When you buy a rigid heddle loom, it comes equipped with one heddle – usually a 7.5 or 8 dent, depending on the company you purchase from. So, if there is only one heddle with the loom, why would you weave with two heddles or more?
Heddle or Reed?
Before I go any further, I just want to say that when talking about rigid heddle looms, the terms “heddle” and “reed” are usually interchangeable but mean the same thing. For the rest of this article, I will use the term “heddle”.
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What is a heddle?
The actual “rigid heddle” part of a rigid heddle loom is one of the features that makes it such a great loom for learning how to weave. The heddle is a multi purpose piece of equipment. It spaces your warp, allows you to achieve two different shafts and is also your beater. It’s pretty awesome!
One heddle equals two shafts. The holes are one shaft and the slots are another. So, a rigid heddle loom can be called a two shaft loom, though there are some hot debates about this (Facebook, I keep out of these arguments!) as some people argue that a rigid heddle produces sheds not shafts.
Not really worth arguing over in my opinion, as whatever the case, you can weave 2 shaft drafts (plain weave) with one heddle and a rigid heddle loom.
You may assume then, that when you add a second heddle, you can then weave a 4 shaft pattern, but that is not so.
“What? Didn’t you just say that one heddle equals two shafts? Now I’m confused!”
One heddle does equal two shafts when used on it’s own. BUT, adding an extra heddle does not add two extra shafts, because the slots can only be counted as one shaft.
Before you throw your hands up in frustration and storm away from this page, let me give you an example:
Two Heddle Example
I’m using two heddles. On heddle one, I’m using the holes as shaft 1. On heddle two, I’m using the holes as shaft 2. That leaves the slots for shaft 3.
Think of the threads in holes as dedicated – they’re on one set path that can’t be changed once they’re threaded in. If I lift heddle one, all the shaft 1 hole threads will go up and the slot threads stay down. If I lift heddle two, all the shaft 2 hole threads will go up and the slot threads will stay down.
The only way I can make the slot threads go up would be to put both heddles in the down position, forcing the hole threads down. So you see that the slot threads operate differently to the hole threads and can’t be manipulated in the same way.
The Desire for Exploration
It seems that the desire of weavers to explore and push the boundaries of their looms has been influential in loom production. Many commercially available rigid heddle looms now come with a built in double heddle block rather than just the single they used to be made with. This is a pretty good indicator that weavers want to weave with more than one heddle!
But what can you actually do with more than one heddle? Let’s take a look at the possibilities.
Possibilities
- Two heddles to increase your sett.
Say you want to weave a yarn at 20 ends per inch (epi). There is no heddle available that can do that for you, the closest sett available is a 15 (which will give you 15 epi), and that just won’t do when you want to weave at 20 epi! If you use 2 x 10 dent heddles, that will give you 20 epi.
2. Two heddles increase your pattern possibilities.
You can set up your loom with an extra heddle instead of a pick up stick to weave all kinds of patterns. You can consider an extra heddle as an extra shaft, so using two heddles will allow you to weave a three shaft pattern. And there are lots of three shaft patterns to choose from!
I really enjoy weaving with extra heddles in place of pick up sticks or heddle rods. The set up time is less and the weaving is more straightforward.
3. Two heddles allow you to weave double width cloth.
This is one of those eye opening weaving revelations that is just so exciting to discover. Your loom is not wide enough for the project you want to weave. With two heddles, you can weave double your loom’s available weaving width. It’s like magic!
Can I Use Pick Up Sticks or Heddle Rods Instead?
Of course! Extra heddles are definitely more of a financial outlay and the same results can be achieved by other means. This article discusses some pros and cons for each method.
Weaving with more than one heddle is such a popular topic that I have several resources available for weavers who wish to explore further:
Online classes-
PDF Patterns-
And if you’re up for a challenge, this class will walk you through how to weave on three heddles!
I hope this post was interesting and helpful to you, please leave me a comment to ask questions or let me know if you enjoyed this.
Until next time…
Happy Weaving!
