While it’s easy to think of rigid-heddle, inkle, and pin-loom weaving as three separate types of weaving, there’s a lot of commonality among the three. One of my favorite layers of overlap among the weaving types is pick-up. No matter which loom you weave on, you can use pick-up to take your weaving to the next level. This simple technique can be used to create small areas of texture in your weaving or to create all-over patterning. You can even weave patterns for multi-shaft looms including twill, waffle weave, overshot, and many more!
Our featured new eBook collection is here to help you explore and celebrate pick-up, with 10 projects, including:
- Soft and Snuggly Blanket [rigid-heddle]
- Mountain Sunset Bracelet [inkle]
- Twill Basket [pin-loom]
- Cape May Wrap [pin-loom]
- Portland Spring [inkle]
- Plus five more gorgeous designs
In her Candy Dot Wrap, Christine Jablonski used pick-up to make the colorful ends of her warp pop.
What is pick-up? Pick-up is the act of creating an intentional warp or weft float by picking up (or, in some cases, pushing down) one or more warp ends during the weaving process.
With a pin loom, you use your weaving needle to gently push down or pick up threads as indicated in your pattern, doing each row individually.
On the inkle loom, pick-up is also done row-by-row, but this time you can use your fingers (although some weavers do use small pick-up sticks or shawl pins).
On a rigid-heddle loom, pick-up is done with a pick-up stick (most looms come with at least one). What’s cool about pick-up on the rigid-heddle loom is that you can “save” your pick-up patterns by picking them up on a pick-up stick behind the heddle and pushing the pick-up stick to the back of the loom when you’re not using it. The pick-up stick then acts as a third shed that can be combined with different heddle positions to create even more patterning potential.
This sweet bracelet and headband set by Laia Robichaux gets its lovely floral design from simple Baltic-style pick-up.
Over the years, I’ve woven many pick-up patterns on all three loom types, and every time I’m amazed at how just a few simple steps can create incredible cloth, including Baltic pick-up designs, waffle weave, and so much more.
But don’t take my word for it—you can find incredible pick-up patterns in the pages of pretty much every Easy Weaving with Little Looms issue. And, if you’re an All Access Subscriber, you can download our new eBook The Power of Pick-Up: 10 Pick-Up Projects for Rigid-Heddle, Inkle, and Pin Looms. The projects in the book span all three loom types, and you’ll find something for weavers of all levels.
Whether you’re new to pick-up or just want some new projects, I hope you “pick up” this new eBook and use it to weave something extraordinary.
Happy Weaving!
Christina
(Not an All Access Subscriber yet? Learn more about our subscriber levels here!)