Waffle Weave With Two Heddles

A true waffle weave is difficult to achieve on a rigid heddle loom. Using one heddle and a pickup stick, you can achieve something very close. I've been wondering how to do waffle weave with a finer sett using two heddles. Here is what I came up with. 

I direct warped my 15" Flip Loom for two heddles using 4 ends of 8/4 cotton per slot. I threaded the heddles as usual for two heddle weaving. 

Now for the pickup stick. Put both heddles in the down position. Pickup every other thread and slide the stick to the back of the loom. 

The weaving sequence is:

1. Up (Both heddles)

2. Neutral & pickup stick on edge 

3. Up (Both heddles)

4. Down (Both heddles)

5. Up & slide pickup stick

6. Down (Both heddles)

Here is the result....

The weft floats are more narrow than with with a single heddle, but the weave still produces cells. 

After a quick trip to the sewing machine, it was into to washer and dryer. 

I steam pressed the towel and, Ta-da!!!!

The cut cotton at the ends fluffed nicely.

I also made two other towels from this warp....

Happy Weaving!

One Warp, Two Completely Different Doubleweave Projects

The possibilities are endless for your rigid heddle loom when you learn how use two heddles. The problem is that threading two heddles is much more time consuming than one. Project planning is essential. For me, it seems silly to tie on a short warp and then meticulously sley all those threads for a small project. I will show you how you can maximize your warp, and all the work that went into threading, to produce two vastly different pieces of fabric off of one long warp.

You will need:

3/2 Pearl Cotton for the warp & weft

Any bully or super bulk yarn for weft

15" or larger rigid heddle loom w/ two heddle capacity 

2 8 dent heddles 

2 pickup sticks

The 1st project is a doubleweave rug. I threaded the two heddles with cream colored 3/2 Pearl cotton. 

Weave about 1 inch of plain weave.

 Time for pickup sticks. 

1. Both heddles down. You will see that the threads are in pairs. Pickup the left thread of each pair. Slide stick to back of loom

2. Both heddles up. Slide stick 1 to the rear of the heddles. Insert pickup stick 2 in the lower shed that forms. Slide both pickup sticks to the back of the loom.

Begin the double width pattern with your header yarn. Weave about an inch. By weaving a header in pattern, it will be easier to finish your rug/mat when it's off the loom. You can't hem stitch double width cloth on the loom so the header will assist you in hem stitching after the fabric is finished or when it comes to machine stitching; whichever you choose. 

You can see from the header how it is possible to weave two completely different setts with the same warp, weft and threading.  The 1st part of the header is 16 epi, while the doubleweave section is 8 epi. 

Double Width Pattern 

1. Pickup stick 1

2. Heddle 2 up

3. Pickup stick 2

4. Heddle 1 down 

You can use any color pattern you want. Based on the amounts of yarn I had, I alternated large areas of each color separated by thin stripes of black and the other colors. It really doesn't matter. At the beginning of your weaving you should add a guide string. I measure a piece of yarn the length I want my weaving to be and pin it on. 

End with your waste yarn in pattern for 1 inch then in plain weave for one inch. 

Now for the second project, a placemat.

I wove a header in fingering weight yarn in a cream color. Then, using a blue 3/2 cotton weft, wove about 1 inch of a lace pattern:

1. Heddle 1 up

2. Heddle 1 down

3. Heddle 2 up

I wove another inch in plain weave with the cream header yarn. 

I then alternated one pick of the cream yarn with one pick of the blue. 

Depending on how much warp you have left, you can weave a placemat or a table runner. When you have reached your desired length, reverse the directions above and you're done.

Now, it's on to the sewing machine and then the washer & dryer. Keep checking back for pictures of the finished products. Happy Weaving!

Rigid Heddle - Two Heddle Weaving

After acquiring a Schaht 15 inch Flip loom, I think I've gone off the deep end with two heddle weaving and double weave. If you've never attempted weaving with two heddles, be prepared for a headache, literally. I just could not wrap my mind around the threading of the two heddles. After several attempts, I have finally figured out the threading and can't come up with new projects fast enough!

Here are some pictures of the weaving in progress....

Here is the loom direct warped with 3/2 pearl cotton through the first heddle

Since I do not have a warping board, I direct warp. This can get extremely confusing when trying to thread two heddles. Somehow I managed to thread the heddles properly.

 I used two pick up sticks for a zigzag pattern and a color changing wool weft. 

Here is the fabric off the loom 

If you are going to delve into two heddle weaving, I suggest you make your warp a bit longer so you can play around with different textures. As you can see, in the beginning of this warp I was playing around with two heddle/two layer log cabin. 

You can also see how different textures can weave at different widths. Next adventure..... double width cloth. Stay tuned 😜