.-figure-out-the-weaving-sequence">#</a></h2>
<p>Go back to the tie up of your draft, and take a look at each column and your notes for the shafts. This represents how the shafts are used together.</p>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="Diagram of Mapping Treadles." src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-03/Treadles.png" style="max-height:500px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block" />
<figcaption class="text-center">Mapping the Treadles to Heddle Positions</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Your 4 possible heddle & stick positions while weaving are:</p>
<ol>
<li>Up: Only the hole shaft is used.</li>
<li>Up & Stick: Hole shaft and picked up shaft is used.</li>
<li>Neutral & Stick: Only the picked up yarns shaft.</li>
<li>Down: The picked up and not picked up shafts.</li>
</ol>
<p>You can label each column based on the shafts that are used in it, and then go through the treadling to label each row for a full repeat of the pattern based on which column is used in the treadling.</p>
<p>When the same shed is used more than once in the weaving, go around the edge warp yarn to secure the end. This is something that seems to come up fairly commonly on the historical drafts on <a href="http://handweaving.net/">Handweaving.net</a> that meet the criteria for weaving with 1 pick up stick.</p>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="Shafts and Treadles labelled." src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-03/Shafts%20and%20Treadles.png" style="max-height:500px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block" />
<figcaption class="text-center">Shafts and Treadles labeled Together</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2 id="3.-figure-out-the-threading-%26-pick-up-sequence">3. Figure out the Threading & Pick Up sequence <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/how-to-weave-3-shaft-on-one-stick/#3.-figure-out-the-threading-%26-pick-up-sequence">#</a></h2>
<p>At the threading stage, all of the yarns in the hole shaft go through holes, and the rest go through slots. You will often end up with something that isn’t 1 thread each per slot and hole.<br />
Once you've warped the loom and are ready to start weaving, pick up the picked up slot yarns.</p>
<p>Where you have 2 or more yarns that go together, you can either put multiples through the same slot or hole, or skip slots or holes, or, a combination of both. In this case, the EPI of the fabric will often be different from the DPI of your heddle, for example, if you have 5 yarns through 4 holes/slots, you’ll have 120% of the DPI of your heddle. My soft guidance here is that you probably want to split them over multiple if you have more than 3 yarns in a slot or 2 in a hole, and that it can be easier to pick up or not pick up all of the yarns in a slot.</p>
<p>In a lot of these cases, it’s probably easier to indirect warp than direct warp. If you do want to direct warp, you need to figure out the threading repeat and how many yarns you need per repeat. If this isn’t divisible by 2, then you’ll want to work with 2 repeats.</p>
<h2 id="sampler---3-drafts-worked-out-on-the-same-warp">Sampler - 3 drafts worked out on the same warp <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/how-to-weave-3-shaft-on-one-stick/#sampler---3-drafts-worked-out-on-the-same-warp">#</a></h2>
<p>To make sure I really understood this conversion process, I wove a sample using 3 different drafts that were able to use the same warp - the hole shaft was always the same, but the pick up varied. I used Cascade 220 Fingering yarn, in a 12.5 DPI heddle, with a final sett of 15 as every 2nd slot thread is doubled, resulting in 5 yarns for every 4 slots/holes.</p>
<p>I used direct warping for this sampler - I worked out a pattern where I pulled a loop through 1 in 4 of the holes in addition to each slot, but it took some effort and I made mistakes and had to move a bunch of threads around! Indirect warping would have been easier.</p>
<p>The drafts are from <a href="http://handweaving.net/">Handweaving.net</a>, which is a source of many drafts primarily from historical sources. Anyone can browse drafts and see the drawdown, but in order to see the full draft details like the tie up, you need a paid subscription. I've included a small snippet of the drafts discussed here for educational purposes.</p>
<p>The front photo represents the side that was up while weaving.</p>
<p>I started with <a href="https://handweaving.net/draft-detail/27974/page-171-figure-5-donat-franz-large-book-of-textile-patterns-germany-1895">Handweaving.net #27974</a>.</p>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="A close up of 1 Repeat of Handweaving.net #27974" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-03/27974%201%20Repeat.png" style="max-height:500px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block" />
<figcaption class="text-center">1 Repeat of Handweaving.net #27974</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Shafts 1 and 3 are used as a pair, but Shaft 3 isn’t used alone. So Shaft 3 is the slot threads that aren’t picked up, which are singled, Shaft 1 is yarns which will be picked up, which are doubled, and shaft 2 is the holes.</p>
<p>The Treadling is then:</p>
<ol>
<li>Up</li>
<li>Down</li>
<li>Down</li>
<li>Up</li>
<li>Stick</li>
</ol>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="Fabric from #27974" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-03/27974_Fabric.png" style="max-height:400px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block" />
<figcaption class="text-center">Wet Finished Fabric from #27974 </figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Both sides of this fabric are quite different, but I like them both!</p>
<p>Next I wove <a href="https://handweaving.net/draft-detail/64536/page-10-figure-15-revised-edition-of-textile-design-book-emil-jansen-paterson-new-jersey-united-states-1898">Handweaving.net #64536</a></p>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="A close up of 1 Repeat of Handweaving.net #64536" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-03/64536%201%20Repeat.png" style="max-height:500px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block" />
<figcaption class="text-center">1 Repeat of Handweaving.net #64536</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It has 2 pairs in the tie up. Shaft 1 is only used in one pair, so it’s the slot threads that aren’t picked up. Shaft 3 is the other one used in the pair with shaft 1, so it’s the remaining slot yarns. Which leaves shaft 2 as the holes. This one uses warp floats (Up & Stick) rather than weft floats (Stick), and the pick up is the opposite of #27974, so the single slot yarns are picked up.</p>
<p>And the treadling is:</p>
<ol>
<li>Down</li>
<li>Down</li>
<li>Up</li>
<li>Up + Stick</li>
<li>Up</li>
</ol>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="Fabric from #64536" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-03/64536_Fabric.png" style="max-height:400px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block" />
<figcaption class="text-center">Wet Finished Fabric from #64536 </figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I find the front of this one is a very subtle pattern, and actually prefer the back!</p>
<p>Finally, I wove little bit of <a href="https://handweaving.net/draft-detail/2512/classical-collection-341-classical-collection-1-compiled-by-ralph-griswold-varying-dates-1850-2004-">Handweaving.net #2512</a>, using the ends of my weft yarn so it's in 2 colors.</p>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="A close up of 1 Repeat of Handweaving.net #2512" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-03/2512%201%20Repeat.png" style="max-height:500px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block" />
<figcaption class="text-center">1 Repeat of Handweaving.net #2512</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In this case, shaft 1 corresponds to the not picked up slots (the singled yarns), shaft 2 to the holes, and shaft 3 to the picked up slot yarns, which are the doubled ones. While the draft looks fairly different from #27974, it's just a different weaving sequence when converted to weaving with a rigid heddle and a pick up stick.</p>
<p>The treadling is:</p>
<ol>
<li>Down</li>
<li>Up</li>
<li>Stick</li>
<li>Stick</li>
<li>Up</li>
</ol>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="Fabric from #2512" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-03/2512_Fabric.png" style="max-height:400px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block" />
<figcaption class="text-center">Wet Finished Fabric from #2512 </figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I find I like this one the most out of the samples, it's a shame it's just a third pattern I threw in at the end!</p>
<p>I hope this post inspires some weaving projects with some of the weird and wonderful 3 shaft drafts out there!</p>
How can you tell if you can weave a 3 shaft draft with just 1 pick up stick?2023-03-09T00:00:00Zhttps://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/can-you-weave-3-shaft-on-one-stick/<p>Designs using one pick up stick are a fun way to go beyond plain weave on your rigid heddle loom. Rigid heddle weavers have come up with a wide range of patterns using this constraint, but there are some patterns designed for 3 shaft looms that can also be woven this way.</p>
<p>To be clear, there's lots you can do by using more than one stick, or, if you only physically have one stick, moving it around, but, leaving a single stick in place is the simplest kind of pick up work. This post is partly an exercise in more deeply understanding the relationship between pick up patterns and shafts!</p>
<p>I first dove into the relationship between sticks and shafts last summer in my post “<a href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/pick-up-to-shaft/">How many shafts would you need to weave that pick up pattern?</a>”. The constraint turns out to be the combinations of shafts used in the pattern, which is reflected in the tie-up section of a draft.</p>
<p>To summarize the one pick up stick portion of that post, with one stick (left in place), your 3 ‘shafts’ are:</p>
<ul>
<li>Holes</li>
<li>Picked Up Slots</li>
<li>Not Picked Up Slots</li>
</ul>
<p>And your possible shaft combinations (sheds) are:</p>
<ul>
<li>Up: Holes</li>
<li>Down: Picked Up Slots + Not Picked Up Slots (aka all slot threads)</li>
<li>Neutral + Stick: Picked Up Slots</li>
<li>Up and Stick: Holes + Picked Up Slots</li>
</ul>
<p>This means you can't use these combinations:</p>
<ul>
<li>Not Picked Up Slots</li>
<li>Holes + Not Picked Up Slots</li>
</ul>
<p>I haven’t assigned shaft numbers here, because it turns out that will vary based on the draft.</p>
<p>Another way of phrasing that is that the shaft representing the threads that aren’t picked up can only be used in combination with the threads that are picked up.</p>
<h2 id="a-quick-refresher-on-drafts">A quick refresher on drafts <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/can-you-weave-3-shaft-on-one-stick/#a-quick-refresher-on-drafts">#</a></h2>
<p>A draft is a kind of diagram commonly used by shaft loom weavers. It includes information on which threads are on which shaft (in the threading section), which shafts are grouped together to make different sheds (in the tie-up section), and which order the sheds are used to make the fabric (in the treadling section). For more detail, you can check out <a href="https://www.gistyarn.com/blogs/how-to-weave/how-to-read-a-weaving-draft">How to Read a Weaving Draft</a> on Gist Yarn’s blog, or Liz Gipson’s video, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJot9D9mSyM">Shafts, Drafts, and the Rigid Heddle</a>.</p>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="The sections of a weaving draft" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-03/draft.png" style="max-height:500px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block" />
<figcaption class="text-center">Anatomy of a Weaving Draft</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For the purposes of this post, I’m talking about drafts for floor looms, which have a tie up section and only use one treadle per weft row. This is the default format shown by <a href="http://handweaving.net/">Handweaving.net</a>, for example. There are some other formats for drafts, and they can be converted manually or using weaving software.</p>
<h2 id="so-how-can-i-tell-if-i-can-weave-it-with-one-stick%3F">So how can I tell if I can weave it with one stick? <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/can-you-weave-3-shaft-on-one-stick/#so-how-can-i-tell-if-i-can-weave-it-with-one-stick%3F">#</a></h2>
<p>To tell if you can weave a draft with one pick up stick, first of all, it has to be a 3 shaft draft. It can sometimes be possible to convert a draft using more shafts to a 3 shaft draft, but that’s well beyond the scope of this post!</p>
<p>Start by looking at the tie up. Each column in the tie-up is a combination of shafts that are used in the draft. If any columns are duplicated, remove them (sometimes they are duplicated to make an easier to remember treadling order). If you have less than 3 columns left, then, the draft is effectively a 2 shaft draft and doesn’t need a stick, or, it won’t produce a stable fabric (a shaft is either always used or never used). Otherwise, work through these 4 rules:</p>
<ol>
<li>If there’s more than 4 columns, the draft can’t be woven with 1 stick.</li>
<li>If more than 2 columns use only one shaft, the draft can’t be woven with 1 stick.</li>
<li>If more than 2 columns use two shafts together, the draft can’t be woven with 1 stick.</li>
<li>If there are 4 treadles, there will be 1 shaft that isn’t used alone. If it’s used in both paired shafts, the draft can’t be woven with 1 stick.</li>
</ol>
<p>If you've passed all of those checks, then, the draft can be woven using just one pick up stick left in place.</p>
<p>So what does that look like?</p>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="Examples tie ups that can and can't be woven with one stick based on the rules above" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-03/Examples.png" style="max-height:500px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block" />
<figcaption class="text-center">Examples tie ups that can and can't be woven with one stick</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="Examples of passing and not passing rule #4" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-03/Rule%204%20Examples.png" style="max-height:500px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block" />
<figcaption class="text-center">Examples of passing and not passing rule #4</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As it turns out, most 3 shaft drafts are excluded by the first three rules, and they are easiest to spot. These rules filter out anything twill based, which either use each shaft individually, or, each shaft in a pair (or both), along with a number of other patterns. Rule 4 is more subtle. A tie-up that uses 4 treadles and passes rule 4 will have one shaft that’s used in 3 of the 4 shed configurations, and this turns out to be pretty rare in shaft loom drafts.</p>
<p>There are a number of drafts on <a href="http://handweaving.net/">Handweaving.net</a> that use three treadles and pass these rules, but ones using 4 treadles are quite rare. <a href="https://handweaving.net/draft-detail/45296/4-sur-8-planche-a-no-37-p-falcot-traite-encyclopedique-et-methodique-de-la-fabrication-des-tissus-france-1844">#45296</a> and <a href="https://handweaving.net/draft-detail/61347/may-1953-no-4-master-weaver-fulford-quebec-canada-ca-1951">#61347</a> are two that I have found - and they both have no others using the same tie up. But in the rigid heddle world this is a common type of pattern - it’s simply a pick up pattern that uses the stick in both positions. Give people different constraints, and they’ll come up with different designs!</p>
<p>Now, you’ll find yourself asking “How do I work out how to weave a 3 shaft draft with 1 stick”. Stay tuned for my next post!</p>
Launching my free pattern - Beginner Houndstooth Border Coasters2023-02-20T00:00:00Zhttps://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/beginner-houndstooth-border-coasters/<p>I’ve just launched my first pattern, Beginner Houndstooth Border Coasters! To get this pattern, sign up for my newsletter using the form below!</p>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="Photo of the coaster from this pattern being used with a blue pottery mug" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-02/MugShot.jpg" style="max-height:300px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block" />
</figure>
<p>When I was first starting out, I found there was a gap between the ‘first project’ and going on to other projects, which all seemed too ‘nice’ for my 2nd warp, and also mostly needed a different size of heddle than what came with my loom. I’ve created this pattern as a simple project for people fairly new to weaving, or people looking for a simple project to warm up after a break. It uses inexpensive yarn and a 7.5 or 8 DPI heddle, which is the size that comes with most rigid heddle looms. You will get practice with color changes and hemstitching. This is a pattern, not a ‘how to weave’ tutorial, but I include some links to other resources for warping and weaving basics, and I try and go into things in more detail than you might see in a magazine pattern.</p>
<h2 id="what-you'll-need-for-this-project%3A">What you'll need for this project: <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/beginner-houndstooth-border-coasters/#what-you'll-need-for-this-project%3A">#</a></h2>
<h3 id="equipment">Equipment <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/beginner-houndstooth-border-coasters/#equipment">#</a></h3>
<ul>
<li>Rigid Heddle Loom with at least 6” Weaving Width</li>
<li>7.5 or 8 DPI Rigid Heddle</li>
<li>2 stick shuttles</li>
<li>Warping Peg and Clamps for direct warping</li>
<li>Threading hook</li>
<li>Tapestry needle</li>
<li>Scissors</li>
</ul>
<h3 id="materials">Materials <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/beginner-houndstooth-border-coasters/#materials">#</a></h3>
<ul>
<li>Warp: 12 yards Sugar n’ Cream, Indigo, 48 yards Sugar n’ Cream White</li>
<li>Weft: 3.5 yards Sugar n’ Cream, Indigo, 25 yards Sugar n’ Cream White</li>
<li>Total: 15.5 yards Indigo and 73 yards White.</li>
</ul>
<p>Sugar n’ Cream is a worsted weight, inexpensive, cotton yarn commonly sold at large craft stores and big box retailers in the US and Canada. A regular sized ball of each color will be enough for this project for a total cost of about $6USD. This kind of yarn is sometimes referred to as “dishcloth cotton”. For suggestions on similar alternatives, check out <a href="https://yarnsub.com/yarns/lily/sugar_n_cream">YarnSub.com</a>.</p>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="Photo of the coaster from this pattern being used with a blue pottery mug" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-02/CoasterStar.jpg" style="max-height:300px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block" />
</figure>
<p>I hope you enjoy this pattern and my newsletter! I send it out on the 10th and 25th of each month. Subscribe below!</p>
When should you sample for your rigid heddle loom projects?2023-02-16T00:00:00Zhttps://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/when-to-sample/<p>In weaving, sampling is making one or more test pieces before the main project, to help you decide on sett, colors, weave structures, and how to wet finish the project. You might also sample without a specific project in mind when learning a new technique, or to experiment with a new yarn. This is similar to the idea of swatching in knitting or crochet.</p>
<p>Sampling can range from a few inches at the beginning of a project that can be cut off to test weft colors, sett, and wet finishing while practicing your technique, to elaborate experimentation with multiple small warps to test multiple aspects of the design to get just the right fabric. You can sample multiple colors and/or textures at once by making a gamp - stripes in warp and weft of different options, making a grid of squares about 2-3” in size. You can also make a small swatch using something like a frame loom or cardboard loom, like Yarnworker’s Swatch Maker Looms.</p>
<p>I’ve read some places things like “you should always sample”. I think this really is up to the weaver and the particular project. Some projects are at a greater risk of being a spectacular failure (also known as a ‘learning experience!), while some are fairly safe, and compared to weaving on a floor loom, rigid heddle projects are usually smaller and much less of a commitment of yarn - your whole rigid heddle project might be about the amount of warp a floor loom weaver uses as a sample!</p>
<p>Some people feel like making a sample is wasting materials and effort. But in some cases, experimenting with a small amount of materials is better than having a larger warp go to waste because of something you could have learned with a small sample. Of course some projects are much more at risk of that than others!</p>
