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Getting started weaving on the Lojan Table Loom
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Lojan_Weaving_Notes.md

Getting started weaving on the Lojan Table Loom

If you are a new weaver, everything seems overwhelming when you start. There is so much weaving terminology, and the loom has so many moving parts, and compared to knitting or crocheting you have to do a lot of complicated setup before you can even start weaving.

So here is everything I wish I knew when I started weaving. It's quite long and a bit of a brain dump!

I've included a number of links to blog posts or youtube videos. I would recommend reading or watching more than once. The first time, a lot of things might not make sense, but as you practice, it will all start coming together.

The other thing, is that when starting, you WILL make lots of mistakes. I would treat your first few projects as "experiments" and not worry too much if there are all sorts of things wrong with them. :)

Terminology

First, there is a LOT of weaving terminology to learn. Here's a quick quide to help you if you're reading blog posts or watching videos.

Terminology for weave structure

  • plain weave or tabby: The most basic weave structure. Each thread goes over one and then under one other thread, creating a lattice of threads.
  • twill: In 2/2 twill each thread goes over 2 and then under 2 other threads. But each subsequent row is shifted over one thread, so that the threads are offset. This creates distinctive diagonal lines, as seen in denim for example. There are many other twill variants. For example in 3/1 twill each thread goes over 3 and then under 1 other thread.
  • float: a thread that goes over more than 1 other thread is called a float. In 2/2 twill for example, the floats are 2 threads long. In 3/1 twill, the floats are 3 threads long. In satin, the floats are 4, 5 or even 7 threads long. Floats are not normally longer than 7 threads. Having long floats makes the fabric more drapey, but floats that are too long can get caught on things, or can abrade easily.
  • selvedge: the edge of the woven fabric. As a beginner you will probably find that is very hard to keep this even. Don't worry -- it gets better with practice!
  • floating selvedge: a special thread at the edge of the woven fabric which is not run though any heddle and so does not go up or down. This is used as a stable edge for weave structures with floats (like twill). To use a floating selvedge, consistently go over it in one direction and under it in the other direction. This will keep the edge of the woven fabric tidy.

If you look at weaving magazines and books they are full of complicated weave structures like "overshot" and "double weave". I would stay away from them at the beginning and stick with simple weaves. Instead you can make some lovely designs with a simple weave just by changing up the colors -- this is called "color and weave".

Some examples of color and weave are:

  • stripes/plaid/tartan
  • houndstooth
  • "log cabin".

Here's some more about color-and-weave: https://kellycasanovaweavinglessons.com/2019/12/colour-and-weave.html

Terminology for the threads on a loom

  • warp: The threads under tension that you stretch between the rollers. Because they are under tension, you need to use a yarn that won't snap easily. All these threads have to be put on to the loom before you can start weaving.
  • end: a single warp thread
  • ends per inch or epi for short: How many warp threads per inch. In metric, epcm. The right number for this depends on the thickness of your yarn, and also on the weave structure you want. If you have thick yarn, you should have a small number of ends per inch. If you have thin yarn, you should have a large number of threads per inch. If you want a drapey or looser fabric, you want slighter fewer than normal, but if you want a stiff tight fabric, you want slighter more than normal.
  • sett (with two 't's): same as ends per inch.

Getting the sett right is a bit of an art. There are lots of blog posts about it. Here's one: https://www.gistyarn.com/blogs/how-to-weave/what-is-wpi-how-do-i-use-it-to-calculate-sett-or-epi-for-weaving. One simple way is determine the "wraps per inch" for a yarn, and then take 1/2 of that number for plain weave, and 2/3 of that for twill.

  • weft: The threads going side to side. They are not under a lot of tension, and almost any yarn can be used. Generally the weft yarn is the same size as the warp yarn, but it doesn't have to be.
  • pick: a single side-to-side weft thread.
  • picks per inch or ppi: How many weft threads per inch. In metric, ppcm. For starter projects this is typically the same as the ends per inch.
  • fell line: the boundary line between the woven fabric and the unwoven warp threads. This should be perfectly straight across the loom. If it is slanted, or bulges up in the middle (a "frown") or bulges up at the edges (a "smile"), this can indicate problems with tension or beating technique.

Even though the warp and weft are equal in theory, there is a big difference between them in practice!

