Textile Dictionary
All those terms you did not realize you wanted to know!

A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z

A

• Accidental: A weft skip of two threads which occurs in the half-tone areas of 4 block Overshot patterns written on opposites, at the point where one half-tone area shifts to another.
• Achromatic colors: black, white and greys. These differ from each other in value or brilliance only.
• Alginate fiber: A man-made coating fiber which is used primarily with wool and dissolved out after the fabric is woven, to give a sheer textile. Invented in 1940.
• Alternate weave: A variation of tapestry weaving in which a tabby is always thrown on one shed and the pattern weft in the second shed.
• American Lace: An open work weave used in Colonial days. The simple designs were woven in tabby on a 1-over-1 leno background with 3 rows of tabby between each leno row.
• Analysis of fabric: The thread-by-thread, shot-by-shot breakdown of a woven fabric for determining type of yarn of yarns, size of yarns, warp set, number of shots per inch, threading order or draft, treadle tie-up and treadling order.
• Andean Plying: a plying method which allows a single to be plied onto itself.
• Angora: Yarn made from the hair of the angora rabbit. Very soft, fine, lustrous and expensive.
• Animal fibers: The animal fibers most used in making textiles are: alpaca, angora, angora goat, camel hair, cashmere, howhair, horse hair, llama, mohair goat, silk, vicuna, wool.
• Apron: Cloth extension on the warp and cloth beams of a loom
• Apron Rod: The steel rod in the apron on which warp ends are tied.
• Artisan: A person possessing a high degree of skill in the operation of an art or mechanical pursuit, but whose work does not demand orginal invention or creation.
• Asymmetry: Lack of symmetry. A pattern, one half of which is not a mirror image of the other half.
• Asymmetrical plaid: A non-symmetrical arrangement of warp color stripes, crossed by an identical arrangment of weft color stripes. The plaid will have no horizontal or vertical axis of symmetry, but will have two 45 degree diagonal axis.
• Atwater Lace: A linen weave technique which gives a balanced, open effect. Also known as Lace Bronson. Similiar in appearance to Swedish Lace.
• Aubusson: A city in France has given its name to the characteristic type of tapestry woven there and also to the knotted pile rug. Aubusson tapestries are characterized by a blue selvage.

B

• Back Beam: The horizontal beam on the upper back of a treadled loom
• Background weave: Any weave which forms the base fabric for a patterned textile
• Backstrap Loom: A stick loom with a strap around which the weaver's body keeps the warp tensioned
• Balanced pattern: A pattern which is symmetrical. Identical units occur on each side of the center
• Balanced Weave: A weave which has exactly as many weft shots per inch as there are warp ends. Also called 50/50 weave, squared weave.
• Ball Winder: A device for winding balls of yarn from skeins
• Barley corn weave: The German name for Spot Bronson weave
• Basic weave: A simple weave which serves as a foundation, or from which other weaves are derived. Examples - plain weave, twill, and satin
• Basket Weave: Balanced weave structure where the warp and weft threads are paired or grouped
• Bast fiber: Coarse, strong fibers from tree or plant. Bast fibers are flax, hemp, jute, sisal, ramie
• Batt: A thick, soft, "blanket" of fiber. Batts are generally produced on a drum carder
• Batten: Flat stick that holds sheds open and is used to beat the weft into place
• Beaming: The process of winding the warp on to the warp beam from either a creel, chain of warp or some other warping device
• Beater: A frame that will pivot, holding a reed. This type can be found on Jack, Counterbalanced, and Countermarche Looms. A fork or weighted comb can be used as a beater on a tapestry loom
• Beating: Packing the weft into the shed of the warp with the use of a beater of varying styles
• Beetling: The process in linen manufacture of pounding the flax to free it from the woody pulp
• Belt Shuttle: A short stick shuttle with one sharp edge for beating or packing the weft shots into the warp strands
• Bias: The line on a piece of fabric that is diagonal to the warp and/or the weft
• Binder: Another name for weft, or the crosswise threads of a fabric. Sometimes refers specifically to the tabby or background weft of a a 2 shuttle pattern weave
• Bird's eye: A small, all over diamond pattern, also known as diaper. Usually a simple, 4 harness, 2-2 point twill woven as twill with a return
• Bleed: The tendency for excess dye to float off in water. Usually all excess dye may be removed the first time a fabric is washed
• Blend: As a color term means the combining of 2 or more colors
• Blended draft: A multiple harness threading which combines two patterns or two techniques in such a way that either one may be woven independently or combination patterns or techniques may be woven. Eight harnesses are required for blending two 4 harness patterns or techniques
• Blended yarn: Yarns which contain fibers of more than one type
• Blood Count: one of three system for describing grades/fineness of wool. It originally referred to the amount of Merino blood present in the sheep breed. Now it generally refers to the fineness of the fleece. The higher the number, the shorter expected staple length and finer expected crimp. Grades include: "Fine" (64's - 80's), "Half Blood" (58's - 62's), "3/8 Blood" (52's - 56's), "1/4 Blood" (48's - 50's), "Low quarter Blood" (46's), "Common" (44's), "Braid" (30's - 40's)
• Boat Shuttle: Literally a shuttle shaped like a small boat with the weft yarn wound on a bobbin or quill held in place by a hinged pin inside the shuttle
• Bobbin: a reel, quill, or spool to carry weft thread
• Boucle: A spiral or 2 play yarn in which one strand is allowed to feed very fast in the spinning so that it forms curls around the other strand
• Boulevard weave: A multiple harness technique which is a refinement of the Summer and Winter weave, for achieving intricate texture effects
• Bound weaving: The term for weaving 4 or more harness threadings on opposite sheds usually with two colors, to produce minute color patterns on 2 blocks. A tabby binder is not used
• Bout: A group of warp threads, commonly the number of ends in 2 inches of warp, which are beamed simultaneously from the same number of spools onto one section of a sectional warp beam
• Bow knot: The characteristic tie-in know used on the handloom. The tie-in bow knot is made without a half-hitch under it
• Bradford Count: one of three grading systems to describe the fineness of wool. The Bradford system uses the number of 560 yard worsted spun skeins from a pound of top from that particular type of fleece. The larger the number, the finer the fleece. The Bradford Count has generally replaced the Blood Count as a grading system
• Brake: the device on the warp beam which permits the beam to release and hold any fiber
• Breast Beam: The upper horizontal beam at the front of the treadle loom over which the woven fabric passes
• Broken twill: A reverse or point twill in which one or more harnesses is omitted at the point where the twill direction reverses so that a break occurs in the weave
• Bronson lace: Also known as Atwater lace, which is a more accurate term

