Weaving

This is my first post to this group, so greetings from me to all here.

I am a beginner weaver who owns a 30 inch 4 shaft table loom and I have
managed to do a beginner's workshop but now need to launch out on my own.
The workshop was excellent in some respects but because of numbers, not a
lot of time was spent on the basics of learning about looms etc.

I posted the following to another group (a sewing group) and Mary Olwyn who
I believe posts here, advised me to copy that post and send it here to this
group. Any help offered would be appreciated.

Fran
I see the discussion has turned to weaving and just wonder if there are any
weavers here who might be able to help me out.

It just so happens that this morning I have been trying to get fixed in my
head how to read a Pattern Draft. I have a 4 shaft table loom and have
managed to do the beginner's traditional set of multiple weaves with no
problems - tabby, various twills, double weave etc (about 20 different
patterns I think) and have no problems with turning out a quite decent
looking sample. I had no trouble with warping the loom or sleying or
anything to do with getting a decent product off the loom.

I know how to read the Threading Draft and the Lifting Sequence but for some
reason I simply cannot fix in my head what the Shaft bit of the diagram is
all about. I know that I am not the only one who had problems with
understanding our teacher and thinking that I missed something significant
in my weaving workshop.

I'm now wondering if the Shaft diagram is not applicable to table looms and
may only be something I need to know if I have a floor loom???? Any help
comments or good cites for a very visually fixated (rather than reading
based)
beginning weaver would be greatly appreciated.

Fran

Hi I'm a weaver,
Not sure if I'm following you right, but the shafts are what the heddles are
housed inside. So am presuming you are looking at how to tie the shafts,
but if you have a table loom this wouldn't apply to you, as you have no foot
pedals linking up to the shafts to alter.

However, you may be asking what a pattern means and how to read what shaft
to raise....These are usually down one side of the pattern and will say 1,
2, 3, 4,
so if down the side says 1+ 2; 2 + 3; 3 +4; 4 +1 then that is a twill.
so you will pull down the levers for whatever numbers it gives you and to
find that - you will find the numbers down the side....at the top you have
the threading draft, and the pattern graph is laid out like a number 7 so
all the numbers going down the long stem of the so say 7, is the shafts to
deploy.

Have a look here http://www.weaving.cc/leasesticks/aug05tip.html and see if
this helps

If this is still confusing, or if I have misunderstood what you mean, please
post again

higz..........Cher

"Y?" wrote in message
Hi I'm a weaver,
Not sure if I'm following you right, but the shafts are what the heddles
are housed inside. So am presuming you are looking at how to tie the
shafts, but if you have a table loom this wouldn't apply to you, as you
have no foot pedals linking up to the shafts to alter.

However, you may be asking what a pattern means and how to read what shaft
to raise....These are usually down one side of the pattern and will say 1,
2, 3, 4,
so if down the side says 1+ 2; 2 + 3; 3 +4; 4 +1 then that is a twill.
so you will pull down the levers for whatever numbers it gives you and to
find that - you will find the numbers down the side....at the top you have
the threading draft, and the pattern graph is laid out like a number 7 so
all the numbers going down the long stem of the so say 7, is the shafts to
deploy.

Have a look here http://www.weaving.cc/leasesticks/aug05tip.html and see
if this helps

If this is still confusing, or if I have misunderstood what you mean,
please post again

Thank you so much - the cite you gave in combination with your post gives me
exactly the info I need. The section I was trying to figure out is the top
right hand section of the 7 shaped graph and is headed "Tie-up Draft" and if
I understand correctly, I can now blissfully ignore this until or if I get a
floor loom.