  • With the warp you have to spend a lot of time getting it set up before you can start weaving at all. And then once it is set up it is hard to change the pattern or colors half way through the project.
  • On the other hand, with the weft, you can change it up at any time. You can change the pattern, the color, the type of yarn, etc., with each pick.

Terminology for parts of a loom

  • shaft or harness: a way of grouping threads together by using heddles. When you pull the shaft up, all the threads in the heddles attached to that shaft get pulled up at the same time, creating a shed.
  • shed: the gap between the upper threads and the lower threads when one or more shafts are pulled up. The weft thread will be passed through the shed to make a single pick. You will also see "open shed" to describe when the warp threads are apart, and "closed shed" to describe when they are all level (all shafts at neutral).
  • heddle: the 100's of vertical strings on the shafts. Each one has a little hole/slot in the middle that the thread goes through. On the Lojan, these are "Texsolv"-brand heddles and are plastic. Lots of looms use metal ones, but plastic is popular now because it is quiet.
    • When setting up the loom, I would put an equal number (100?) of heddles on each shaft.
    • VERY IMPORTANT: After you put the texsolv heddles on the shaft, be sure to cut them apart at the top and bottom so that each heddle can move around separately! See page 10 of the Lojan instructions here
  • reed: This is the thing that looks like a metal comb in front of the heddles. The warp threads pass through it on the way to the front of the loom. It keeps the warp threads properly spaced at the correct epi.

The reed is also used to "beat" the weft picks into place. "Beat" is a bad word because it implies you whack them. This is not generally true. Instead you want to push each pick down and "place" it next to the previous pick, not whack it down. Often you will want to have little gaps between each pick, to keep the fabric getting too stiff, and that is fine, because these gaps will go away when you "wet finish" (wash) the fabric.

  • dent: a single slot in a reed. A "10-dent reed" is short for a reed with 10 slots per inch.

  • beater: the hinged/swinging bar that holds the reed.

  • shuttle: A device that holds the weft yarn and which is passed through the shed to make a pick.

    • The simplest device is just a flat stick with slots at the end, called a stick shuttle.
    • A boat shuttle is a wooden or plastic block that contains the weft yarn wound onto a bobbin or pirn. Sometimes the beater will have a long narrow platform called a shuttle race that supports a boat shuttle as it is pushed through the shed.

  • castle: the vertical bit of the loom that sticks up above the warp. It contains the mechanism for the shafts, the levers, etc. In the Lojan table loom it can be folded down. IMPORTANT: before folding, you must loosen the tension on the loom a lot.

  • warp beam or warp roller: The roller at the back of the loom that contains the unwoven warp threads.

  • cloth beam or cloth roller: The roller at the front of the loom that contains the woven fabric.

  • back beam: The horizontal bar at the back of the loom that is above the warp beam. The warp threads must go over this bar before they are threaded in the heddles. It's a common mistake to forget to do this.

  • front beam or breast beam: The horizontal bar at the front of the loom that is above the cloth beam. The woven fabric must go over this bar before it is rolled on to the cloth beam. Again, it's a common mistake to forget to do this.

  • apron rod: The warp yarn is not attached directly to the rollers. Instead it is tied on to an apron rod (a metal rod for the Lojan loom), which in turn is tied to the rollers using "apron cords".

Terminology around setting up a loom for weaving

  • dressing the loom: Everything to do with setting up the loom before you can start weaving. This includes:

    • winding on
    • threading
    • sleying

  • winding on: First you have to measure out the warp yarn, and then you wind it on to the roller at the back, leaving a yard/metre or so of loose yarn that can be threaded into the heddles. This is actually one of the most critical parts to get right. The tension needs to be the same for all threads, and the threads need to be evenly wound on with no bumps or dips. If this is not done right, it will mess up the tension when weaving and can cause nasty problems.

The standard way to ensure even tension is using a method called "yank-and-crank" or "crank-and-yank" where you pull groups of threads tight and then wind on a few inches, then repeat. Here's a blog post and video: https://rigidheddleweaving.com/articles/crank-and-yank/.

To keep the wound-on yarn level, weavers put some kind of separator between the warp threads, such as paper or sticks. Lojan provides some plastic strips for this purpose.