<h2 id="when-you-should-probably-sample">When you should probably sample <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/when-to-sample/#when-you-should-probably-sample">#</a></h2>
<p>You should sample when you want to be really sure that the project turns out just right, or, when you’re more uncertain of some aspect of the design or how much it will shrink.</p>
<ul>
<li>You’re unsure of the sett</li>
<li>You’re unsure if a yarn is suitable for warp</li>
<li>You’re unsure of color choices, or you want to try out a few options</li>
<li>You’re unsure of how you aggressively you want to wet finish the fabric</li>
<li>You’re using a special yarn - handspun, expensive, or discontinued. It can be better to invest a small amount of this yarn in a sample than having the whole project not turn out!</li>
<li>It’s important that the finished item is a particular size</li>
<li>You’re experimenting with an effect like differential shrinkage</li>
<li>You’re doing a new to you weave structure where you want some practice to reduce errors in the main project</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="when-you-can-probably-skip-sampling">When you can probably skip sampling <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/when-to-sample/#when-you-can-probably-skip-sampling">#</a></h2>
<p>Not every project is pushing the boundaries, or has to be exactly a specific size! Sometimes you aren’t going to learn much from sampling, and sometimes you’re ok with the idea of your project being the sample if it doesn’t turn out. You probably don’t need to sample, even if some of the above are true, if:</p>
<ul>
<li>The project itself is small - a sample wouldn’t use much less yarn</li>
<li>You’re ok with the project being a learning experience if it doesn’t work out</li>
<li>You’re more flexible with the outcome - for example, if it’s not right for a scarf, maybe it will make a good table runner or tote bag.</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="alternatives-to-sampling">Alternatives to Sampling <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/when-to-sample/#alternatives-to-sampling">#</a></h2>
<p>Another option, if you don’t like the idea of ‘wasting’ yarn on a sample, is to think of a similar smaller project that you can do first. For example, coasters or hot pads make a great sample for placemats - it’s especially nice that you can do several different items with different weft choices on the same warp. A scarf might make a sample before a shawl. I’m currently making some sample pieces that I will turn into a small pouch, for my phone if it turns out!</p>
<p>You can also experiment when you end up with a little bit of extra warp at the end of a project. I love using this to play with different weft yarns and textures, and these sample bits also make great fabric to practice my sewing skills with - it’s nice to have some similar fabric to warm up on!</p>
<h2 id="sampling-can-be-fun!">Sampling can be fun! <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/when-to-sample/#sampling-can-be-fun!">#</a></h2>
<p>It can be fun to let loose on a bit of warp that doesn’t have to ‘be’ anything though! You can experiment with a few inches of different wefts, patterns, etc. without worrying that the whole piece looks coherent, and it can be a great learning experience to see how things like different textures and yarns affect draw in and shrinkage.</p>
Heddle vs Reed vs Rigid Heddle2023-01-30T00:00:00Zhttps://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/reed-heddle-rigid-heddle/<p>Reed?</p>
<p>Heddle?</p>
<p>Rigid Heddle?</p>
<p>Are these the same thing? Or are they different?</p>
<p>Yes, and no.</p>
<p>On some styles of looms, and especially shaft looms, reeds and heddles are entirely different parts of the loom. But on a rigid heddle loom, the rigid heddle performs the roles of both of these parts, and so, sometimes it is called simply the heddle or the reed, or, more rarely, something like 'rigid heddle reed'. This can sometimes lead to confusion when rigid heddle weavers and shaft loom weavers interact!</p>
<p>A <strong>rigid heddle</strong> is a solid piece with many holes and slots, that is moved up or down to produce different sheds for weaving; the yarns running through the slots don’t move, while the yarns threaded through the holes move up or down with the rigid heddle. Modern rigid heddles are most often made of plastic, often with a wood frame, and sometimes laser cut wood, but they can also be made of metal or carved from wood or bone. On a rigid heddle loom, the rigid heddle is typically also used to beat and space the warp, like a reed, and they can also be used this way with backstrap style weaving to make a wider, balanced fabric.</p>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="A rigid heddle from a rigid heddle loom, on top of a handwoven towel" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-01/RigidHeddle.jpg" style="max-height:400px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block" />
<figcaption class="text-center">Rigid Heddle from an Ashford Rigid Heddle Loom</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Rigid heddles can also be used for weaving narrow bands. In this context, they are only used to control the shed, and not beat or space the warp - considerable draw in is expected. In this context, it would be called a rigid heddle or heddle, and not a reed. Some band weaving rigid heddles have features like double holes or varying lengths of slots to facilitate some kinds of pattern weaving. Rigid heddles for rigid heddle looms are typically described with a DPI, or threads per 10cm in metric, while those for band weaving often focus more on the number of holes/slots.</p>
<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WARP-FACED_TAPE_ON_A_RIGID_HEDDLE.jpg">
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="A partially woven band on a hand carved wood rigid heddle" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-01/WARP-FACED_TAPE_ON_A_RIGID_HEDDLE.jpg" style="max-height:400px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block" />
<figcaption class="text-center">Band weaving rigid heddle<br />
<small class="fs-6"><a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0" title="Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WARP-FACED_TAPE_ON_A_RIGID_HEDDLE.jpg">Link</a></small></figcaption>
</figure></a>
<p>A <strong>heddle</strong> is most generally a thing that controls the movement of a thread for weaving that isn't a solid stick. A stick can make 1 shed, but you need heddles to make more than one shed. Heddles can be made of loops of string, commonly used with backstrap looms, tapestry weaving, and when using a heddle rod to add additional patterning on a rigid heddle loom; on a modern shaft loom, they are typically made of metal or a special synthetic cord with holes in it called texsolv. In most applications, 1 heddle moves 1 thread, though can sometimes be threaded with more than one for structures like basketweave; many heddles are grouped together on a heddle rod or a shaft depending on loom type. In the rigid heddle context, you usually describe things in holes and slots and the term heddle refers to the whole rigid heddle, not any one hole or slot.</p>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Heddle1.JPG#file">
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="Close up of inserted eye wire heddles with blue thread" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-01/Heddles.jpg" style="max-height:400px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block" />
<figcaption class="text-center">Wire heddles on a shaft loom<br />
<small class="fs-6"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Heddle1.JPG#file">Public Domain</a></small></figcaption>
</figure>
</a>
<p>A <strong>reed</strong> in weaving is a piece most often on floor or table looms, that is used to spread the warp evenly and beat the weft into place, but does not control the shed. You might also see this referred to as ‘the beater’ though I think this tends to refer to the whole assembly that includes the reed. Modern reeds are typically constructed of regularly spaced steel wire; traditionally they were constructed of thin reeds, cane, or bamboo. Reeds are also described with a DPI or threads per 10cm in metric. Since reeds are used only to space and beat, and don't control the shed, the number of threads in each dent doesn't impact the pattern of the yarns, and shaft loom weavers often use a reed substitution chart to adjust the sett; but this does not apply to a rigid heddle which does control the shed.</p>
<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WeavingReed2.JPG">
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="End of a shaft loom reed" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2023-01/1280px-WeavingReed2.jpg" style="max-height:400px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block" />
<figcaption class="text-center">Reed from a shaft loom<br />
<small class="fs-6"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WeavingReed2.JPG">Public Domain</a></small></figcaption>
</figure>
</a>
<p>All three of these terms are regularly used to refer to the same piece on a rigid heddle loom, including by manufacturers, retailers, and books and magazines, but I find the term 'rigid heddle' least ambiguous if a bit wordy. I hope this helps clear up confusion around these terms!</p>
Why the Cricket Quartet might not be the right choice for you2023-01-13T00:00:00Zhttps://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/thoughts-on-cricket-quartet/<p>Schacht recently came out with an accessory for the 15" Cricket called the Cricket Quartet which allows you to convert it to a 4 shaft table loom.</p>
<p>The Quartet is a neat option to have available, and in the reviews I've seen so far people seem quite happy with it. But I've noticed some people responding to people looking for advice on which rigid heddle loom to buy, with something along the lines of:</p>
<p><em>"You should buy the Cricket because with the Cricket Quartet you can convert it to a 4 shaft loom."</em></p>
<p>And I don't think this is good advice. Absolutely, the Cricket is a great first loom and there's plenty of reasons to choose it, but I don't think the Quartet is the killer feature some people make it out to be, and for most people this is a bad reason to choose the Cricket.</p>
<p>Why?</p>
<p>One big limitation of a Cricket already is that it's a fairly narrow loom, and the Quartet makes it even narrower, cutting down 1.5" of width. Going from 15" to 13.5" weaving width starts to make it a bit small for weaving placemats, for example. I think most people starting from a Cricket would want something wider as their second loom (or at least, not smaller!), whether that's a rigid heddle or a 4 shaft. I do have a lot of love for the 15-16" small looms as a starter loom, and think they're a great balance of cost and portability! But as the owner of a 16" Sample-It, I have no interest in a 13.5" table loom to go with it, and for my 2nd loom "bigger" was the main thing I was interested in.</p>
<p>The main reasons people choose table looms of that size are workshops, travel, or major space constraints like RV living. The Quartet is probably reasonable to bring to local workshops, though for travel or space constraints, a folding loom is likely a better choice.</p>
<p>If you want a rigid heddle loom to learn the basics with the idea of quickly moving to a 4 shaft loom, I think it would be better to pay for an in-person class before buying a 4 shaft loom, rather than buying a rigid heddle as a stepping stone. If that isn't an option for you, then the rigid heddle starter loom is a more reasonable option. I love my rigid heddle looms and think they're great, but 4 shaft looms also have their advantages and if that's the kind of weaving you want to do you can just jump straight in!</p>
<p>While you do get a rigid heddle and a 4 shaft loom out of it, it sounds like going back and forth requires keeping track of some extra parts and 10-15 minutes of effort - if you want to be able to do both rigid heddle and 4 shaft projects on a regular basis, it's probably better to have two separate looms, especially if you're the sort of person who's likely to lose track of the parts!</p>
<p>One other thing I don't like about that comment is that it presupposes that the goal of starting with a rigid heddle loom is to move on to shaft weaving. And for some people, it is, and that's fine, but, rigid heddle looms are fun, very flexible tools in their own right. You may or may not ever move to a shaft loom, and even if you do, you may well decide that 4 shafts just isn't enough and go straight to 8 when the time comes!</p>
<p>So who do I think it might be good for?</p>
<p>I could see someone unsure of where they want to go with their weaving starting with the Cricket, and then having the option to go for a bigger rigid heddle loom, or, going into shaft weaving by adding the Quartet, and then quickly adding a much larger floor or table loom. Likewise I'm sure there's also people with multiple looms including a Cricket that isn't getting as much use who decide it's a good way to add a small table loom to their collection for workshops, sampling, and small projects. I just don't think that going from no looms, to a Cricket, to the Quartet, and then staying there for a while, is a path that many people will take, since it's such a small loom.</p>
<p>And what are some alternatives for people who might be thinking of the Quartet?</p>
<p>As mentioned, there are lots of used 4 shaft table looms out there, if you are willing to be on the lookout for a few weeks or months. These are particularly useful if you think a somewhat bigger loom is ideal for you, as models 15-24" are most common.</p>
<p>For new, small, folding table looms, currently available at a similar cost to the Cricket + Quartet, some options are:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><a href="https://woolery.com/louet-erica-table-loom.html">Louet Erica</a>. Available in 30 or 50cm (11.75 or 19.5"), so a little smaller or somewhat bigger than the Quartet, can be purchased as a 2 shaft loom and upgraded to 4 later. Sold via dealers in many countries.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.fiberartistsupply.com/woolhousetools/looms">Woolhouse Alice or Norah</a>. The 10" Alice with 4 or 8 shafts, or the 16" 4 shaft Norah are at that price point, and the Norah with 8 shafts and/or a 23" width are not that far above. Ships to US/Canada only.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>All that being said, there are other reasons the Cricket itself might be the right loom for you, and I have a lot of respect for the designers making this work on a frame that presumably wasn't built with this kind of conversion in mind, and I'd love to see some looms designed from the ground up for this kind of conversion in the coming years! There are some people out there for whom the Cricket Quartet is a great choice, and reading this might help you decide that that's you!</p>
<p>Best of luck with your weaving journey no matter what loom you decide on!</p>
About the Ashenhurst Sett Calculator2023-01-04T00:00:00Zhttps://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/ashenhurst-calculator/<p>One important consideration when planning a weaving project is the sett - the spacing of the warp threads. As rigid heddle weavers, this is influenced by the heddles available, and there is less ability to fine tune the sett than on a shaft loom, but there still are a range of choices which may produce a reasonable fabric with a given yarn. One common approach is to calculate the wraps per inch, and divide it by half, as the starting point for balanced plain weave. This works fairly well for thick yarns, but as yarns get thinner it can be tedious. Another approach is to consult a sett chart (such as <a href="https://handwovenmagazine.com/master-yarn-chart/">Handwoven’s Master Sett Chart</a>), or the advice of the yarn seller, but these may not always include the yarn you have, and sometimes advice is contradictory.</p>
<p>A third approach is to calculate it based on the weight of the yarn. Ashenhurst’s rule is a way of calculating a sett for yarn based on the yards per pound and (optionally) the type of fiber, and then the weave structure and intended use of the fabric. It’s an alternative to using wraps per inch, and is used by Peggy Osterkamp in her books and sett charts. It is particularly suited for thinner yarns where wraps per inch would be higher and fairly tedious to calculate. I have created a calculator, which is on it’s own page <a href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/calculators/ashenhurst/">here</a>, and embedded below. Enter in the length (in yards or meters), and the weight (in pounds, ounces, or grams), and optionally the fibre type, and the calculator will output the yards per pound, Ashenhurst diameters per inch, and a range of suitable setts for different weave structures and fabric types.</p>
<div class="ratio ratio-1x1">
<iframe src="https://notsorigidweaver.com/widgets/ashenhurst/"></iframe>
</div>
<p>The setts are based on weave structure and the purpose of the fabric. For weave structure, values are currently included for plain weave and twill, and are based on how many warp and weft interlacements there are in a row of weaving - plain weave is 1/2 and a 4 shaft twill is 4/6. For fabric purpose, 90% of the maximum is suggested for upholstery fabric that isn’t intended to shrink much when finished, 80% is a fairly typical value; it will produce a slightly warp dominant weave but this is very common. For woolen fabric that will be loosely woven but is expected to shrink significantly during wet finishing, 65% of maximum is suggested. Clothing is typically 60-70%, while delicate fabrics like a shawl or curtain can be 50-60% of the maximum. On a rigid heddle loom, you have fewer options to manipulate sett than on a shaft loom, but these values give better guidance about a range of reasonable options than sources that simply give one or a couple exact numbers.</p>
<p>The twill setts are also suitable for basketweave (e.g. doubling yarns in a rigid heddle). A 3 shaft twill has fewer interlacements than a 4 shaft twill (3/5 instead of 4/6), and so would be in between the plain weave and twill values. Pick up patterns are mostly plain weave, however, do have fewer interlacements in many rows - you might choose to go a little higher for them than a pure plain weave.</p>
<p>For example, the numbers would suggest that for 8/4 cotton, you could reasonably use a 10, 12, 12.5, or 15 DPI heddle for plain weave, or doubled in a 7.5, 8, or 10 for a basketweave or twill structure.</p>
<p>Finally, these are all for a balanced weave structure. Decrease the sett for a weft dominant weave and increase it for a warp dominant weave.</p>
<p>For more detail on these calculations, check out Peggy Osterkamp’s <a href="https://peggyosterkamp.com/ashenhurst-rule/">blog</a>, and chapter 13 of her book, <em>Winding a Warp & Using a Paddle.</em></p>
<p>Like any method of calculating sett, these numbers are a starting point. I have found that for thicker yarns like worsted cotton, it might suggest a little high - so far as I understand the formula was devised around industrial weaving yarns in the late 19th or early 20th century which would be much thinner. Sampling is always the safest way to ensure you get the fabric you’re looking for!</p>
I got a new loom! First impressions of the 24" Ashford Rigid Heddle vs. 16" Sample-It2022-12-20T00:00:00Zhttps://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/new-loom/<p>I’ve had my little Sample-It since March 2021 and have woven many projects on it, but, of course, it’s “just” 16” and there are some projects that need a bigger loom. So after close to 2 years I’ve picked up a bigger loom, a 24” Ashford Rigid Heddle Loom.</p>
<p>I found a listing for a used 24” Ashford Rigid Heddle (hereafter referred to as the RHL) with a bunch of extra heddles and a stand, at the same time as I had birthday money burning a hole in my pocket. The loom is a pre-2012 design - the most notable difference with the current model is the ratchet and pawl on the handles, also it doesn't have the holes in it to use it as a warping board. The stand is the current design - given the age of the loom I was hoping it was the older one with shelves but it wasn’t a major consideration!</p>
<p>Here’s my first impressions of the loom - I’ve had it for just under a week now, and I’ve woven a few inches on my first project, a set of 20” wide towels with 8/2 cotton and a pick up pattern.</p>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="A few inches of weaving a blue and natural buffalo check pattern with pick up" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2022-12/FirstProjectOnRHL.jpg" style="max-height:300px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block" />
<figcaption class="text-center">First project started the 24 inch Loom</figcaption>
</figure>
<ol>
<li>It’s big! I see why many people find 24” about as big as they want to go with a rigid heddle loom. When I got it home and put it on my table I took out a measuring tape to see if it was really a 32” because it seemed so much bigger (it’s not 🙂). <figure class="mb-3"><br />
