Equipment, Cranbrook countermarch loom, 45 inches wide, 8 shafts, 10 treadles.
Current project, coverlet for my father, Summer & Winter structure, modified Nine Snowballs & Four Roses with double Pine Tree Border (page 176-177 of Carol Stricklers's American Woven Coverlets), six blocks. Warped at 43 inches wide. Coverlet is being woven in two halves lengthwise to fit my loom, resulting in a very asymmetrical warping. Example, shaft 8 has all the heddles on the left side. Shaft 7 has almost all the heddles on the right side.
Tie up, skeleton to get the necessary treadles, need 12, I have 10. The tie up is correct for the countermarch as discussed in several threads already on this forum. It worked fine for a simplified, but narrower and symmetrical practice piece for this project. Right two peddles tied up as tabby (call those treadles 9 and 10). I did that because I found the treadling was too hard if I tied up the left two treadles. Treadles 7 and 8 are the background. 1-6 are pattern.
OK, issues, two, one seems easy to solve, if inelegant, one much harder.
Issue one, treadle. It seems that since not all treadles are tied to all shafts that the back 6 harnesses drop a lot. As a result, treadle 9 rises a lot (like I can't reach it!) when 9 & 10 are tied to give good tabby shed. If I add weight to either the lams for the back shift shafts or treadle 9 the heights even out a lot in the rest position and I get better clearance between the lams and treadle 9 with shed open. Seems inelegent, but it works. Any reason not to go that way?
Issue two, the one I've spent two evenings on now, uneven side to side shed with the pattern treadles. If I set the ties to get a nice looking shed on the right side, the left is all messed up. And vice versa. It seems worse with treadle one (left most) which pulls down on the left side upper lam and has the most uneven heddles on shaft 8 causing it to be particularly cockeyed. Shaft 7 is cockeyed the opposite way. I dont think hanging weight on the shaft will pull it even without going crazy and making for a hard shed. Might it work to flip the treadles so the background shafts are 1&2 and the pattern shafts are 3-8, thus pulled more centrally?
Other solutions (short of reengineering the loom, which is definitely in the back of my mind)?
Thanks,
Jeff Anderson
Livonia, MI