How to Do Bias Weaving on a Square Loom

There are multiple ways to start bias weaving on a square loom.  A few web queries will find you several options.  I have selected this one because I happen to like it, but others are certainly workable.  I have posted some links to other resources further down on this page.

1. Please note that I like to use a loom with two of its corner nails removed.  These "missing" nails are diagonal from one another, and I use this extra space where the nails have been removed to get my hook into the loom to pull the yarn through.  Position the loom so one of the corner nails is in front of you and to your left.  The other corner nail will be on the far right side of the frame.  

2.      Establish your diagonal weaving direction by tying a slip knot in the end of the yarn you want to use to start your weaving.  Leave a tail several inches long.  Stretch out the loop of the knot you just made and stretch it until it goes around the nails at the diagonal corners of the loom.  Make sure the loop is not twisted.  Tighten the knot so it is secure, but not tight.  Position the knot itself so it is at the outside of the nail closest to you. 

3. You now have two “warp” yarns on the diagonal.  Take the working yarn and pass it on the outside of the first nail  to the right of the left-hand diagonal.  Pull the yarn to the right, parallel to the first two warp yarns and pass it on the outside of the nail next to the upper right corner nail.  Fold the yarn and pass the folded yarn over one of the warp threads and under the other.  As you are pulling it through the warp, pass it around the outside of the first nail on the to the left of the right hand corner nail.  Now bring the yarn back to the starting point.

4.  You have now made a rectangle.  You have woven a tiny triangular area at each end of the diagonal warp and you now have 4 "warp" threads.   The picture below shows the way one of the triangular woven areas at the corner of the loom will look.

 5.  Continue to weave.  You will need to manually select alternate warp threads, always working  at the near left corner of the diagonal.  Make a tabby weave by raising the warp yarns that the weft went over on the prior pass.  Initially, you can raise the yarns by grabbing them with your fingers and holding them up enough so you can pass the next loop of yarn under them.  As the work grows, it becomes more difficult to do this, and you may find in easier to use a tool such as an afghan crochet hook.  If you have removed two of the corner nails from the loom, it will facilitate getting your tool past the row of nails.

     6. As the square fills in, you accumulate more and more warp yarns, fewer nails are available as yarn passes around more and more of them and the available weaving area becomes narrower.   As you get to the last few nails, you will eventually find it difficult to use your crochet hook because the space is too tight.  At this point, you thread a loop of your working yarn through a tapestry needle and use it to pick your next weaving shed. 

    7.    When all the nails have been used, use your tapestry needle to pull one final single weft yarn through your work on the diagonal axis opposite the one where you started weaving.  This is the axis between the corners that do not have nails.  Pull the yarn out of the needle   

     8.     When all the nails have been used, use your tapestry needle to pull one final single weft yarn through your work on the diagonal axis opposite the one where you started weaving.  This is the axis between the corners that do not have nails.  Pull the yarn out of the needle. Now lift the loops over and off the nails all around the loom.  Your edges should be completely stable and secure.  Squares can easily be sewn to other squares using the loops at their edges, or you can knit or crochet into these loops.

     Resources: 

https://vimeo.com/59916048

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbJTOMpFFg8

Bias Weaving is Perfect for Handspun

I love handspinning, and lately I have been experimenting with really heavily textured spinning techniques that  end up with lavish puffs of wool, curlicues, thick and thin spots, beads, etc.  With some trepidation, I have introduced some of those yarns into my bias weaving, and I am finding that in spite of not being the strongest yarns I ever wove, they work just fine in a bias technique.  My theory for why this is so, is that because weaving is done with a loop of yarn rather than a single strand, it has more structural integrity.  Another advantage is that because there is no beater bar like on a regular loom, there is minimal stress on the yarn as it is moved into the weave structure.  I have the flexibility and control to be able to adjust the warp and weft to allow the texture to stand up and stand out.   I also love that I can take those little spinning experiments that would otherwise be kicking around my studio and incorporate them with other yarn in projects.

I like to full my finished weaving in my washing machine.  Because of the relatively wide sett of bias looms, the finished work can look a bit like cheesecloth, but a bit of fulling brings up the nap and turns it into a luscious colored cloud.  I will post some photos soon.

Some Thoughts About Size

I know a lot of the other websites about triangle weaving seem to imply that bigger is better, I would like to provide an alternative opinion.  I have worked large and I have worked (relatively) small, and I think smaller has more to offer.

• A smaller triangle loom is portable.  You can get it into your car.  You can carry it around easily.
• You don't have to stand to work on a smaller triangle loom and you are not continually bending and stretching.
• You can easily use an afghan hook with a smaller loom.  They don't make hooks long enough for a large loom, and even if they did, it would be unwieldy to use.
• You can hold your project in your lap, if you wish, or put it on a small table.
• You can actually finish something before you get sick of it.  If you get sick of a project on a big loom, it will probably provide a home for spiders for a while before you finally cut your project off the loom. With a small loom, you end up with one or more smaller triangles that could still be useful, even if not for the original purpose.
• You have more options for color and design on a smaller loom.  When you do color changes on a triangle, you end up with either U shaped or L shaped stripes that can become a plaid.  One large triangle = one large U or L.  Smaller triangles allow for multiple, smaller colored areas.  Their triangular shape gives you the option to arrange them in a variety of shapes, allowing for much more creativity and uniqueness.
• Smaller looms are less prone to breakage, bending, and other stress factors directly related to the length of the sides of the triangle.
• Smaller looms are great for sampling (trying a technique, design or yarn on a smaller scale to see how it will look and feel.)
• Smaller looms are much less expensive, so you can have a bunch of them!