Fran

hi Fran
Glad I was able to help somewhat, it can be very confusing with all the
techno names of things until you get into the swing of things. I used to be
terribly confused with all the names, like, raddles, heddles shafts, horses,
warp and weft..whichever way round they were lol, when I first started.
I was taught by an extremely expert lady who believed in teaching us from
planning a warp, to putting it onto the warping mill or board, then to the
back roller and threading up keeping the cross intact etc, she had the
patience of a Saint, and no matter how many questions asked was always there
to give a helping hand, coming over and explaining it over and over again if
need be, so don't be afraid to ask your tutor. There are lots of books out
there too so do keep an eye out for things. For instance, there is Learning
to Weave by Deborah Chandler, she tends to warp up from the front of her
loom, this would mean holding the 'cross' in one hand around your fingers
threading the reed first, then the heddles and finally tying onto the back
roller .. this can be tricky to a new weaver trying to work out how to hold
that cross. but the book is quite good..
One simple easy diagram book I used over and over again was the Weavers
Companion by Interweave Press, can be found in Amazon as can lots f other
books.
I soon got used to it all and can now warp from back to front or visa
versa.. There is no right way of course, but there are good ways of doing
both.

As I advanced I found a great source of info from friends on here, and I
have also been intouch with one of them privately to make sure I was not in
anyway misleading you, and she writes this back:-
snip
Most all table looms are Jack looms. A very good book to look at is Peggy
Osterkamp's book: Warping your loom and Tying on new warps.
The complete book of drafting for Handweavers by Madelyn van der Hoogt.
Designing for Weaving, a Study Guide for Drafting, Design and Color by Carol
S. Kurtz snip

So there you go Fran, do email me if you get stuck in anyway at all, my
email addy for the sake of spammers is
cr007f0489_3 AT blueyonder DOT co DOT uk
and I don't mind helping you with anything at all. Yes ignore the tieups
draft until you buy a floor loom....or use one...LOL. what this means really
is that because a floor loom needs to raise it's shafts with the heddles in
via means of the foot pedals, sometimes a pattern calls for the loom to be
tied up in a certain manner so that different shafts raise up from the
normal ones when depressing a peddal, of course with the table loom you can
raise each one individually and thus don't need to tie up anything to make a
combination of any of the shafts raised.

Cheers.......Cher
snip
Thank you so much - the cite you gave in combination with your post gives me
exactly the info I need. The section I was trying to figure out is the top
right hand section of the 7 shaped graph and is headed "Tie-up Draft" and if
I understand correctly, I can now blissfully ignore this until or if I get a
floor loom.

Fran

"Y?" wrote in message
hi Fran
Glad I was able to help somewhat, it can be very confusing with all the
techno names of things until you get into the swing of things. I used to
be terribly confused with all the names, like, raddles, heddles shafts,
horses, warp and weft..whichever way round they were lol, when I first
started.

:-)) I'm still trying to sort a few out, but I spent about a year reading
about weaving to prepare myself before I undertook the beginner's course.
In fact I think it was because of my constant nagging/enquiries that my
Guild finally ran the course. I'm a member of a Spinners and Weavers Guild
(as a spinner) but all the weavers are long time weavers so it's only
newbies like myself who want to learn and there aren't many of us. Most of
those who did the course weren't even members of our Guild.

I was taught by an extremely expert lady who believed in teaching us from
planning a warp, to putting it onto the warping mill or board, then to the
back roller and threading up keeping the cross intact etc, she had the
patience of a Saint, and no matter how many questions asked was always
there to give a helping hand, coming over and explaining it over and over
again if need be, so don't be afraid to ask your tutor.

Unfortunately it isn't quite so easy as I live a long way from her and when
I have spoken to her it's been over the phone - never very good when a
picture says a thousand words.

There are lots of books out
there too so do keep an eye out for things. For instance, there is
Learning to Weave by Deborah Chandler, she tends to warp up from the front
of her loom, this would mean holding the 'cross' in one hand around your
fingers threading the reed first, then the heddles and finally tying onto
the back roller .. this can be tricky to a new weaver trying to work out
how to hold that cross. but the book is quite good..
One simple easy diagram book I used over and over again was the Weavers
Companion by Interweave Press, can be found in Amazon as can lots f other
books.

