With every new avocation comes a new vocabulary. Weaving is no exception, but fortunately, there are only a few simple terms to master. When first used, the terms are printed in boldface type; see page 122 for all terms. Woven cloth is formed when parallel yarns that are held taut are interlaced by a second yarn. As a unit, the taut yarn is called the warp; individual yarns (also called threads) are called warp ends. The yarn that travels over and under (or weaves) between the warp ends is called the weft; individual weft threads are called picks. Woven cloth is made by interlacing the warp ends with weft picks. Long ago, weavers came up with a variety of looms to hold the warp ends taut to facilitate interlacing them with the weft picks.
The rigid heddle is perhaps the most straightforward loom available on the market. The warp ends are threaded alternately through holes in plastic bars (heddles) and through the slots between the bars. As a unit, these holes and slots are called the rigid heddle. It is also referred to as the beater because it is used to “beat” the weft into place. The rigid heddle is lifted or lowered to raise or lower the warp ends to form a shed through which the weft is passed. Think of the shed as the space that “shelters” the weft. Shed blocks provide a means to hold the rigid heddle in the lifted or lowered position so both of your hands are free to manipulate the weft. The weft is most efficiently passed through the shed by means of a stick shuttle, a thin flat piece of wood around which the weft yarn is wrapped. By alternating sheds and beating picks of yarns, the weft yarn passes alternately over and under the warp ends to weave cloth.
Cloth Beam Holds the woven cloth at the front of the loom.
Warp Beam Holds the warp threads at the back of the loom.
Shed Blocks Hold the rigid heddle in the up or down position.
Rigid heddle Apparatus through which the warp is threaded and with which the weft yarn is “beat” or aligned perpendicular to the warp.
Front Apron Rod Where the warp is tied and tensioned at the front of the loom.
Back Apron Rod Where the warp is tied onto the back of the loom.
Reed The holes and slots in the rigid heddle.
Stand Holds the loom at a comfortable height for weaving. If you don’t have a stand, prop the back of the loom on the edge of a table and rest the front in your lap.
Shed The space between adjacent warp threads through which the weft travels.
Shuttle Holds the weft.
Warp The yarns stretched on the loom.
Weft Yarn that interlaces the warp in an over-under fashion.
Brake Allows the tension of the warp to be released or tightened.
What’s in a Name?
Although the details are lost to time, it would have been nice if whoever named the rigid heddle loom had come up with a sexier name. Although “rigid heddle” describes the loom perfectly, it sounds so stiff and, well, rigid, for such an ingenious invention.
Calculator To help with the basic math needed to determine warp and weft lengths and widths, and to figure yarn amounts.
Clamps Used in conjunction with L-brackets to substitute for commercial reed stand.
Cloth tape measure Used to measure weaving progress—plan to always have one handy.
Embroidery or tapestry needle Used for finishing work and fixing mistakes.
Fray Check A liquid plastic that will safely secure woven cloth to keep it from fraying.
Heddle hook A thin flat hook with an easy-grip handle used to thread the warp yarns through the holes and slots in the rigid heddle.
Inch gauge or ruler Used to determine the thickness of yarns.
L-brackets Used to hold the rigid heddle in place while threading the warp.
Pencil or pen For taking notes as you weave.
Pick-up stick Used to manipulate the warp; also comes in handy to clear the shed when using novelty or sticky yarns in the warp.
Project planning cards or note paper For taking notes.
Reed stand A wooden stand used to prop the rigid heddle while threading the warp.
Scissors For cutting yarns.
Stick shuttle Any of a number of styles of thin flat wood that holds the weft yarn.
Tapestry beater or fork Use to beat the weft (not shown).
T-pins and small glass or plastic jars Used to mend broken warp threads.
Thick paper or warping stick Used to help maintain even tension between layers of warp rolled onto the back beam of a loom.
Warping board or peg Used to measure and organize the warp yarn in preparation for threading it on the loom.
Weighted small glass or plastic jar Used to weight a new warp end that replaces a broken one.
Yard stick Used to measure the leader yarn for the warp.
