Ask Madelyn: Lifting Plans and Tie-Ups

Hello Madelyn,

I have purchased the The Best of Weaver’s The Magic of Doubleweave ;and Jennifer Moore’s The Weaver’s Studio: Doubleweave, and I am new to doubleweave. In Jennifer Moore’s book, she uses the term “treadle lifts.” I have both 4-shaft and 8-shaft table looms. Can you tell me what the lifting plan would be for doubleweave? I thought I would first start with  the simple 4-shaft samples first.

—Marian Redmond

Hi Marian!

We do use many terms in weaving that can be confusing. Most of us work on jack looms, which raise shafts to make sheds. The term “lifting plan” refers to the shafts that are raised for each row of weaving. For a table loom you follow a lifting plan, usually moving levers for each shaft that must be raised. A treadle loom provides the convenience of raising more than one shaft at the same time. A tie-up tells you which shafts are tied to each treadle. You can convert a tie-up and treadling order into a lifting plan by writing the shaft numbers for each treadle, following the order in which the treadles are used.

There is no specific lifting plan or tie-up for doubleweave. They will vary according to the threading draft and the shafts that must be raised to achieve the desired interlacement. Jennifer Moore does give tie-ups in her book, so on your table looms, you will move the levers for the shafts that must go up for each row instead of stepping on a treadle.

—Madelyn