Seeing Plain Weave in a New Light
Plain Weave: Let the Beater Fall I'm weaving samples for self-study, specifically for the Ontario Handweaver's Guild Unit 1. The first basic weave is plain weave, the most fundamental structure there is. Simple, right? That's exactly the trap. The first time through, I beat the way I always had, which is to say, way too hard. I'd read that new weavers tend to overbeat, and reader, I am a textbook case. There's something in you that wants to pack it, to make it dense and certain. So, on the re-weave, the whole assignment I gave myself was just this: monitor the beat. Don't drive it home. The first few rows took real concentration; I had to consciously stop myself. But then something nice happened. My loom is a Norwood Cherrywood, and the beater has genuine weight to it. Once I stopped fighting it, I could let the beater fall and find its own place. The cloth told me what it wanted. Beginner takeaway: Your loom is a partner, not a thing to muscle. If your beat...