Besides the loom, the most important tool for weaving is yarn. Until about a hundred and fifty years ago, all yarns were made from natural fibers—wool, silk, cotton, flax, yak, cashmere, and the like. Today, yarns are made from all sorts of fibers—soy, steel, bamboo, synthetics (these are nothing like your grandma’s nylon), and even milk—and most are available worldwide. Add the variety of ways that these fibers can be spun and plied into yarn, and you can get a feel for the overwhelming number of choices available to weavers. To make good choices for your weaving projects, particularly which yarn to use in the warp, you’ll want a general understanding of fibers and how they are spun into yarns.
Wool, cotton, flax, and silk are still the most popular fibers used by weavers. Each fiber has unique properties that affect how it behaves as cloth. Properly spun, any of them will hold up under tension as a warp yarn. They can be used alone or combined with other fibers in the weft as long as the yarn produces the drape and feel (called hand) that you like.
Wool is a protein fiber that is technically defined by its structure, which consists of wavy or crimpy fibers that are covered with microscopic scales (as opposed to “hair,” which doesn’t have any scales). The word “wool” is commonly used to refer to the fiber shorn from sheep. The scales on wool fiber make it easy to spin and allows the fiber to hold the twist once spun. The crimp creates air pockets that provide elasticity and insulating properties. Wool yarn “blooms” or swells beautifully during washing. It wicks moisture and provides excellent drape. Llamas, goats, alpaca, and rabbits also produce protein fibers with properties similar to sheep’s wool.
Cotton is a cellulose fiber derived from the bolls of the cotton plant. It has high durability but little elasticity, making it an excellent choice for warp. Unlike wool, cotton fibers have no crimp and produce fabrics that are more cool than insulating. In general, cotton is also highly absorbent; however, cotton yarns that have been mercerized (immersed in a bath of sodium hydroxide) have added sheen and are easier to dye but are less absorbent.
Flax, also a cellulose fiber, is made from the flax plant. It has very little elasticity but more sheen than cotton due to a higher content of wax. Flax is very strong and highly absorbent, yet it dries quickly. Yarn spun from flax fibers is called “linen.” Linen is considered a luxury fiber and creates cloth that has a cool, crisp feel with beautiful drape.
Silk is a protein fiber that is made from the cocoon of the silk worm. Silk is lustrous, strong, and can take on almost one-third its weight in water without feeling wet, but in doing so, its strength decreases. Throughout history, silk has been one of the most sought after luxury fibers for its luster and drape, making it also perhaps the most mimicked fiber in history. Since the industrial revolution, textile chemists have tried to create artificial silk. Their first success was rayon and that has given rise to the much more eco-friendly Tencel, bamboo, and other silk-like yarns generated from natural materials.
Dreaming in Yarn
Do you see yarn and instantly have a vision of what it will be? Have you ever carried out that vision and had it turn out differently from how you imagined? Vision with a bit of experience is the key to making the cloth you want. To do this, it pays to learn a bit about how yarns are made. By learning to spin, I was able to greatly improve my intuitive knowledge on how yarns behave. But just a little bit of book learning about how yarns are made will help steer you in the right direction.
Fiber can be spun into yarn of varying thicknesses. A single strand of spun fiber is called a singles (note that the plural is used even when talking about a single strand of yarn). Don’t be fooled into thinking that all singles are created equal—a singles can range from very fine (appropriate for weaving at 24 ends per inch, for example) to very thick (appropriate for weaving at 4 ends per inch, for example). A plied yarn is made by twisting (or plying) two or more singles together. A two-ply yarn is made up of two singles, a three-ply yarn is made up of three singles, a four-ply yarn is made up of four singles, and so on. It’s important to note that the number of plies does not necessarily dictate the size of the yarn—a two-ply yarn made up of thick singles can be fatter than a six-ply yarn made up of thin singles.
Generally speaking, the more plies, the stronger the yarn. Therefore, singles typically don’t make good warp yarns. Because they don’t have the added strength imparted by plying, singles are more susceptible to abrasion from the heddles. Smooth multi-ply yarns generally make the best warp.