C

• Calculations: In weaving usually refers to the figuring of the warp and weft requirements for any project
• Calendering: Rolling a fabric between two hot steel drums to flatten fibers
• Camel hair: The hair of the Dromedary camel which is spun into a strong yarn
• Cards: A plate set with fine, bent steel pins, used in pairs for straightening fibers
• Carding: The process of drawing wool through a pair of cards to organize the fibers
• Card Weaving: The process of weaving in which the warp threads are threaded through holes in a set of cards, which are turned to form different sheds. (a.k.a. "Tablet Weaving.")
• Carpet: A woven floor covering
• Carpet loom: Usually a heavily built 2 harness loom for weaving rag carpets
• Carpet warp: A coarse cotton yarn, usually 8/4 in size, used for rag rugs
• Cartoon: a full-scaled drawing of a proposed tapestry that is mounted behind the warp threads as a guide for the weaver
• Castle Beam: The beam across the top of the treadle loom from which the harnesses are hung
• Chain: The group of warp ends, all measured to the same length, which was wound on a board, frame, or mill in chaining motion to retain as nearly as possible the thread order
• Chenille: A cotton, wool, silk, or artificial yarn which looks like a caterpillar, from which the name comes (French)
• Chimayo weave: A tapestry weave worked in soft wools in characteristic patterns by the natives of the Chimayo region in New Mexico
• Chroma: The quality of a color which includes hue and saturation not including black, white or grey
• Circular weave: Another name for tubing. Circular double cloth without selvages
• Classes of weaves: The large technique groupings in the classificiation of handweaves. The 7 classes are: plain, twill, twill derivative, unit, texture contrast, double, leno, and rhythmic weaves
• Cloth Beam: The roller beam at the lower front of the treadle loom, onto which finished weaving is wound
• Cloth Beam Rod: The rod attached to the apron or other such extensions of the cloth beam to which the warp ends are tied
• Color: is the general term which applies to the whole subject - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, black and white and all possible combinations
• Comb: Tool usually made of wood for hand beating the weft on primitive tapestry looms
• Combing: Is a method of processing fiber
• Cone: A conical shaped spool on which yarn is wound
• Cone Holder: A rack of holding cones of yarn for unwinding
• Cone winder: A tool for winding cones of yarn
• Controlled Weave: A weave in which the weaver makes variations in the weave structure by hand techniques such as tapestry, pickup, brocade, as opposed to structural weaves
• Cord: Term for a yarn in which two or more plied yarns are twisted together
• Cord weave: A weave on which a heavy warp or weft thread occurs at regular intervals over a fine, plain weave background
• Core: The plain binding strand in a fancy yarn, such as in rayon chenille
• Cotton: Fine vegetable seed hairs or fibers which surround the cluster of seeds to which they are attached; Grown in warmer temperate and tropical regions for the fine white (sometimes brown) cellulose fiber. Originated in India; oldest documented use in India (Mohenjo Daro) c. 3500 B.C. and Peru c. 3,000 B.C. Cotton has a natural "z" twist
• Count numbers: These indicate the number of yards of size 1 yarn there are in 1 pound, according to an arbitrary system for each fiber. See Yarn Facts for further details
• Counter: a tool attached to the tension box of a sectional warping setup used to keep count of the yards or meters of yarn beamed on the warp beam
• Counter-balanced Loom: A double action loom with harnesses hung in pairs so that when two harnesses are sunk the other two automatically rise. The positive action is sinking shed, and tie-ups are so made: 1-2, 2-3, 3-4, 4-1, 1-3, 2-4, limited to these 6 combinations
• Counter-marche loom: A treadle-based loom that has a double set of marches or lamms to lower some shafts and at the same time raise the remaining shafts or harnesses
• Crimp: The wavy bends in the individual fiber strand

