Kyle Rankin @kyle@librem.one

I *think* I have managed to talk myself out of getting a very affordable used 60" production mechanical dobby loom with all the automated attachments.

One against it is the fact that it would only fits in my garage, and by the time I could clear out the space it would likely be gone. Do I really want to do production weaving in my dusty garage?

Finally, I guess the biggest argument is that I can't justify actually doing mass production weaving since this is just a hobby.

#weaving

I'm halfway through the second doubleweave overshot towel, and so far things are going smoothly and mistake-free! I probably won't do another update on this project until they are off the loom and hemmed, unless a fun disaster strikes.

#weaving

My son completed his first weaving project (he's 10). This white and red striped wool scarf was woven on a rigid heddle loom.

#weaving

One towel down, two to go! From this angle you can see both sides and the reversible nature of this doubleweave pattern.

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10. Don't Be Afraid to Talk to Yourself

OK so for the most part I am talking to myself only in my head, or an inaudible whisper, but even when I only am remembering a four-number sequence for treadling or threading I still repeat it like a mantra while I'm doing it. I've caught many mistakes by noticing what I'm saying and doing don't match.

I think a "top 10 list" is a good place to stop. If you made it this far, thanks!

#weaving

9. Always Stop at a Stopping Point

You can't always predict how long it will be between weaving sessions. The worst is to sit back down, wonder where you were, and guess wrong. I never stop weaving in the middle of a pattern, I always go all the way to the end (whatever that means for a repeating pattern). If I have to get up briefly, I weave at least to the end of a logical block and move my magnet.

#weaving

8. Use Magnets to Track Pattern

The bottom of my beater bar is metal, so I attach my treadling pattern to it with magnets. Instead of marking off where I am, I group blocks (typically 4 picks) and then slide the magnet to the next block when I complete one.

This is faster than pulling out a pencil and makes it easy to visually see where I am and what's next.

#weaving

7. Throwing Side Matches Treadling Side

Whenever the pattern allows a walking pattern, I also make a point to throw my shuttle from the *same* side as I'm treadling. That way if I ever lose track of where I am, I can look at the combination of shuttle location and foot position and figure it out.

It also means if I ever depress a treadle on the right side, but the shuttle is on the left, something is wrong.

#weaving

6. Use "Walking" Tie-Ups

My center treadles are always tied up for tabby. The rest, whenever the pattern allows, instead of 1-2-3-4, I tie up in a "walking" pattern where I always move from left-side treadles to right side, and back again.

This isn't just better for ergonomics, it helps catch mistakes when you lose track of where you were. If my foot was on a left treadle, I know the next treadle must be on the right.

#weaving

5. Tying Threaded Groups Together

After threading a "round" number of heddles based on WPI or natural end of a pattern, I tie them with a temporary knot to separate from other groups.

This protects me against losing track of where I am in my threading, as I can always count the number of tied bundles.

This also protects against mistakes when sleying the reed, as I only deal with "round" numbers of threads at a time.

#weaving

4. Staggered Heddles When Threading

I, at most, separate only four heddles at a time from the rest when threading, and I stagger them in the order they are to be threaded so there is visible distance between them.

This not prevents threading mistakes, I can visually see the current 4-thread pattern in order and confirm where I am when threading a long complicated pattern.

#weaving

3. Unique Heddles

When threading your loom, it's easy to mix up a heddles from different harnesses as you are often only relying on depth perception.

I have a 4 harness loom with metal heddles. When buying more heddles for a rug project, I bought a different style, and then set up odd harnesses with one style and even with the other. This helps me catch threading mistakes as each harness is distinct from its neighbor.

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2. Maintaining the Cross

Lease sticks maintain your cross while dressing the loom to prevent counting mistakes when threading, but many instructions have you remove them after threading, I (like some Scandinavian weavers) leave them on to the end of the project.

This saved me in this project when I notice threading mistakes after I start to weave, and when a warp thread was missing entirely.

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1. Measuring Warp

When measuring warp I literally say the count over and over as a mantra as I run a thread the length of the warping board.

I always use a counting thread so I don't have to count the full number of warp threads, only smaller values (typically 10 or 12). This also means when I inevitably get distracted and lose count, I only count the warp threads on the outside of the counting thread.

#weaving

Weaving takes patience and attention to detail, at least if you want fabric that matches your plans. Mistakes are inevitable and you either accept them in the work or possibly spend hours correcting them.

All it takes is a distraction to lose where you were. Ideally you catch mistakes as soon as possible so there's less work to undo/redo. In this thread I'll describe some of my practices that help me catch errors.

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See if you can spot the treadling errors! I managed to make the same mistake three different times in pattern repeats so far. Combined with the threading mitsake from earlier, this is rapidly becoming the "warm up" towel where I hopefully get all of the mistakes out of my system before the next two.

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After weaving quite a few inches into the towel I thought something looked off and discovered I was missing a thread!

If you find the pin in the picture you can see that part of the pattern just looks a bit off. Follow that line up to where the thread finally is threaded and you can see where the pattern got corrected after I added a new warp thread.

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I finished tying on the new warp to the old and have started weaving the first of three towels. Beyond the different colored yarn, I also modified this design in two ways, taking advantage of the reversible nature of this doubleweave overshot pattern:

1. Since there is no "right" side to this, I reversed the color for almost 2/3 of the hem at the bottom so when I fold it, it matches the color on its own side.

2. I extended the inverted color of the pattern stripe.

#weaving #Fiberuary

Halfway through tying a new warp onto the remnants of the old. Wow this is tedious work, and there is at least 3 more hours to go, but I still think it is faster and less error-prone than re-threading it.

#weaving #Fiberuary

I'm weaving a new set of towels using the same doubleweave overshot pattern as the last set, but this time using yellow and brown unmercerized cotton.

Because the pattern is the same, I can save time by tying my new warp onto the remnants of the old warp that are still threaded in the loom. You simply use a weaver's knot to tie each individual new warp thread to a corresponding old warp thread and then wind it back on. Only about 550 warp threads to go!

#weaving #Fiberuary