Finding Balance
Weavers often talk about balanced plain weave or balanced weave. In a balanced weave, the number of threads in an inch of warp is equal the number of threads in an inch of weft. If there are more threads per inch in the warp than in the weft, the fabric is said to have a warp-emphasis weave. On the other hand, if there are more threads per inch in the weft than in the warp, the fabric has a weft-emphasis weave. If the warp completely covers the weft, the fabric is called warp dominant; if the weft completely covers the warp, it’s called weft dominant. The key to these types of fabrics is the spacing of the warp ends.
Yarn can also be plied to create various novelty effects. Novelties and “sticky” yarns such as bouclé and mohair tend to cling together when forming a shed and can make the weaving process fussy. However, if these yarns are spaced wide enough apart that they don’t touch each other, or if sticky yarns are alternated with smooth yarns, they can produce interesting results in the warp.
Yarns marketed for knitters are classified based on the grist, or size of the yarn—from laceweight at the fine end to very bulky at the thick end. Years ago, Spin-Off magazine compiled a chart relating yarn classification and approximate yards per pound based on a variety of sources, as well as the editor’s personal experience. It’s worth noting that none of the sources precisely agreed. However, the chart does provide guidelines for how knitting yarns are classified.
| Yarn Classification and Yardage per Pound | |
| Yarn Style | Yards/Pound |
| Lace | 2,600 (2,377 meters)+ |
| Fingering | 1,900–2,400 (1,737–2,195 meters) |
| Sport | 1,200–1,800 (1,097–1,646 meters) |
| Worsted | 900–1,200 (823–1,097 meters) |
| Bulky | 600–800 (549–732 meters) |
| Very Bulky | 400–800 (366–549 meters) |
Yarns manufactured for weavers are classified by size, but they are often expressed by the count system, which is based on how many yards are in a pound of yarn of a standard size. This system was designed for industry and not the handcrafter, so it can seem a bit archaic. Each fiber type—cotton, linen, wool—had its own standards that were determined by the trade that controlled that yarn’s production. Weaving yarns (often sold on cones) are typically classified by a ratio of two numbers—the numerator represents the size of the yarn with 1 being the thickest, and the denominator represents the number of plies. For example, a cotton yarn classified as 10/2 will have a thickness of “10” and be comprised of two plies. If you know the yardage for the standard size “1” of cotton (which happens to be 840 yards [768 m]/pound), you can find the yards per pound of 10/2 cotton by multiplying the two numbers together: 840 yards [768 m] per pound × 10/2 = 4,200 yards [3840 m] per pound. Fortunately, most retailers market these yarns with both the count system and yards per pound clearly labeled, so you don’t have to remember any standards or do these calculations.
Now that you understand the fundamentals of yarn production, you’re ready to choose yarns for your weaving project. The yarns that are held under tension on the loom are called the warp. Yarns that make the best warp are relatively smooth and tightly plied so that they will hold up under tension and endure the abrasion of the rigid heddle as it moves up and down the warp. Yarns that are fuzzy or loosely spun will tend to fray and break.
To test if a yarn will hold up under tension in a warp, pinch each end of 4- to 6-inch (10 to 15 cm) length between a thumb and index finger and pull your hands apart to create a moderate amount of even tension on the yarn. Then pull your hands apart quickly to “snap” the yarn a few times. If the yarn breaks or pulls apart in your hands, it will probably do the same when put under tension on the loom. Next, hook a bobby pin over the yarn and rub the bobby pin back and forth to mimic the friction caused by the yarn traveling through the rigid heddle. If the bobby pin causes the yarn to pill or shred, the rigid heddle will likely do so as well. But don’t despair if you’ve fallen in love with this particular yarn—you can still use it in the weft, which undergoes much less tension and friction.
Once you’ve determined if a particular yarn is suitable for the warp, you’ll need to decide how close to space the individual ends in the heddle. The spacing of warp ends in the heddle is called the sett. There are three factors that affect the sett of a warp—the number of warp ends threaded in one inch of warp, the size of the yarn used for the warp, and how the densely the weft is beat or packed in. While the spacing of the yarns is fixed by the number of slots and holes per inch in the rigid heddle (which, for most rigid heddle looms come in spacings of 5, 8, 10, 12, and 15 per inch), you have a lot of leeway in the size of the yarn you choose to use and how firmly it is beat. First, let’s look at how to determine the sett or ends per inch (epi) of a yarn.
