However, when you are a beginner you don’t know what is hard and what is easy.*This post may contain affiliate links. We have a free Lovely Lace Scarf pattern available on our website so you can get to know what a Yarnworker pattern has to offer. Check out the Yarnworker blog post post on Wraps Per Inch and Sett to learn how to determine your sett.Ī scarf is always a good first project. This number is your “sett” or the number of yarns in an inch. You can treat these for the most part as an 8 and 12 respectively. Some loom manufacturers use the metric system in manufacturing their rigid-heddles so you will see sizes such as 7½ or 12½. If you have a size 12 rigid heddle and you threaded all the slots and holes you would have 12 yarns or “ends” per inch. A size 8 rigid-heddle has 8 spaces per inch, four slots and four holes. The number means that there are x number of spaces in an inch. If you are new to yarn as it relates to weaving, check out A Weaver’s Guide to Yarn. These terms are drawn from knitting and crochet standards. Generally speaking you would use a 2.5 for super bulky, 5 for bulky, 7.5-8 for DK or worsted yarns, 10 for sport-weight yarns, and a 12-15 for fingering or lace-weight yarns. You have to use the right heddle to get “gauge”.ĭepending on your loom style there are a number of rigid heddle reed sizes-2.5, 5, 7.5, 8, 10, 12, 12.5, and 15. The rigid heddle is like your knitting needle or crochet hook. They stick together, and you can’t get a good shed.Ĭheck out our Terms to Know page under Resources. To see a demonstration of the pinch-and-pull test check out Yarnworker’s video on Evaluating Yarn for Warp on our YouTube channel.įuzzy yarns such as mohair aren’t a good choice for warp unless they are spaced loosely or mixed with other yarns in the warp. If the yarn drifts apart or breaks, it isn’t the best choice for warp. Apply steady, firm pressure as if to pull the yarn apart. To do this, pinch both ends of a 4- to 6-inch section of the yarn between your index finger and thumb of each hand. To select yarns for this purpose you want to be sure that they will hold up under the tension of the loom. The yarns held taut on the loom are called warp. There is almost no yarn that you can’t use for weft, the yarns you wind on the shuttle to “weave” with. Of all loom types, the rigid-heddle loom allows you to use the widest variety of yarns. To see more detailed step-by-step instructions on direct warping pick up Slots and Holes: 3 Ways to Warp a Rigid-heddle Loom or the new revised edition of Weaving Made Easy. You can see a quick overview of direct warping on the Yarnworker YouTube channel. The process of threading the loom is called “warping.” The quickest way to warp a rigid heddle loom is the direct warping method. More complex looms such as floor and table looms have separate parts for a lot of the functions that a rigid heddle performs, but they are much more complicated to set up. This action handily creates two sheds that are the basis of all plain weave weaving. If you lower the rigid heddle then the hole yarns are pushed below the slot yarns. When you lift the rigid heddle the yarns threaded in the holes are lifted above the yarns threaded in a slot. The yarns in the slots move freely and the yarns in the holes are fixed. Warp yarns are threaded though each slot and hole. They are fixed between two wooden supports. The rigid heddle is made from molded plastic pieces that are constructed in a slot hole configuration in various densities and widths. Other examples are pin or tapestry looms. Technically it is a frame loom, a class of looms where the weaving action happens within a frame. The rigid heddle itself sets this loom apart from others. It is easy to set up, move about, and is inexpensive, thus eliminating many of the barriers to beginners.Ĭheck out the first installment of my new Knitty Column Get Warped to meet the rigid heddle loom up close and personal. As if that isn’t enough, it serves as the beater that presses the yarn into place. The rigid heddle also spreads the warp to a fixed width and consistently spaces the yarn. It gets it name from the ingenious rigid heddle that enables the weaver to easily lift and lower the warp. The rigid heddle loom is the perfect blend of functionality and simplicity. How do I know what size rigid heddle to use? I have no idea what all those words mean! What makes a rigid heddle different from other looms?
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |