heddle Archives - Acton Creative

And now, moving on…

Posted on October 30, 2014 by actoncreative

Hello! I am eyeball deep in heddles! (See now, that’s a phrase you just don’t hear every day…) Each yarn gets its own heddle, which sits on 1 of 4 shafts in the loom. And I’m currently somewhere about 3/4 of the way through the project!

Bird's eye view of the heddles. — Bird’s eye view of the heddles.

They look very tall from this angle, don't they? — They look very tall from this angle, don’t they?

The heddles (especially the metal ones) rattle around in the loom and some folks find it loud and distracting. For me, I don’t even notice! I think it’s like living near a train or on a busy road – you don’t even hear it after living there about a week!

Here, you can see all 4 shafts that hold the heddles!

So why thread heddles, you ask? Well, astute student, each shaft in the loom has the ability to lift up, separating some yarns from the others. When you thread a yarn into a heddle, you assign it to that particular shaft. For instance, I have a green yarn in the middle of the project that gets threaded through a heddle on shaft #2. When I am doing a weaving pattern, I know that this specific green yarn will lift up with all the others on shaft #2. This helps you establish your pattern! (Not the most graceful explanation, I know. But, rest assured, it is an important part of the process!)

So once the heddles are threaded, it’s time to unfurl the back of the loom and tie the yarns to the rod. Part of the reason I love my Schacht loom is that the back collapses and the back beam lifts off. Meaning, I can get as close as I want when threading the heddles. Then, it is easy to expand everything back out when it is time to start winding! Go, Schacht, go!!!

You know, each step of the process has little things to watch out for. Once, I had a project where my cord holding the rod to the beam snapped! I kept wondering why things seemed loosey-goosey! Thankfully, it’s an easy fix (not mid-project, but if you catch it at this stage it is!). You tie the ends together, even everything out, and carry on! Just like life, right?

Next, I’ll begin the winding process. And after that, there will be weaving – woohoo! I love the weaving… Have a lovely week and I’ll talk to you soon!

Welcome to the Forest O' Heddles!

Posted on October 23, 2014 by actoncreative

Last we chatted, I had sleyed the reed, which will keep the project at a relatively consistent width. Next up, the whole piece will move into the loom. And before I leave you today, I’ll start threading some heddles! What a line-up!

The reed, that is now completely filled with yarn, moves over to the beater bar of the loom and fits right in! The top of the beater bar comes off, making it easy to put the reed into the grooves and then tighten everything up so we don’t have wiggleage. (I’m sure that’s not a word. Probably “wiggling” would have been more accurate. But, I’m taking creative leverage today – Mr. Webster will have to get over it!)

Profile shot of the beater bar.

Next up, the yarns travel through the heddles!

Next up, the yarns all need their own heddle. So, I sit behind the loom (which is really more of a squat so I’m at heddle level) and start threading the yarns from the middle moving out. (p.s. heddles are tall, skinny, metal pieces with an eye in the middle that slide around on the shafts of the loom. And now you are in the know!)

For whatever reason, I always start in the center and go right first. Is that because I’m right-handed, or we’re in the Northern Hemisphere or something? Could be just me! I would be curious if my left-handed friends instinctively go left first. Hmmm…. the things that make me wonder…

Because I’ll ultimately be doing a really straightforward pattern with the weaving, I am doing a simple threading. I’m starting with the yarn in the center of the project and threading it through a heddle on shaft 1. The next yarn is threaded through a heddle on shaft 2. The one that follows goes through 3 and after that, 4. Then, repeat many, many times! It’s a very repetitive process, but it is important to stay alert – which is a tricky combo, for sure! Having to redo part of the threading is not the end of the world. But, it’s not fun, either! So, coffee, loud music, complete silence, Red Bull – whatever helps you focus, pull that trick out of the hat for this stage!

Can't see the loom for the heddles! (Or something like that!) — Can’t see the loom for the heddles! (Or something like that!)

For a project this size, it’ll take me 2-3 hours to thread each yarn. If I haven’t mentioned this recently, weaving is not the sort of pastime for those that need instant gratification! It is so much fun! But in no shape or form would you ever call it quick! And so, in true weaver’s fashion, I’ll be back next week to finish up the heddles and start winding on! Talk to you soon…

Wind me up!

Posted on August 21, 2014 by actoncreative

We’ve traveled so far! There was measuring the project at the warping board, sleying the reed at the table, threading the heddles at the loom, and now, we’ll wind the whole project on! But first, I have to do a little tying!

The loom has very similar parts at the front and the back – including a rod that is lashed on to each beam. Once each yarn has been assigned to a heddle, I’ll tie the yarn to the rod at the back in bunches of about an inch or two.

Time to begin winding - easy does it! — Time to begin winding – easy does it!

Once the back is tied in place, I’ll move around to the front to get it set up. I opened up the twisted portions of the project and loosely grouped the yarn into sections. This will give me something to tug on. I’ve left the lease sticks in place to help me identify any particularly twisted spots. The goal is to catch them before they butt up against the reed. Ah, those handy lease sticks!

Here's what's happenin' at the front! — Here’s what’s happenin’ at the front!

During the winding process, the goal is to give each section of yarn a tug, straightening each little soldier out so there are no problems! I like to go left to right the first time, and then the opposite direction next. I have found that if you yank on the chunks of yarn the same way each time, you can create discrepancies in the rate that the yarn is wound on. Sounds technical, but it means that at the end of the winding process, one side is noticeably longer than the other! And you want to avoid that as much as possible!

