Weaving Multiple Layer Structures

The assignment for this weekly was to spend 2 hours on the loom while listening to music. The goal was to get comfortable with the loom and experiment with different structures. We had recently learned about multi-layered structures, so I wanted to challenge myself to weave a two-layer structure on this sample.

rigid heddle loom (at least four shafts) https://schachtspindle.com/product/table-loom

yarn

scissors

I started by weaving a few rows of a tabby pattern to get a feel of the loom and to have a good start on my cloth. I noticed instantly that the loom was warped in two alternating colors, so when you lift up every other shaft for tabby it raises all white, and leaves the black.

We learned in class that you can come up with multiple layered structures by looking at the cross-section of the warp and using it to make the draft pattern. Once I had the draft pattern, I used grid paper to find the lift plan. I opted for the two-layered tabby weave because it was the most simple and used the least amount of shafts.

We have the lift plan, we have a few inches of tabby, the only thing left to do now is weave! I noticed that the double-layered pattern took twice as long as the tabby because you're only using half of the warps per layer, the yarn can be packed much tighter. after a section of double layer, I experimented with different patterns by just experiment with lifting different shafts and finding the pattern that resulted. unfortunately, my adacad file didn't save so I don't have the draft plans for these sections.

I really enjoyed weaving on a proper loom with shafts as opposed to the cricket looms we have been using so far in class. It was a fulfilling experience learning these double-layered patterns in class and seeing them actually come together on the loom. I can't wait to keep experimenting with different patters and possibly integrating electronics...