No, that’s not the question that feeds your insomnia? Fair enough. But I can imagine that at some point in your weaving career, you will bump up against a weaving draft that calls for more treadles than you currently have. And what do you do then?

Well, I’m tackling this hard-hitting issue in today’s episode of A Handwoven Experience! And the answer may surprise you! (Or maybe not, if you’re up half the night chewing on it!) Please enjoy episode 133, “How many treadles do you need?”

https://youtu.be/J9NUbcPV2NEhttps://youtu.be/J9NUbcPV2NE

Show Notes –

Tim’s Treadle Reducer – I found a fun tool from Earlham College that computes a way to simplify your tie-ups when a draft calls for more treadles than what you have on your loom. It’s a cool system that will help you think through the solution I spoke of in today’s video. Click here to give it a try! 

Support episodes – In this week’s episode, I tied together a number of different topics. If you aren’t familiar with treadles and/or weaving drafts, I have some prior episodes to give you a good base so you can be on the same page! Here they are –

Ep 35, “Treadles & Tie-Ups”

Ep 49, “Reading a Weaving Draft”

Ep 73, “Direct Tie-Ups”

Acton Creative Insiders – 

Do you love all things Acton Creative? Want event more? I have just the thing! I’ve partnered with Patreon to bring you the Acton Creative Insiders! This monthly membership includes personal insights, weaving tips/tricks, and small group chats every single month! All we’re missing is you!  This link will take you right to the AC Insiders page where you can see more details and register today! I can’t wait to have you as part of the team!

The post How many treadles do you need? appeared first on Acton Creative.

One of the biggest tools in weaving is the pattern draft. Once you understand how to read a draft, the world is your oyster! You will have all the information you need to create a limitless number of beautiful weaving patterns – without a kit, without someone else giving you instructions, completely on your own! It’s kind of like getting your driver’s license. Freedom is yours!

But, back in episode 49, “Reading a Weaving Draft”, I taught the process from the perspective of a floor loom with the capability of tying 1 treadle to multiple shafts. And while that is valuable, it doesn’t help those working on a direct tie-up loom (aka, a table loom).

So today, I’m connecting the dots! Join me as I walk you through the process of understanding your table loom, and understanding a weaving draft so you can create beautiful, interesting patterns, all the live-long day! Enjoy!

Show Notes –

Handweaving.net – If you have not yet played with handweaving.net, it’s time. This amazing resource includes hundreds of weaving drafts – many of them with impressive historical roots! Plus, it offers the ability to create your own weaving drafts, which is very fun to play with. There is a free version that gives you a wonderful glimpse into what you can do. But, the paid version is very reasonable and worth the library of weaving goodness you’ll have at your fingertips! Here’s the link to check it out. 

Direct Tie-Ups – In today’s episode all about how to read a weaving draft for a table loom, I talk about the functionality of the direct tie-up loom. To watch the original “Direct Tie-Up” episode (Ep. 73), I have a magical link to take you right there! Simply click here. 

Acton Creative Insiders – 

Do you love all things Acton Creative? Want event more? I have just the thing! I’ve partnered with Patreon to bring you the Acton Creative Insiders! This monthly membership includes personal insights, weaving tips/tricks, and small group Zoom meetings every single month! All we’re missing is you!  This link will take you right to the AC Insiders page where you can see more details and register today! I can’t wait to have you as part of the team!

The post Read a Weaving Draft for a Table Loom appeared first on Acton Creative.

You see, skeleton tie-ups allow you to create a pattern using less treadles than the weaving draft calls for. As long as you have the appropriat number of shafts, you’ll be in business!

Check out episode 98 to see what all the fuss is about!

Show Notes –

Tim’s Rudimentary Treadle Reducer – It appears that a mathetician from Earlham College (which is in Indiana, thank you very much!) created a way to calculate skeleton tie-ups! I haven’t used it yet, so please let me know if you give it a try. I’ll be very curious about your experience! Click here to give it a go.

Support episodes – In episode 98, I get pretty technical – which can be confusing if you aren’t immediately familiar with all the terms. So, I’m including a few previous A Handwoven Experience videos to help you! The first one is Ep 35, “Treadles & Tie-ups“, and next is Ep 73, “Direct Tie-ups“. Click on each title to get the back story!

Acton Creative Insiders – 

Do you love all things Acton Creative? Want event more? I have just the thing! I’ve partnered with Patreon to bring you the Acton Creative Insiders! This monthly membership includes personal insights, weaving tips/tricks, and behind-the-scenes action every single week! All we’re missing is you!  This link will take you right to the AC Insiders page where you can see more details and register today! I can’t wait to have you as part of the team!

The post Bare Bones of Skeleton Tie-ups appeared first on Acton Creative.

Episode 73 of A Handwoven Experience will walk you through what a direct tie-up loom looks like and discuss how you work with it. You’ll no longer question whether you have a lesser loom than one with mutliple tie-ups. (I’ll give you a hint – a direct tie-up loom is a fabulous loom and you are fortunate to have it!)

Check out this week’s A Handwoven Experience video right here.

Show notes –

Direct tie-ups (a visual) – A weaver asked Madelyn about translating a draft that called for 6 treadles, to a loom that only has 4. Her recommendation? Use a direct tie-up. She lays out a draft that illustrates how to do this, including this very valuable tip – it only works for Jack looms, because it requires you to depress 2 treadles at a time. Other looms don’t let you do that. Here’s her fascinating blog post. 

(By the way, in case you didn’t know, I’m referring to Madelyn Van Der Hoogt. In my world, she might as well shorten it to one name like Oprah, Cher, Sting…. you get the idea. I love her!!)

Treadles and Tie-ups – If you want to hear more about these important components to any floor loom, you’re welcome to tune into episode 35 right here. 

October Weave Along

It’s happening! The October Weave Along has officially started and the participating weavers are already creating brilliant things! If you haven’t checked out this month-long weaving program yet, there is still plenty of time. You are invited to join us!

We have a Facebook group called the Acton Creative October Weave Along where weavers are connecting from all over! And there is much more information for you at the homepage right here. 

So if you are looking for some inspiration to return to weaving, or want to chat with other weavers, or simply want to try your hand at some 1/3 twill (our official October Weave Along pattern), this is the place for you! I can’t wait to see you there!

AC Insiders

Are you enjoying Acton Creative, finding lots of value? You are officially invite to join the Acton Creative Insiders! This monthly membership, hosted by Patreon, is a fabulous way to support and be in “know” for all things Acton Creative. Click here to become a member. I can’t wait for you to join us!

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