The Warp Weighted Loom: A Practical Application

摘要

In Journal 246 Jaquie described how she handspun Soay fleece using basic handmade tools likely to have been used in Neolithic times. Here she describes how she wove with her yarn.In ancient times a narrow woven braid was used to make both a header and the warp for the warp weighted loom. This also had the advantage of evenly spacing the warp threads. These braids could be created by weaving an inkle braid, or a tablet braid, where the warps are threaded through square tablets. The tablets are turned as a group, away and/or towards the worker, to make a shed for the weft, making the warps twist for each turn, unlike the inkle braid where the warps are alternately raised and lowered for the weft. Tablet braids were used from at least the Iron Age (800 bce) and possibly earlier, so I chose this method for my header.