LET THE THREADING BEGIN

MOVING THE HEDDLES

The heddles that I am going to need to right of center have been moved from the sides to the center, as the picture shows. But why do I need to do this at all?

If you look at the center of my shafts, you see a knobby thing sticking down from the top of the first shaft. This knobby thing is on each shaft.. It is on the bottom of each shaft as well. These keep heddles from crossing to the center. So, to make life bearable, I move the necessary shafts from the right side to the left.

How do I know how many to move? Before I purchased weaving software, I took my written draft. I found the center. Then I counted the heddles on each shaft that were to the right of center.

My weaving software, however, computes the total number of heddles on each shaft that I will need. I divide each of those in half to figure out how many I need to push to the center on each shaft. If I have an odd, assymetric threading, this doesn't work so well. But this time my threading is quite symmetric.

TOO MANY? TOO FEW?

Despite weaving software, despite careful counting, I don't usually end up quite right when I get to the center. Either I have two or three heddles too many, or I am missing two or three heddles. Those center bars can be raised so that I can move the heddles across center. Not my favorite activity, but it can be done.

Also, if I have too many heddles, I can just leave them where they are. But somehow that disturbs my sense of .........aesthetics? I just don't like it. Partly, also, I am usually weaving at quite fine setts so I don't think it would be helpful to the weaving to have any extra heddles hanging around. So I always get them where they are supposed to be.

THREADING LEFT TO RIGHT AND RIGHT TO LEFT

There is another alternative to approaching threading. Leave all the heddles at the side. Then thread the heddles on the right from right to left instead of left to right.

I have done this. And it does work. But, for me, anyway, doing it this way is a bit problematic.

First, it is a bit awkward. Practice would probably get rid of this awkwardness.

But what really bothers me is the greater opportunity for threading errors changing threading directions creates. Changing reading a draft from left to right (as you would threading the right side) to reading it from right to left (as you would for threading the left side) can create havoc with short-term memory.

For example, you've just gotten used to threading 1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4.................. And then suddenly you have to reverse yourself and start threading 4,3,2,1,4,3,2,1.............. How easy it is to forget,when you are threading the left side, not to reverse yourself. And if the numbers go kind of crazy (1,2,3,2,1,2,3,4,3,2,3,42,3,4,5,4..........), well, you've got a recipe for disaster!

And here is the actual threading:


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