  • threading: The process of putting each thread, one at a time, through the heddles. Each warp thread will be put through the heddle for a particular shaft. This will have a pattern such as first thread in a heddle from shaft one, second thread in a heddle from shaft two. And so on. A common pattern is 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4, known as a straight draw. Another common pattern is to go back and forth between the shafts, like this: 1-2-3-4-3-2-1-2-3-4-3-2-1, called a point draw.

To do the threading, you'll need the thing with a little hook to do this. For each warp thread in turn, slide out a heddle from the appropriate shaft (1, or 2, or 3,etc), put the hook through the hole in the heddle and grab the thread. Every 1/2 inch or so of warp threads, tie them in a loose slip knot so that they won't slip back through the heddles accidentally.

  • sleying: After threading, the warp threads must be passed through the "reed", the thing that looks like a metal comb. That is called sleying.

The reed has a fixed number of slots per inch. On the Lojan it is 10 slots/in. If the ends per inch for the project is different from this (as it normally is), you will have to adjust by adding extra threads sometimes. For example, for 15 ends per inch, you need to alternate 1 thread in a slot, then 2 threads in a slot.

There are "reed substitution charts" to help you with this. Here's one: https://kellycasanovaweavinglessons.com/2024/02/basic-reed-substitution-chart.html

Terminology around describing a weave structure

  • threading: As described above. The pattern of warp threads in the shafts, such as 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4 or 1-2-3-4-3-2-1

  • tieup: how the treadles are tied up to the shafts. This is for floor looms but is not applicable to table looms.

  • treadling: what order to press the treadles down. Again this is for floor looms but is not applicable to table looms.

  • draft: a weaving "draft" will tell you everything about the structure of a project. That is, it shows you the threading, tieup and treadling. Generally there is also a picture of what the weaving will look like, called a drawdown. Here's a guide to understanding drafts: https://weavingspace.co.uk/reading-a-tie-up/

Even though tieups are not applicable for table looms, you will still need to understand them at some point, because that is how they are documented in the books and magazines. To turn a weaving draft into something you can use for a table loom, you need a "lift plan" which tells you which shafts to lift (and thus, what levers to pull down). Here's a guide on converting a tieup draft to a lift plan that https://weavingspace.co.uk/liftplans/ And here's a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAPnllFlRHU

HOWEVER You do not need to know how to read a draft to get started weaving! Personally, I would keep it simple until you get more comfortable with weaving. Luckily, to make the three basic weave structures mentioned above (plain weave, 2/2 twill and 3/1 twill), you don't need a complicated pattern. I'll give you those patterns below.

Your first project

For a first project, I would do a small sampler project, say 6 inches (15cm) wide and 16in (40cm) long. And use cheap yarn like acrylic. It takes some time to get the hang of setting up the loom and using it and you WILL make lots of mistakes the first few times, so plan for it to be messy. :) Keep your first samplers so you can look back on them later and see how you have improved!

For the first time, I would thread the warp using four shafts in a 1-2-3-4 pattern. Then you can do some basic weaves

  • plain weave: putting levers 1 & 3 down, and then 2 & 4 down. Repeat.
  • 2/2 twill: putting levers 1 & 2 down, then 2 & 3 down, then 3/4 then 4/1.
  • 3/1 twill: putting levers 1 down, then 2 down, then 3 then 4.

After you have done a sampler, tea towels or table runners are very easy next step for beginners. Here's some projects that you might start with

These projects are all rigid heddle projects, but that means the patterns are easily adapted to use on a table loom.

What yarn?

What yarn? For a first project, I would use a yarn that works at a sett of 10 ends per inch, so that the sleying in the reed is 1 to 1.

So this is a "light"/gauge 3 yarn, with 20 wraps per inch. Another way to get an idea of thickness is to look at the distance for a given weight. In this case you want a yarn that is about 250m per 100g or 300yds for 4oz. In you're using cotton, this would be 3/2 or 8/4 cotton.

If you want to use a slightly heavier DK yarn, you would want a set of 7.5 or 8epi, which means skipping every fourth or fifth dent in the reed.

If you want to use a fine weaving yarn, a standard choice is 8/2 cotton. You can use a sett of 20 for this, so 2 ends per slot in the reed.

If you get the sett wrong, the fabric will be too loose or too tight. Don't worry about for this as a beginner, that's why you're doing samples! You never really know how it will turn out. And for this exact reason, experts will always recommend that you do a sample before commencing important or large projects.

Calculating how much yarn you need

It's a good idea to figure out how much yarn you will need before you start.

