Halfway is a milestone when you are threading 2,064 ends. This double weave in two blocks has threading such that I can listen to podcasts without losing my place. It’s a long stretch to the halfway point.
Before threading, I find the center of the warp and the group of ends that are just past center. I drape those ends on the back beam to mark the spot.
Center of the warp is identified. The ends just left of center mark the spot.Sitting in my playhouse to thread the heddles. No hurry.
I’m excited to reach halfway in the threading! It’s a turning point. Now, while they are readily accessible, I position all of the shaft-to-lamm cords to hang down, right at the center of the warp where they belong.
Half of the threading work is done! Only 1,032 ends to go. 🙂Center of the warp. Good time to align the cords that go from the lower shaft bars to the upper lamms.Threading for the double weave throw continues, a few minutes here, an hour there, until all the ends are in heddles.
Have you ever reached a turning point in life, and knew it was time to position things? We try to be good and loving. But we’re never as good as we think. And we end up loving only the people we want to love. We have been separated from God. Our misdeeds push us away from him. Easter is resurrection, but before that is the cross of Christ. God so loved us that he closed the separation between us and him with the cross. That’s the turning point he offers to us, to set things right. Our part is to believe.
When my long-held dream of weaving on a floor loom became a possibility, I started my journey with questions. What are the pros and cons of the different types of looms? After considerable research, a winner emerged—the Swedish countermarch loom!
Pros and Con of Countermarch Looms (My experience is with Glimåkra. Other countermarch looms may differ.)
Pros
Weave anything. Rag rugs to lace-weight fabric.
Hanging beater. Swinging beater has momentum that enables a firm beat. No strain to shoulders, arms, or wrists. Asset for weaving rag rugs, and superb control for cloth with an open weave. Beater placement is adjustable, making it possible to weave longer before advancing the warp.
Rear-hinged treadles. Pressing treadles is effortless, no matter how many shafts. No strain on back, legs, knees, or ankles, even with robust weaving. Because treadles are close to each other, I press correct treadles with sock- or bare-footed ease…without having to watch my feet. Ample foot rest makes it easy to trade feet when using many treadles.
Clean shed. Stepping on a treadle raises and lowers shafts at the same time, so a great shed is not only possible, but usual.
Glimåkra Ideal with horizontal countermarch. The cords from the countermarch jacks at the top of the loom go straight down through the warp to the lower lamms. The lower lamms connected to treadles cause shafts to lift when a treadle is depressed.
Even warp tension. Because shafts are both raised and lowered, tension is equal on raised and lowered warp ends. Even warp tension is good for all types of weaving. This even tension makes a tight warp possible. Perfect for linen, and for rugs.
Gimåkra Standard loom with vertical countermarch. Cords from the countermarch jacks go over the side of the loom to the lower lamms below. The upper lamms (not pictured) attached to treadles cause shafts to sink when a treadle is depressed.
Threading and sleying ease. Loom bench sits “inside” the Glimåkra Standard loom, comfortably close to heddles and lease sticks for threading and for sleying the reed.
Bench sits in the loom for threadingheddles. I call this my little playhouse.
Texsolv heddles. Heddles can be easily added or removed from shafts (shafts are also easily added or removed). Quiet. Easy to thread.
Perfect fit. A petite person like me can weave on a large loom (my Standard is 47”/120cm) as comfortably as someone with longer arms and legs. Able to sit in upright posture for weaving.
Wooden. The loom is primarily wood. Bonus if you appreciate natural beauty of wood. Held together with wooden wedges and a few bolts. No screws or wing nuts.
Scandinavian clarity. Because of the Swedish loom, I adopt Swedish weaving practices and have an interest in traditional Scandinavian textiles. The loom fits the style. Streamlined design, precision, systematic and logical processes, and beauty with function.
Con
Treadle tie-ups. Shafts are connected to upper lamms and lower lamms. Treadle cords with a bead at one end are hung in the lamms. Lamms are then attached to treadles. Treadle tie-ups normally fall under the Pros category, because this is what enables the loom to have the clean shed it’s known for. But since I just finished tying up ten shafts to ten treadles (that’s 100 treadle cords), this is my least favorite part right now. 😉 (The weaving pleasure more than makes up for it, though.)
One hundred treadle cords hang from upper and lower lamms. The only thing left is to attach all the cords to treadles. 😉Treadle cords are attached. Little anchor pins lock each cord into position under the treadle. After a few adjustments, the shed on each treadle is good. The loom is dressed! Five-shaft satindräll coming up!
Conclusion:
When I weave on my Glimåkra Standard countermarch loom, I am soaring like an eagle. I’m sailing with the spinnaker up. I am a pipe organ maestro. I am dreaming while fully awake. This is everything I imagined weaving could be, only better.
