Hi! My name is Audrey. I'm not in the SCA, but I have friends who are/have been. I'm putting together a warp weighted loom for our church's Bethlehem re-creation thing. I've put it up maybe 4 times out of the last 6 productions. We didn't put Journey to Bethlehem last year, and everything went to storage. But now I'm starting from scratch. I'm still in the planning stages and the loom is still in storage. I've always had a problem with the heddle(s). The best way I've been able to work them was to do "knitted" heddles, but the last time I did that was 3? maybe 4 years ago, so I kind of forget. I have the article from early period about it and I think I followed the instructions on that last time. I wanted to do a twill sett this year. Maybe a 2/2 or a 1/3 or a 3/1. I've just done plain weave the other times. My pattern books are all for modern looms. Does the open shed count as one of what would be a shaft on a floor loom in the pattern draft? I'd think so, but not sure.

Comments

kerstinfroberg

not really knowing anything about ww looms, I'd say "yes". This based on an anecdote about icelandic (the language): I read somewhere that what we call two-shaft weaving they call one-shaft weaving...

bolivian warmi

I don't know what the historically correct way to make string heddles for these looms is, but I know that some people have used one of the ways that I was taught to make heddles on my Navajo and backstrap loom to make the heddles for their WWL. You can see some step-by-step photos and a video here.

On my backstrap loom, when I do a two-shed weave, one shed is controlled by the string heddles and the other by a bar over which every warp that is not in a heddle passes. I have done four-shaft twills and I use the bar as one of the sheds/shafts and make three sets of string heddles for the others.

I hope that this info is helpful for your warp weighted loom.

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