So little by little, I do my tug-and-wind dance! At the back of the loom, I’m slowly feeding in yard sticks to keep the yarns even. (Are you sensing a theme here? Keep the yarns as even as possible. Rinse and repeat…)

We're winding, we're winding... — We’re winding, we’re winding…

Once the project is completely wound on, it’s time to tie the front! You know, now that I think about it, weaving is really a lot of winding and tying.. and threading – oh my! (And who is now envisioning a brunette in blue gingham, a tin man and a scarecrow skipping down a brick road? Just me? I’m not surprised…)

It's a pretty knot! — It’s a pretty knot!

I have no idea what this type of knot is called. If we have any knot aficionados in the crowd, feel free to chime in! I usually just refer to it as the “fancy” knot! A little tricky to learn, but very helpful when undoing everything at the end! Thank you, fancy knot!

The loom is set! We are all dressed and ready to go! You know what this means – next up, there will be weaving! Woohoo! And the crowd goes wild! Again, could just be me… Talk to you soon!

The missing piece…

Posted on August 14, 2014 by actoncreative

Hello! The reed has been sleyed (threaded) and is now ready to slide into the loom, bringing all the parts together!

The reed’s job is to keep the project a consistent width. The reed is now tucked into the beater bar, that will move forward and back to keep the density of the fabric consistent while we’re weaving. The beater bar sits in front of the shafts which will move up and down creating a pattern in the fabric. Lastly, in the shafts live a bunch of heddles that hold each yarn, which will move according to the pattern. And that covers the inner workings of a loom! Go forth and impress your friends with your weaving knowledge!

When I’m threading heddles, I like to start in the middle and work my way out. Because I have a 4-shaft loom, I have 4 different options for each yarn. I’ll be doing a stardard 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4 pattern for this project – keeping it nice and simple! So, the first yarn is threaded through a heddle on shaft 1. The next yarn goes through a heddle on shaft 2. Then, 3, and 4 and back to 1! Repeat over and over again until all the yarns are safely tucked into the loom!

(By the way, shaft 1 is closest to the beater bar and shaft 4 is closest to the back. Just for a little clarification, because I know you were dying to ask… I see your hand up over there!)

Bird's eye view of the (4) shafts. — Bird’s eye view of the (4) shafts.

Here is a concept that might make your brain ooze out of your ears. Because I’m starting in the middle and moving to the right, the yarns will go in the order I mentioned before. But after that 1/2 is finished, I need to come back to the middle and move to the left – meaning I need to thread them backwards (4-3-2-1-4-3-2-1)… Yeah, it’s a little disorienting the first few times you do it! But ultimately, I want the pattern to look the same from one end to the other. Thankfully, it feels less weird the more times you do it!

It's a close-up. Just because... — It’s a close-up. Just because…

I like to knot the yarns together about every inch. It helps me double and triple check that I haven’t flubbed up somewhere before this! The “flubbing up” does occasionally happen… I know, it’s hard to believe…

The heddles are threaded – woohoo! All that’s left is to wind the project onto the loom, and then there will be weaving! Lots and lots of weaving!!! Hang tight for all the fun to come! Talk to you soon…

Gold futures

Posted on June 19, 2014 by actoncreative

Laura – I love it! She had all sorts of “gold” titles for me! Thank you much! I’ll be taking ideas for next week! So, send them my way! Let’s finish threading the heddles, shall we?

I’m taking each yarn and threading it through the eye of a heddle on one of the shafts. My loom only has (4) shafts, so not too many choices! The pattern is really straightforward, making my job a little bit easier!

One of my favorite heddles pictures - ever! — One of my favorite heddle pictures – ever!

I like to include a few images from various angles to present a different perspective. Especially in this case! Because, you can see the yarn travel from the front, through the beater bar which holds the reed, and lastly through the (4) shafts that hold the heddles – all the really critical elements in the loom! If the yarns aren’t in the proper spot, the weaving process can quickly become less than fun. And no one wants that!

Now that all the yarns have been matched up with a heddle, it’s time to tie everyone to the back of the loom and wind them on! First up, extending the back of the loom! I had everything condensed so I could sit very close to the heddles. Now, I have to let the loom stretch back out to it’s full size!

Next, I’ll tie the yarns to a rod that has been lashed to the back. You want to unroll the rod and take it over the “rear oval beam”, which is the beam at the top, versus the beam that the project winds onto. So, confession time… I tend to call both the “warp beam” and “rear oval beam” the same thing – the back beam! In rare instances when I need to differentiate, I just rephrase the sentence to work around it! Ha! Now you know my dark little secret! Don’t judge. And definitely don’t tell anyone who thinks I know what I’m talking about! It can just stay between you and me, right?

Tying the yarns to the back — Tying the yarns to the rod

When you wind the yarns, you need to release the brake first so all the loom parts will move. I always look like I’m playing a strange game of twister when I do it! Because you release the brake with your left foot, turn the crank with your right hand and I usually use my left hand to keep the lease sticks level with the eye of the heddles so everything moves as smoothly as possible. Let’s just say I recommend doing a few tree poses beforehand to help with your balance!

(In the picture below, you can see both the rear oval beam and the warp beam. The warp beam is easy to pick out because the white cords are already winding around it. The rest of the yarns will soon wind around it, too! Whereas, the rear oval beam is just a place holder that the yarn travels over. It’s at the top right of the image. See how I’m practicing my new vocabulary already?!!)

And let the winding continue! Between you and me, this is not my favorite part of the process. Mostly, because it means I am SO close to weaving! So close! But, it’s essential and with any luck, I will be happily throwing the shuttle in no time! Stick around to see the fun! Talk to you soon…

Tag: heddle

And now, moving on…

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Welcome to the Forest O' Heddles!

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Wind me up!

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The missing piece…

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Gold futures

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