Watching the Shafts

Amount woven Friday: 5"

My first weaving teacher emphasized that we needed to watch the shafts, not the treadles. Well, sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. Weaving this crackle fabric I did not watch the shafts because I did not know where the shafts were supposed to be in each of the eight treadles I was pressing down. It was just to complicated for this poor old head!

When I started weaving this second bit, however, I noticed some errors at the beginning. This is strange, I thought. The treadling is so easy. 1,7 and repeat four times. Then 2 and 8 and repeat four times. As I looked carefully at the errors it was clear that they were both mis-treadles. How could I have done that? I started watching the shafts. This time it was easy to see what shafts were supposed to be up and what shafts were supposed to be down. And I discovered that, even with watching the treadles carefully, I would occasionally press on the wrong treadle or catch a neighboring treadling along with the correct treadle.

I still find this unbelievable! Clearly, at least for me, watching the treadles is not sufficient. I am now watching the shafts (as well as the treadles...........).

Thank you, Elaine. You were right!