Selecting Weaving Cards for Tablet Weaving

Selecting tablets is a lot like selecting a shuttle to use: the tablets that fit perfectly in your hand might not work as well for someone else. Modern tablets are available in a variety of sizes, materials, and number of holes, which leaves a lot of decisions to be made. The easiest decision to start with is the number of holes. The more holes you have, the more complex images you can make, but it is much easier to learn the basics with square, 4 or 5 holed cards (if the fifth hole is in the center), so we’ll start there.

Width is a little harder to decide, because it has a big impact on the weaving experience: the distance from the bottom of one hole to the top of the next determines the height of your shed. For example, the Lacis cards are 2.5” across, but they have an average shed of about 33mm (about 1 5/16”) depending on the thickness of your yarn. For the most part, that’s a reasonable shed for card weaving, however, if you plan on weaving with thick warp yarns or warp yarns that have a lot of halo, you will likely need a wider shed. The Schacht cards are 3.25” across with an average shed of 35mm, which makes them great for thicker yarns.

Another consideration when you’re picking tablets is the durability of the cards and how much tension you put on your warp. I like to have my tablet weaving under a lot of tension to help get a crisp looking design on my finished band.

However, you should never have so much tension on the warp that the cards can’t turn easily, otherwise the paper or cardstock cards (like the Schacht cards) will tear at the holes and laminated cards (like the Lacis cards) can give you papercuts.

Our LoftyFiber tablets are 2.5” square cards. They’re durable enough to flip the card directions without treating the cards delicately like cardboard or laminated tablets (including tablets made from playing cards) require, and we have two thicknesses available. The first set is designed for beginners: they’re a little thicker, which makes them easier to hold and turn when you’re learning the motions. The standard set is thinner--like the other commercially available cards--and they’re designed to fit nicely in your hand even when you’re working on wider bands. However, a lot of beginners use markers to color code the edges of their cards to help keep track of where they are in their patterns. Because of the material our cards are made of, even permanent markers or paint markers may rub off. Instead, we suggest using colored masking tape or electrical tape to mark the edges. We use SoundOriginal colored electrical tape on our class sets for beginners.