<img alt="Size comparison from above with the smaller Sample-It Loom inside the 24 inch Loom" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2022-12/SizeComparison.jpg" style="max-height:300px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block" /></figure></li>
</ol>
<figcaption class="text-center">Size comparison with the smaller Sample-It inside the 24 inch loom</figcaption>
<br />
<ol>
<li>
<p>Winding a 22” stick shuttle is noticeably more awkward than the 18” that came with my Sample-It. I haven’t noticed a big difference between smaller shuttles, but that difference somehow seemed more significant. Maybe it’s that I have to hold it a little differently to not hit my knees? I can only imagine that this would be even more so with something bigger!</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>One thing I’m on the lookout for is if it makes working with less stretchy yarns any easier. I’ve seen a couple comments that the longer looms are better for this because of the geometry. I still have some issues with the slot yarns being a bit loose so it hasn’t made a big difference there.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>I definitely find it more awkward to advance with having to reach further. The older ratchet and pawl design is a bit easier to undo, but also easier to unwind too much. I haven’t woven enough to get a feel for if I’m advancing much less often.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>I’m still working on finding comfortable spot for weaving on this one. I use the Sample-It either on my lap on the couch, or on my dining room table. Sitting on the couch with the stand felt too low. I did threading with a wheeled office chair which worked well, and I was weaving on a bench that we have for our dining room table for a bit, though my back was getting a bit tired after a while.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>16” Sample it is super easy to carry around the house. 24” isn’t too bad, and I’m also carting it around on the stand, but I may end up finding one spot for it and not moving it around as much. Bigger than that you’d have to think more about what angle you’re holding it at going around corners and through doors etc. particularly if your home pre-dates modern accessibility codes with wider doors. But the Sample-It is definitely the one I'll take to a craft night or any sort of workshop unless I specifically need the size!</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>I still need to work out a better way to carry the loom on the stand. The cross brace on the loom is the easiest thing to hold, but then I need to be sure the knobs are done up very tight or else it will come off the stand.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>It’s definitely sturdier! The wood is much thicker than the Sample-It, especially in the heddle block area where the Sample-It is quite thin. Because of this and the fact that the heddle blocks are screwed onto the frame rather than carved in, the 16” RHL is about 1.5” wider on the outside than the 16” Sample-It. Of course the Sample-It is lighter weight, every design decision has it's trade-offs!</p>
</li>
</ol>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="Comparing the heddle blocks and frame of the two looms" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2022-12/HeddleBlockComparison.jpg" style="max-height:300px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block" />
<figcaption class="text-center">Comparing the heddle blocks and frame of the two looms</figcaption>
</figure>
<ol>
<li>I’d seen a trick of connecting the apron bar to the heddle with elastic bands to help when warping. I tried this one time on my Sample-It but didn’t find it helped anything. Not sure if it’s the bigger size or the plastic ties being less stiff due to age and use but I found it was flopping around a lot more and found the bands really helpful.</li>
</ol>
<p>I look forward to being able to do some bigger projects! I have been eyeing making a ruana type garment for a while but the idea of doing it as 4 panels on the 16” seemed very daunting. But I think my Sample-It will still get lots of use! I'll write up another post once I've done a few more projects on it including some double heddle ones.</p>
Gift Ideas for Rigid Heddle Weavers under $502022-12-06T00:00:00Zhttps://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/gift-ideas-under-50/<p>With Christmas coming up soon, now seems like a good time for a post about things the weaver in your life might like as a gift! All of these are under $50 and assume your weaver already has a loom. This list is focused on rigid heddle weaving but many of the ideas would apply for other kinds of weaving as well. Another source of inspiration for a newer weaver is my <a href="http://localhost:8080/posts/frugal-buying-guide/">Frugal Buyer's Guide</a>.</p>
<p>I’ve organized them by a “typical” price in USD, but of course there’s always a range and some things will be cheaper or more expensive!</p>
<h1 id="%3C-%2410">< $10 <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/gift-ideas-under-50/#%3C-%2410">#</a></h1>
<p>There’s lots of really little things in the weaving world that can make your life easier. A lot of these overlap with sewing supplies and are great if your weaver isn’t already equipped for sewing.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Flexible Tape measure</strong> Useful for measuring on or off the loom.</li>
<li><strong>Small Ruler</strong> This can just be a 6” or so ruler from an office supply store. Useful for measuring things on the loom.</li>
<li><strong>Thread snips or small sewing scissors</strong>. These are useful for clipping off the ends of yarns in weaving, something with a nice pointed tip is great.</li>
<li><strong>Pins</strong> There’s lots of different kinds of pins out there, most of which are useful! T-Pins in particular come up when you need to repair a warp thread.</li>
<li><strong>Sewing needles</strong> Weaving tends to lead into some amount of sewing in order to hem certain kinds of pieces.</li>
<li><strong>Darning needles</strong> These take bigger yarn than a sewing needle and are often used to secure the ends via hemstitching.</li>
<li><strong>Online pattern</strong> There’s lots of people who sell weaving patterns online on places like Etsy. Some weavers like to use patterns, and others like to design their own.</li>
<li><strong>Sett Tool</strong> These are a small piece of wood with a 1" notch for checking the thickness of yarn.</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="%3C-%2420">< $20 <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/gift-ideas-under-50/#%3C-%2420">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><strong>Stick shuttle</strong> Most rigid heddle looms come with 2 of these, about the weaving width of the loom. It’s useful to have more stick shuttles, for working with more than 2 colors, and also, to have some in different sizes, as they work best when they’re close in size to the item being woven. It’s hard to go wrong here unless they already have a lot of shuttles or they prefer using boat shuttles.</li>
<li><strong>Pick up stick</strong> This is just a pointed stick. If your weaver doesn’t have one, you want one usually a little over the weaving width but that can still fit inside the sides of the loom. Having a couple of these is useful, and like a shuttle extras can be in some smaller sizes for narrower pieces.</li>
<li><strong>Yarn</strong> Weavers go through a lot of yarn. Make sure it’s something they’d like to use though, different people have different preferences!</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="%3C-%2450">< $50 <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/gift-ideas-under-50/#%3C-%2450">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><strong>Books</strong>:
<ul>
<li>For a brand new weaver, especially someone getting a loom at the same time, I recommend <em>Inventive Weaving on a Little Loom</em> by Syne Mitchell.</li>
<li>For someone who’s been weaving for a little while, the <em>Weaver’s Idea Book</em> by Jane Patrick is a great exploration of a range of techniques.</li>
<li>For someone interested in a more advanced technique, <em>Crazy Shot</em> by Myra Wood, or one of the companion books if they already have it.</li>
<li>
<p>I also have several other books described on my <a href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/books/">book reviews page</a>, including several that are great for anyone looking for more project focused books.</p>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Subscription to Little Looms magazine</strong> (print or digital). Little Looms is a magazine which focuses on Rigid Heddle Looms and some other small looms. A more advanced weaver might also appreciate Handwoven magazine.</li>
<li><strong>Additional heddles</strong> For this one, you need to know exactly what brand and width of loom they have and what DPI of heddles they might be interested in. A 2.5 DPI heddle is for very fat yarn and a 15 DPI heddle is for thin yarn.</li>
<li><strong>Fabric shears</strong> These are good for cutting the weaving off the loom, and, for cutting out fabric for sewing.</li>
<li><strong>Cone holder (aka spool holder)</strong> A base with some dowels or rods in it to hold yarn on tubes or cones in place while warping or winding shuttles.</li>
</ul>
Loom Spotlight: Backstrap Looms2022-12-01T00:00:00Zhttps://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/backstrap-looms/<p>Backstrap looms are one of the simplest designs of loom used for weaving long fabrics, where the tension is held between the weaver's back and some other point. However, being simple to make doesn't mean they only make simple fabrics!</p>
<p>You can use a wide range of things as an anchor - a tree branch or fence post outdoors, or a clamp, a sturdy piece of furniture indoors, or a door knob indoors, or even the weaver's feet. Backstrap weavers can get very creative at finding anchors! If using a door knob make sure no one will open the door while you're weaving!</p>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="Weaver using a Vietnamese backstrap loom braced with the feet to make a brocaded fabric" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2022-12/Viet_Nam_%E2%80%93_The_Colors_of_Traditional_Brocade_and_Silk_3.jpg" style="max-height:300px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block" />
<figcaption class="text-center">Vietnamese backstrap loom braced with the feet <br />
<small><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/wipo/48821340091/">By Violaine Martin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0" title="Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=108209769">Link</a></small></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The term backstrap loom covers a variety of designs that have been used traditionally in Asia and the Americas, particularly Central America and the Andes - there's many different variations in style and technique that exist in terms of loom design and weaving techniques. Backstrap style weaving has also existed in other areas for narrow bands only, such as <a href="https://jumaka.com/2022/02/sami-band-weaving/">Sámi band weaving</a> in northern Scandinavia. There are other styles of simple looms like warp weighted looms and horizontal ground looms that were used historically in other areas.</p>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="Woman using a backstrap loom tied to a tree using a dyed warp" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2022-12/Tzutujil.weaving.jpg" style="max-height:300px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block" />
<figcaption class="text-center">Mayan backstrap loom with dyed warp <br />
<small><a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0" title="Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tzutujil.weaving.jpg">Link</a></small></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For weaving narrow bands, all you need is an anchor point and something to attach it to the anchor and a belt or sturdy cord. At it's simplest this can just be some knotted cord, but plastic clips or wooden bandlocks can also be used to make it easier to advance. Narrow bands are often woven using small rigid heddles, which can have multiple sets of holes or sizes of slots to facilitate certain types of pick-up patterning. <a href="https://bandweaving.com/">Stoorstalka</a> is one maker of this style of heddle, but there are many other small sellers. Rigid heddles used in this way have a substantial amount of draw in and are not used to beat. Bands can also be woven using string heddles or tablets to make the sheds.</p>
<p>For wider warps, you need some sticks or dowels to spread the warp for more even tension, and the backstrap piece is wider than a belt and attached to a bar for your fabric. Most often string heddles are used, which typically makes warp faced fabric (more balanced fabric is possible, but difficult), though a rigid heddle such as one from a rigid heddle loom can be used to make a more balanced fabric. Most backstrap weaving tends to be not much wider than the weaver, e.g. about 2 feet or less, but some expert weavers use wider warps, I have seen reports of 39" or more.</p>
<figure class="mb-3">
<img alt="Elaborate design on a backstrap loom in Peru" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2022-12/adrian-dascal-aTNpTYBExLA-unsplash.jpg" style="max-height:300px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block" />
<figcaption class="text-center">Backstrap weaver in Cusco, Peru<br />
<small><a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/aTNpTYBExLA">Adrian Dascal via Unsplash</a></small></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>People often DIY their backstrap looms with dowels from a hardware store however there are smaller sellers selling backstrap kits. Backstrap weavers typically use a stick shuttle and may use a shuttle with a beveled edge or a sword to beat depending on style.</p>
<h1 id="pros-and-cons-of-backstrap-looms-compared-to-rigid-heddle-looms">Pros and Cons of Backstrap Looms compared to Rigid Heddle Looms <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/backstrap-looms/#pros-and-cons-of-backstrap-looms-compared-to-rigid-heddle-looms">#</a></h1>
<p>A backstrap loom is extremely low cost; at it's simplest it can be made with found materials, and even pre-warped starter kits are around 1/3 the cost of a small rigid heddle loom. Backstrap looms also take up very little space when stored - some yarn rolled up around some dowels.</p>
<p>However it may be harder to find a spot to do your backstrap weaving with a suitable anchor and enough space, and it's harder to quickly start and stop your weaving. I often do a few picks at a time on my rigid heddle loom in between steps of making dinner, for example, which wouldn't be practical with backstrap style weaving. There's more of an opportunity to turn a project into a tangled mess of yarn if it's not put away correctly.</p>
<p>Backstrap looms with string heddles excel at making warp faced fabric of a kind that can't really be done on a rigid heddle loom beyond narrow bands. For making a more balanced fabric with a backstrap technique, you can use a <a href="https://backstrapweaving.wordpress.com/2009/12/13/backstrap-weaving-whats-on-the-loom/">rigid heddle from a rigid heddle loom</a>, so if you do get into both styles of weaving there's overlap in tools.</p>
<p>In the initial learning process, there's more that can go wrong than with a rigid heddle loom. It's highly recommended to start with a warp made by an experienced weaver, either as a kit such as the ones by <a href="https://kakawdesigns.com/collections/kits-and-materials">Kakaw Designs</a> or a local teacher, or else start with very short and narrow warps and slowly work up over several small projects, as it's very difficult to weave on a poorly prepared warp. While I certainly advocate starting small with a rigid heddle loom, my first project was a 10" wide scarf, while with backstrap weaving small might mean a 1" wide band on a 1 yard warp with several projects to work up to progressively wider and longer fabric.</p>
<p>Both rigid heddle looms and backstrap looms are best at producing not too wide fabric, up to around 24". A rigid heddle loom is easier to go somewhat wider than that, but a floor loom is the best option for going beyond 32".</p>
<p>There's very little downside to trying out backstrap weaving, as the cost is minimal especially for band weaving where you don't even need to spread the warp and can simply tie on to a belt. And learning how to weave narrow warp faced bands backstrap style can make a great complement to your rigid heddle weaving projects, and with wider backstrap weaving you can produce a different range of fabrics than you can on a rigid heddle loom.</p>
Loom Spotlight: Inkle Looms2022-11-11T00:00:00Zhttps://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/inkle-looms/<p>Inkle looms are designed for weaving warp faced bands - think belts, guitar straps, dog leashes, and trim for other pieces. They consist of pegs sticking out of a frame and are usually made of wood; usually they have a frame on one side, but some designs provide additional support by having a removable 2nd side to the frame. One peg is moveable to adjust tension, and the shed is created by the weaver pushing the warp up and down with their hand.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.ashford.co.nz/inkle-loom-2/product/inklette-loom"><figure class="mb-3"><br />
<img alt="Ashford Inklette" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2022-11/ashford_inklette.jpg" style="max-height:300px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block" /></figure></a></p>
<figcaption class="text-center">Ashford Inklette - a small tabletop Inkle loom</figcaption>
<p>The "default" for inkle looms is to set up string heddles, with half the yarns in a heddle and half not. They can also be used for other styles of band weaving, such as with a small rigid heddle or cards for tablet weaving. A lot of interesting patterns can come out of simply the color choices of the warp, but even more elaborate patterns can be made using pick up or tablet weaving. Rigid heddles for band weaving are more often made of wood and sometimes include extra holes or different sizes of slots to make certain patterning easier, and they're usually smaller and lighter than the ones on rigid heddle looms.</p>
<p>They can be fairly small, like the Ashford Inklette, which can weave up to 2" wide and 70" warp (just under 6'), or they can be quite large and rest on the floor, like the <a href="http://www.leclerclooms.com/cendrel.htm">Leclerc Cendrel</a>, which can weave up to 6" wide and 16 feet long, and is also designed for use as a warping board for other looms; but most are in between. When choosing a loom, remember that the finished length will be shorter than the warp due to take up and loom waste.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.leclerclooms.com/cat2014a.htm"><figure class="mb-3"><br />
<img alt="Leclerc Cendrel" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2022-11/Leclerc_Cendrel_Inkle_Loom_and_or_Warping_Frame_4__37262.webp" style="max-height:300px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block" /></figure></a></p>
<figcaption class="text-center">Leclerc Cendrel - a large floor Inkle loom and warping board</figcaption>
<p>Among major weaving manufacturers, Ashford, Schacht, and Leclerc make inkle looms, and there are also many made by smaller woodworkers selling on places like Etsy or at local fiber events, some with elaborate designs on the frame or a wider selection of sizes. Inkle looms are relatively straightforward to make with <a href="http://www2.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/monographs/cac_inkl.pdf">some woodworking experience and tools</a>; I have also seen designs made out of <a href="https://www.instructables.com/How-to-Make-an-Inkle-Loom-and-Weaving-a-Simple-Ban/">PVC pipes</a>.</p>
<p>The term "inkle" dates back to the 1500s and refers to any ribbon or tape. While band weaving is ancient, the current style of inkle loom, while simple, is a relatively modern innovation dating to perhaps the <a href="https://www.degarmo.net/inkle/notes/history.html">18th or 19th century</a>, with the smaller table top versions being newer. Band weaving can also be done using backstrap techniques, or held between any two points like a bow loom. There's also a style of "box loom" or "tape loom" that is a precursor to modern rigid heddle style looms which were designed for weaving bands with an unsupported rigid heddle, and there are some treadle looms designed for band weaving, such as the Swedish Band Loom.</p>
<h2 id="weaving-on-an-inkle-loom">Weaving on an Inkle Loom <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/inkle-looms/#weaving-on-an-inkle-loom">#</a></h2>
<p>Inkle looms are warped in a circular pattern, and there's no separate step to measure the warp. Color changes are knotted together at the beginning of the warp, and yarns pass through a string heddle or not as it's being warped. The length of the warp is dictated by the exact path between the pegs - a given loom will have a maximum and minimum length, and some options in between. For example, the Ashford Inkle Loom can do warps of between 1.3-2.8 meters (51-110").</p>