  • First, figure out how many warp ends you need. For example, for 6 inches width at 10 ends per inch, you'll need 6x10 = 60 ends.
  • Then figure how much length you need for the warp. You need to allow approx 18 inches of wastage. So if you are planning to weave two towels, each 30 inches, then you need 30+30+18 = 78 inches length on the loom.

This is why weavers generally do as many items as possible on one warp. They'll do 8 or 10 towels on one warp. It's less wastage per towel, and only one setup is needed for all the towels.

BUT when you're learning, I would recommend using short warps of 30-40 inches or so, knowing that it's not efficient. It means that you can try lots of different things out, and also you will get lots of practice in warping!

  • You also need to account for "take-up" and shrinkage. The warp is under tension on the loom, so as soon as you take it off the loom, it will relax and shrink by up to 10%. And then it might also shrink when you wash it. That might be another 10-15%. So for example, if you want a scarf to be 60 inches long after finishing, you might need to plan for it being 80 inches long on the loom!

  • The total warp yarn you will need is the number of ends x the length. For example 60 ends x 78 inches = 4680 in or 130 yards.

  • You need to do a similar calculation for the weft. This is generally slightly less than the amount needed for the warp.

There are a number of online "weaving calculators" available that can do all these calculations for you. Here's one: https://www.gistyarn.com/pages/weaving-yarn-calculator

Getting the warp onto the loom

There are two ways of getting the warp yarn onto the loom.

One is called "indirect warping", where you measure the warp yarn separately, either using a special "warping board" or just some pegs (or a coat rack clamped to a table, or bar clamps -- anything to hold a loop the yarn). The warp yarn is then wound on to the loom later, and then threaded through the heddles and reed as a last step. This is what floor loom people do. There are two approaches for putting the warp on the loom; you can do it "front-to-back" or "back-to-front" ( video on differences and Jane Stafford comments )

It's complicated! You need to understand "crosses" and have a "raddle" and "lease sticks". Here's some videos if you want to do it that way:

The other technique is called "direct warping", where you tie the warp yarn directly on the loom and measure as you go. This is what rigid heddle loom people do.

I recommend that you use direct warping for your first few projects. Watch one of the "Rigid Heddle Weaving in Brisbane" videos to see how the rigid heddle people do it, and then you can adapt that to a table loom.

The steps for direct warping are:

  • Measuring the warp in place
  • Winding on to the front roller
  • Re-sleying
  • Threading
  • Tying on to the back apron rod
  • Winding all the yarn on to the back roller

Each step is explained below.

Measuring the warp in place

  • Move all the heddles to one side to get them out of the way.
  • Mark the center slot of the reed. For example, if the reed is 20 inches wide, mark at 10 inches. You can do this with masking tape on top, or by tying a piece of scrap yarn through the slot. It doesn't have to be perfect, as the reed can slide sideways a little bit.
  • Calculate the location of the first and last slots in the reed for this project. For example, if the project is 6 inches wide, then you need to move 3 inches or 30 slots out from the center. Again, mark these slots with tape or scarp yarn.
  • Put the ball of warp yarn in a bowl so that it can spin freely.
  • Clamp a warping peg the correct distance away, then clamp the loom with the back facing the warping peg. The Lojan has little stubby legs that you can hook over the side of the table that will keep it from moving. It's important that nothing move during this process.
  • Attach the metal apron rod to the front of the loom by putting a loop in the apron cords (lark's head knot/cow hitch).
  • Tie one end of yarn to the metal rod. Grab the loop of yarn and run it over the front beam. Then, using the warping hook, reach through the "first slot" that you marked on the reed and pull the yarn through.
  • Ignore the heddles for now. Continue pulling the thread all the way to the peg and put the loop around the peg. Go back the to yarn and grab another loop. This time run it on the other side of the apron rod, so that the yarn loops around it. Again, run it over the front beam.
  • Reach through a new slot in the reed with the warping hook and pull it through. If you are planning on 10 ends per inch, you now have two ends through one slot, so skip a slot and bring the loop though the second slot over. We will fix up the uneven spacing in the slots later. If you are planning on 20 ends per inch, then you can use the next slot directly, as you will have two threads per slot already.
  • Run it back between the heddles and put the loop over the warping peg.
  • Repeat until you have the required number of ends (e.g 60). Cut and tie the last warp thread onto the apron beam.
  • At this point you should have two threads going through half the slots on the reed, and the other half of the slots are empty. The total width of all the threads on the reed should be as expected, e.g. 6 inches.