D

• Damask: A structure of weaving in which a pattern is formed by the alternation of the warp and weft of face satin
• Debris: Any foreign material found in the fiber; hay, grass, burrs, dirt, etc.
• Degumming: The process of removing the natural gums from silk. This reduces the weight 30-40%. Raw silk is silk which has not been degummed
• Dehairing: The removal of guard hair from fiber
• Denim: A fine twill weave structure in which the warp is white and the weft a colour
• Denier: A unit for measuring the man-made fibers and silk by the French system. It expresses the fineness in terms of weight in grams per 9000 meters of length. Thus, 100 denier yarn is finer than 150 denier. One denier weighs .05 grams
• Dent: The space between the blades of the reed. Each space can hold one or more threads.
• Dentage or DPI: The number of dents in one inch
• Diagonal: Having an oblique direction or extension
• Diamond: A figure formed by four equal straight lines, with two acute and two obtuse angles. The arrangement of the blocks of a pattern to form a diamond figure. One of the baic figures of overshot patterns
• Diamond Twill: A point twill done so that the treadling forms diamond patterns
• Diaper: Any small, symmetrical, all over pattern. Or a cloth, usually cotton or linen, woven with a diaper figure
• Distaff: The rod for holding the bunch of flax, tow or wool fibers, from which the thread is drawn in spinning by hand
• Diz: Disc shaped object with hole used to control the size of the sliver as it is removed from the comb. The size of the hole will determine the size of the yarn, i.e. The smallest hole may be no bigger than a pen dot or as big as a quarter inch across
• Dobby Head: A programmed unit (by either manual or computerized means) attached to the loom which automatically controls the lifting of the multiple harness, this method uses only two harnesses
• Donegal tweed: This refers either to a herringbone weave on a white warp with a dark weft, or to a tabby fabric with a plain warp and weft which has colored nubs
• Dornik twill: A broken herringbone weave, the break formed by the removal of one thread (if the threading is 4-harness, more if more harnesses) at the point, to eliminate the 3-thread float which occurs at the point of a regular herringbone. This strengthen the fabric and off-sets the twill line
• Double cloth: A structure in which two layers of fabric are formed. The layers of the fabric can be joined after or during the weaving. (a.k.a. Doubleweave)
• Double sley: Threading of two warp ends through the same dent
• Double warp beam: Usually on the treadle-based loom, where one is typically set as a sectional beam. These beams may be used singly or in combinations for various weaves requiring differing tensions, or is there is a greater amount of warp than can easily be handled on one beam
• Doubleweave: see Double cloth
• Double width weave: Any weave which produces two surfaces which are continuously joined at one edge, with both selvages lying at the other edge. The selvages may be made in the center, with both edges continuous. Requires twice as many harnesses as for a single surface, and warp set twice as closely
• Doup: A half-heddle or loop which is attached to the lower heddle-bar of a doup harness, carried through a standar, in weaving leno. Sometimes spelled doupe
• Doup leno: Leno made with doups and standards instead of hand twisted on a stick
• Dovetailing: A vertical join in a tapestry in which 2 adjoining weft colours turn around the same warp thread
• Down shed: On the inkle loom, the shed that is made by pushing the unheddled warp threads down; as opposed to the up shed. Also referred to as a sinking shed
• Draft: The graph or code drawn on paper to show the threading sequence through the different heddles on the different shafts; or the code to show which shafts are to be tied to which treadles
• Drafting: Drawing out fibers to the right thickness for spinning
• Dressing the loom: Preparing the loom with the warp, so that it is ready for weaving
• Draw-down: The pattern of a weave drawn on paper by following the threading draft, the tie-up draft, and the treadling sequence
• Drop spindle: A hand spindle consisting of a light-weight shaft and whorl that is spun while hanging from the twisting yarn
• Drum carder: A machine for carding wool or other fibers; consists of a drum with wire brushes that turns with a hand crank against a fixed set of brushes
• Dukagang, full: Dukagang woven with the backgroun areas covered as well as the pattern areas. Resembles tapestry more than brocade
• Dukagane, half: Dukagang in which the pattern is worked but the backgroun is tabby
• Dummy warp: Warp threadings kept on the loom so that new warp ends may be tied to them, thus eliminating the threading process also commonly known as thrums
• Dutch wheel: Same as Saxony wheel
• Dye: A substance used for coloring fibers
• Dyebath: The water and dye mixture in which yarn, fabric, or fiber is submerged for dyeing
• Dyeing: The process of coloring a fiber or a cloth

