Double Face Inkle Weaving with Rigid Heddle
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You will need a pattern of your choice, yarn in colors for your border threads, background threads, pattern threads, a pick up stick, a belt shuttle and a rigid heddle. Patterns should be drawn on diamond grid.
In my demonstration I am using a Schacht Cricket rigid heddle loom and a Stoorstalka Shuttle with #3 Cotton Crochet thread.
Start with 2 threads in each slot and hole. In my example for this demonstration, I'm using blue for the border with white as the background color and red as the pattern color. I warped 2 threads of blue in each slot and hole and then 1 white and 1 red in each slot and hole for 16 slots and holes since that's the amount of pattern threads I wanted for my design area. An odd number is better since you can center the design on a single point, but you can make it however you want it.
- It doesn't matter if the rigid heddle is in the up or down position but for this tutorial we will start with the UP SHED.
- Stick your hand into the shed and using a pick-up stick, pick one each of the border threads and only the background colors from each slot and hole. The pattern threads will be ignored in this step.
- Turn the pick-up stick on edge.
- Insert the shuttle into this new shed, beat and pass the weft.
- Turn the stick flat and change the shed.
- You are now in the DOWN SHED. Turn the stick on edge.
- Insert shuttle into lowest shed under the cross created by the pick-up stick.
- Remove the stick, beat and pass the weft.
- Do the same for the down shed that you did for the up shed.
Repeat, repeat, repeat!
- Open a shed
- Pick the threads
- Insert the stick
- Turn stick on edge
- Insert Shuttle
- Beat
- Pass weft
- Lay Stick Flat
- Change the shed
- Turn stick on edge
- Insert Shuttle into lower shed
- Remove the Stick
- Beat
- Pass the Weft
- Repeat from step 2.
Picking the pattern threads is now just a matter of repeating what you have been doing, except, instead of picking the background threads, the pattern thread is picked instead. In my example, the first pick is 1 each of the 7 white threads, 2 red threads, 7 white threads and 1 each of the border threads.
TIP: If you see this, it means your warp threads are twisted.
A Note about Yarn and Band Width
These are approximations. Your mileage may vary:
Sinfonia 6 ply is appx 40 ends per inch-
#10 Crochet Cotton is appx 70 ends per inch-
#3 Crochet Cotton is appx 17 ends per inch-