On most floor looms, the last step in preparing the loom is tying up the treadles. They can be tied up in multiple configurations and allow multiple shafts to be lifted with one treadle. With a table loom, each shaft is permanently attached to its own lever. Each lever operates only one shaft.
As I've been weaving my sampler, I find myself wondering about this. Can I do the same things on a table loom that I could do with my floor looms? Or am I going to be limited? How do I read a draft and translate it for my table loom?
Threading the heddles is the same on any loom with shafts. To weave the above pattern, I'd thread the heddles in shafts 1-2-3-4-3-2-1, etc. But I don't have treadles to tie up, so the tie-up and treadling instructions will have to be looked at differently. I'll still read the treadling graph, but instead of tromping a treadle, I'll follow the column up to the tie-up. From the tie-up, I'll manually lift the shafts indicated in that column. I wonder if it's possible to memorize it from continuous repetition!
This seems a wee bit more complicated than simply treadling, but I'm sure I'll get used to it.
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