Bob-bob-bobbin Along

Day 95: This was the part about weaving with boat shuttles which I thought was going to drive me crazy: changing bobbins. I had stick shuttles down to a fine science. Given the width of my project, I could calculate the number of wraps it would take to complete it, and in the case of hand towels and placemats, I could usually wind enough for a whole one onto a single shuttle. Bobbins don't hold nearly as much, and of course there's no way to know how much you've wound onto one unless you're very good with a gram scale and mathematics. Also, having to change them out often seemed to me that it was going to be an enormous pain in the neck, but as it turns out, it goes quite neatly. Fortunately, I have a bobbin winder for loading them with thread, and I can do a pretty fair imitation of a level-winder if I pay attention to what I'm doing. You still need a lot of them, but with a dozen, I'm like the red-red robin, just bob-bob-bobbin along.

Take The Shuttle

Day 118: A weaver has a wide assortment of options when they want to take the shuttle, and each one has its points both pro and con. Personally, I prefer stick shuttles (center) because I'm a cheapskate. They're relatively inexpensive when compared to boat shuttles (not shown because I don't own any). Boat shuttles, as you might infer from the name, look something like a boat, specifically a canoe or kayak (often without a bottom). They feed the thread out more evenly than other types of shuttle by means of a bobbin which fits lengthwise in the hollow space. The walls of the shuttle protect the thread from excessive abrasion against the warp. However, boat shuttles are pricey and a pain in the neck to wind unless you own a winder (an additional expense), so no, I won't be shuttling by boat any time soon.

Stick shuttles are usually made of wood. I've never seen plastic ones, but I see no reason plastic wouldn't work. In a pinch...let's say all your shuttles are wound with thread already and you don't really want to unwind it in order to free one up (a common problem among weavers)...in a pinch, an old yardstick or a piece of cardboard can be used instead. Closely related to stick shuttles are belt-weaving shuttles. The difference is that a belt-weaving shuttle has one or both edges pared down to a narrow edge. This allows the shuttle to be used as a beater when backstrap weaving, tablet-weaving or inkle weaving. My favourite style is the one wound with green thread in the photo on the right and also second from the left in the same image. Both edges are thin, and the shuttle is flat on one side and gently curved on the other. Nevertheless, the disadvantage to stick shuttles is that they like to dispense either too much or too little thread with each throw, often leaving the weaver in a tangle reminiscent of a cat with a ball of yarn.

Sometimes the selected weft is too heavy to wind onto a stick shuttle in any quantity. If you're using bulky yarn or strips of fabric, you'll want to wind them onto a rag shuttle (left), so named because they are widely employed when weaving rag rugs. Mine are vintage, a gift from one of my sisters-of-the-heart. For the record, let me say that no weaver ever has enough shuttles. Not ever.