How to Weave on a Cricket Loom

Weaving with yarn creates a strong, thick fabric.

The Cricket Loom is a 10-inch loom. The loom weighs only 3.5 pounds and is 13-by-18 inches in diameter. It looks like a child's toy, but it has the tension and sturdy build for serious weavers. The handy 10-inch weaving space works well for scarves. By sewing the panels together, the weaver is limited only by imagination. Weaving on a Cricket Loom involves two steps. First the loom must be warped. The warp threads are the horizontal threads in the finished woven fabric.

Things You'll Need

• Ball of yarn
• Warping peg
• Heddle needle
• Scissors
• Brown paper, 500 square inches

Instructions

Warping the Loom

1. Attach the loom to the table with the clamps on the base of the loom. Pull the apron rod from below the back beam, the top large dowel on the back of the loom. The apron rod attaches to the back beam with short strings. Place the apron rod in front of the warp rod.

2. Place the ball of yarn behind the loom. Tie the free end of the yarn to the apron rod about 2 inches from the end of the rod. Clamp the warping peg in front of the loom, 50 inches away.

3. Insert the heddle needle through the first slot on the heddle. The heddle is a piece in the center of the loom with slots and holes. The heddle needle is similar to a crochet hook that fits through the heddle. Catch the yarn in the hook of the heddle needle and draw it through the slot in the heddle. Pull the yarn loop until it stretches to the warping peg and loop it over the peg. There are two pieces of yarn in the heddle slot.

4. Insert the heddle needle through the next slot on the heddle and grab a loop of yarn from below the apron rod. Pull the loop in front of the loom until you can wrap it around the warping peg.

5. Insert the needle in the third slot of the heddle. Pull a loop of yarn over the apron rod, and pull the loop of yarn to the warping peg. Continue to alternate pulling loops from the ball of yarn over and under the apron rod until you have filled the heddle slots. Cut the yarn and tie the end to the apron rod.

6. Lift the many loops of yarn from the warping peg and cut through all the loops. Tie all the loose threads together in any loose knot you please.

7. Place the apron rod behind the back brace. Turn the warp beam crank and start winding the warp onto the beam. When the yarn fills one full revolution of the warp beam, place a 10-inch wide piece of paper between the warp beam and the next revolution of the yarn. This prevents the yarn from tangling on the warp beam. Use brown craft paper or cut pieces from brown grocery bags. Wind the warp until you have about 8 inches loose in front of the loom.

8. Unclamp the loom and turn it around so that you can easily work from the front. Untie the loose knot you made in Step 6.

9. Insert the heddle needle in the first hole in the heddle. Pull one of the two yarn lengths from the slot immediately next to the hole through the hole and back to the front of the loom.

10. Continue to pull one of each yarn length from every slot through the hole next to it.

    Starting with the center-most lengths, tie about 1 inch of threads to the front apron rod. Use the secure knot of your choice. Tie all the lengths in 1-inch groups to the rod.

Weaving

1. Wind the shuttle with your chosen color of yarn in a figure-eight pattern. Hold the yarn in the front and wind the yarn around the right-hand notch of the shuttle. Pull the yarn over the side of the shuttle so that you wind the left-hand notch of the shuttle from the front. Cross over the side of the shuttle and wind the yarn from the front of the shuttle. Wind until there is a 1-inch width of yarn on the shuttle.

2. Place the heddle in the up position by resting the bottom of the heddle in the highest notch of the loom frame, creating a tunnel between the yarn in the heddle slots and the yarn in the heddle holes. Push the shuttle through the tunnel, from right to left, holding the loose end of the shuttle yarn in your right hand. Pull the heddle forward to push the weft, or the horizontal yarn, as far forward as it will go.

3. Place the heddle in the lowest position by resting the heddle on the lowest notch of the loom. This creates a tunnel with the yarn that had been on top now on the bottom. Throw the shuttle from left to right through the tunnel and push the weft as close to the front as possible.

4. Continue weaving the shuttle back and forth and compacting the weft after each row. As the weaving nears the heddle, release the ratchet dogs on both the front and back beams. Turn the crank on the front beam and wind the woven project onto the front beam. Re-engage the ratchet dogs and crank the front beam until the warp is taut.

5. To finish the piece, unwind the from warp beam and untie the warp yarns from the front apron. Tie groups of four yarns together to form a fringe. Cut the yarn loops from the back apron rod and pull the yarn free from the heddle. Tie the yarns in groups of four to form a fringe. Trim all the fringe to an even length.

References

• Schact Spindle Company: Cricket Loom Manual
• Schact Spindle Company: Cricket Loom
• Weavezine: Cricket Loom Review; Syne Mitchell; November 30, 2008