Important tips

  • You don't need or want a super high tension. You just want CONSISTENT tension.
  • Make sure the yarn goes around the top of the front beam - you do NOT want the yarn going straight from the apron rod through the heddles. This is a common mistake (I've made it myself). If forget, the yarn will sit too low in the heddles and you won't get a proper shed.

Winding on to the front roller

  • Once all the warp has been measured, put some choke ties along the warp and then cut the warp at the peg end so that each thread is separate.
  • Wind the warp carefully onto the front roller. Use the yank-and-crank method to ensure even tension. Add plastic strips every few inches to ensure level warp.
  • Continue until there is about 24 inches/60 cm of loose thread left. You'll use these loose threads to thread and sley.

Re-sleying

  • Next, we need to adjust the sleying so that there is one thread in each reed dent. Using the warping hook, start at one end, put the hook through an empty slot and pull one of the adjacent threads through. Move to the next empty slot and repeat.
  • When you are done, there should be exactly one thread in each dent.

Threading

Now we can finally get to the threading. Assuming we are doing a 1-2-3-4 threading, the steps are:

  • Pull a heddle from shaft 1 over until it is roughly aligned with the first thread in the reed. Put the threading hook through the hole in the heddle and grab the thread and pull it through.
  • Pull a heddle from shaft 2 over until it is roughly aligned with the second thread in the reed. Put the threading hook through the hole in the heddle and grab the thread and pull it through.
  • Repeat with a heddle from shaft 3 and then from shaft 4.
  • Then start the sequence again.
  • Every 1/2 inch or so (eg 5-6 threads in a 10 epi threading), tie them in a loose slip knot so that they won't slip back through the heddles accidentally.
  • Repeat until all the threads are through the heddles.

Tying on to the back apron rod

Now we can connect the warp ends on to the back apron rod. There are a number of ways to do this.

I recommend using the tying-on approach as a beginner.

IMPORTANT: Again, always make sure the threads go over the back beam before they are tied on to the apron rod!

Winding all the yarn on to the back roller

The final step is to wind all yarn off the front roller and on to the back roller. Release the brake on the front roller and wind the back roller. Try not to loose the tension as you wind.

Once all the warp is on the back roller, you are ready to start weaving!

Weaving

Starting off

Before you start the main area of weaving, you need to spread the warp so that the warp ends are evenly spaced. When they are tied on to the apron rod, they are all bunched up and you need to fix that.

The standard way to do this by weaving an inch or so of scrap yarn and then beating it hard. The "Rigid Heddle In Brisbane" youtube channel has many demonstrations of this.

Main weaving

  • Wind some weft yarn onto a stick shuttle. Guide: https://littlelooms.com/how-to-wind-a-stick-shuttle/
  • Open a shed on the loom by pushing some levers down. E.g for plain weave, pull down 1 and 3
  • Pull 12 inches or so off the stick shuttle and pass the stick shuttle through the shed.
  • Don't pull the "pick" tight. Leave room for the weft thread to go over and under the warp threads. Many people provide this allowance by going diagonally across the warp rather than straight across.
  • Now "beat" the pick. Or rather, pull the reed forward and place the pick. You might need to have a slight gap between picks in order to get your picks-per-inch (say 10 picks per inch) to be correct.
  • Put the levers back up. That is one pick completed.
  • Open the next shed on the loom by pushing the next levers down. E.g for plain weave, pull down 2 and 4 now.
  • Again, pass the stick shuttle through.
  • Again, beat or place the pick.

Completing the weaving

When the main part of the weaving is finished, you want to make sure that it won't unravel when you take it off the loom. Some people will weave another inch using scrap yarn. or you can hem-stitch while the project is on the loom.

Then you can cut the project off the loom. At this point, you can finish the edges with knots, a fringe, or by sewing a hem.

Finishing

The last step is to finish the woven fabric. The overall idea is to agitate the fabric so that the tension evens out and the gaps between the threads fill out.

The exact steps depend on the fiber used, but normally this involves agitating it in water (gently or hard) and sometimes drying with heat.

Weaving Resources

In addition to the links in the text, here are some other resources that might be useful.

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