How to weave a houndstooth and learn the skill of changing warp threads on a small weaving frame loom kit

Have you got a bookmark weaving loom or square frame loom and want to progress your weaving by changing and using different warp threads?

How do I change the warp yarn mid way across the loom?

This is one of the questions that new weavers often ask us, especially when looking to do a second weave on their weaving loom kit. Having mastered the simplest tabby weaving on a bookmark weaving loom kit or square frame loom kit they often want to progress their weaving skills. Houndstooth weaving is detailed in our weaving kit instructions, it being a relatively straightforward but stylish weave. It is created by simply alternating every two warp and weft yarns on the loom. This blog article gives you a step-by-step approach to weaving the bookmark shown here which has a houndstooth pattern on the left-hand-side and a solid pale pink warp on the right-hand-side explaining how to change the warp threads.

Step 1:

For this bookmark red, mid pink and pale pink yarn have been used with a houndstooth on the left in red and mid pink. Houndstooth requires two warp threads in each colour, alternating across the loom.

Using the corner holes tie in the yarns with a knot.

Step 2:

Using the red yarn go up and down the loom to create the first and second warp threads. To then do the 3rd red warp thread two slots need to be missed out as these will be used for the mid pink yarn later. Take the red yarn across the back of the loom as shown in the middle picture and come through the 5th slot to weave the 5th and then 6th warp threads. Continue to do the same thing for the 9th and 10th warp thread. By doing this your 6 red warp threads will be made from one continuous piece of yarn which allows you to create tight warp threads. You will find it much easier to weave if all the warp threads are tight. In the third picture you can see there are 6 red warp threads, and the red yarn has been tied to the corner hole. When tying the threads into the corner hole keep the warp thread tensioned so that the warp threads remain tight.

Step 3:

Tie the mid pink yarn in the corner hole and take it behind the loom and bring it forward through the 3rd and 4th slot to make the 3rd and 4th warp, then take the thread across to the the 7th and 8th slot and then the 11th and 12th slot. Tie the yarn at the corner hole.

Step 4:

Tie the pale pink yarn in to the corner slot, bring the yarn across the loom to the centre of the loom and then use the yarn to create the remaining warp threads, tying the yarn off at the other corner hole. Your loom is now ready to be used for weaving.

Step 5:

Weaving can commence. To create the houndstooth pattern on the left-hand side of the loom you need to weave in two rows (picks) of red and then two of mid pink weft. The easiest thing when you need just two weft rows in each colour is to have two needles, one for each yarn colour and to bring the yarn up the side of the loom looping it over the previous two rows. You could cut off the yarn after each second row to use the next colour although this is not recommended. How to change the weft yarn during the weave is detailed in this blog:

How do you weave in a new thread on a little frame loom?

Weaving kits are available in our TabbyandTweed website shop for UK delivery and our TabbyandTweed Etsy shop for delivery elsewhere.

Interested in learning to weave? Then our workshop page has all the details found by clicking the link here.

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