Change

Louet Megado

For decades (1982-2019) I wove primarily on an AVL Production loom and then a Leclerc Fanny.  On both looms I would (usually) beat on a closing shed.

However, change one thing and everything can change.

The Megado is a different loom from the AVL.  It has it's own...quirks...and I very quickly discovered that I could not weave at the same pace I had been able to weave on the AVL.  I had to slow down, significantly.  Like from around 44-48 picks per minute on the AVL to around 20-24 picks per minute on the Megado - shuttle throwing pace.  Actual productivity is lower still on the Megado because it does not have auto cloth advance and I also have to stop and advance the fell, retighten the tension on the warp.

Additionally, I have discovered over the years that different qualities of cloth mean that the rate of weaving speed, when I beat, and how frequently I need to advance the warp (on the Leclerc) changes.

It depends.

One of the challenges of weaving is that as you change the type and quality of cloth, as you use different yarns, what you need to do to actually weave must also change.  You cannot weave a very fine, somewhat fragile yarn the same way you weave a rep weave rug.

All these variables can be overwhelming to new practitioners of the craft.  Mostly they want definitive answers to questions where there aren't any.

For example, when I weave my standard place mats:

I can whip along at a fast pace because the weft needs to be firmly beaten in.  I change the shed while I am moving the beater forward to the fell which means the shed is closing as I beat.

However when I'm weaving something like this:

which is a very open cloth made of textured silk, the weft must be very carefully and gently pushed into place, not a firm beat.  My weaving pace must slow down to accommodate this very gentle placement, done on an open shed.  The shed is changed while the beater is at the fell line, then the beater is moved back to the heddles, the shuttle thrown, and the beater gently moves that pick into place.  Etc.

So like almost everything there is about weaving...it depends.