I am getting way ahead of myself here, but I like to understand as much as possible of the processes involved before I actually try and make things. Pattern drafts are doing my head in though!
Somehow, I know that 2/2 twill can be done on a CB loom, but I don't know how I know. It's certainly not by looking at the draft for it. I also know that it can be done on four shafts, and I can see that from the draft. There are four lines therefore four shafts.
I can see from the draft that Monk's belt can also be done on four shafts, and from the fact it's in the early part of Worst's Foot Loom book, I presume it can be done on a CB loom.
How can I tell, by looking at the draft or the tie up, if a pattern can be done on a CB loom? Or is it that I have misunderstood how a CB loom works? Can you do a 3/1 twill on a CB loom?
In my opinion, *anything* 4-shaft can be woven on a 4-shaft counterbalanced loom. Some 4-shaft weaves may require more treadles than there are on the loom - but then, if you have two feet most combinations can be handled if using a one-shaft-to-one-treadle tie-up.
Kerstin in Sweden, posting from Laura's acount
Remember that on a counterbalance loom, 2 go up, and 2 go down. Can you do a 1 go up, 3 go down? Yes. But you will get a very narrow weaving shed and I think there's a way to adjust the loom to get it to do that. You can experiment without a warp on the loom to see if it will go simply by tying up those treadles, stepping on one alone, and see if it will rise properly and leave the others in a line.
As for Monk's belt, mostly that's a plain weave ground with warp threads that pierce through and float. It's fun to do and easy. And I think it would be perfectly fine on a counterbalance since it mainly is plain weave which is going to be 2/2. The only gotcha that I remember on weaving Monk's Belt is that the heavier pattern warp threads were beamed separately and weighted off the back with water bottles as a supplementary warp because the two thicknesses of yarn would have made the tension kind of screwy on the warp beam if they'd been wound together.
Thanks, I've been playing around with the horses, and have come to the conclusion that, as you say, 3/1 would be awkward, and I'd have to actually try it to see if it would work on my (or any particular) loom.
Thanks for posting though, it's always good to have confirmation from someone with experience.
I've also sussed out how to tell a 2/2 draft from a 3/1 (I did have an inkling on that before actually), and most importantly, partly from playing with the horses, and partly from reading somewhere, that it can be ANY two heddles down if heddles are tied singly, and you can choose ANY two to pair to a treadle. This in turn means that ANY 2/2 draft can be done on a CB loom. I've also picked up that there is a threading convention for making the tabby part of pattern weaving easier, but I need to read it a couple more times before I can really get my head around it.
The pattern I want to do uses a uniform warp, but your comment about weights, set off a train of thought that ended very rapidly with a lightbulb moment! I think I may have the solution to an archaeological mystery so now I'm off to talk to my archaeologist friends, to see if I'm a genius, (or not)! Thanks again for posting! :D
I concur with Laura, that virtually any 4-shaft design can be woven on a CB loom. My 4H CB is my go-to loom. I've successfully woven literally hundreds of pieces of both huck & Swedish lace on it, both of which require 1 shaft against 3 shafts. Is my shed smaller when I weave 3 vs. 1? Yes, but not so much so that it creates a real problem for me.
FYI, my CB is a handmade loom, I'm guessing made in the 40s, not from a kit, but an original design. I don't have anything like LeClerc's shed regulator, although sometimes I do shorten the strings that go over the top roller bars. You can see more of what I've made with it on my blog, if you're so inclined. (http://www.secondwindjewelry.com/jewelry...)
Fortunately, no-one bothered to tell us Swedes that a one-against-three shed was impossible, so we have done that for ages... and I have never had a shed so low as to be a problem. (In fact, I have never even noticed that such sheds are lower...)
So I say: try it out, it will probably work!
Kerstin, now back to her own account