To determine if a given yarn will give a sett for balanced weave in the size of rigid heddle that you have, wrap the yarn around a ruler for the distance of one inch (2.5 cm). Here’s where an inch gauge comes in handy. The notch in an inch gauge measures exactly one inch wide. Wrap the yarn around the gauge for the length of the notch, lightly tensioning the yarn and allowing the threads to touch one another, but not overlap.
Wrap yarn around the notch in an inch guage to determine the number of warps and wefts for a balanced weave.
Because cloth is made up of both vertical threads (warp) and horizontal threads (weft), the number of wraps represents the sum of the two. To get the number of warp ends required for an inch of balanced plain weave, divide the number of wraps by two. This is the number of ends per inch, and it usually has a margin error of plus or minus one thread.
For example, let’s say you’ve spotted the perfect sportweight two-ply wool at your local yarn shop. Before you head to the checkout counter, ask if you can unwind about a yard of the yarn (most yarn shops will allow you to do this as long as you wind it back onto the ball when you’re done). Pull out about a yard of yarn and wrap it around your inch gauge, winding with even tension and so that the wraps just touch each other without overlapping. Let’s say that you were able to wind this yarn 19 times around your inch gauge. The balanced plain-weave sett for this yarn is therefore 19 ÷ 2, or 9.5. Using the margin of error of plus or minus 1, you’ll know that this yarn is suitable for balanced weave when threaded through a heddle that has 10 spacings per inch.
If, for some reason you’re not able to wind the yarn on an inch gauge, you can determine the appropriate sett if you know the yards per pound of the yarn. The ball band on the ball or skein of yarn will report the number of yards (or meters) and the weight of the ball or skein. With some simple calculations, you can convert this information to yards per pound. For example, let’s say the ball band on that perfect sportweight wool reports that there are about 184 yards in 1¾ ounces. (If the yarn weight is listed in grams instead of ounces—which is quite common with yarns targeted for knitting—you’ll have to first convert the number of grams to ounces; there are about 28.5 grams in an ounce.) To determine the number of yards per pound, convert the number of ounces from fractions to decimals (i.e., 1¾ = 1.75). Divide the number of ounces in a pound (i.e., 16) by this number to get the weight, in pounds, of the ball: 16 ÷ 1.75 = 9.14 (rounding up the nearest tenth). Multiply this number by the number of yards in the skein to get the number of yards per pound: 9.14 × 184 = 1,681.
By itself, this number isn’t much help. But thankfully, weavers before us calculated the appropriate setts for a range of yards per pound in a handy chart that outlines the approximate yards per pound (and typically meters per kilogram as well), fiber type and construction, and a suggested sett for that yarn. For this book, we will focus only on setts for balanced plain weave. An excerpt from the sett chart provided at the back of the book is shown above.
Notice that the chart lists yarns with different yardages as having the same sett. Some of this has to do with the how the yarn is spun or the fibers it contains—yarns of the same size can have different weights depending on the number of plies, how tightly it’s spun, and the differing weights of the fibers.
Our yardage of 1,681 falls between a 2-ply wool at 1,488 yards/pound that’s listed as having a balanced plain weave sett of 10 and a 2-ply wool at 1,800 yards/ pound that’s listed as having a sett of 12. Right away, we can tell that our yarn will work between 10 and 12 ends per inch. Although we don’t know the ideal sett (for that we’d want to get a hold of a ball of yarn and count the wraps on an inch gauge), at least we have a narrow range to work with. To help narrow down the possible ranges you’d calculate for the yarns used in this book, I’ve provided a sett chart on page 125.