<p>Inkle weavers typically use a small stick shuttle with a beveled edge for the weft, sometimes referred to as a belt shuttle, and use the shuttle to beat the weft in firmly, however, some prefer to use a separate tool known as a band knife. To advance the warp, inkle weavers loosen the tension peg and pull on the warp, and then re-tighten the tension.</p>
<h3 id="what-can-you-make-on-an-inkle-loom%3F">What can you make on an Inkle loom? <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/inkle-looms/#what-can-you-make-on-an-inkle-loom%3F">#</a></h3>
<p>Inkle looms make narrow warp faced bands from shoe laces to a wide belt. Bands can be used as is, have hardware added like a belt buckle, used as edging, trim, or straps on other weaving or sewing projects, or can be joined together or to a backing fabric to make larger items, like <a href="https://www.ashford.co.nz/blog/inklette-pouch?highlight=WyJpbmtsZSJd">this pouch from the Ashford blog</a>. It's also possible to make tubular structures on an inkle loom. Little Looms Magazine, which has many rigid heddle projects, also typically includes some inkle projects with each issue.</p>
<h2 id="general-pros-and-cons-of-inkle-looms-vs-rigid-heddle-looms">General Pros and Cons of Inkle Looms vs Rigid Heddle Looms <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/inkle-looms/#general-pros-and-cons-of-inkle-looms-vs-rigid-heddle-looms">#</a></h2>
<p>Inkle looms are fantastic simple tools for weaving bands, and they're generally cheaper and smaller than small rigid heddle looms (excepting the larger floor standing models!). However, they're also a specialized tool - they're good at weaving bands, but that's pretty much all they do, so if you only intend to weave the occaisonal band a more general purpose rigid heddle loom or using backstrap techniques may suit your needs better. While many people prefer band weaving on an inkle loom, I have also come across who prefer using a rigid heddle loom for that purpose.</p>
<p>Price wise, most inkle looms are cheaper than most rigid heddle looms. The Ashford Inklette currently retails for under $70 USD, and the Schacht and Ashford mid-size Inkle looms are both under $120 USD and are cheaper than any Rigid Heddle loom.</p>
<p>A small inkle loom like the Ashford Inklette is extremely portable, taking up less space than a folded Ashford Knitter's Loom other than being slightly thicker at 4.5"x14.5"x7.25", while a "mid size" inkle loom like the Ashford Inkle loom is about as long as a full size rigid heddle loom while being smaller in other dimensions, at 6.35"x25.5"x11.25".</p>
<p>In my personal experience, I found my Sample-It rigid heddle loom was difficult to use with cards due to it's short length and the location of it's cross beam, and I also had some difficulty with my attempts to get a truly warp faced band with neat edges using the heddle, however that may be due to inexperience! The Sample-It is a fairly short rigid heddle loom and you may get different results with a different loom.</p>
<p>Because inkle looms are warped in a circular fashion, where the beginning and the end of the warp meet, there tends to be less loom waste than on a rigid heddle or most other styles of looms where yarns are tied on at both ends.</p>
<h3 id="inkle-vs-rigid-heddle-as-a-starter-loom">Inkle vs Rigid Heddle as a starter loom <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/inkle-looms/#inkle-vs-rigid-heddle-as-a-starter-loom">#</a></h3>
<p>Either style of loom can make a great starter loom depending on your interests! Inkle is cheaper and limited to making narrow items, but there's a wide world to explore with making bands!</p>
<p>An inkle loom can be a great complement to a larger loom, so if you're not sure about weaving and want to try out a lower cost option first it's a great starting point that can then be used to enhance other weaving in the future. Inkle woven bands can be used as straps for a bag, hanger loops for towels, or trim for many kinds of weaving projects. Some inkle looms can also be used as a warping board for another loom, or, with a rigid heddle loom for hybrid warping.</p>
Loom Spotlight: Frame Looms2022-10-20T00:00:00Zhttps://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/frame-looms/<p>Frame looms are a simple style of loom that consist of a fixed size frame, or, more rarely, a frame that can be put together in multiple sizes or <a href="https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/541773109/pin-loom-kayu-loom-weaving-loom-pin-loom">pegs that can be rearranged on a board</a>. I am not including here any sort of loom with features like the ability to roll up a warp and adjust tension and sett, such as more sophisticated tapestry looms. These looms have no built in shed making device; commercial kits may come with a weaving needle, or a shuttle and a pick up stick.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.ashford.co.nz/weaving-frame/product/weaving-frame-small"><img alt="Ashford Weaving Frame" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2022-09/AshfordWeavingFrame.jpg" style="max-height:300px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block" /></a></p>
<p>A frame loom can be as simple as a piece of cardboard or a photo frame that you wrap the warp around, with controlling the warp spacing up to the weaver, but most commercial frame looms have pegs or notches to help control the warp spacing. Frame looms are fairly simple to make.</p>
<p>Frame looms range from very small looms that are about as portable as knitting, to very large, long and wide but flat, looms. These looms may have notches or pegs along the top and bottom, or, around all sides, and this leads to different styles of weaving, so I'll split it up into two sections when discussing different types of frame looms.</p>
<p>Since these looms are a fixed size, they will generally be used for projects of a similar shape - you can make a narrower piece, and making a shorter piece will use some excess warp over a longer one.</p>
<h2 id="tapestry-style-looms">Tapestry Style Looms <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/frame-looms/#tapestry-style-looms">#</a></h2>
<p>This kind of loom wraps a warp around in one direction prior to weaving, as is the case with most other loom designs. While most are shaped more or less like an open rectangle, some smaller looms of this type are shaped like an uppercase <strong style="font-family:serif">I</strong>, which can be easier to hold on to. Simple frame looms are most often used for tapestry style weaving, but not all tapestry looms are simple frame looms.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.louet.nl/product/lisa-frame-looms/?lang=en&v=06fa567b72d7"><img alt="Louet Lisa Frame Loom with a tapestry weaving of a sheep" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2022-09/LouetLisa.jpg" style="max-height:300px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block" /></a></p>
<p>These looms are mostly small lap looms, starting at less than 10"x10", but very large looms of this style exist up to ones traditionally used for making rag rugs. Larger looms may come with a stand or have one available. Particularly at larger sizes it may be difficult to keep even tension on a frame loom.</p>
<p>Typically this style of loom has pegs or notches that control and limit the warp spacing, though it is possible to make a DIY loom out of cardboard or a photo frame with no notches, which then makes it more difficult to have an even sett. Looms of this type often come with a pick up stick to make one shed while the weaver controls the other shed, but can also be used with just a tapestry needle.</p>
<p>Most looms of this type are designed around making weft faced tapestries, with fairly wide spacing for the teeth, and teeth that may be designed for fairly fine tapestry warp yarn with a wide sett. Thicker yarns to make a more balanced plain weave fabric might not fit depending on the design. The sett controls how finely detailed a tapestry work can be, and also drives which yarn combinations are suitable. Setts are commonly between 4 and 12 per inch; a 12 DPI frame loom may be more flexible as you could easily warp it as 4 or 6 as well by using every 2nd or 3rd notch.</p>
<p>In addition to being made by many weaving companies, this style of loom is also produced by some toy makers. For example, <a href="https://www.melissaanddoug.com/products/multi-craft-weaving-loom">Melissa & Doug</a> produces a fairly large, inexpensive loom that stands up.</p>
<h3 id="swatch-making-looms">Swatch Making Looms <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/frame-looms/#swatch-making-looms">#</a></h3>
<p>There are some looms that are similar to tapestry style frame looms but designed for making small swatches for other weaving, like Liz Gipson's <a href="https://yarnworker.com/swatch/">Swatch Maker line</a> which is designed for swatching for rigid heddle weavers at setts of 8-12 DPI, either on separate looms, or one loom which can handle all three setts by warping through holes, which is a bit trickier. These tend to be quite small as the purpose is to test out color combinations or sett with a small swatch in preparation for a bigger project.</p>
<h3 id="circular-looms">Circular Looms <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/frame-looms/#circular-looms">#</a></h3>
<p>Circular looms are most often used to make chunky abstract wall hangings. Not to be confused with a circular knitting loom, which has prominent pegs, they can be made of materials like wood, bamboo, or acrylic and typically have some sort of notch around the edges to help with warp spacing; some people also use embroidery hoops. Often the loom becomes the mounting for the finished piece. The warp spacing near the center will be much tighter than near the edges, particularly on larger looms, which will affect the texture of the fabric - these are most often used for making textured wall hangings than a "practical" fabric. These range from tiny 1" looms to about 18" or so.</p>
<h2 id="continuous-strand-looms">Continuous Strand Looms <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/frame-looms/#continuous-strand-looms">#</a></h2>
<p>Continuous strand looms have pegs all around the outside and can be woven using one continuous piece of yarn for warp and weft, so there's no distinction between warping and weaving. Looms of this type can be many shapes to enable weaving things that aren't rectangles, and the continuous strand technique produces a finished edge on all sides of the piece, making these ideal for constructing larger projects out of multiple pieces, or large triangular shawl with almost no wasted yarn. While these looms allow for weaving with one strand, other techniques are also possible. These looms are typically woven on using a needle and don't have any shed help, making the weaving a slower process.</p>
<h3 id="pin-looms">Pin Looms <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/frame-looms/#pin-looms">#</a></h3>
<p><a href="https://turtleloom.com/home/loom-catalog/"><img alt="Original TURTLE Loom, a Hexagonal Pin Loom" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2022-09/TurtleLoom.webp" style="max-height:300px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block" /></a></p>
<p>Pin looms are a small, portable form of weaving, that became popular in the 1930's with the 4" square Weave-It loom, but some make pieces as small as 1". Projects are made up out of a series of small shapes (squares, hexagons, triangles, etc.) which are then joined together to make a larger piece. Pin loom squares can be made out of a single piece of yarn, and are a great "on the go" option that's about as portable as knitting. <a href="http://www.eloomanation.com/looms.php">eLoomaNation</a> has lots of information about pin looms. I particularly enjoy the possibilities of non-square pin looms to produce shapes that aren't rectangles!</p>
<h3 id="larger-continuous-strand-looms">Larger Continuous Strand Looms <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/frame-looms/#larger-continuous-strand-looms">#</a></h3>
<p><a href="https://hillcreekyarn.com/product/spriggs-5-ft-adjustable-square-frame-looms/"><img alt="Spriggs 5-ft Adjustable Square Frame Looms" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2022-09/SquareInUse.webp" style="max-height:300px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block" /></a></p>
<p>There doesn't seem to be a firm cutoff, but somewhere between 6-12" makers stop referring to their looms as pin looms. From there, these looms are often quite large, designed to make something like an entire triangular shawl at once, though on the edge are things like 12" square "dishcloth looms". They also exist as shaped pieces to weave garment panels on without further shaping, like this <a href="https://woolery.com/pampa-loom-vesto-kit.html">Vest Kit</a>. Large rectangular continuous strand looms exist, and can enable weaving a rectangular shape on the bias, for example, to make a diagonal plaid. These looms are often DIY projects or made by smaller makers, like <a href="https://hillcreekyarn.com/">Hill Creek Yarn</a>, who sell both fixed sized and adjustable looms.</p>
<h2 id="potholder-looms">Potholder Looms <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/frame-looms/#potholder-looms">#</a></h2>
<p><a href="https://harrisville.com/collections/friendly-loom/products/7-potholder-loom-deluxe-traditional-size"><img alt="Harrisville Potholder Loom" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2022-09/HarrisvillePotholder.webp" style="max-height:300px" class="rounded mx-auto d-block" /></a></p>
<p>Potholder looms are fixed size squares with pegs on both sides which were originally designed to make potholders out of loops that are a byproduct of making socks. They're often marketed as toys but many adults enjoy using them as well! They're about 6x6" to 8x8", and often come as a kit with enough loops to make a couple projects. You can also use other weaving techniques on potholder looms, including continuous strand techniques, though there are some differences in design in terms of things like how close the pegs go to the corners.</p>
<h2 id="general-pros-and-cons-of-frame-looms-vs-rigid-heddle-looms">General Pros and Cons of Frame Looms vs Rigid Heddle Looms <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/frame-looms/#general-pros-and-cons-of-frame-looms-vs-rigid-heddle-looms">#</a></h2>
<p>Like rigid heddle looms, frame looms are a common entry point into weaving, and they can be very inexpensive tools. A small frame loom is very portable, though rigid heddles gain an advantage as the fabric gets longer than 18-24". Frame looms also typically have little or no loom waste, making them a great choice for using precious handspun yarns.</p>
<p>Tapestry style frame looms are better than a rigid heddle loom for very textured wall hangings, but depending on the design they may not be suitable for creating a balanced fabric. Rigid heddle looms can be used for smoother tapestries, but, sometimes it can be helpful to literally see the whole piece at once! Continuous strand type looms can enable interesting shapes beyond the rectangle, either as one large piece or many small pieces joined together.</p>
<p>Rigid heddle looms are generally faster to weave on, however, if you're doing a lot of finely detailed hand manipulated techniques it may not offer an advantage, and if you have lots of downtime on the go like waiting in a doctor's office, you might get projects done faster on a small portable frame loom like a pin loom! But if you're sitting down at home and weaving longer rectangular pieces a rigid heddle loom is a great choice.</p>
<p>But sometimes the simpler tool is just right!</p>
How many shafts would you need to weave that pick up pattern?2022-07-07T00:00:00Zhttps://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/pick-up-to-shaft/<p> </p>
<p>Pick up sticks are a great way to go beyond plain weave on a rigid heddle loom. But how do they relate to shafts on a floor or table loom? It turns out it’s not so simple as saying that a number of pattern sticks equals a number of shafts, as the interactions between sticks are different than the interactions between shafts.</p>
<p>Weaving drafts consist of a threading (which yarns go through which shaft), the tie-up or lift plan (which combinations of shafts are used), and the treadling (the order the combinations of shafts are used). As we'll see, in some cases, pick up sticks can give you patterns that would require many more shafts than different pick up patterns, but only a subset of the possible shaft <em>combinations</em> from the tie up or lift plan. In other cases, we can set up a rigid heddle loom so that sticks map to different shafts.</p>
<p>Most kinds of pick up work with multiple sticks are done with one stick that is left in place, and either a second stick that is moved as required, or, one or more heddle rods. For simplicity I’ll mostly just talk about sticks except for a few cases where a heddle rod can be particularly useful; in general, a heddle rod is useful when doing large segments of the same multi-stick pattern, while it's easier to reposition a stick for smaller areas.</p>
<p>For consistency, in this post, stick A is in the back and stick B is in the front, and I've numbered shafts so that 1 is the holes, then middle numbers are picked up on different sticks from back to front, then any combinations of sticks, and finally any yarns that are not picked up on any stick. Keep in mind that this mapping is arbitrary and can be changed as is convenient for a particular draft. In the photos, you'll see a piece of cardboard in addition to the stick(s) - the slot yarns go over the cardboard while the holes are underneath; this can help separate the layers for easier pick up.</p>
<h2 id="one-stick">One Stick <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/pick-up-to-shaft/#one-stick">#</a></h2>
<div class="col my-3">
<img alt="1 stick pick to shaft illustration" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2022-06/1_stick_template.jpg" class="img-fluid rounded" />
</div>
<p>To start with, let's think about how a pattern with one stick relates to shafts. With one pick up stick in one position, such as 1 up, 1 down as in the picture, you can think of your shafts as follows:</p>
<ol>
<li>Holes</li>
<li>Picked up slot yarns</li>
<li>Other slot yarns (the ones that aren't picked up)</li>
</ol>
<p>This gives you the following possible heddle and stick positions:</p>
<ul>
<li>Up: Shaft 1</li>
<li>Down: Shaft 2 + 3</li>
<li>Neutral + Stick: Shaft 2 (Weft Floats in gaps)</li>
<li>Up and Stick: Shaft 1 + 2 (Warp floats in the picked up warps)</li>
</ul>
<p>However, the following shaft combinations are not possible with one stick.</p>
<ul>
<li>Shaft 3</li>
<li>Shaft 1 + 3</li>
</ul>
<p>That is to say, we need 3 shafts to weave a pick up pattern on a floor loom, but not all (or even most!) 3 shaft patterns can be woven using one pick up stick, due to not being able to get the Shaft 3 sheds except in combination with Shaft 2.</p>
<h2 id="two-sticks">Two Sticks <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/pick-up-to-shaft/#two-sticks">#</a></h2>
<p>The first pick up stick gives us a 3rd, limited shaft, but with two sticks, there are 5 different scenarios for how 2 different pick up patterns can interact, requiring anywhere from 3 to 5 shafts! The key difference between a stick and a shaft is that a yarn can go through only one shaft but it can be picked up by more than one stick, or none, and it's in those interactions that things can get complicated!</p>
<h3 id="scenario-1%3A-picking-up-opposite-yarns">Scenario 1: Picking up opposite yarns <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/pick-up-to-shaft/#scenario-1%3A-picking-up-opposite-yarns">#</a></h3>
<div class="col my-3">
<img alt="2 stick pick up to shaft illustration: opposite yarns" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2022-06/2_stick_opposite_template.jpg" class="img-fluid rounded" />
</div>
<p>A very common use of a second pick up stick is to pick up all of the opposite yarns. This gives us access to all 3 shaft tie up combinations. Pictured is 1 up, 1 down on one stick and 1 down, 1 up on the other.</p>
<p>Example Pick Up Patterns:</p>
<ul>
<li>A: 1 up, 1 down</li>
<li>B: 1 down, 1 up</li>
</ul>
<ol>
<li>Holes</li>
<li>Slots on Pick Up A</li>
<li>Slots on Pick Up B</li>
</ol>
<p>The possible combinations are:</p>
<ul>
<li>Up: 1</li>
<li>Down: 2, 3</li>
<li>Up and stick A: 1, 2</li>
<li>Up and Stick B: 1, 3</li>
<li>Neutral + Stick A: 2</li>
<li>Neutral + Stick B: 3</li>
</ul>
<p>This kind of setup where every yarn is either in a hole or picked up by exactly one stick or heddle rod works is the most natural for converting from a multi-shaft draft to a rigid heddle loom, and gives you access to all shaft combinations. If you're doing a 3-shaft pattern this way for more than a short section, you probably want to use a heddle rod for one shaft.</p>
<p><strong>Examples</strong>: Many 2 stick patterns fall into this category, e.g. Honeycomb (Weaver's Idea Book, pg 113), Paired Warp Floats in Alternating Blocks (Weavers' Idea Book pg 97). This scenario also covers any arbitrary 3 shaft pattern, when combined with a suitable threading, like a 3 shaft twill or <a href="https://schachtspindle.com/making-merry-holiday-stocking/">Krokbragd</a>.</p>
<h3 id="scenario-2%3A-picking-up-different-patterns-where-all-yarns-are-picked-up">Scenario 2: Picking up different patterns where all yarns are picked up <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/pick-up-to-shaft/#scenario-2%3A-picking-up-different-patterns-where-all-yarns-are-picked-up">#</a></h3>
<div class="col my-3">
<img alt="2 stick pick up to shaft illustration: different patterns where all yarns are picked up" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2022-06/2_stick_different_all_picked_up_template.jpg" class="img-fluid rounded" />
</div>
<p>In this scenario, each stick picks up a different pattern but the total number of yarns in the pattern repeat is the same so all yarns are picked up by at least one stick, and some are picked up by both. Pictured, I have 3 up, 1 down and 2 up, 2 down - both patterns work with 4 slot yarns. This needs 4 shafts, since while a yarn can easily be picked up by multiple sticks, it can't go through more than one shaft, and if converting to shafts we need a shaft for the intersection of A and B.</p>
<p>Example Pick Up Patterns:</p>
<ul>
<li>A: 3 up, 1 down</li>
<li>B: 2 up, 2 down</li>
</ul>
<p>Shafts:</p>
<ol>
<li>Holes</li>
<li>Slot yarns that are picked up by Stick A only</li>
<li>Slot yarns that are picked up by Stick B only</li>
<li>Slot yarns that are picked up by both A and B.</li>
</ol>
<p>The possible combinations are:</p>
<ul>
<li>Up: 1</li>
<li>Down: 2, 3, 4</li>
<li>Up and stick A: 1, 2, 4</li>
<li>Up and Stick B: 1, 3, 4</li>
<li>Neutral + Stick A: 2, 4</li>
<li>Neutral + Stick B: 3, 4</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Example:</strong> Texture with Warp and Weft Floats (Weaver's Idea Book, pg 102)</p>
<h3 id="scenario-3%3A-picking-up-different-patterns-where-not-all-yarns-are-picked-up%2C-no-overlap.">Scenario 3: Picking up different patterns where not all yarns are picked up, no overlap. <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/pick-up-to-shaft/#scenario-3%3A-picking-up-different-patterns-where-not-all-yarns-are-picked-up%2C-no-overlap.">#</a></h3>
<div class="col my-3">
<img alt="2 stick pick up to shaft illustration: different patterns where all yarns are picked up, no overlap" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2022-06/2_stick_different_not_all_picked_up_no_overlap_template.jpg" class="img-fluid rounded" />
</div>
<p>This scenario gives us a different set of 4 shaft possibilities than scenario 2. We have 3 shafts which can be used on their own and in some combinations and a limited 4th shaft that's only usable in one combination.</p>
<p>Example Pick Up Patterns:</p>
<ul>
<li>A: 2 up, 2 down,</li>
<li>B: 3 down, 1 up</li>
</ul>
<p>Shafts:</p>
<ol>
<li>Holes</li>
<li>Slot yarns that are picked up by Stick A</li>
<li>Slot yarns that are picked up by Stick B</li>
<li>Slot yarns that aren't picked up by either stick</li>
</ol>
<p>The possible combinations are:</p>
<ul>
<li>Up: 1</li>
<li>Down: 2, 3, 4</li>
<li>Up and stick A: 1, 2</li>
<li>Up and Stick B: 1, 3</li>
<li>Neutral + Stick A: 2</li>
<li>Neutral + Stick B: 3</li>
<li>Up and stick A and B: 1, 2, 3 (Only possible if at least one is a heddle rod)</li>
<li>Neutral and stick A and B: 2, 3 (Only possible if at least one is a heddle rod)</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Examples:</strong> Spot Lace, (Weaver's Idea Book, pg 86), Deflected Warps, (Weaver's Idea Book, pg 129).</p>
<h3 id="scenario-4%3A-picking-up-different-patterns-where-not-all-yarns-are-picked-up">Scenario 4: Picking up different patterns where not all yarns are picked up <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/pick-up-to-shaft/#scenario-4%3A-picking-up-different-patterns-where-not-all-yarns-are-picked-up">#</a></h3>
<div class="col my-3">
<img alt="2 stick pick up to shaft illustration: different patterns where not all yarns are picked up" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2022-06/2_stick_different_not_all_picked_up_template.jpg" class="img-fluid rounded" />
</div>
<p>In this scenario, each stick is picking up a different pattern and some yarns are not picked up. Pictured, I have 1 up, 1 down and 2 up, 2 down. This actually needs 5 shafts, because we have both interactions of picked up yarns and yarns that aren't picked up.</p>
<p>Example Pick Up Patterns:</p>
<ul>
<li>A: 1 up, 1 down</li>
<li>B: 2 up, 2 down</li>
</ul>
<p>Shafts:</p>
<ol>
<li>Holes</li>
<li>Slot yarns that are picked up by Stick A only</li>
<li>Slot yarns that are picked up by Stick B only</li>
<li>Slot yarns that are picked up by both A and B.</li>
<li>Slot yarns that aren't picked up by either stick</li>
</ol>
<p>In this case, if one of the patterns is set up on a heddle rod it's possible to get 8 different tie ups (out of the 30 possible with 5 shafts) instead of 6 by using stick and heddle rod together.</p>
<p>The possible combinations are:</p>
<ul>
<li>Up: 1</li>
<li>Down: 2, 3, 4, 5</li>
<li>Up and stick A: 1, 2, 4</li>
<li>Up and Stick B: 1, 3, 4</li>
<li>Neutral + Stick A: 2, 4</li>
<li>Neutral + Stick B: 3, 4</li>
<li>Up and stick A and B: 1, 2, 3, 4 (Only possible if at least one is a heddle rod)</li>
<li>Neutral and stick A and B: 2, 3, 4 (Only possible if at least one is a heddle rod)</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Example:</strong> 3x3x2x2 Squares (Weaver's Idea Book, pg 101)</p>
<p>In this case, we have access to many 4 shaft combinations, but only one combination involving the 5th shaft.</p>
<h3 id="scenario-5%3A-picking-up-a-subset-of-yarns">Scenario 5: Picking up a subset of yarns <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/pick-up-to-shaft/#scenario-5%3A-picking-up-a-subset-of-yarns">#</a></h3>
<div class="col my-3">
<img alt="2 stick pick up to shaft illustration: one stick pickes up a subset of the other" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2022-06/2_stick_subset_template.jpg" class="img-fluid rounded" />
</div>
<p>This scenario has 2 use cases: patterns where you are making filled in shapes out of texture with different rows, or where you want both warp and weft floats that don't go across the whole piece. In this case, the sticks CAN slide past each other if the stick picking up fewer yarns is on top. Usually the top stick would be used for warp floats and the bottom for weft floats as the opposite may produce very large weft floats on one side of the fabric.</p>
<p>Example Pick Up Patterns:</p>
<ul>
<li>A: 1 up, 1 down (Bottom stick)</li>
<li>B: 1 up, 3 down (Top stick)</li>
</ul>
<p>Shafts:</p>
<ol>
<li>Holes</li>
<li>Slot yarns that are picked up by Stick A only</li>
<li>Slot yarns that are picked up by both A and B.</li>
<li>Slot yarns that aren't picked up by either stick</li>
</ol>
<p>The possible combinations are:</p>
<ul>
<li>Up: 1</li>
<li>Down: 2, 3, 4</li>
<li>Up and stick A: 1, 2, 3 (Large weft floats on back)</li>
<li>Up and Stick B: 1, 3 (Typical warp floats)</li>
<li>Neutral + Stick A: 2, 3 (Typical weft floats)</li>
<li>Neutral + Stick B: 3 (Large weft floats on front)</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Example:</strong> <a href="https://www.ashford.co.nz/blog/bronson-check-on-a-rigid-heddle-loom">Bronson Check on a Rigid Heddle Loom</a></p>
<h2 id="beyond-2-sticks">Beyond 2 sticks <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/pick-up-to-shaft/#beyond-2-sticks">#</a></h2>
<p>We've worked through all the possible combinations with 2 shafts, and as we see there's a lot of different ways even 2 sticks can interact. How does that generalize?</p>
<p>The shaft requirements for <em>n</em> different pick up patterns can be up to:<br />
1 shaft for the hole yarns + <em>2^n</em> possible combinations of yarns on pick up sticks. With 2 this is 5, with 3 this is 9, with 4 this is 17, and with 5, 33. If you'd like more info on the math behind that, it's the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combination#Number_of_k-combinations_for_all_k">number of k-combinations for all k (Wikipedia)</a>.</p>
<p>For example, with 3 different patterns, we could have in the extreme case:</p>
<ol>
<li>Holes</li>
<li>Slot yarns that are picked up by Stick A only</li>
<li>Slot yarns that are picked up by Stick B only</li>
<li>Slot yarns that are picked up by Stick C only</li>
<li>Slot yarns that are picked up by Stick A and B</li>
<li>Slot yarns that are picked up by Stick A and C</li>
<li>Slot yarns that are picked up by Stick B and C</li>
<li>Slot yarns that are picked up by Stick A, B, and C</li>
<li>Slot yarns that aren't picked up</li>
</ol>
<p>To be clear, this is an upper limit, not a typical value! For an actual example, one of the the more complicated drafts in the Weaver's Idea Book is the weft float sampler on pg. 103 which uses 5 different pick up patterns, and the provided draft uses 10 shafts, well short of the possible 33.</p>
<p>The easiest translation of a floor loom draft to pick up on a rigid heddle loom would be to put each shaft on a heddle rod (perhaps one on a stick) with one shaft (ideally the most common) through the holes, requiring <em>n - 1</em> sticks or heddle rods to make <em>n</em> shafts. It may be possible to reduce that in some cases, though I'll leave that as a topic to explore in the future!</p>
<h2 id="conclusion">Conclusion <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/pick-up-to-shaft/#conclusion">#</a></h2>
<p>Floor looms are wonderful machines and are efficient at weaving patterns that work within the number of shafts, but the beauty of pick up sticks on a rigid heddle is that you can move them around, introducing as much or as little complexity as you'd like. A 4 shaft loom can more easily weave a 4 shaft pattern than a rigid heddle loom can, but a rigid heddle loom can more easily weave an 8 shaft pattern than the 4 shaft loom can.</p>
<p>It would be fairly laborious to weave a section with a complex treadling through various changing pick up patterns, as would often be the case if starting from a floor loom draft and converting to rigid heddle, but, there are kinds of patterns that lend themselves well to this kind of technique, allowing weaving complex patterns on a simple loom. One is simply the idea of having different kinds of detail in different sections of a piece - any given section can be a simple pick up pattern but the combination could easily get beyond the capability of a typical floor loom on a single warp. Another is the idea of making large designs of textured areas where a stick is moved around every few pattern repeats; this can be fairly simple to pick up when the pattern simply adds or drops a few yarns each change. A third category is structures that involve a mix of plain weave (also known as tabby) rows mixed with pattern rows, like overshot, summer and winter, etc., where you can explore variations that would take a lot of shafts by using pick up techniques. Finally, this can be used for small sections of detail - for example, a row or two of pinwheels (an 8 shaft pattern) can be quite lovely, though an entire towel of pinwheels is quite time consuming.</p>
<p>I hope you enjoy exploring complex patterns with pick up sticks!</p>
Frugal Buyer's Guide for Rigid Heddle Weavers2022-05-30T00:00:00Zhttps://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/frugal-buying-guide/<p> </p>
<p>So you've bought or are thinking of buying a rigid heddle loom, and are wondering what accessories to get? Here are my thoughts as a "frugal under-buyer" a year into my weaving journey on what tools and accessories you should buy soon and what you can hold off on to save more money for yarn (or anything else!)</p>
<h2 id="absolute-basics">Absolute Basics <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/frugal-buying-guide/#absolute-basics">#</a></h2>
<p>Most new rigid heddle looms come with the basic absolute necessities, if you're missing any of these you'll want to address that right away!</p>
<ul>
<li>The loom</li>
<li>2 Stick Shuttles</li>
<li>1 Rigid Heddle, usually 7.5-10 DPI</li>
<li>Warping Peg and clamps</li>
<li>A threading hook</li>
</ul>
<p>The warping peg and clamps can be substituted with a warping board, and you can live with one shuttle for a bit.</p>
<h2 id="tools-you'll-probably-want-soon">Tools you'll probably want soon <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/frugal-buying-guide/#tools-you'll-probably-want-soon">#</a></h2>
<p>These are the tools you might consider ordering with your loom, or for your second or third project.</p>
<img alt="High Priority Tools" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2022-05/Tools.jpg" class="img-fluid col col-md-8 offset-md-2 col-xl-6 offset-xl-3 my-3" />
<ol>
<li>
<p><strong>Darning or Tapestry Needle(s)</strong><br />
This is the one thing I think really should be added to the standard box! Many projects particularly with a fringe are finished using hemstitching along the edge and a suitably thick yarn needle is extremely useful. Many people like a bent tip needle for this purpose but it's not a requirement. You can do a knotted fringe without it or hem items like towels on a sewing machine, but hemstitching is used for many finishes. I ordered a plastic tapestry needle with my loom because it's what the store I ordered from had, but it's quite large, and I later got a set of metal needles. Often needles come with a few different sizes, but one thing I learned is that the sizing of needles depends on what kind of needle it is! I think I ended up taking a couple scraps of yarn to a fabric store one day to find some suitable ones.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Scissors and/or Shears</strong><br />
You'll want a decent pair of larger scissors for cutting projects off the loom, and a pair of small scissors to cut threads are also useful.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Pick Up Stick</strong><br />
Pick up sticks are used to add texture to rigid heddle weaving. A dedicated pick up stick isn't a complete must but it's very handy. There are many things that can be used as a substitute: An empty stick shuttle, a ruler, a paint stir stick, but the pointed end is a little bit easier to use. I ended up getting one that was a bit too wide for my loom - the store listing advised going slightly longer than the weaving width, but it turns out Ashford makes a 17" for the 16" Rigid Heddle loom, and a 16" for the 16" Sample-It which is a little narrower inside the frame, so I now have a sanded down 17" and a 14" stick.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>One or two different sizes of rigid heddle</strong><br />
Some people go all out and buy every size of heddle that comes with the loom, and I went the other direction of buying a lot of yarn to work with the 7.5 DPI heddle that came with my loom. In retrospect, I would suggest buying one or two sizes fairly early on based on what kind of projects you want to make; but you can always buy these while ordering yarn for a project! I find 10 and 12/12.5 DPI heddles come up the most in projects in books and magazines, particularly for towels, scarves, placemats, etc., while blankets are more likely to use 5 or 7.5/8.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Extra stick shuttles in a few different sizes</strong><br />
Most looms come with 2 shuttles about the weaving width of the loom. While that covers the basics, a lot of projects use 3 or 4 different yarns (or even more!). It's also useful to have different sizes of shuttles as if you are doing a narrower project it's easier to work with a shorter shuttle, and even quite a short shuttle is a lot easier to work with than a yarn butterfly or improvised cardboard shuttle! I would suggest picking up 1-3 additional shuttles in smaller sizes a few inches apart. I've ended up with one each of 6" (more for band weaving), 10", and 14" shuttles, in addition to the 2 18" shuttles that came with my loom. I may pick up a 12" if I order from somewhere that carries that size! You can skip this if you want to try out boat shuttles.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Rotary cutter and cutting mat</strong><br />
It's much easier to cut a straight fringe with these tools than with scissors, but less important than having a decent pair of scissors! I bought a small 18" wide mat given that my loom is 16", but if I were to do it again I might go a size up.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<h2 id="more-situational-accessories">More situational accessories <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/frugal-buying-guide/#more-situational-accessories">#</a></h2>
<p>These accessories come down to what kind of loom you have, and what kind of projects you want to do. You'll probably want some of them.</p>
<ol>
<li>
<p><strong>A stand</strong><br />
My loom is a little 16" Sample-It that I can use in a variety of positions including on my lap, on a table, against the edge of a table, etc. and I have not felt the need for a stand, but I know people with larger and heavier looms are often much more comfortable with a stand, though it is a personal choice.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Yarn Swift and Ball Winder</strong><br />
A yarn swift and ball winder are really helpful if buying yarn that comes in hanks (also frequently referred to as skeins), and unnecessary otherwise. Hanks are a method of yarn organization that is useful for dying, so hand dyed yarns almost always come this way, and it's generally associated with 'premium' knitting yarns. You can see how I dealt with them before I got a yarn swift in my post <a href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/dealing-with-hanks/">Dealing with hanks of yarn</a>. The yarn swift and ball winder are so much easier!</p>
<p>The yarn swift holds the hank of yarn and lets it spin around while being wound onto something else, be that a ball, or warping directly from the swift, or winding onto a shuttle. A ball winder works with a yarn swift to quickly wind the yarn into an easy to use ball; however this is less important with weaving than it is for knitting as you can warp, or wind onto a shuttle directly from a yarn swift, though the ball winder is helpful for dealing with leftovers or if you're warping multiple colors from hanks. It can also be helpful for winding yarn off of a cone in order to double it, though if buying mainly for this purpose I'd suggest looking at a bobbin winder for weaving as they're more designed for use with finer yarns. These are things you'll need infrequently and can perhaps borrow from a knitting friend when needed.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Warping Board or Mill</strong><br />
Direct warping is a quick and easy way to get started, but some projects do lend themselves better to indirect warping and it can take up less space. It's not something I've bought yet a year into weaving, but, I will eventually! A warping board is a board with pegs in it for winding a warp, while a warping mill is more of a rotating tower that you wind the yarn around. Warping mills are mostly for really long warps more typical of floor loom weaving but there are some smaller tabletop ones available and some prefer the ergonomics of the mill over a board. A couple models of loom have a built in warping board option with holes for pegs on the back, and even if you need to buy the pegs separately it's much cheaper than a standalone warping board.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Sewing machine</strong><br />
If you're making a lot of hemmed items you may want a sewing machine. A lot of finishing instructions are written assuming access to a sewing machine with a zig-zag stitch. If you prefer to hand sew there's always a way though!</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Boat Shuttles, Bobbins, and Bobbin Winder</strong><br />
These tools go together, though, I've seen ways of rigging up an electric drill as a bobbin winder. I haven't gotten in to boat shuttles on my rigid heddle loom though I did use them when I wove on my grandmothers table loom as a child. Boat shuttles allow for faster weaving particularly on wider looms and with finer yarns. My understanding is on a rigid heddle loom you want to look for a fairly slim boat shuttle as the sheds are smaller than on most floor or table looms, and that they work better with some rigid heddle looms than others.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<h2 id="accessories-i-don't-suggest-buying-right-away">Accessories I don't suggest buying right away <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/frugal-buying-guide/#accessories-i-don't-suggest-buying-right-away">#</a></h2>
<p>These are some things beginners sometimes jump into that I suggest holding off until you have a specific project in mind and know what you're getting into.</p>
<ol>
<li>
<p><strong>Double Heddle Block and multiples of a size of heddle</strong><br />