E

• Elasticity: The quality of stretch and recovery in any yarn. Among the natural fibers, wool has the greatest elasticity, linen the least, and cotton between
• End: A single warp thread
• EPI: Abbreviation for "ends per inch". The number of warp threads in an inch.
• Exhaust: To deplete the color in the dyebath as the dye enters the fibers
• Expanded draft: A draft in which all pattern blocks of the original draft have been proportionately enlarged

F

• Fast: Describing dyes that do not fade in water or light
• Fell: The weaving line, or the line made by the last weft shot against the unwoven part of the warp
• Felt: An unwoven fabric made of matted fibers of wool, rolled and pressed together
• Felting: Same as fulling, but done to a degree that actually makes the fibers join together as in felt
• Ferrous sulfate: The metallic salt used as a mordant in natural dyeing, commonly called "iron."
• Fiber: Any tough substance of thread-like tissue, whether of animal, vegetable, mineral or synthetic origin, capable of being spun and woven
• Fiberglass: A spun thread made of filaments of glass
• Filament: An individual strand of any spinable material. The smallest cloth unit
• Filler: Primarily used at the beginning of a weaving where the warp ends have been tied in groups to the cloth beam rod
• Finger weave: Any weave, particularly certain brocade techniques, in which the decorative weft threads are placed with the fingers instead of with a huttle or a bobbin
• Fingering yarn: A type of worsted yarn which is not completely combed
• Finishing: The final step or process in completing a fabric, usually washing, fulling, steaming or pressing
• Finnweave: Double weave with pick up patterns which reverse the two sides of the fabric. Woven in Finland by a special method which requires the use of a round and a flat stick and a stick shuttle
• Fixed heddle: An unmovable heddle, such as the half-heddle used on the inkle loom, which holds half the warp in a fixed position so that the other half may be moved above or below it to form two sheds
• Flake yarn: Also known as slub yarn. A yarn in which soft, thic, elongated tufts of fiber are incorporated at regular intervals. Usually twisted with a fine binder yarn which gives it strengh
• Flamepoint weaving: A method for weaving simple Overshot and 4 harness twill threadings in 4 shed rotations with 4 colors and no tabby. The fabric is beaten for a complete warp coverage
• Flat steel heddle: A commonly used heddle made of a narrow strip of steel
• Flax: Plant which produces the bast fiber used to make linen yarn and cloth; originated in the Mediterranean region; earliest known use by Swiss Lake Dwellers c. 8,000 B.C.; has a natural "s" twist
• Flax wheel: Same as flyer wheel, as opposed to wool wheel
• Fleece: Fiber removed from a wool bearing animal by shearing
• Fleece wools: One of four categories in the geographical classification of U.S. wools; obtained from sheep grown east of the Mississippi
• Flicker: The single hand card that is used in "flicking."
• Flicking: The process of combing out briskly the ends of a lock of raw wool in preparation for spinning
• Float: A warp or weft thread that "floats" over the top of several threads at a time. A thread which is not caught at every intersection. Can be warp floats or weft floats.
• Floating warp: A warp end or ends, usually added as a decorative thread, which is not beamed but hangs weighted at the back of the loom. Floating selvages is another term. Also used for making correction of a broken warp end.
• Floor loom: Same as treadle-based loom
• Flyer: The U-shaped device on the spindle mechanism of certain spinning wheels which flies around the bobbin and winds the yarn onto it simultaneously with the spinning of it
• Flyer wheel: A spinning wheel with a flyer mechanism; also called "flax wheel" or "low wheel."
• Fly shuttle: The metal-tipped shuttle that is automatically thrown back and forth after each beat of the batten on the fly shuttle loom
• Fly shuttle box: The box at the end of the fly-shuttle beater which holds and releases the shuttle
• Fore beam: Another term for cloth beam
• Fork: The hand beater shaped like a fork and usually made of wood, used to pack in the weft in tapestry or rug weaving, or when weaving on a primitive stick loom
• Four harness: Describing a loom that has four harnesses or shafts
• Frame loom: Any hand loom that consists of a four-sided frame on which the warp threads are wound and held in tension
• Fringe: An ornamental border for a fabric consisting of projecting ends of yarn which are woven, braided or knotted together
• Front beam: Another name for breast beam
• Fulling: A commercial process that subjects woven fabric to hot soapy water and agitation, for the purpose of matting and shrinking it
• Fustic: Wood chips of a large tree of the same name growing in tropical America used for a yellow dye
• Fustic extract: A concentrated dyestuff made from fustic ships