Basic Triangle Weaving

Note:  This is not the only way to weave on a triangle loom, but it is a good place to start and (in my opinion) the least confusing.

First, let's discuss the equipment you will need to weave:

• A triangle loom (duh)
• Some yarn (in the photos I use commercial acrylic yarn because it is highly visible.  If you can afford wool or another natural fiber, it is well worth using something good)
• An afghan crochet hook (this is a crochet hook with a really long handle) to pull the yarn through the weaving.
• A fork or afro-comb or other tool to pack the yarn once it is woven (optional)
• A tapestry sewing needle (somewhat blunt, large eye)

The Weaving Process

For the purpose of these instructions, I am using the Book Loom (instructions here).  The process is substantially the same on all triangle looms.

1. Start with the right angle point of the triangle either pointing toward you or away from you.  I like to work with it pointing away, so that is what you will see here.
2. Tie a slip knot in your yarn and put the knot around one of the corner nails at the end of the long leg of the triangle.  (I did it around the left side in the photo below, but you can just as well start on the right.)
3. Stretch the strand of yarn along the long-side row of nails on the inside of the triangle.



Slip knot tied around the end nail on the left, along the row of nails on the inside.

4. Go around the end nail, cross on top of the yarn and up to the first nail from the corner on the right (or left) short leg of the triangle.



Detail of yarn going around right hand nail, up to second nail, back across to the left



End of second row, yarn passes over nail, over first yarn and down to the left of the second nail from the end on the long side of the triangle.

5. Stretch the yarn back across the triangle toward the left, pass it over the top of the second nail from the corner of the left leg of the triangle, then down to the first nail from the end on the left side of the long leg of the triangle.
6. You have now woven your first and second "rows".  This is probably as good a time as any to discuss a couple of interesting facts about what we are doing.  It may not be apparent yet, but it soon will be, that the way this weaving is done is by lacing loops through loops.  The weaving is one long chain of nested loops until at the very end you secure it by weaving one last single strand up the middle of the triangle.  As you weave, your work proceeds from the 45 degree angle corners toward the center of the triangle.  Every thread is both a warp and a weft, and each of them is the same length, but the shape changes as work proceeds from the outer corners to the center.



Pulling up the first loop.  Note that it goes under the first crosswise  thread it encounters and over the next one.

7. From here on out, you will always be pulling up a loop of yarn from the long side of the triangle up to the next open nail on the short side of the triangle above it, weaving over and under the threads it encounters on its way up.
8. Put one side of the loop over the open nail on the short leg of the triangle, then open and stretch the loop so it goes across the triangle to the next open nail on the opposite side.  Pass it over that nail.  You now have a rather awkward loop that is probably sort of hung up on the nails on the long side of the triangle.  Carefully maneuver the loop over the nails on the long side of the triangle across toward the right until you can pull it straight toward you and pass it under the first open nail on the right side of the long leg of the triangle.  Notice that you pulled up one loop, but you actually wove twice, once on the left side, and once on the right side of the triangle.  You weave one time and you get a second one for free! 



Pulling the loop across the triangle from left to right,  note how the yarn is caught on the bottom row of nails.



The loop has now been untangled from the bottom row of nails and is being wrapped under the first nail from the right side of the long leg of the triangle.

9. 
   



Preparing to pull up a loop on the right.

10. Working on the right side of the triangle this time pull up a loop. weaving over and under the prior threads.  When we started weaving on the left side, the loop went under the first thread.  On the right side, the loop goes over that thread.  This will be consistent as you work:  weave under the first thread when working on the left, over it when you work on the right. 



Work progresses from the corners toward the center

11. Continue weaving, working toward the center until all the nails on the short legs of the triangle have been used.  



All the nails have been used.

12. Now measure off enough yarn to go from the long side, up to the 90 degree corner of the triangle, plus at least 6 inches more.   Cut the yarn at that point.  Thread your tapestry needle, and working  straight up from the long side of the triangle toward the 90 degree corner, weave over and under the open threads at the center of all the en-laced loops.  Pull the yarn completely through, This will stabilize the triangle and complete it.  



Starting to weave the final strand



Completed triangle



Completed triangle after being removed from loom.  Notice how all the edges are automatically finished!

13. If you have not made any mistakes, at this point every thread of the triangle should be completely woven into the structure.  There is no need to hem the triangle or crochet the edge or take any other action to keep it from unraveling.  If you have made a mistake, don't despair   I will discuss mistakes and how to fix them in another posting.