I would suggest getting a few projects under your belt before thinking about using double heddles, and trying a double heddle project at <em>one</em> size before investing in more than one second heddle. Also make sure before buying a double heddle block that you actually need it for your loom - many models now come with built in double heddle blocks but have parts available for older models. In terms of which heddle to get for a first doubled project, 10DPI seems like a good option if your goal is to pursue finer projects, as a sett of 20 EPI is perfect for the weaver's staple of 8/2 cotton, and can also be useful for a light weight blanket as a double weave project; while if you're interested in double weave for blankets 5 or 7.5/8 would be good options. Sometimes I see used loom listings where someone went out and bought 2 of every size of heddle and most of them have never been taken out of the packaging!</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Variable Dent Heddles</strong><br />
Variable dent heddles are much more expensive than standard fixed heddles. Some beginners buy them thinking it's a universal heddle, but they are really more intended to enable projects working with different setts, e.g. major differences in thickness of warp yarns or spacing. They don't typically come with enough pieces to do anything close to full width at one size, and not all manufacturers sell the segments separately. They wind up being a fairly expensive niche tool that you may or may not ever want to use.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>Hopefully this gives you a better idea of what to buy with your loom or soon after, and what to wait on!</p>
Creating patterns out of pick up texture2022-04-06T00:00:00Zhttps://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/pick-up-blocks/<p>I really enjoy working with pick up sticks. A while back this got me thinking of how to make big designs out of blocks of warp and weft floats while having areas of plain weave.</p>
<p>The observation needed here is that:</p>
<ol>
<li>Warp floats occur at the slot threads that are picked up.</li>
<li>Weft floats occur <em>between</em> the slot threads that are picked up.</li>
</ol>
<p>In order to have a mix of plain weave and weft floats in a row, <em>you need to pick up all of the slot threads where you don't want weft floats</em>, while for warp floats you only want to pick up the yarns where you want warp floats.</p>
<p>So if you want to also have warp floats only where you have weft floats, the solution is to add a second pick up stick that picks up some of the threads that are picked up for weft floats. If you have two pick up sticks where one has picked up a subset of the other, then the top pick up stick with fewer yarns can slide around the other, and you don't have to re-insert each row as in most pick up stick patterns. So the top stick has fewer yarns picked up and makes your warp floats, and your bottom stick with more yarns on it is for your weft floats. This will make a square out of your floats. Note that my photo has the larger pick up stick on top - I've since realized it's a bit easier to grab the stick if the larger stick on the bottom.</p>
<div class="row">
<img alt="Pick up stick positioning for uneven floats" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2022-04/pick_up_stick_position.jpg" class="img-fluid col col-md-6 col-xl-4 offset-xl-2 my-3" />
<img alt="Close up of pick up textured fabric on the loom" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2022-04/close_up_uneven_floats.jpg" class="img-fluid col col-md-6 col-xl-4 my-3" />
</div>
<p>You can, of course, also do this with "competing" pick up stick locations, which will make more of a T out of the floats, you will just have to reposition one of your your sticks each row or use a heddle rod for one set. I did this in a sample when I was experimenting with this idea, along with some interesting color and weave effects. I really like some of the color and weave effects with this, I'm sure I'll experiment more in a future project</p>
<img alt="Sample with competing pick up sticks and color and weave" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2022-04/sample.jpg" class="img-fluid col col-md-6 offset-md-3 col-xl-4 offset-xl-4 my-3" />
<p>On it's own this technique is useful for making pick up designs in a column or with borders. I've also used this technique with just one thread different to avoid having to go around an edge thread (though I'm a little on the fence as to if it's easier).</p>
<p>But one really fun use of this technique is to combine this with moving your pick up sticks around every once in a while to make designs with blocks of patterns, for example, this scarf I made with an overall diamond pattern out of blocks of textured areas.</p>
<img alt="Scarf with diamond pattern out of pick up blocks" src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2022-04/pattern_blocks.jpg" class="img-fluid col col-md-8 offset-md-2 col-xl-6 offset-xl-3 my-3" />
<p>I've only done that one sampler and scarf with the moving around blocks technique so far but it's definitely something I plan to come back to!</p>
Hacks for Tension2021-06-27T00:00:00Zhttps://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/tension-hacks/<p>Sooner or later it will happen that you have a thread or two that's too loose. And eventually you may have a warp where it's quite a lot of threads! Here's some ideas for ways to deal with the problem.</p>
<p>My latest warp is my first where I've had more than a couple problematic threads - I think one issue is the two different kinds of warp threads, as most of the tension issues are with the red rayon chenille rather than the black Tencel. Probably there's also room for improvement in my warping and tying on!</p>
<p>When I've had a couple threads that are a bit loose, one thing that works is just to shove a little scrap of cardboard, paper towel, etc. to help those threads stay tighter. This is the only thing I've needed for my previous projects. One thing I tried that <em>didn't</em> work was allen keys that were L shaped or kind of S-shaped but with 90 degree corners - you really need more of a curve to get it to stay in.</p>
<p><img src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2021-06/tension_cardboard.jpg" alt="Adjusting tension with some scraps of cardboard and paper towel" /></p>
<p>The other way to deal with tension is to add some weight to loose threads. My first improvisation here was to think of what I had with hooks on it - and remembered we had a pack of bungee cords. The bigger ones in the photo have a cap on the end that tends to make them a little harder to get out if the threads start to twist, which often happens when you advance. I'm not recommending going out and buying bungee cords for this purpose, just that it was something I had on hand that did the job that might inspire you to think of something that you've got! Another thing that I think could work that I haven't tried is using some scrap yarn to tie a weight on - perhaps some washers on a length of string, or an old pill bottle with some pennies or screws inside for weight.</p>
<p><img src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2021-06/tension_bungee.jpg" alt="Adjusting tension with some bungee cord" /></p>
<p>As I've gone through this warp more and more threads have been needing help, and I was running out of the smaller bungee cords and it was getting unwieldly with so many bungee cords. So I went out and got some S hooks, which I'd seen recommended. I ended up picking up a package of 30 5/32" and a package of 20 3/16" as I knew I needed a bunch and I wasn't sure what size would be best. Each package was less than $10. The ones I got are designed for connecting lengths of chain and were with the chain parts in a hardware store. Both sizes work - the smaller ones are good for the threads that are just a bit loose and the bigger ones for ones that need more help. At this point I'm nearing the end of my warp and most of the red threads have something dangling off them; I have so many S-Hooks my loom is now a musical instrument!. It's actually a fairly pleasant wind chime type noise as I weave. I haven't felt the need to do this but I could add some washers or bolts to adjust the weight a bit.</p>
<p><img src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2021-06/tension_s_hook.jpg" alt="Adjusting tension with lots of S-hooks" /></p>
<p>All of these approaches need more fussing around to move your weights or scraps back into place after advancing the warp; it's not ideal to get tension issues but it's probably going to happen sometimes! Hopefully your warp doesn't get as bad as mine, I'm liking the fabric that's coming out of it but tension has been a big issue! Good thing I don't have too much more to weave on this warp!</p>
Beginner Rigid Heddle Weaving Project Ideas2021-06-20T00:00:00Zhttps://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/beginner-project-ideas/<p><em>Updated July 2022 with new link to Country Plaid Towels</em></p>
<p>These projects are all great ways to make useful items and experiment, when you’re first learning or learning a new technique. They can all be made with worsted or DK weight yarns with a 7.5 or 8 dent heddle.</p>
<h2 id="coasters">Coasters <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/beginner-project-ideas/#coasters">#</a></h2>
<p>Coasters are great for sampling colors, practicing color changes, and practicing hemstitch for the finish. They can be pretty much any thickness or material other than really thin or open weaves, and are great for odds and ends of yarn. These are perfect for some color and weave sampling - set up a warp with two colors in a pattern you’d like to try out, and do each coaster with a different weft pattern. These are also great for sampling any idea you’d like to turn into placemats.</p>
<p>Size at the heddle: About 4” (30 ends at 7.5 DPI)</p>
<p><img src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2021-06/Coaster.jpg" alt="Example coaster" /></p>
<p>In my example, the lighter color is a DK Cotton/Acrylic blend, and the blue is a mystery acrylic.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.ravelry.com/projects/NotSoRigidWeaver/color-and-weave-play-coasters">Here’s my Ravelry project including the coaster above, color and weave sample coasters with some yarn I had on hand</a></p>
<h2 id="hot-pads">Hot Pads <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/beginner-project-ideas/#hot-pads">#</a></h2>
<p>Basically a big coaster, ideally a little on the thicker side. In a thinner weave you could use it as an oversized coaster for going under a pitcher or teapot. Anything you can do with a coaster, and also particularly great for practicing thicker weaves like clasped weft or krokbragd. If you plan to use these for really hot things, e.g. straight out of the oven or off the stove, pay attention to materials and thickness; some synthetics can melt at high temperature and a thinner fabric may not provide enough protection.</p>
<p>Size at the heddle: 8-10” (60-75 ends at 7.5 DPI)</p>
<p><img src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2021-06/Hot_Pads.jpg" alt="Example of hot pads" /></p>
<p>For example, I wove a 2 hot pads, roughly 8x8, to test out yarns for some clasped weft placemats, and try triple clasped weft for the first time. I put on a warp of about 40”. The yarns are Ashford 5/2 Cotton as the warp and mostly Sugar n' Cream worsted cotton as the weft.</p>
<h2 id="dishcloths">Dishcloths <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/beginner-project-ideas/#dishcloths">#</a></h2>
<p>Generally you’d make these out of unmercerized cotton. They can be a fun project to experiment with texture. These are typically going to need a hemmed finish; if you can, make the weaving a little thinner around the hem. In my example below that meant leaving 1.5” at the end of each cloth as plain weave, but it would have been better to weave that section using a thinner yarn.</p>
<p>Size at the heddle: Around 10” (I did 72 ends at 7.5 DPI)</p>
<p><img src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2021-06/Dishcloth_with_stick.jpg" alt="Example dishcloth with pick up stick" /></p>
<p><a href="https://www.ravelry.com/projects/NotSoRigidWeaver/red-and-white-dishcloths-with-pick-up">Here’s my Ravelry project of pick-up dishcloths. As of the time of posting I still haven’t hemmed them! The weaving was fun though!</a></p>
<h2 id="towels">Towels <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/beginner-project-ideas/#towels">#</a></h2>
<p>Most often done with a hemmed finish, but you can do a short hemstitched fringe finish if you’re not a sewer. Towels are also ideal for a color and weave or color gamp sampler with a set of yarns. If you are going with a hemmed finish, use some thinner yarn for an inch or so at the ends if you have it. Towels are often made of finer yarn, but you can make them with worsted cotton for a thick towel.</p>
<p><img src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2021-06/Towel%20On%20Loom.jpg" alt="Towel started on the loom" /></p>
<p>The <a href="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/Country-Plaid-Kitchen-Towel-2-Sizes-1.pdf">Country Plaid Kitchen Towels by Darrin Hardman from rigidheddleweaver.com</a> are a great towel for beginners without a sewing machine, with a size for 15” or 20” towels, and there's good instructions for making "split ply joins" to make the joins less bulky. Unfortunately the site is no longer active; I've uploaded the PDF here with permission from Darrin, and the tutorial videos mentioned in the PDF are on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWDb-DoYnaFyHY1OAzrhmDA">YouTube</a>. <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/projects/NotSoRigidWeaver/blue-and-white-plaid-kitchen-towels">I made them in two shades of blue.</a></p>
<h2 id="just-a-sample">Just a Sample <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/beginner-project-ideas/#just-a-sample">#</a></h2>
<p>While it’s nice to make useful items, sometimes it’s liberating to just experiment with different ideas without caring how the whole piece looks. It might be ugly as a whole piece, but have pieces of it that you love and want to reproduce in other projects! This is particularly useful if you have a stash of mystery yarns and want to learn if they’ll shrink the same. And sampling isn’t just for beginners - any time you have a project you aren’t sure about, or want to be precise about finished size, make a sample! It’s also a fun learning experience to just do a bit of sampling at the beginning or end of a warp. If I’ve got warp left over I go wild! The picture shows me playing with clasped weft at the end of the dishcloth warp. I learned that for clasped weft with worsted cotton I probably want a thinner warp - which I applied in the hot pad example above.</p>
<p><img src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2021-06/Dishcloth_with_sample.jpg" alt="Example sampling on the dishcloth warp" /></p>
Weaving suppliers in Canada2021-06-13T00:00:00Zhttps://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/canadian-suppliers/<p><em>Last Updated February 23, 2022</em></p>
<p>Finding stores that sell weaving supplies in Canada can be a bit like finding a needle in a haystack, as there are many more yarn stores for knitters than weavers! There are of course many, many more yarn stores that sell wonderful knitting yarns that you can also use depending on the project, but this list focuses on online stores selling a range of weaving supplies of interest to rigid heddle weavers.</p>
<p>I started this list from my own personal hunt; I've noted where I've ordered from a supplier but inclusion or exclusion from this list shouldn't be taken as any sign of quality. The list is now ordered regionally from west to east, with no particular order within a region.</p>
<h2 id="weaving-focused-suppliers">Weaving Focused Suppliers <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/canadian-suppliers/#weaving-focused-suppliers">#</a></h2>
<p>This category covers the store that are really focused on weaving supplies, and have a wide range of weaving specific yarns.</p>
<h3 id="bc">BC <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/canadian-suppliers/#bc">#</a></h3>
<p><strong><a href="https://janestaffordtextiles.com/product-category/yarns/">Jane Stafford Textiles</a></strong>: <em>Salt Spring Island, BC</em>. Jane Stafford runs a popular "online guild" for multi-shaft weavers and sells a variety of weaving yarns from standard cottons to more exotic types like mohair and silk. Also a dealer for Louët looms.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.penelopefibrearts.com/">Penelope Fibre Arts</a></strong>: <em>Surrey, BC</em>. Maurice Brassard, Ashford, Harrisville, Henry's Attic, Jagger and other weaving yarns. Ashford, Leclerc, Louët, and Schact looms (and Harrisville Potholder looms)</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://sanjosilk.com/">Sanjo Silk</a></strong>: <em>Vancouver, BC</em>. Their focus is on silk and silk blends for weaving and other applications - they very possibly have the widest selection of silk yarns and fibre in Canada. You can also get silk cocoons and some interesting byproducts of silk spinning in their "curiosities" section. Their sister business the Silk Weaving Studio sells handwoven silk items and runs weaving and spinning classes.</p>
<h3 id="alberta">Alberta <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/canadian-suppliers/#alberta">#</a></h3>
<p><strong><a href="https://gathertextiles.com/collections/yarns">Gather Textiles</a></strong>: <em>Edmonton, AB</em>. Carries Maurice Brassard, GIST, and others including some Alpaca yarns. Sells Schacht, Leclerc and Louët looms. Also has some online learning and workshops.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.mogopomo.ca/">mo.go.po.mo</a></strong>: <em>Stirling, AB</em>. Supply & Design Studio in southern Alberta. They sell a variety of weaving and some knitting yarns; in particular they have a selection of linen and hemp yarns in addition to typical cottons, wools, and synthetics. They sell some Louët equipment and Venne yarns.</p>
<h3 id="ontario">Ontario <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/canadian-suppliers/#ontario">#</a></h3>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.camillavalleyfarm.com/">Camilla Valley Farms</a></strong>: <em>Orangeville, ON</em>. A wide selection of weaving yarns, Leclerc looms, and a large collection of books and weaving accessories.Cotton in a wide range of thicknesses, cottolin, Tencel, Rayon Chenille, various weaving specific wool and wool blend yarns, and UKI brand mercerized cotton. Their website and online ordering process is dated; you fill out a form online and they will confirm by email. (I have ordered from them)</p>
<h3 id="quebec">Quebec <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/canadian-suppliers/#quebec">#</a></h3>
<p><strong><a href="http://www.mbrassard.com/index-ang.html">Maurice Brassard</a></strong>: <em>Plessisville, QC</em>. They produce a wide range of weaving yarns which are distributed globally and are available from other sellers. You can order direct from them but it's more of a catalog order process as opposed to a modern e-commerce setup.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.tisseetfile.com/en/collections/fils">Tisse et File</a></strong>: <em>Mercier, QC</em>. Weaving, spinning, and felting supplies and a range of yarns. Weaving yarn brands include Maurice Brassard, Venne, Gist, Bockens, Ashford, Jagger Spun, and Lunatic Fringe. They sell Ashford and Kromski rigid heddle looms and are also dealers for Schacht and Louët. Notably they sell a variety of less commonly found fibers like hemp, silk, and alpaca. They are also a Glimakra dealer though they only list some accessories like shuttles on their website.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://irenetextile.com/en">Irene Textile</a></strong>: <em>Morin Heights, QC</em>. (Online orders with option for local pickup). Has a wide variety of weaving yarns, including a wide range of Maurice Brassard yarns, Gist, and MERLIN French Linen. An unusual option is a Japanese paper yarn by Mondofil. Sells the Schacht Cricket rigid heddle loom, along with Schacht and Leclerc floor looms. They are also as of January 2023 a new dealer for Glimakra and Louët looms, and Bockens yarns.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.mdweaving.com/">MD Weaving</a></strong>: <em>Sainte-Marie-Madeleine, QC</em>. A relatively new online business out of Quebec (I believe they opened in 2022). They have a range of cotton, cottolin, tencel, and acrylic weaving yarns, including some space dyed cotton, and some wool and wool blend bases for dyeing.</p>
<h3 id="east">East <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/canadian-suppliers/#east">#</a></h3>
<p><strong><a href="https://loomlust.myshopify.com/">LoomLust</a></strong>: <em>Hanford Brook, NB</em> (now online only). Maurice Brassard, UKI, Venne, Bockens, Lunatic Fringe, Jagger Spun, and Maysville yarns. Notably they seem to be the only active Glimakra dealer in Canada; they are also a Leclerc dealer.</p>
<h2 id="online-stores-with-a-weaving-section">Online stores with a weaving section <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/canadian-suppliers/#online-stores-with-a-weaving-section">#</a></h2>