G

• Gamp, color: A color combination sampler in which the warp is made of wide stripes of different colors and the weft arrangement reproduces the warp exactly, to indicate color effects when each color is woven with each of the others
• Gauge: An instrument for making exact and identical measurements
• Gauze: A weave structure in which the warp threads are twisted in pairs or groups before the insertion of the weft
• Gimp: A narrow woven band used to bind edges or seams
• Glauber's salt: A crystalline sodium sulfate used in dyeing
• Goat hair: The fibers from the fleece of any goat but the Angora, whose fleece yields mohair
• Golden section: A rectangle in which the lesser of the two dimensions is to the greater as the greater is to the sum of both dimensions
• Goose eye: A small diamond figure woven on a herringbone twill threading
• Gram: A metric unit of weight — one-thousandth of a kilo; approximately .035 ounce. 100 grams equal approximately 3.5 ounces
• Granny knot: Two half-hitches made in the same direction. The knot slips fairly easily and consequently is good for tying string heddles which need adjusting
• Grease, in the: Term used to describe spinning or weaving with raw wool or yarn that has not been washed, so that the wool grease remains in the fiber
• Great wheel: Same as high wheel
• Ground loom: The horizontal loom that holds the warp in tension with stakes driven into the ground
• Ground weave: The base weave of a patterned fabric
• Guides: The pegs or metal loops that divide the sectional warp beam into one or two inch sections

H

• Hackles: heavy combs across which flax is drawn to separate it into lengths
• Half: Second-to-top category in the blood system of grading wool
• Half tone: The secondary pattern areas which occur in some weaves, particularly overshot, in which background and pattern weft are mixed on the surface
• Hampshire: A medium-wool breed of sheep; approximately 48s to 56s in the numerical count system
• Hand: A word used to refer to the feel or the handling quality of any textile
• Hand cards: The pair of wire brushes set onto wooden backs and with which fibers are combed out in preparation for spinning. See also Wool cards and Tow cards
• Handloom: A loom on which the weaver performs the three operations of making the shed, throwing the shuttle, and beating the weft into position. Includes the treadle loom in which the shedding operation is done by foot power
• Hand Loomed: This term refers to a fabric which has been woven on a fly-shuttle loom. The weaver operates the loom, makes the sheds and beats, but the shuttle is mechanically thrown
• Hand spindle: Any spindle for spinning that is rotated by hand rather than by wheel or other power
• Handspinning: The guiding by hand of fibers onto a spindle, which can be turned by hand, wheel, or other power
• Handspun: The yarn or thread that has been made by handspinning methods
• Handwoven: A fabric woven on a handloom. Handwoven means that the shed making, beating and shuttle throwing are all done by the weaver
• Hank: A coil or loop of yarn. Technically a hank contains the number of yards of the count number for the particular type, but this is not always true
• Harmony: A color term which means the association of two or more colors resulting in a pleasing effect
• Harness: One of the several movable frames which hang in the loom castle and hold heddles, through which warp ends are threaded. Often called shaft
• Harris tweed: Traditionally a hairy, colorful tweed made from virgin Scottish wool, and spun, dyed and finished in the Outer Hebrides – the group of islands off Scotland’s west coast. Authentic Harris Tweed is denoted by the "Orb" mark of the Harris Tweed Association
• Heading: First few rows of weaving before the actual fabric is started; serves to equalize the spacing of the warp threads where they are tied to the cloth beam rod, and at the same time keep wefts from unraveling
• Heddle: The string, wire, flat steel (or other material) that encircles a warp thread, so that it can be pulled up separately from other warp threads
• Heddle, correction: A string heddle tied in place after a threading is completed to correct a threading error. Flat steel and wire heddles with open ends can be purchased for making corrections, but on the whole they are not as satisfactory or as easy to use as string heddles tied directly
• Heddle, rigid: See Rigid heddle
• Heddlestick: A stick holding loops or doups through which warp ends are passed so that a shed may be made by hand by lifting the stick. This is the shedding mechanism on primitive looms
• Heddle jig: The form or pattern around which strings are tied to make string heddles
• Hemp: a long, coarse fiber which comes from just inside the outer bark of the plant. It is difficult to bleach. Though used mostly for rope, the most refined fibers are also used for woven textiles. Hemp withstands water better than any other natural fiber
• Herringbone: A twill weave that reverses treadling sequence every so often, so that the diagonals run in opposite directions
• High wheel: The first spinning wheel designed in Europe, consisting of a base with a large wheel turned by hand, which drives a horizontal spindle by means of a drive band; designed for spinning while standing up; as opposed to the low wheel. Also called "walking wheel," "great wheel," and "bobbing wheel."
• Hopsacking: Bagging or material made of coarse tabby weave
• Horizontal: Any real or imaginary line or surface which is parallel to the horizon
• Horsehair: Usually the mane or tail hairs of a horse, but can also mean the fibers of its coat
• Hound's tooth: A 4-thread check in two colors, threaded to 3-harness twill and woven in 2-2 balanced twill. The characteristic effet is small checks with spurs
• Huck: One of the small, 4-harness balanced linen weaves. May be threaded on 8 or 6 harnesses for patterns

