counting heddles

Today I changed over the heddles on my loom.

I have no idea how many times in my life I’ve done this. It’s just one step of many in the preparation for putting a new warp on the loom, but it’s one I always look forward to. 

Each time I wind a new warp I calculate exactly how many heddles I need on each of the 24 shafts, and then add or remove them as needed. I’m not sure if other weavers also do this each time, but it’s one of my favourite weaving rituals.

From a technical perspective, having the exact number of heddles on each shaft provides an additional safety check. If I have too many or too few heddles remaining at the end of threading then I know an error has been made, and I can find the source of the mistake before beginning to weave.

From an emotional perspective, I enjoy taking the time to engage with the shafts. When in use, their rhythmic rising and lowering is the breath of the weaving, sitting directly in the heart of the loom. The shafts are unhooked from the harness strings and removed from the loom’s core one at a time. The grease-stained harnesses fall down and hang heavily. I like to imagine they enjoy the temporary reprieve of needing to hold up the shafts, like they are the Atlas of the loom. As they fall it feels as if the loom is exhaling.

Each shaft is made from three materials: wood, metal and plastic. The textile heddles react differently to each material, gliding along some and catching on others. The plastic ends are pulled off and the tension of the shafts is instantly released. These solid, reliable forms go limp and the heddles relax as they are counted, pulled off, bundled, and remounted.

As I go through this process, I can visualise the warp ends and imagine myself sitting at the loom to thread them. As my fingers actively count the heddles, I can feel them carrying out another series of motions underneath the surface, invisibly practicing the actions of threading. Once completed, I remount the shafts onto the loom, reattaching the harnesses and feeling the tension tighten once more as both the loom and I prepare for the work that lies ahead.