<p>These suppliers are less focused on weaving specifically, but have some weaving specific yarns. I'm focusing more on listing stores which have more than one or two things, have something more unique, or who are in a region that doesn't have many options. For example, I've listed all of the Kromski dealers I've found, as there's only a few of them in Canada, but not every local yarn store that sells Ashford looms and tapestry warp as the entirety of their weaving section, as those are more common.</p>
<h3 id="bc-1">BC <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/canadian-suppliers/#bc-1">#</a></h3>
<p><strong><a href="https://sweetgeorgiayarns.com/product-category/weaving/yarn-weaving/">Sweet Georgia Yarns</a></strong>: <em>Vancouver, BC</em>. They are known for their line of hand dyed knitting yarns (which are also sold through other retailers), but they also carry GIST and Venne weaving yarns. They also sell Leclerc, Louët, Schacht, and Ashford looms and run weaving classes. Owner Felicia Lo has a YouTube channel and has been getting more into weaving recently.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.yarncanada.ca/categories/weaving-yarn.html">YarnCanada.ca</a></strong>: <em>New Westminster, BC</em> (online only). Ashford weaving yarns and looms plus lots of knitting/crochet yarns, including craft store staples like Sugar n'Cream. Check out their Factory Mill Ends if you're looking for inexpensive yarn to learn with. (I have ordered from them)</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://maiwa.com/collections/weaving">Maiwa</a></strong>: <em>Vancouver, BC</em>. Maiwa sells a variety of handcrafted products but also has a "Supply Store" which sells weaving yarns, with an emphasis on their "Honest Yarn" line of organic, naturally dyed linen, as well as some cotton, silk, and wool yarns. They also sell a lot of natural dying supplies.</p>
<h3 id="north">North <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/canadian-suppliers/#north">#</a></h3>
<p><strong><a href="https://itsybitsyyarnstore.ca/collections/weaving">Itsy-Bitsy Yarn Store</a></strong>: <em>Whitehorse, YT</em>. This yarn store in Yukon has Ashford rigid heddle, inkle, and tapestry looms and accessories, and while they don't stock a lot of weaving specific yarns other than tapestry warp, they do have a lot of interesting made in Yukon hand dyed and/or handspun yarns.</p>
<h3 id="alberta-1">Alberta <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/canadian-suppliers/#alberta-1">#</a></h3>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.stashlounge.com/collections/fibre-arts/type_weaving">Stash Lounge</a></strong>: <em>Calgary, AB</em>. Mostly knitting focused, but sells Louët and Schacht looms, along with a variety of mini-weaving looms; Maurice Brassard cotton weaving yarn and some others more focused on tapestry warp.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.yuliaav.com/kromski-weaving">YuliaAV</a></strong>: <em>Foothills County, AB</em>. Mostly fiber for spinning, they are a dealer for Kromski weaving and spinning equipment.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://aandbfiberworks.ecwid.com/Weaving-Yarns-c47409981">A & B Fiberworks</a></strong>: <em>Linden, AB</em>. They have cotton and tencel weaving yarns, along with locally produced alpaca and wool yarns.</p>
<h3 id="ontario-1">Ontario <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/canadian-suppliers/#ontario-1">#</a></h3>
<p><strong><a href="https://wabi-sabi.ca/collections/weave">Wabi Sabi</a></strong>: <em>Ottawa, ON</em>. They carry some Maurice Brassard and Ashford yarns, and Ashford rigid heddle looms. (I have ordered from them for in-store pick up)</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.fibregarden.ca/product-category/yarns/weaving-yarns/">The Fibre Garden</a></strong>: <em>Jordan, ON</em>. This store focuses on spinning supplies. For weaving focused yarns they carry some Ashford yarns and a Tencel. They also carry Louët and Ashford looms.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://handknityarnstudio.com/">Handknit Yarn Studio</a></strong>: <em>Hamilton, ON</em>. Mainly a knitting shop, but they carry Harrisville weaving yarns and Ashford Rigid Heddle looms.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.littleredmitten.ca/collections/weaving">Little Red Mitten</a></strong>: <em>St. Thomas, ON</em>. Their weaving section includes Ashford rigid heddle looms and Caterpillar yarn, and Maurice Brassard and other yarns.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://janknitsstudio.square.site/shop/kromski-products/15">JanKnits Studio</a></strong>: <em>Haliburton, ON</em>. Primarily knitting, sewing, and quilting oriented; they are a dealer for Kromski looms.</p>
<h3 id="quebec-1">Quebec <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/canadian-suppliers/#quebec-1">#</a></h3>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.tricotemoe.ca/en">Tricote Moé Ça</a></strong>: <em>Brownsburg-Chatham, QC</em>. Spinning, weaving, and felting supplies, including Ashford and Kromski spinning wheels and looms. They sell Ashford weaving yarns as well as various spinning fibers. They also do custom woodworking for tools, parts, and repairs for spinning and weaving equipment.</p>
<h3 id="east-1">East <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/canadian-suppliers/#east-1">#</a></h3>
<p><strong><a href="https://thebobbintree.square.site/">The Bobbin Tree</a></strong>: <em>Sydney, NS</em>. <em>As of Feb 2023 they are temporarily closed due to damage from Hurricane Fiona.</em> This store in Cape Breton has supplies for a wide range of fiber arts, including notably Bobbin Lace, and has a fairly wide selection of weaving yarns by Maurice Brassard (including their space died and cotton/hemp yarns which aren't stocked by many retailers), Ashford, and others. Run by Janet Dawson, who has is known for her classes on Craftsy and with Tien Chu, this is a general purpose LYS run by a weaver.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.sisterhoodfibres.shop/shop/weaving/5?page=1&limit=60&sort_by=category_order&sort_order=asc">Sisterhood Fibres</a></strong>: <em>Tatamagouche, NS</em>. Carries Ashford rigid heddle and inkle looms, as well as Ashford and other weaving yarns. They also carry some locally sourced wool yarns.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://wildfowergallery.bookmark.com/shop#!/Weaving/c/138110786">Where the Wildflowers Grow Gallery</a></strong>: <em>Perth-Andover, NB</em>. Ashford dealer, also Maurice Brassard and other weaving yarns, along with felting, spinning, and dyeing supplies.</p>
Dealing with hanks of yarn2021-06-07T00:00:00Zhttps://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/dealing-with-hanks/<p>The first time I tried to use a hank of yarn, I didn't realize that they need some special attention, just started pulling, and quickly ended up with a tangled mess that I spent the next 3 evenings untangling and winding into a ball.</p>
<p><img src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2021-05/TangledMess.jpg" alt="Example of a hank turned into a tangled mess" /></p>
<p>Hanks are a style of yarn that you'll almost always see for anything hand dyed from a small supplier, and sometimes from bigger suppliers as well. It's basically a big loop of yarn that's then twisted and folded around itself. This format is very convenient when dyeing the yarn, and it looks pretty. Many people will refer to this style as a skein, but apparently a skein is a different style of oblong ball that can be used directly. Some places use the term "twisted hank" to distinguish between the round loop and the twisted bundle.</p>
<p><img src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2021-05/Hanks.jpg" alt="Twisted and untwisted hanks" /></p>
<p>The basic thing with hanks is that you need to unwrap it into the loop, untie anything that wraps around the loop, and then support it with something while you wind it into a different format. The proper tool for this is called a yarn swift; there are a few different styles, but it's basically a thing that can support the hank and rotate. I've seen improvised yarn swifts involving a lazy Susan and something that can expand to support the yarn. Other options include include your knees, or, two chairs back to back.</p>
<p><img src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2021-05/HankOnChairs.jpg" alt="Hank supported between two chairs" /></p>
<p>I have done direct warping from a hank directly onto my loom, while supporting it with two chairs. This worked ok for a short-ish warp; I'd unwind a few turns, drape it over the chair, pull my loop through the heddle, realize I hadn't unwound enough, and gone back and unwound a bit more. It's hard to say if it would have been faster to manually wind it on to a ball first, but it wasn't a complete disaster like the first time. I have seen photos of warping from a yarn swift and I think that would work well. I've also wound directly onto my stick shuttle for weft, and this works much better.</p>
<p>The chair approach is nice because you can easily just leave it, but it's easier to wind it on your knees. This is perfect if you want to wind some balls while watching TV or chatting.</p>
<p>There's many videos on Youtube demonstrating hand winding yarns, here's one:</p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4EvjgBkSQ0">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4EvjgBkSQ0</a></p>
<p>I'm currently working on a sampler with a bunch of different colors from hanks, and what I've done is wound a bit onto a shuttle and then tied it back up and twisted it again. We'll see if I have regrets later but so far it seems fine!</p>
<p>I don't necessarily love dealing with hanks, but, definitely preferable to keep them from tangling!</p>
My First Few Projects2021-06-01T00:00:00Zhttps://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/my-first-few-projects/<p>If you're looking to see what a beginner can do, or get some inspiration for your own beginner projects, you're in the right place! These are definitely not the prettiest things I'll ever weave, but this is where I started!</p>
<p>I started my weaving journey with a couple balls of acrylic I had from my previous failed attempts to pick up crochet, a few balls of yarn a knitting friend gave me, and a couple small balls of dishcloth cotton I picked up with the loom, and my 7.5 dent heddle.</p>
<h2 id="literal-first-thing-(as-an-adult)">Literal first thing (as an adult) <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/my-first-few-projects/#literal-first-thing-(as-an-adult)">#</a></h2>
<p>Before I got my real loom, a friend loaned me a toy rigid heddle style loom she had. It even still had the acrylic yarn in primary colors from the kit it came with. The loom works on the same principle as the rigid heddle loom, but you have to push the heddle down or pull it up, and the shed was quite small, making it really easy to have accidental floats.</p>
<p><img src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2021-05/ToyLoom.jpg" alt="Weaving on a toy loom" /> <img src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2021-05/ToySampler.jpg" alt="Sampler made on a toy loom" /></p>
<p>If you think it's ugly, I totally agree with you, this was just using some yarn I did not care one iota about to get the feel of things. The warp striping changes partway through because I misinterpreted how many threads I needed and I was out of the red. It can be liberating to just play around and not care about the end result! The purpose of this was to help me decide if I wanted to buy a loom, and the answer was yes!</p>
<h2 id="first-weaving-on-my-sample-it%3A-sampler-scarf">First Weaving on my Sample-It: Sampler Scarf <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/my-first-few-projects/#first-weaving-on-my-sample-it%3A-sampler-scarf">#</a></h2>
<p><a href="https://www.ashford.co.nz/images/download_pdfs/learn_to/learn_to_weave_on_the_sampleit_loom.pdf">Download the PDF from Ashford</a> | <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/projects/NotSoRigidWeaver/beginner-sampler-scarf">See more photos of my scarf on Ravelry</a></p>
<p>To begin with, I did a sampler scarf based on the pattern in the booklet that came with my Ashford Sample-It loom. I used a DK weight yarn instead of worsted which worked out just fine but I skipped a couple patterns so it was way short by the end of 2 repeats, so I did a bit of playing at the end. I also learned it's hard to cut fringe evenly with scissors.<br />
<img src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2021-05/SamplerScarfHanging.jpg" alt="Picture of finished Sampler Scarf" /> <img src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2021-05/SamplerScarfOnLoom.jpg" alt="Finished sampler scarf on loom" /></p>
<h2 id="textured-dishcloths">Textured Dishcloths <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/my-first-few-projects/#textured-dishcloths">#</a></h2>
<p><a href="https://www.ravelry.com/projects/NotSoRigidWeaver/red-and-white-dishcloths-with-pick-up">Ravelry Project</a></p>
<p>So I warped up thinking I would do the Spa Washcloths in <em>Inventive Weaving on a Little Loom</em> (also available online on <a href="https://www.weavezine.com/content/pile-loop-wash-cloths.html">Weavezine: Spa Wash Cloth on a Rigid-Heddle Looms</a>). But I tried one row of the looped pile, and decided it was way to finicky for my mood that day. So I "pivoted" to make some dischloths with pick-up textures instead. I had a great time exploring the pick up textures!</p>
<p><img src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2021-05/Textured_Dishcloth.jpg" alt="Cloth on loom with Pick Up Stick" /> <img src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2021-05/Textured_Dishcloths.jpg" alt="Dishcloth Warp off the loom" /></p>
<p>I learned here that I don't have much patience for hand sewing! These have been sitting in an unfinished state for a while. I think I may turn it into a roller towel as I haven't cut them apart yet. I definitely see why a lot of patterns recommend a thinner yarn around the hem, a double roll hem of worsted cotton is pretty bulky!</p>
<h2 id="color-and-weave-coasters">Color and Weave Coasters <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/my-first-few-projects/#color-and-weave-coasters">#</a></h2>
<p><a href="https://www.ravelry.com/projects/NotSoRigidWeaver/color-and-weave-play-coasters">Ravelry Project</a></p>
<p>These coasters were made out of my limited yarn stash while waiting for more yarn to arrive. I warped up with 4 of the lighter color and 2 of the darker color. I learned a lot about color changing and got lots of practice with hemstitch. It's really easy to put colors in the same shed by mistake, as you'll see where the jagged lines are on the 1/1 one. My edges on the last one were much neater than the first.</p>
<p><img src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2021-05/ColorAndWeaveCoaster.jpg" alt="Color and weave coaster on loom" /> <img src="https://notsorigidimages.z13.web.core.windows.net/img/2021-05/ColorAndWeaveCoasters.jpg" alt="Color and Weave Coasters Finished" /></p>
Books for beginners and beyond2021-05-24T00:00:00Zhttps://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/books/<p><em>Updated with more books July 2022</em></p>
<p>This post is a listing of rigid heddle focused weaving books I've read with some description to help you decided if it might be right for you. I've seen a lot of places that have lists of books, but they often don't have much context for when you might choose one over the other.</p>
<!-- excerpt -->
<h2 id="books-suitable-for-absolute-beginners">Books suitable for absolute beginners <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/books/#books-suitable-for-absolute-beginners">#</a></h2>
<p>In this list are books which assume you don't know anything about weaving and include full instructions on how to set up your loom and weave your first project.</p>
<h3 id="inventive-weaving-on-a-little-loom">Inventive Weaving on a Little Loom <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/books/#inventive-weaving-on-a-little-loom">#</a></h3>
<p>⭐ Highly Recommended<br />
<strong>Syne Mitchell</strong> <em>Edition reviewed: 2015, purchased.</em></p>
<p>I ordered this book around the same time I ordered my loom. This book has instructions for absolute beginners, including how to warp your loom, along with how to fix various problems like a broken warp thread that might come up. It's arranged around different types of techniques - color and weave, hand manipulation, pick up work, and multiple heddles. It will go over a few variations of a technique, and have a project that uses some of them. The projects are really varied and this book also gets into weaving with materials other than yarn, like wire and bamboo. After briefly touching on using 2 heddles, there's then a section on 3 heddles which is a fairly advanced topic and not covered in many books. My minor complaints would be that the couple pages talking about specific models of looms are already out of date, and, as a beginner, there's no clear "2nd project". This book is a very comprehensive overview of a range of techniques for the rigid heddle loom, and I'd highly recommend it - if you could only buy one weaving book, this one would be the one.</p>
<h3 id="weaving-made-easy">Weaving Made Easy <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/books/#weaving-made-easy">#</a></h3>
<p><strong>Liz Gipson</strong> <em>Edition reviewed: 2008 (orange cover), borrowed from public library.</em></p>
<p>This book is considerably shorter than <em>Inventive Weaving on a Little Loom</em> so it can't cover nearly as much. This book is very much focused on projects; it will introduce a technique like using a pick up stick in the context of a specific project but not really discuss it in general. There are two editions of this book; I borrowed the older one - so far as I understand, between the editions, a couple of the projects are changed, various things are clarified, and direct warping instructions are added. Most of the projects use a 10 dent heddle, with a few using 12 or 8. One technique I noticed in this book that I hadn't come across elsewhere is a tubular weave for edging on a pillow. I think this would be a good choice for a beginner if you would like to learn by getting a book and weaving through many of the projects, as they don't get too advanced, or, for anyone who likes following or being inspired by pre-set projects.</p>
<h3 id="hands-on-rigid-heddle-weaving">Hands on Rigid Heddle Weaving <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/books/#hands-on-rigid-heddle-weaving">#</a></h3>
<p><strong>Betty Linn Davenport</strong> <em>Edition reviewed: 1987, borrowed from guild library.</em></p>
<p>This book from 1987 was <em>the</em> introductory rigid heddle book for decades, but, if choosing one book, I would suggest the newer <em>Inventive Weaving on a Little Loom</em> for most beginners. The main exception is if you're weaving on an older design of loom like a vintage loom or the Beka models with teeth, as it discusses a wider range of loom designs, in particular warping on looms with teeth rather than the apron rods that are found on most recent designs. Like <em>Inventive Weaving on a Little Loom</em> it goes into a lot of fundamentals of design and uses projects to illustrate techniques that are discussed in depth in the chapter. It also has some information on basics of simple woven garment patterns with a couple projects. Curiously there's very little on the subject of pick up sticks given that Davenport's first book is an in depth study in pick up stick weaving. It goes beyond basic plain weave into a variety of techniques like hand manipulated weaves, tapestry techniques, and color and weave effects; and in particular it has several pages devoted to designing both warp and weft faced fabrics, which <em>Inventive Weaving on a Little Loom</em> only mentions in passing. There are black and white illustrations of many techniques, and some color photos of projects. This book is still in print but there are also lots of used copies floating around.</p>
<h3 id="woven-treasures%3A-one-of-a-kind-bags-with-folk-weaving-techniques">Woven Treasures: one-of-a-kind bags with folk weaving techniques <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/books/#woven-treasures%3A-one-of-a-kind-bags-with-folk-weaving-techniques">#</a></h3>
<p><strong>Sarah Lamb</strong> <em>Edition reviewed: 2009, borrowed from guild library</em><br />
This is a neat little book that has a bit different focus than some of the others. It's got beginner weaving instructions, and then has a number of technique sections and projects for making various bags and pouches. Given that bags have straps, Woven Treasures devotes a lot of space to warp faced bands (such as what you'd often make on an inkle loom) and card weaving. Lamb also focuses a lot on hand manipulated techniques, like twining, soumak, and cut pile. Many of the projects could probably be done on a frame loom and an inkle loom if you've got those looms but haven't made the jump to rigid heddle yet. The yarn choices could have been described in more detail to help find substitutes. An interesting book with some nice inspiration if you're looking for bags and bands on a rigid heddle loom, and definitely covers some areas in more detail than other books.</p>