I

• Iceland wool: The wool from Icelandic sheep which have a coarse outer coat covering a fine under coat, the latter being used for this high quality yarn
• Ikat: A weaving technique using tie-dyed warp and/or weft yarns; the resulting design when woven gives a blurred effect because of the slight displacement of each thread during the warping and/or weaving procedure
• Inch: A unit of measurement, 1/12th of a foot, 1/36th of a yard
• Indigo: An ancient blue dye processed from the plant of the same name; in its natural state, insoluble in water; one of the fastest blue dyes known
• Indigotin: The actual dyestuff in indigo
• Indigo vat: The process in which indigo is made soluble so that it can penetrate the fiber
• Indigo white: Term used to describe the indigo at a certain state of the indigo vat when white specks appearInkle loom: Small portable loom consisting of a framework with numerous pegs around which the warp is wound; used mainly for belts and bands of warp-face structure
• Inla weave: A name for any brocade technique with a plain weave backgroun, for which the pattern weft is laid into the tabby shed over the ground weft
• Interlocked tapestry: The tapestry technique in which two adjacent weft ends are carried around or clasped around each other to produce a continuous surface without slits between color areas
• Irish tweed: Traditionally woven in Ireland of hand spun yarn, irish tweed is produced in 2-2 balanced twill on a white warp with a dark weft, usually blue, grey, brown or black
• Iron: Short for ferrous sulfate, a mordant

J

• Jack: A lever, one end of which raises a heddle shaft by pushing or pulling when the other end is pulled down by a treadle
• Jack loom: A treadle-based loom with jacks for raising the heddle shafts
• Jacquard loom: A loom invented about 1800 by Joseph Marie Jacquard of Lyons, France, in which each heddle or warp end can be individually controlled
• Jute: A coarse bast fiber, brown in its natural state but bleaches to a creamy color. Used ing burlap, and for novelty effects

K

• Karakul: A Middle Eastern breed of sheep with very coarse, hairy fleece
• Kemp: A coarse fiber that occasionaly grows on sheep; it resembles vegetable fiber and tends to resist dye; the result of malnourishment of the animal
• Kilim: A Middle Eastern tapestry weave in which open slits are formed at the vertical joins of color areas; the rug, blanket, or fabric made in this technique
• Kilo: A metric measure of weight equivalent to 1,000 grams; approximately 2.2 pounds
• Knitting: A single-thread textile craft that forms an elastic fabric by looping the thread within previous loops held in position on a needle
• Knotted pile weaves: Rugs made by hand tying knots of yarn around a warp thread or a group of warp threads
• Knots: The knots most used by the handweaver are: weaver's knot for mending broken warp ends because it is small and tight; snitch knot used for tying treadle-lamm connections because it is easily adjusted; bow-knot for tie-ins because it may be undone with one motion for tension adjustment; loop knot for counters and holding threads because it is untied with one jerk; granny knots for string heddles because it permits adjustment of position