Also when thinking about sett, consider the fiber and preparation of the yarn. Wool yarns spun with lots of air will bounce back after they’re released from tension from the loom, while cotton yarns won’t. Setting a yarn looser than recommended for balanced plain weave will result in a lacy fabric, while yarns sett denser than recommended plain weave will be sturdier. Loose setts are recommended if you want the yarn to full or felt.
If you shop for yarns online or from catalogs that cater to weavers, you’ll find that many will include information on each yarn’s sett and suitability as a warp. Keep in mind, though, that warp suitability is usually based on the amount of friction caused on shaft looms, which is typically much higher than that caused by rigid heddle looms, and many yarns labeled as unsuitable for warp may be just fine on these gentler looms. If you’re in doubt, call or e-mail the yarn source to ask their opinion.
Warp yarns are just half the equation when it comes to creating great cloth. How the warp and weft interact will determine the look and feel of your cloth. If you sett for balanced plain weave and use the same yarn in the warp and weft, then the resulting cloth will have a balanced weave. Balanced weaves are just one of the ways that you can sett your yarns to get cloth. For instance, widely spaced setts with thick wefts and a strong beat will produce a sturdy rug-like fabric, while a thin weft in the same sett and a light beat will produce drapey lace.
I usually recommend adding ten inches of warp to a project so that it’s possible to sample with various weft yarns. (Note: For economy or other reasons noted, not all the projects in this book call for sampling.) This way, if the yarn you chose for the weft doesn’t seem to do the job, you can experiment with other yarns. It is much easier to swap out weft yarns than it is to rewarp the loom.
Remember that beat also plays a role in how your cloth will turn out. See “Find Your Beat” on page 42 for more information.
Many weavers feel adrift when it comes to selecting colors for a project. We choose colors every day of our lives—while selecting the clothes we wear or determining how to decorate our homes. Yet, choosing yarns for weaving cloth can seem daunting because it’s often difficult to envision how two or more colors will interact with each other in the over-under structure of woven cloth. Unlike the simple pairing of a light blue top with brown pants, where each color is seen independently, pairing a light blue warp with a brown weft, where the two interact with each other on a smaller scale and visually blend together, can produce a completely different color. A quick test to see how colors will react in woven fabric is to twist a strand of each together.
I often choose colors with high contrast because they show the interlacements of the warp and weft most clearly. But creating contrast is just the tip of the color theory iceberg. Entire books are published on this subject, but to be honest, only by weaving the yarns together will you be able to know exactly how they interact. To get a better grasp on how colors work together, try weaving a color sampler, like my friend and colleague Amy Clarke Moore did for the samples on below.
These swatches show how various weft colors (shown as yarn butterflies) look against the same yellow warp.
Amy chose twenty-six colors of Brown Sheep’s Lamb’s Pride Worsted yarn sett at 10 epi to weave small blocks of color against a solid yellow warp. She began with the three primary colors—red, yellow, and blue. Then she added value contrast to the mix by weaving one tint (addition of white) and one tone (addition of black) of each primary color. She then moved on to the secondary colors—green, purple, and orange—and wove one tint and one tone of each of these. Finally, Amy used the neutrals brown and gray, and wove one tint and one tone of each of brown and gray in addition to black and white.
I encourage you to weave similar samples for your own reference on how colors interact with one another in woven cloth. Refer to them when choosing colors for your next warp and weft, and you’ll have a pretty good idea of what to expect.
I used to find the term “designer” both intimidating and pretentious. According to Webster’s, the first definition of design is “to conceive in the mind.” Well, that’s not so daunting. Every time I see beautiful cloth, I think of how I can weave something similar on my loom. The second definition is “to form a plan.” Ah, ha! All it takes to design great cloth is to have a vision and make a plan. We can all do that!
Once you have decided what you want to weave and you have selected the perfect yarn, you’re ready to figure out how much yarn you’ll need for the warp and weft. The amount depends on the length and width of the finished piece, plus extra to account for the yarns traveling in an over-under pattern instead of in a straight line, and extra to account for the yarn being tied on the loom. For an example, let’s say that you want to use that lovely sportweight wool used in the example on page 16 to make a scarf with a finished measurement of 60" (152.5 cm) long by 6" (15 cm) wide. A scarf is a good first project because the final dimensions aren’t critical—it won’t be a problem if the scarf ends up a little shorter or longer.