<h3 id="creative-weaving%3A-beautiful-fabrics-with-a-simple-loom">Creative Weaving: Beautiful Fabrics with a Simple Loom <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/books/#creative-weaving%3A-beautiful-fabrics-with-a-simple-loom">#</a></h3>
<p><strong>Sarah Howard, Elisabeth Kendrick</strong> <em>Edition reviewed: 2008, paperback, borrowed from guild library</em></p>
<p>This book has about 20 pages on the basics of weaving on a rigid heddle loom, plus some information on peg and cardboard looms which are used in a couple of the samples. It then shows off a variety of close up pictures of interesting fabrics grouped by color, with a bit of information about the yarn choice, sett, etc., but they are not fully developed projects with instructions. Rather than referencing specific yarns by name, it includes close up life sized photos of the yarns used, which is nice for reproducing something years later when the original yarn may no longer be available. For the most part the interest is the color combinations, use of novelty yarns, etc. in mostly plain weave though there are some other techniques used including some pick up and inlay. Some of the samples have a small photo of a complete item at the end of the book. This book has some interesting color combinations for inspiration, but I don't think it's very suitable for absolute beginners, as going from the basic instructions reproducing the samples would be a big jump; I think it would have been a stronger book if the text focused on color theory rather than basics of weaving. Potentially of interest to a more experienced weaver looking for some inspiration for using novelty yarns and bold color choices.</p>
<h2 id="books-that-assume-you-know-the-basics">Books that assume you know the basics <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/books/#books-that-assume-you-know-the-basics">#</a></h2>
<p>These books assume you have woven a couple projects and don't cover how to get started with weaving, but are still accessible to relatively new weavers.</p>
<h3 id="weaver's-idea-book">Weaver's Idea Book <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/books/#weaver's-idea-book">#</a></h3>
<p>⭐ Highly Recommended<br />
<strong>Jane Patrick</strong> <em>Edition reviewed: 2010, spiral bound, borrowed from public library, then purchased.</em></p>
<p>This book is an excellent reference to all kinds of patterns and techniques you can use to push your rigid heddle loom beyond plain weave. I'd describe it as the visual dictionary of patterns for a rigid heddle loom. Each chapter covers a different kind of technique, with a few pages of photos and instructions for different variations on that technique, going into far more variations than <em>Inventive Weaving on a Little Loom</em>. And if you also weave on multi-shaft looms, or might do so in the future, Jane has also included pattern drafts where applicable. What this book isn't is a book of projects. There are a few, but that's not it's main purpose. I also don't find the color choices of the samples particularly appealing in general. It also has details of 2 heddle weaving and double weave. I borrowed this book from the library about a month into my weaving journey, and then ordered it a few weeks later. This is the book to get for anyone looking to get creative with their weaving and go beyond pre-set projects, without wanting to dive into one specific area.</p>
<h3 id="the-ashford-book-of-rigid-heddle-weaving">The Ashford Book of Rigid Heddle Weaving <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/books/#the-ashford-book-of-rigid-heddle-weaving">#</a></h3>
<p><strong>Rowena Hart</strong> <em>Edition reviewed: 2014 Second Revised edition, borrowed from guild library.</em></p>
<p>This book has lots of gorgeous full color photos and great project inspiration; like <em>Inventive Weaving on a Little Loom</em> it has some examples using non-yarn materials like a wall hanging made using stalks of lavender. I've included this book in the beyond the basics category as it has instructions for warping your loom, but I don't feel it has a lot of detail on how to do some of the techniques that come up in the projects - I think it would be a challenge to figure out how to do pick up based on this book alone, though of course you could look up many of the techniques on YouTube for a video. A few of the projects are clothing including 2 lovely cloaks with necklines shaped on the loom, and it goes over some of the sewing techniques as well. Like <em>Weaving Made Easy</em>, it mostly discusses techniques in the context of a particular project without trying to generalize, but some of the projects get a little more advanced including some using double weave. Note that the warping instructions are more or less what comes with the instruction manual for Ashford Looms, which are available as a PDF online. Naturally all of the looms pictured in this book are by Ashford and many of the yarns used are Ashford yarns. So far as I can tell there were no Rigid Heddle books published between <em>Hands on Rigid Heddle Weaving</em> in 1987 and the first edition of this book in 2002! If you like the project oriented style of <em>Weaving Made Easy</em> you'll probably like this book too!</p>
<h3 id="textures-and-patterns-for-the-rigid-heddle-loom">Textures and Patterns for the Rigid Heddle Loom <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/books/#textures-and-patterns-for-the-rigid-heddle-loom">#</a></h3>
<p><strong>Betty Linn Davenport</strong> <em>Edition reviewed: 2008 revised edition, borrowed from guild library.</em></p>
<p>The first edition in 1980 was the first English language book to really dive into the possibilities of patterning with pick up sticks. It's based on Davenport's in depth study for her certificate of excellence. I think because of that origin it assumes a certain level of general weaving knowledge, for example, I found the description of how to do Summer & Winter assumes that you know what Summer & Winter is. This is a short book that dives deep into the techniques of using a pick up stick, which is a chapter in some of the other books mentioned; it has some photos of interesting completed items for inspiration but does not have full project instructions. Most of the photos are black and white, with a few pages of color, which is actually nice for focusing on the texture and contrast over the color choices. One thing I was wondering is if it had material that isn't covered in some of the more recent books like <em>The Weaver's Idea Book</em>, and it does, particularly when concerning things like making overall designs out of pick up work rather than just repeating the same pattern. I think this is definitely worth taking a look at if you want to go in depth into pick up work after learning basics through other material. One neat feature in the 2008 edition is it provides an index to a number of rigid heddle projects in magazines; this may be useful if you have access to Handwoven or Prairie Wool Companion back issues from the late 70s through to mid 90s. As of May 2022 I think it is recently out of print but is still available new from some retailers. I'll probably end up borrowing it again someday particularly if I want to tackle Summer & Winter!</p>
<h3 id="handwoven-home">Handwoven Home <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/books/#handwoven-home">#</a></h3>
<p><strong>Liz Gipson</strong> <em>Edition reviewed: 2017, purchased</em></p>
<p>This book focuses on projects for household items; each chapter focuses on a different room of the house, with projects and some general design tips relating to the projects. It's intended as a step up from <em>Weaving Made Easy</em> in terms of complexity, though should be accessible to anyone with a couple projects under their belt. There's simple projects using color and weave, and more complex projects using pick up, inlay, twill, and double weave. There are instructions for direct and indirect warping, threading double heddles, and a variety of finishing techniques.</p>
Why a rigid heddle loom might be a great fit for your lifestyle2021-05-21T00:00:00Zhttps://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/why-rigid-heddle-lifestyle/<p>Rigid heddle looms are fantastic little looms that can fit into a wider range of lifestyles than larger looms, and, they can enable may fit your lifestyle better than a multi-shaft loom, instead of or in addition to a larger loom.</p>
<h3 id="weaving-wherever-you-want">Weaving wherever you want <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/why-rigid-heddle-lifestyle/#weaving-wherever-you-want">#</a></h3>
<p>Maybe you'd like to weave outside on a nice day, on the couch in front of the TV sometimes, and at the kitchen table others. A rigid heddle loom is much lighter and easier to cart around and weave where you feel like it in that moment. I've started keeping my loom and current project in an Ikea bag and I can setup wherever I feel like it in moments.</p>
<h3 id="taking-places">Taking Places <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/why-rigid-heddle-lifestyle/#taking-places">#</a></h3>
<p>Any rigid heddle loom can easily be taken in your car for a workshop, but a smaller one can be great to take to a less weaving focused craft night without taking up too much space. If you get around by public transit, it may also be practical to take a small or folding loom with you (particularly off peak). Likewise, you can potentially take a moderately sized rigid heddle loom on a road trip without taking up half the trunk. And if you'd like to take a loom with you when flying somewhere, small rigid heddle looms, like some 10” or 12” folding models, can fit in carry on luggage, and more can fit inside a standard suitcase, though do be mindful of baggage size limits of different airlines.</p>
<h3 id="fitting-in-your-budget">Fitting in your budget <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/why-rigid-heddle-lifestyle/#fitting-in-your-budget">#</a></h3>
<p>Rigid Heddle looms are way cheaper than a table loom (and way, way cheaper than a floor loom). They also typically come with everything you need to get started right in the box, except for yarn (and sometimes they even include that!). This of course doesn't mean that they come with everything you'll ever want....</p>
<h3 id="slowing-you-down">Slowing you down <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/why-rigid-heddle-lifestyle/#slowing-you-down">#</a></h3>
<p>If you're not looking to sell items, the faster you weave the faster you need to buy more yarn, and you may find yourself accumulating more handwovens than you know what to do with. Rigid heddle weaving is already much faster than a craft like knitting or crochet; if you're able to weave a little bit most days you may still produce plenty for your own needs, gifting, and maybe even selling in a small way if that's of interest.</p>
<h3 id="getting-started-quickly-and-without-a-teacher">Getting started quickly and without a teacher <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/why-rigid-heddle-lifestyle/#getting-started-quickly-and-without-a-teacher">#</a></h3>
<p>There's simply less you need to know to get started weaving on a Rigid Heddle loom. You don't have to learn how to read a draft to get started, and direct warping is simpler to learn. You can watch a few YouTube videos on how to warp and weave and be on your way, much more easily than learning how to set up a multi-shaft loom without help. This is particularly beneficial if you can't get an in-person teacher.</p>
<h3 id="fitting-in-your-home">Fitting in your home <a class="direct-link" href="https://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/why-rigid-heddle-lifestyle/#fitting-in-your-home">#</a></h3>
<p>A rigid heddle loom can easily be tucked away when not in use. This makes them ideal for anyone who doesn't have a dedicated weaving spot in their home, or who can only dedicate a small amount of space. You can find a place for a rigid heddle loom in fairly small accommodations, like a dorm room or RV. The main limitation will be storage space for the yarn!</p>
Why you (probably) shouldn't buy the biggest loom2021-05-14T00:00:00Zhttps://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/why-not-biggest/<p>Some people are tempted when buying a loom to buy the biggest one they can find, so that they can weave anything. But my advice would be to find something large enough to keep you interested, but small enough to fit your life. There is truth to the idea that if you get a wider loom you can weave anything on it, however, that doesn't mean bigger is always better.</p>
<!-- excerpt -->
<p>One big advantage of small rigid heddle looms is that they are extremely portable. It's easy to move them around the house to weave where you feel like it in the moment. For example, sometimes it's nice to take my loom outside, or sometimes I weave in front of the TV, or sometimes I weave at the dining room table. Little looms can also be great to take with you to a social craft night or on a road trip. The bigger the loom, the harder all these things are. That's not to say there's not a space for big looms, but if any of those are things you might consider doing, get a small loom to start! A small rigid heddle loom makes a great companion to a bigger loom of any type if you decide you'd like to explore the multi-shaft world in the future or get a larger rigid heddle.</p>
<p>The other downside to a larger loom is that bigger rigid heddle looms can be more awkward to weave on. The heddles are bigger, the shuttles that come with the loom are bigger, and it will be more effort to weave. This is doubly true if your project is much narrower than the loom - it will be harder to keep a 32" heddle straight when weaving a 10" scarf. If you want to weave both small things and large things, you'll likely be better off in the long run with 2 looms, and as a beginner, you're probably going to want to start with smaller projects. Rigid heddle looms make fantastic little looms but keep in mind that floor and table looms provide more support while weaving which makes them easier to use at larger sizes.</p>
<p>Smaller looms are also generally more flexible what position you weave in. Small, short looms (e.g. Ashford Sample-It, Kromski Presto, Schacht Cricket) can be used in your lap, while bigger looms will require a table of the right height or a stand. Around 24" many people start to find a stand much more comfortable.</p>
<p>So what makes a big loom? The smaller the better if you'd like your loom to be very portable, but in terms of weaving comfort, most people seem quite comfortable with looms up to 25" or so; but if you have short arms or shoulder issues you may want to keep it smaller. And while many people do start with a loom up to 32", there are a lot of comments about those looms feeling quite big. Ashford's 48" model seems to be quite a niche product and almost certainly shouldn't be the place to start your weaving journey.</p>
<p>I've started with a 16" Ashford Sample-It, which makes for a nice inexpensive lightweight portable loom. Some day I'll want a larger loom but I'm quite happy with this little one to start!</p>
What size of loom do I need to weave ___?2021-05-07T00:00:00Zhttps://notsorigidweaver.com/posts/what-size-loom/<p>When I was deciding on a loom, I found it was hard to figure out what size of loom I needed to weave the kinds of things I was interested in - 16” seemed big enough for placemats, but some sources suggested at least 20”. So I looked up a bunch of patterns and came up with this list of common weaving widths, aka, the size of loom you need to make the item.</p>
<p>The finished width of a piece will usually be smaller than it's width at the heddle, due to draw-in (which occurs during the weaving process) and shrinkage (during wet finishing). The exact amount of this will vary by weaving techniques and materials. As an extremely rough rule of thumb, that is often 10-20% of the width.</p>
<p>Here are some items commonly woven as one piece of fabric and a range of common sizes for patterns, presented in rough order of minimum weaving width. The small end may be a bare minimum and smaller than ideal - for example, the towels I can make on my 16” loom are about in line with my smallest commercial towels, but most towels are a bit larger.</p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Description</th>
<th>Typical Weaving Width Range</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Bracelets, Bookmarks, etc</td>
<td>1-2”</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Coasters</td>
<td>4-5”</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Small Pouch - pencil case, make up bag</td>
<td>6”+ (2 pieces), 10”+ (1 piece)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Cover, e.g. small notebook or e-reader</td>
<td>6-10”</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Decorative Wall Hangings / Tapestry</td>
<td>Varies</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Small purse, clutch, etc</td>
<td>8”-12”</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Wash Cloth, Dish cloth</td>
<td>9”-12”</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Pot Holder</td>
<td>7-12”</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Most Scarves, cowls, etc*</td>
<td>7”-16”</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Table Runner</td>
<td>10-20”</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Napkin</td>
<td>10-24”+</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Placemat</td>
<td>15-16”</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Towels (e.g. tea towels, dish towels, hand towels)</td>
<td>15-24”</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Tote Bags</td>
<td>14”-24”+</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Pillow Cover (e.g. throw pillow)</td>
<td>17-24”</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Shawls and wider scarves*</td>
<td>12-30”+</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Bandana</td>
<td>24” (adult)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Small Rug, e.g. bathmat</td>
<td>24”+</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>*Note that there’s a lot of overlap in what people call a scarf vs a shawl.</p>
<p>Now, does this mean it's impossible to make an item on a loom that is too small? No, though this will work better for some items than others. Larger items can be made out of multiple pieces of fabric joined together, or, with two heddles, it is possible to weave double width fabric, though the fold is often visible. Or you could weave some fabric and use it as an accent with a commercial fabric backing or border, e.g. on a bag or a pillow.</p>
<p>Blankets range widely in size and are commonly woven in multiple panels. As one panel, a 15” loom could make a small security blanket or lovey for a baby, a 32” loom could make a baby blanket for a stroller, while a 48” could make a lap blanket or a narrow throw. But you can make a blanket out of any size loom, it's just a matter of how much piecing together you'd do. For example, <a href="https://www.purlsoho.com/create/2019/09/04/cabin-blanket/">the Cabin Blanket by Purl Soho</a> uses a 10” weaving width to weave a blanket out of 5 panels. But if you want to weave a lot of blankets and don't want to be spending as much time piecing them together, a 20”+ loom could do a 3 panel throw or a two panel baby blanket, while a 30”+ could do a 2 panel throw.</p>
<p>Clothing is another category of things people might make with weaving. I am not a sewer, but in <em>Inventive Weaving on a Little Loom</em> Syne Mitchell mentions that many standard patterns can be made with fabric 15-20” wide; this would imply a weaving width a bit larger. There are also patterns out there with handwoven fabrics in mind; there are some inventive designs making use of quite small looms, up to things like a Poncho or Ruana which often use closer to 24” weaving width, but could be pieced together from smaller strips as well.</p>
<p>One other consideration is that it can be awkward to set up and weave at the maximum width and many people like to stick to items that are about ½-1” narrower.</p>
<p>For any other items you might think of that aren’t on the list, just keep in mind that the finished size of the cloth will be smaller due to draw in and shrinkage, often around 10-20%, though this varies by material, weave structure, and desired finishing - felting wool, for example, will make it much smaller, while acrylics don’t tend to shrink as much. And of course items that are sewn together will often require seam allowances.</p>
<p>If you'd like to follow a particular project on your loom that isn't quite wide enough, for example to turn a 20” towel pattern into a 15” towel, there's usually ways to make it narrower - reducing the number of repeating sections, making each one a bit narrower, or cutting some elements out entirely. There's a more in depth explanation, using some multi-shaft terminology but the concepts are the same, in <a href="https://handwovenmagazine.com/reducing-warp-widths-to-fit-your-loom/">Reducing Warp Widths to Fit Your Loom</a>.</p>
<p>I hope this helps you figure out what size of loom you need!</p>