So out of curiosity, if 3 heddles lets you weave 4 shafts, could you theoretically add more heddles to add more shafts? For example, 4 heddles = 5 shafts, and 5 heddles = 6 shafts?
I feel like it’d probably get unwieldy at some point past 3 or 4 heddles and it’d be easier just to jump to a table or floor loom, but I am 3d printing/building my rigid heddle loom and I can make as many heddles/blocks as I like, and I’m curious. Obviously I’d not start with a multishaft pattern off the bat, because that’s a little crazy, but I was curious about your perspective. Thanks!
Hi Gwen,
Theoretically, yes you could. The problem/s with the idea is the lack of space on a rigid heddle loom to accommodate extra heddles and the cost of having that many heddles of the same size. If you’re 3D printing, does that mean you can print according to your own design? Because in that case, you could customise the loom to your own requirements. A lot of weavers who are making their own looms now are doing a kind of hybrid, like a cross between a RH and table loom.
I really enjoy your emails, thanks for the time you take to keep us informed and make available new things to learn.
Thank you Laura! š
Hi Kelly, thank you very much for this post.
I bought an extra heddle before I read this and assumed I could weave 4 shafts pattern š¤¦š¼
Is it possible to use two 7,5″ with one 10″ heddle? My heddles are 60 cm so I thought if I like to weave a shawl of 45 cm this could be possible?
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but when using more than one heddle, you really need all heddles to be the same dent size. You could, however, use your 2 heddles plus a heddle rod and pick up stick (or two heddle rods) to complete your 4 shafts, you don’t necessarily have to buy an additional heddle.
I can see where 2.heddles will double the sett. Does that mean I really donāt need a 15 dpi heddle and can just use 2 7.5ās? How does using 2 heddles affect your choice of weaving yarn? I am trying to determine which heddles I need to duplicate. Thanks!
Well, I still prefer weaving with a single heddle when I can, and it means that I don’t have to double the ends. But there are yarns that you might want to weave with where you just can’t achieve the sett you want with a single heddle.
Further clarification of my question. if you are using 2 heddles you would use a finer yarn than if you were using a single heddle of the same dent, it that right?
Depending on whether you are using 2 heddles to increase your shafts and therefore pattern possibilities, or whether you are wanting to double your sett with the 2 heddles.
Kelly I enjoyed your post. Which RH looms accommodate 3 heddles?
Thank you!!
Hi Jeanne,
I don’t have experience with other looms but I can tell you that the Ashford has plenty of room. I know that some people have trouble with space on the Schacht flip (not sure of other Schacht RH looms).
Hi Kelly thanks for clarifying the ins and outs of two heddle weaving. I have done it a few times and it is still a little baffling . Your article cleared things up for me.
That’s great Linda! š
Beka looms will accommodate three heddles…if you add a block to rest the heddles on. It is a simple hardware procedure.
Bonjour,
Vos cours sont -ils en franƧais
Non, dƩsolƩ, tout en anglais.
I assume using three heddles wonāt mean I can weave triple width though?
No, unfortunately not. 3 heddles are great for weaving 4 shaft patterns though.
Great explanation! I love the possibilities so much that over the last few years I have built up my equipment so now I can choose to use any 4 shaft pattern on my RH loom. Yep that means I have 3 heddles in every size dent. Thanks Kelly for the great classes on double weave
Wow, that’s fabulous to have built up to that point Robyn!
I spend a lot more time now, playing with 2 and 3 heddle patterns since the necessity to build my inventory for shows is not really a priority due to all the cancelations due to Covid.
I am really having fun with all the possibilities that 2 and 3 heddles allow!
I’m glad you have the time to just muck around and have fun with it, even if not under the best circumstances!
So, if weaving with 2 heddles allows you to weave 3 shaft patterns does weaving with 3 heddles allow you to weave 4 shaft patterns?
Correct! š
How terrific Kelly. I’ll look for it when I have “more then a moment”. Thank you.
Is the double heddle weaving class included with my gold membership?
Yes Liza, it certainly is! You will find it under “Weaving with two heddles” š