New Video Demonstrating the Bead System for Tracking Pattern Treadles on the Floor Loom

I thought it was time to make a video demonstrating how the bead system works to track treadle sequences on the floor loom.  This topic comes up regularly on the 4-shaft weaving groups.  If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video must be golden, right?

This particular overshot / shadow weave pattern* has 72 [Yikes!] treadlings per each pattern repeat.  I would not have been able to keep track of it on paper with paperclips or post-it notes, or even the Treadle Tracker in iWeaveIt on the iPad.  This one is far too complicated for my little brain to memorize.

Because the bead system is so much more akin to the motion / movement of weaving, it lets me stay in stride with the dance of weaving.   I'm not having to stop the flow and find my place on a paper pattern, or move a marker up the page.  I know that works for some weavers -- More power to you!

Each bead has a number corresponding to a treadle / foot pedal on my 4-shaft floor loom.

Treadles from left to right:
Treadles 1+3  For plain weave / tabby - correspond to shafts 1 and 3 raised together
Treadle 1 - corresponds to Shaft 1
Treadle 2 - corresponds to Shaft 2
Treadle 3 - Corresponds to Shaft 3
Treadle 4 - Corresponds to Shaft 4
Treadles 2+4 For plain weave / tabby - correspond to shafts 2 and 4 raised together.

I keep the plain weave pedals on the outsides to "walk" the plain weave.
In this configuration, I know that the throw with the black yarn is the plain weave, and it always follows after the red shot (the pattern weave).  

See the separate post on "programming" the string of beads to track the treadles.

I start out reading the beads on the LEFT side.  The numbered bead tells me what treadle to push for the red lines.  When I've thrown the shot for the red line, I move the corresponding to the left, leaving an opening to mark my place.

Next, I throw a line for the black yarn.  It always follows behind the read, and is always a tabby / plain weave shot.  although I programmed it with beads to tell me to go left or right, it was easier to just think of it as following behind the read line.  For this particular pattern, I am always throwing the black shuttle towards the treadle that is down.   In other words, if the red is already on the right side, and the black starts on the left, I know to press the 6th treadle (2+4) to open the correct tabby shed.  Then I throw the black shuttle to be on the same side as the read.  When I pull the beater forward, I also push the corresponding bead to the left.  This goes on until I've gone through the entire sequence of 72 picks.  By then, ALL the beads have been pushed to the left side with an opening on the right.  Then it's time to push them all back over to the right side and start again.

It really is a brilliant don't-make-me-think system.  Ok--you DO have to think hard about setting everything up, but after that, you can go on autopilot and the weaving becomes a nice meditation, without too much trying to focus middle-aged eyes on tiny print in the paper pattern. 

* The pattern is the Circles Scarf kit from Yarn Barn of Kansas.  Rodrigo Monteiro, a fellow weaver in some of my weaving FB Groups,  identified it as the pattern called 'Old Linen Weave' is from MP Davison's green book page 137 (not sure which edition).