You’ve already determined that this sportweight yarn will weave a balanced cloth if sett at 10 ends per inch. But, before you’ll know how much yarn to buy, you’ll need to know how long each warp end will need to be and the total number of warp ends.
For a 60" (152.5 cm) finished length, it follows that the warp will need to be at least 60" (152.5 cm) long. But that’s not all. You’ll also need to allow extra length for the process of weaving and for attaching the warp to the loom (called warping or dressing the loom). Take-up includes the extra inches “taken up” as the warp threads bend over and under the weft threads (they don’t travel in a straight line), the amount the fabric relaxes when it is released from tension on the loom, and the amount the fabric will shrink when it is first washed. Most weavers add an additional 10% for take-up when calculating warp length.
Loom waste is the amount of yarn needed to secure the warp ends onto the loom. It’s length that can’t be woven into the project, although it can be used for fringe at each end. Each loom is different, but in general, 24" (61 cm) is sufficient allowance for loom waste on a rigid heddle loom. This 24" (61 cm) allows for 6" (15 cm) to tie the yarn onto the back of the loom, 6" (15 cm) to tie the yarn onto the front of the loom, and about 6" (15 cm) at each end between where the yarn is tied on and a suitable shed can be made for weaving.
In addition, it’s a good idea to allow a little extra yarn so you can weave a sample at the beginning of your project. This is a good opportunity to try out different weft yarns or finishing techniques, especially washing. For example, you can see how the sample reacts to machine washing without inadvertently ruining the woven scarf in the machine. In most cases, 10" (25.5 cm) is an adequate allowance for sampling. This amount will allow for about 5" (12.5 cm) of warp for weaving your sample; the other 5" (12.5 cm) is used to separate the sample from the beginning of your project.
For our example, the total warp length is the sum of woven length, take-up, loom waste, and sampling length:
60" (woven length of project) + 6" (10% take-up) + 24" (loom waste) + 10" (sampling allowance) = 100" total length of each warp thread.
Next, you need to know how many warp ends you’ll need to get the desired 6" (15 cm) finished width. You’ve already determined that you want a sett of 10 ends per inch (epi). But you’ll also need to take into account widthwise take-up. In general, 10% is appropriate for take-up.
The total number of warp ends is the sum of the woven width plus take-up multiplied by the sett. For our example:
6" (woven width of project) + 0.6" (10% take-up) = 6.6" (width in the reed).
6.6" (width in reed) × 10 (sett in warp ends per inch) = 66 warp ends total.
Now it’s a simple matter of multiplying the total length by the number of ends to get the total warp length needed:
100" (total warp length) × 66 (total warp ends) = 6,600".
To convert the number of inches to the number of yards, divide this number by 36:
6,600" ÷ 36" = 184 yards (168 m) of warp needed.
To determine the amount of yarn needed for weft, you’ll need to know if you want to weave a balanced, warp-dominate, or weft-dominate cloth. For our example, let’s say we want a balanced weave. By definition, there will be as many weft threads—called picks per inch (abbreviated ppi)—as warp threads. To calculate the amount of weft, multiply the width of the warp in the reed by the picks per inch and the total woven length:
6.6" (width of warp in reed) × 10 (picks per inch) × 60" (total length of woven warp) = 3,960".
To convert the number of inches to yards, divide this number by 36:
3,960" ÷ 36 = 110 yards (100 m) of weft needed.
Yarn Calculation Tips
•Take a photocopy of the project planning worksheet (page 124) and a calculator with you when you’re choosing yarn for a project. That way, you’ll have no trouble determining how much yarn you’ll need.
•It’s a good idea to add an extra 10% to your calculations for a comfort cushion.
•If you plan to felt or full your project, increase the take-up percentage in your calculations to 30%.
•If it’s important to be precise with the finished dimensions of your project and you’re at all unsure about the amount of yarn to allow for take-up, loom waste, or shrinkage, test-weave a sample on a short warp before you begin your project in earnest.