L

• Lace: A fine fabric composed of threads interwoven into a patterned net. Real lace is made by hand with a needle or on a pillow with bobbins and pins. Lace making is a continuous operation which does not utilize a tensioned warp or a separate weft and the threads do not lie at right angles to each other. Therefore lace cannot be woven on a handloom. However, misuse of the name among weavers is current as they are apt to call any open weave lace.
• Lamms: The horizontal bars on a treadle-based loom that provide the intermediary action between the treadles and heddle shafts
• Lanolin: A complex chemical sustance obtained from grease wool
• Lath: A narrow slat of wood, two of which serve as the frame for string heddles on a treadle-based loom
• Lazy kate: A rack on which bobbins of spun yarn can be put for unwinding
• Lead: The difference in speed of the rotating spindle and bobbin on a flyer wheel, resulting in the yarn's being wound onto the bobbin
• Leader: A short length of yarn tied to a spindle to which the first fibers for spinning can be joined
• Lease rods: A pair of slender sticks that are inserted on each side of the lease to preserve it when the warp threads are spread out to the width of the planned weaving
• Leno: One of the basic classes of weaves. In Leno weaves, two or more warp ends are twisted together, the twist held by a weft shot, to form a very open fabric
• Level: The word used to describe the even penetration of dye into material
• Lichens: Leafy fungus like growth on trees or rocks, some varieties of which are useful as dyes; they contain acids so no mordant is required
• Lincoln: A long-wool breed of sheep; approximately 36s to 46s in the numerical count system
• Line linen: Single-ply spun linen yarn
• Linen: A thread or yarn made of the bast fiber flax. Noted for its great strength, luster, long wearing properties, soil resistance and beauty
• Linsey-woolsey: A plain weave fabric on a handspun linen warp with a handspun wool weft, which was a common clothing textile in Colonial American days
• Llama: A domesticated South American animal, similar to the alpaca, but raised mainly as a beast of burden; its coat yields a rather coarse fiber, which the natives use in making ropes and coarse sacking
• Locks: Long curly tuft of fiber pulled from a fleece
• Log cabin weave: A plain weave in which patterns are produced through the alternation of light and dark colors in warp or weft or both
• Logwood: Dyestuff consisting of the wood chips of a West Indian and Central American tree, yielding a purplish gray color
• Long Draw: a method of spinning where the fibers are controlled entirely by one drafting hand, pulling back against the twist
• Long eyed heddle: A heddle (usually string) with a 2 to 4 inch long eye, used in certain double threaded techniques on the front or base weave harnesses. In a number of multiple harness pattern weaves, more pattern blocks may be woven on fewer harnesses through the use of the long eyed heddle, double threading method
• Long staple cotton: The highest bred, top quality, strong, long filament cotton used for the best cotton yarns
• Long wool: A category of sheep breeds in which the fleeces have long, rather coarse fibers; excellent for handspinning
• Loom: Any tool for holding a warp in tension for the insertion of a weft to form a woven fabric
• Loom allowance: The length of warp which cannot be woven into cloth because it is used for tie-ins, warp spreading and shed making. This length, which differs with the type of loom and the habits of the weaver, must be added to any yardage calculation in planning a warp
• Loom cord: A strong, braided cord, usually especially treated for additional strength and friction resistance, which is used in making treadle lamm tie-ups and also for hanging harnesses. The best loom cord is linen
• Loom waste: The amount or length of warp which necessarily cannot go into the fabric because it is used in tie-ins and in shed-making. The tie-up waste is variable, according to the habits of the weaver and the number of times the cloth is cut off the loom during the weaving of a single warp. The shed making waste may be considered as the distance from the back of the last threaded harness to the front of the reed in the beater's resting position, plus 8 inches
• Loop mohair: Yarn made of loops of mohair usually bound together with a fine two-ply thread
• Low quarter: Third-to-lowest category in the blood system of grading wool
• Low wheel: Same as flyer wheel; as opposed to high wheel
• Luster: shine
• Luster wools: Also known as Leicester wools. Wools from a variety of sheep breeds other than merino. The wools are long staple, 1 to 12 inches, with strong light relection and are used for tweeds