Testing weft options. Gorgeous handcrafted damask shuttle, Chechen wood, made by Moberg Tools. Five-shaft satin dräll–a weaver’s dream.
For more in-depth information about countermarch looms, comparisons of looms, and other fantastic resources, see articles written by Joanne Hall, found at Glimåkra USA.
It will be worth it. 896 threads through these heddles, and then two ends per dent in the reed. This is the necessary dressing of the loom. I do it nine minutes, thirty-five minutes, and twenty-two minutes at a time. I do not accomplish it in one sitting. After accumulating almost five hours of threading, I’m ready to sley the reed.
Colored threads are 16/2 cotton, thicker than the 24/2 unbleached cotton threads.Checking for threading errors before tying the group of ends into a loose slip knot.
It is easy to lose concentration when there are so many ends. The M’s and O’s threading has just enough variation in it to make me wonder if I did keep it all in the correct sequence. We will find out. The threading, correct or not, is always revealed as the fabric is woven.
Texsolv heddles on four shafts, threaded. Glimåkra Ideal.Two ends per dent are sleyed in this 22.5-dent-per-inch reed.
What is faith? Faith is putting your trust in something you have good reason to think is true. Stand firm, immovable, in your trust in the Lord. You put threads in the heddles because you have good reason to think these threads will become fabric. Don’t quit. Keep coming back to it. Be strong in faith. And do it from a framework of love. Your framework is always revealed in the cloth of your life.
The fascinating thing about weaving a transparency is that it feels like color-by-number with yarn. There are similarities to tapestry weaving, for sure. But this seems ten times faster. I found it to be engaging and fun! I echo what my transparency-weaving friend says when it’s time to stop and do something else, “Just one more row…”
Warp chain of 16/2 golden bleached linen, before beaming the warp.Threadingheddles in my little playhouse, with project notes by my side, and a cup of coffee on the side cart.Leveling string is added with extra care so that abrasion of the linen warp is kept to a minimum.Butterflies are made from the hefty cotton chenille yarn.Weaving without a cartoon. I am counting warp ends to keep the pattern angle consistent.Cartoon has been added. The pattern weft follows the lines drawn on the buckram cartoon, which is pinned in place.Cartoon is removed.Now, for the end of the warp…
After the main transparency with the zigzags, I had room to play on the remaining warp. I made another cartoon–a “cartoon” house. This gave me a chance to use a few more yarn butterflies, without it being overwhelming. Home. Sweet. Home.
“Cartoon” house cartoon. Ready for playtime at the end of the warp.With several butterflies going at once, the transparency weaving gets even more interesting!Now, the actual end of the warp is here.Cartoon house just off the loom.Welcome home! Home. Sweet. Home.
May you enjoy the fascination of learning something new.
The great thing about Texsolv heddles is that they are easy to move around. If you know how to tie them together, it is simple to add heddles, remove heddles, or switch heddles to different shafts. When I’m getting ready to thread the loom, I get my box of bundled heddles and put it on the cart right beside the loom. Then, I can easily add heddles if needed. And when threading is finished, I tie any unused heddles into bundles and put them in the heddle box, ready for the next project.
Tie Texsolv Heddle Bundles on One Shaft
Step 1 Take a cord (I use my choke tie cords) through the heddles below the heddle eyes.
Step 2 Wrap the cord one time around, below the heddle eyes.
Step 3 Cross diagonally up with the cord, and take the cord through the heddles above the heddle eyes.
Step 4 Wrap the cord one time around, above the heddle eyes.
Step 5 Join the two ends of the cord with a bow knot.
Tie Texsolv Heddle Bundles on More than One Shaft
Step 1 Take the cord through the heddles below the heddle eyes, right to left, one shaft at a time, front shaft to back shaft.
Step 2 Take the end of the cord from the back shaft, and wrap the cord around one time through the heddles, below the heddle eyes, right to left, one shaft at a time, front shaft to back shaft.
Step 3 Cross diagonally up with the cord, and take the cord through the heddles above the heddle eyes, from right to left, one shaft at a time, front shaft to back shaft.
Steps 4 & 5 Wrap the cord one time around, above the heddle eyes, from right to left, one shaft at a time, front shaft to back shaft. Join the two ends of the cord with a bow knot.
Remove Heddles from Shafts
Step 1 Remove shaft pin from the lower shafts, and slip the bottom of the heddles off the shafts. Replace the shaft pin.
Step 2 Remove shaft pin from the upper shafts, and slip the top of the heddles off the shafts. Replace the shaft pin.
Step 3 Place tied heddle bundles in the heddle box. Put the box away, ready for the next project.
May you always have enough heddles when and where you need them.