Thanks for those references, I'll do a library hunt first before I buy. I
have a few books but none of them was really clear on the section of the
diagram I needed to understand. I'm one of those people who can be told
something lots of times but unless I can figure out the logic of it, or why
something goes where it does etc, I don't necessarily take it in.

I soon got used to it all and can now warp from back to front or visa
versa.. There is no right way of course, but there are good ways of doing
both.

As I advanced I found a great source of info from friends on here, and I
have also been intouch with one of them privately to make sure I was not
in anyway misleading you, and she writes this back:-
snip
Most all table looms are Jack looms. A very good book to look at is Peggy
Osterkamp's book: Warping your loom and Tying on new warps.
The complete book of drafting for Handweavers by Madelyn van der Hoogt.
Designing for Weaving, a Study Guide for Drafting, Design and Color by
Carol S. Kurtz snip

So there you go Fran, do email me if you get stuck in anyway at all, my
email addy for the sake of spammers is
cr007f0489_3 AT blueyonder DOT co DOT uk

Thank you so much for that. I've put your details into my weaving notebook.

Well Fran
practise makes perfect, so keep at it. I am also a guild member, infact I
belong to several guilds. I actually taught a girl to weave via emails and
photos and run a group for weavers spinners and dyers and felters, but this
is for UK membership only..

Hope all goes well for you, let me know if you get stuck

higz Cher



"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message
...
"Y?" wrote in message
hi Fran
Glad I was able to help somewhat, it can be very confusing with all the
techno names of things until you get into the swing of things. I used to
be terribly confused with all the names, like, raddles, heddles shafts,
horses, warp and weft..whichever way round they were lol, when I first
started.

:-)) I'm still trying to sort a few out, but I spent about a year reading
about weaving to prepare myself before I undertook the beginner's course.
In fact I think it was because of my constant nagging/enquiries that my
Guild finally ran the course. I'm a member of a Spinners and Weavers
Guild (as a spinner) but all the weavers are long time weavers so it's
only newbies like myself who want to learn and there aren't many of us.
Most of those who did the course weren't even members of our Guild.

I was taught by an extremely expert lady who believed in teaching us from
planning a warp, to putting it onto the warping mill or board, then to
the back roller and threading up keeping the cross intact etc, she had
the patience of a Saint, and no matter how many questions asked was
always there to give a helping hand, coming over and explaining it over
and over again if need be, so don't be afraid to ask your tutor.

Unfortunately it isn't quite so easy as I live a long way from her and
when I have spoken to her it's been over the phone - never very good when
a picture says a thousand words.

There are lots of books out
there too so do keep an eye out for things. For instance, there is
Learning to Weave by Deborah Chandler, she tends to warp up from the
front of her loom, this would mean holding the 'cross' in one hand around
your fingers threading the reed first, then the heddles and finally tying
onto the back roller .. this can be tricky to a new weaver trying to work
out how to hold that cross. but the book is quite good..
One simple easy diagram book I used over and over again was the Weavers
Companion by Interweave Press, can be found in Amazon as can lots f other
books.

Thanks for those references, I'll do a library hunt first before I buy. I
have a few books but none of them was really clear on the section of the
diagram I needed to understand. I'm one of those people who can be told
something lots of times but unless I can figure out the logic of it, or
why something goes where it does etc, I don't necessarily take it in.

I soon got used to it all and can now warp from back to front or visa
versa.. There is no right way of course, but there are good ways of doing
both.

As I advanced I found a great source of info from friends on here, and I
have also been intouch with one of them privately to make sure I was not
in anyway misleading you, and she writes this back:-
snip
Most all table looms are Jack looms. A very good book to look at is
Peggy Osterkamp's book: Warping your loom and Tying on new warps.
The complete book of drafting for Handweavers by Madelyn van der Hoogt.
Designing for Weaving, a Study Guide for Drafting, Design and Color by
Carol S. Kurtz snip

So there you go Fran, do email me if you get stuck in anyway at all, my
email addy for the sake of spammers is
cr007f0489_3 AT blueyonder DOT co DOT uk

Thank you so much for that. I've put your details into my weaving
notebook.