Dr. CricketLove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love my Rigid Heddle

First 6 warps for my sock yarn destash project

For the past few weeks, all I want to work on is my sock yarn warp projects on the rigid heddle loom. Most of my other projects have fallen by the wayside. That surprised me because I did not always enjoy rigid heddle weaving. I found it clumsy and imprecise compared to weaving on a shaft loom. The stick shuttle frustrated me, and it took a long time to figure out how to beat evenly with an unfixed beater. Direct warping is very efficient, but it didn’t work well for what I found myself wanting to do. I kept putting the RH away, then picking it up again. Over the years, I discovered some workarounds that suit me very well.

First thing to go was the stick shuttle. I did not enjoy unwinding it every pick or so, and when I got caught up in the weaving I often forgot and wrecked the selvage. I decided to use a boat shuttle instead. It seems odd to use an 11” boat shuttle for a 10” wide warp, but it feeds evenly, holds a lot of yarn, and easily moved through the shed without getting caught on warp threads.

I often use the slats from 1” mini blinds as warp separators. They work well, but also have another use on the rigid heddle: I use one to get a better shed. Sometimes the warp thread bundles twist when winding on the warp. When the weaving starts, sometimes that causes some of the threads in the slots to stay low, making it easy to skip over them and causing a flaw in the cloth. Easy enough to fix, but better to prevent it! With the heddle in the down position, put your hands between the two yarn layers behind the shuttle and sort everything out. When the proper threads are all up, slide a mini blind slat under the top warp layer and move it back until it rests on top of the back beam. It won’t interfere with the “up” shed but will make sure the slot threads rise high enough for a good “down” shed. Slide it back onto the beam when you advance the warp.

My favorite warp separator lately is a strip of woven beach mat I bought at Walgreens a few summers ago. I cut it to size using regular scissors, the same width as the warp beam. It fits rather snugly so threads don’t slip off the edge, and as it unrolls while you weave, it is easy to tell how much of the warp you have woven so far. Best of all, the entire mat cost about $2 on clearance. I got 2 strips from one mat, more than enough for any length of warp on my Cricket.

Another tip I heard online somewhere, don’t recall where. Someone said they take the core of a paper towel roll, cut it to size, slit it from end to end and place it on the cloth beam to cover the knots. Works great! The knots no longer distort the cloth as it winds on, and that helps a lot with maintaining even tension. I used to put the mini blind slats into the cloth roll as they fell off the warp beam to help with tension, but I no longer need to bother with that. If anyone knows where this tip came from, I would love to give credit!

Lastly, I have given up direct warping. Since I have other looms, I already own a warping board. I much prefer winding a warp and then threading the loom. It takes up much less space so I can do it when other people are home, and I simply prefer to design that way. It seems to suit my thought process better. If I want a stripe to have an odd number of threads, it takes no extra thought or effort. It also makes it easier to change my mind partway through.

Just one of these changes make a small difference in how much I enjoyed my RH. Taken all together, they transform frustration into joy. If you would like to share any tips that make weaving on your rigid heddle more enjoyable, please post them in comments.

Next time: more on the project!