Weaving 6
Ready to throw the shuttle
Constance is ready to throw the shuttle, but the human needs to step on the treadles to open the shed.
Treadling
The treadles are connected to the heddle frames – stepping on different treadles will alter the weaving pattern by raising and lowering different sets of heddles. Because we are doing a plain weave, only the outermost two treadles are used and the shed is created by separating every second warp. More complicated patterns could utilise all six treadles!!
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Throwing the shuttle
This is not a perfect shed, because the human was stepping with one toe while trying to take the picture with one hand… Constance gives the boat shuttle a hearty heave-ho…
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Beating the weft
With the weft in place (in a nice low arc – remember this post) it is time to beat it with the reed. If you use one hand, you need to hold it in the exact middle pull the reed toward yourself. If you only pull from one side you will get an uneven slant to the weaving. It is better to pull toward yourself with two hands spaced at equal distances from the centre. Constance is too small to pull so she pushes. Heavy work for a 6 1/4 inch tall person, Constance has rolled up her sleeves and is trying to beat evenly.
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Quimper Hittys 
I have enjoyed seeing the tea towel’s creation. Constance looks to be a valuable assistant.
Now we just have to weave, or supervise the weaving of six tea towels! Constance is a great assistant, never flustered when things go wrong and always patiently waiting to help out.
How lucky you are to have Constance as your helper!
I am lucky, she is a big help – always willing to pitch in, and unflappable.
I am really enjoying your posts…Lucky Constance too…Wish I could do that!
Thank you, we do have fun together!
I liked the giant’s booties. 🙂
The yarn is handspun by a friend (pygora and silk), and knitted by me. I love them, they are so fuzzy and warm.
Beating the weft looks like hard work for Constance – I hope there was a cup of tea waiting for her afterwards.
There is always tea in the Quimper Hitty household.
It seems like Constance is getting quite the workout in this project. Of course, the weaving is so lovely, it’s easy to see that it’s worth the time and energy.
She is used to hard work – you should see her forearms, they are pretty robust as Hitty arms go.
They must be really tired after all this work on the big loom all day, that’s a lot of stuff that’s getting done! What a fabulous series.
Yes, but it is a good sort of tired.