Weaving

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

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

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

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:-

:-)) 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.

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

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.

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