Software for Drawloom Weavers: Weaveit Pro

Although there are a couple of programs out there that explicitly support the double harness folks, I find that I don't need the same functionality for my drawloom that I need for my dobby looms.

I don't need a thread by thread draft for the drawloom since each block is threaded exactly the same way all across the loom (at least most of the time.) The treadling is invariant. What does change is the shafts or units that get pulled for each pass.

What I do need is a chart that allows me to keep track of my place and which tells me which shafts to pull for the next weaving pass.

My favorite tool for generating such charts is WeaveIt Pro. And it's so easy! Just open your profile draft, choose Print... from the file menu (or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + P) and then uncheck everything except the Liftplan box at the bottom of the dialog.

To see a sample printout, just click here. The sample is draft number 49919 from www.handweaving.net (And if you haven't discovered this fabulous resource, now is a fine time to go look!

(This tip was added 2/9/2010.)

Computer Drafting Tips: Fiberworks

One of the benefits of using software to make your weaving drafts is the speed. And when you learn your way around the program or programs that you like to use, you can create weaving designs in seconds using just a few mouse clicks.

For example, here is how to create a brand new 8 shaft twill using Fiberworks in just over a dozen keystrokes:

Key combinations	What they do
Ctrl + N	creates a new draft
Alt + E >D >{S,P,L,N}	choose the line type
Drag the mouse across the threading grid.	creates the threading
Click the lowest left box in the tieup grid. Then use '+' and '-' keys to enter one treadle.	set up to create the tieup
Alt + W > W [enter]	weave as drawn in and you're done!

Here is just one of the many drafts you can generate this way: