weaving terminology 101

Weaving is an exciting alternative to crocheting plastic yarn, but it's a bit more technical than crocheting. To get us all on the same page, I'm going to take a moment to explain some basic weaving terminology to the best of my ability :-)

Here is a nice (and simple!) diagram of a loom from Seccade Collections.
They sell rugs apparently.

Warp is the vertical threads that we will be weaving into. Weft is the woven work. The thread wrapped around the shuttle may be called weft or filling yarn.

Shedding is a bit complicated, but according to my best friend wiki,

"Shedding is the raising of the warp yarns to form a shed through which the filling yarn, carried by the shuttle, can be inserted. The shed is the vertical space between the raised and unraised warp yarns."

So the shedding device raises part of the warp yarns to create the shed.

Heddles are connected in groups to frames called harnesses. In real looms every warp thread passes through the heddles, which can be selectively raised by the harnesses allowing the weaver to create patterns. Each wire in this picture is a heddle.

So.. um... It sounds like a harness is also a shedding device.... I think that 'shedding device' is a general term that can be applied to less sophisticated technologies as well...




A batten or beater is the device that beats the weft threads into place. They can be as simple as these wooden forks sold by Northwest Looms.





This is a rigid heddle. Beginner looms will often use a rigid heddle because it serves as a shedding device, a series of heddles, and a beater in one.

In use, the rigid heddle will be locked above or below the work to raise or lower half of the warp threads (creating sheds either way). After passing the shuttle through the shed, the rigid heddle is unlocked and used to beat the weft thread into place.

Re-cap:

• shedding device/harnesses/rigid heddle opens up the warp to create the shed
• the shuttle passes through the shed
  
• the beater pushes the new weft thread into place
  
• a new shed is created by moving the shedding device/harnesses/rigid heddle to a new position
• rinse and repeat

Join us next time when Esther uses what she learned today to actually weave!