Takada is here!

My takadai came yesterday!  I am so happy - took it right up to the studio and assembled it.  I wound a warp of 8/2 rayon, doubled, for a 25 tama plain weave braid.  It is so different yet the same as weaving on a shaft loom.  You use your hand to go up one side, going over/under ends, then use the sword to open the shed and throw the top tama (the bobbin that the end is wound on) through the shed and bring it over to tbe bottom of the other side and use tbe sword to beat the pass in. The warp becomes weft. It is a really cool process. There are a couple of nice videos on YouTube if you search takadai.  It is very quiet, all you hear is the soft clicking of the wood tama and the soft thunk of the sword beating the pass in.  Pretty darn fun!