Set-Up for a Tablet Woven Band

Step 1: Wind a warp for each color. It may be helpful to think of this step as measuring individual lengths of yarn rather than winding a cohesive warp as you would for floor loom weaving. (See pictures on the following page)

• First, use the Warp Yarn Calculationand Warp Paths - Baby Grand Loom or Warp Paths - Grand Loom to determine the path of your warp. You’ll want to choose a warp path that is a 8-10 inches longer than what you need for your band as you will be cutting the yarn and tying knots later. You can trim the excess once the cards have been threaded and tied on or add additional length here for more fringe.

• Begin and end with a slip knot around the starting dowel or optional cup hook to secure the end of the warp.

• When you’ve wound what you’ll need for a single color, first secure the last end of that color and cut the yarn from the cone. Then cut along the starting dowel. For example, wind all 26 ends of Straw if you’re weaving Bowties and Diamonds, then remove the Straw warp from the loom. You will have 26 individual ends rather than a continuous loop as you would have for a traditional weaving warp. For Bowties and Diamonds you will need to wind 26 ends in Straw, 14 ends Teal, and 8 ends Burgundy.

• Chain up the yarn or wind it on bobbins to keep it from getting tangled. If I’ve just wound the last color and I’m going to immediately start separating the bundles, I don’t bother to do a chain at this point.

• Once the warp is wound, separate the chains into 4 end bundles following the vertical columns of the warping guide and either chain them back up or wind them on bobbins. I also find it helpful to lay the bundles out in the order they’ll be threaded.

This is the path for winding the warp. Even though the band will stop at the blue peg, extra length is needed to tie the warp onto the loom later.	First color wound.

The warp is cut along the starting dowel and then all of the ends are chained up to keep the warp tidy while winding the other colors.	Fully wound and chained warp	Warp chains separated out for each card.

Step 2: Thread the cards according to the warping guide and tie them onto the loom. This is where most mistakes are made, so go slowly and triple check your work.

Step 2a) Set up: At this point the left side of your loom should be assembled (per the instructions Assembling the LoftyFiber Band Loom) and laying flat with the dowels up on a level surface. Make sure the tension assembly, the four corner dowels, the starting dowel, and any other dowels necessary for your warp path are installed. You may find it helpful to use the four optional bases at this point to keep the loom level. You will also need your warp (separated into 4 end bundles in step 1) and your cards. I find it helpful to make sure that all of my cards are stacked and oriented in the same way with side AD at the top of the stack. I also grab a band clamp at this point, especially if I’m weaving with yarn that has low elasticity.

Step 2b) Thread your cards and tie the warp on the loom: Directions given here refer to cards with S and Z tablet tilt/ tablet orientation.

• When threading the cards, rather than pulling the yarn all the way through, only pull the through about six inches of yarn prior to tying on.

• All cards will start with AD (red) on top, CD (yellow) facing towards the loom/ away from the weaver, and AB(blue) close to the weaver.

• While you’re threading the cards, it’s ok if your threads are a little twisted, but they should not be tangled.

• Z tilt cards only: With A and D at the top of the card, thread all ends from the front (lettered side) to back (blank side).

• S tilt cards only: With A and D at the top of the card, thread all ends from back (blank side) to front (lettered side).

• For all cards: Once you have threaded your card, place it on the loom following your chosen warp path with the card face down and tie all 8 ends in a tight square knot near the starting dowel. If you made your warp longer than necessary in order to include fringe, make sure that you have approximately the same amount of yarn on each end so that your fringe will be even.

Step 2 Tips

I highly recommend that you thread the cards one by one and tie them onto the loom as you go or use a cradle to help keep your cards in order, especially if you have a symmetrical pattern like Bowties and Diamonds where you have the same colors on opposite sides and one has S orientation while the other has Z orientation.

I find it helpful to use a note card or post-it to cover my warping guide as I go so that I don’t get lost as I thread my cards.

After you have threaded a card, put the warp on the loom following your chosen band path and tie the ends together in a square knot close to the dowel in the end cap (aka the starting dowel). When you’re tying your warp on, make sure your knots are tight and your tension dowel is close to the starting dowel. If you are weaving with linen or other yarns with low elasticity, leave a small gap (about 2 cm) between the end of the tension slot and the tension assembly dowel

The tablet tilt is the opposite of the twist of the yarn, and correcting a misthreading isn’t always easy, so double check your pattern as you go.

The patterns here are written with S and Z tablet orientation. For more information on how to tell if S and Z pattern is card tilt or thread twist, see A Note on Twist and Tilt.

Also pay attention to the initial position of the cards if one is provided. Some patterns will have cards that start in different positions. Cards are usually positioned with A and D on top, and depending on the pattern A or D may be closer to the weaver.

Here all of the cards start with A on top and closest to the weaver.

Once all of the cards are threaded and tied on, you can trim the excess length if you so choose or you can wait until later. Out of habit, I typically wait until my band is finished in case need to adjust the knots or I decide to add short fringe instead of trimming off the loom waste.

Step 3: Attach the right side of the loom. This step is mandatory. LoftyBand Looms are not designed to be used as single sided looms.

Step 3 Tips

Secure the tablets with a rubber band before unscrewing the tension assembly knob.

After the right side of the loom is attached, center the band, then slide the tension assembly forward. You should have enough tension on the cards that they won’t move on their own, but not so much that you damage the cards (or your hands) when you turn them.

Once the band is tensioned use a band clip to eliminate any areas where there is uneven tension. This is especially helpful when working with linen and other fibers with low elasticity.