Hokett loom, rigid heddle, paper thread

So here's the heddle in action. I'm using one side of the Hokett loom.

 Heddle down, see the threads at the top of the slits?

Heddle up, threads slid down ,shed changed

Work started. The shed, the passage between the warp threads, is big enough to pass the bobbin through, very handy. No manipulation needed. This is easier than the needle weaving I did before.

Since I plan to do the drawn weft finishing method I got so excited about a while back, I needed to use  loops, rather than the separate warp threads you usually thread through the rigid heddle, hereinafter called the rh. That's why I chose the Hokett. Notches plus space to raise and lower the rh.

However, this meant threading the entire warp thread through each slit and hole, while trying to warp and maintain tension, all at once, quite exciting. Needed three hands.

After I managed it, I taped down the backs of the loops, because raising and lowering the rh would lift the loops right off.

 This would result in no tension on the loom, but high tension in the weaver.

This idea of combining the fringeless finish and the rh is not exactly a trifecta. More of a bifecta. Don't try this at home, folks.

After this experiment, when the rh is free again I'll cut the slits in it just fractionally wider, to reduce friction. On the warp threads. And the weaver, too, come to think of it.

All in all, not a bad outcome. If I ever do backstrap weaving, this is a great little tool for making belts. Pretty nice width. 5 epi (ends per inch).

 You'll notice I warped every other slot on the loom, to reconcile the 8 epi of the loom with the bigger spaces in the rh. This wouldn't be an issue in backstrap weaving, where the rh would dictate size, there not being any loom to contend with.

Nice bit of learning this morning. Always a student, ready for feedback from the real weavers who read here. Judy, Joanne, and there are others, show yourselves, I am not afraid, oh wait, that's Bertie Wooster hearing the knocking in the wardrobe when he's reading a ghost story.. never mind.