M

• M's and O's: One of the balanced, texture contrast, linen weaves. The threading is based on contrasting arrangments of odds and evens, odds and odds, and evens and evens, so a true tabby cannot be produced
• Madder: An ancient and very fast red dyestuff from the roots of the plant of the same name
• Maidens: The vertical members that hold the flyer assembly on a flyer wheel
• Maori weave: A textile technique characteristic of the Philippine Maoris. It is a twining technique, with two or more weft strands used simultaneously, worked on an untensioned, hanging warp with no shedding mechanism
• Marche: English, Scotch, and Scandinavian term for lamm
• McMorran Yarn Balance: a simple balance used to help determine the yards per pound of your handspun fiber
• Medium wool: One of four categories of breeds of sheep, the fleeces of which have medium-coarse fibers
• Medulla: The central core of air present in coarse wool fibers and hair fibers
• Mercerized cotton: Cotton fiber that has been treated under tension with caustic alkali, resulting in a shiny surface and greater strength
• Merino: A breed of sheep developed in Spain and yielding the very finest wool of any sheep
• Metallic threads: Threads made of metals
• Meter: A unit of length in the metric system, equal to 39.37 inches
• Micron Count: One of three wool grading systems. Micron count is based on the average fiber diameter. The smaller the number, the finer/softer the fiber
• Mohair: The long, silky fiber from the coat of the Angora goat
• Mordant: Chemicals, usually acids or metallic salts, which combine with dyes on fibers to make more or less insoluble compounds
• Mother-of-all: The horizontal member into which the maidens are set on a flyer wheel
• Multiple harness loom: Literally would mean a loom with more than one harness. In actual usage, means a loom with more than 4 harness
• Musk ox: Animal of the arctic regions of North America from which comes the extremely fine fiber called quivit

N

• Nap: Surface of a fabric formed by fibers standing at an angle to the plane of the fabric
• Napped cloth: A cloth on which a nap has been raised
• Natural dyes: Dyes from natural sources (animal, vegetable, or mineral) as opposed to synthetic dyes
• Naturals: Colors of fibers that are in their natural undyed state
• Navajo loom: A stick loom suspended in a rigid vertical frame, used by the Navajo Indians
• Navajo rug: The weft-face rug or blanket, usually of tapestry design, woven by Navajos on a Navajo loom, and characterized by selvedge on all four sides
• Navajo saddle-blanket weave: The 4 harness, 3 color rotation weave which is older and more characteristic of the Navajos than the tapestry, but rarer. Diamon patterns are used and the weaving is done on primitive looms with heddle sticks
• Navajo selvedge: The characteristic twisted cord edge formed around the continuous warp at the top and bottom edges of the weaving
• Navajo sheep: A breed of sheep raised mainly on the reservation; has coarse-fibered fleece with little wool grease
• Navajo spindle: The hand spindle used by Navajos and Hopis for handspinning wool, characterized by its large size, which necessitates rolling the shaft on the thigh to make it spin
• Netting shuttle: A small wooden or plastic flat shuttle, pointed at one end and concave at the other, with a long tongue in the center for winding yarn. It is intended for knotted net making but some weavers like to use it in pick-up weaves
• Niddy noddy: A two-ended T frame, with top and bottom Ts at right angles to each other, on which yarn is wound from a spinning wheel or spindle to make a skein
• Noils: The short fibers that are removed from the long fibers in the combing of wool for worsted spinning
• Nostepinne: A short baton used for winding center pull balls
• Novelty yarn: A ply yarn in which the arrangement of the component parts is uneven in regular cycles, producing simple or fancy patterns in the yarn
• Nub yarn: A ply yarn in which at regular intervals one yarn is twisted many times around the other to make a bunch. The bunch may be small or large. A second twisting operation is required, in which the binder yarn is twisted in the opposite direction to hold the bunches in place
• Numerical count system: A system of grading the fineness of wool fibers according to numbers, which represent the number of hanks of yarn, each 560 yards long, that can be spun from one pound of wool. Numbers range from 30s to SOs, which is the very finest Merino
• Nylon: The name of a large group of synthetic fibers of protein-like structure, noted for extreme toughness, strength and elasticity. The nylons wash easily, dry quickly, and are resistant to mildew and insects

O

• Odds-and-evens: The progression of the twill threading, tie-up and treadling in which an odd numbered harness is always followed by an even numbered one, odds and evens combine in forming blocks or flats, and in treadle-lamm tie ups. All twill derivative weaves follow the odds and evens sytem, as well as twills
• Oriental rugs: One piece, hand tied, knotted pile rugs. There are 6 types of oriental rugs, differing in place of production, type of knot, depth of pile, and type of color and design, but the history of oriental carpet is so long and confused and sujected to so many influences that even experts have difficulty in making identifications
• Orion: A synthetic acrylic fiber which is warm, soft, resiliant, insensitive to moisture and has good wrinkle recovery
• Overshot: A technique which is one of the twill derivative weaves and therefore has the basic characteristics of the 4 harness twill, but is interpreted to form 4-block patterns of great variety. Classically, the patterns have single color wool pattern weft on a white or natural background of cotton or linen
• Oxford cloth: A cotton fabric woven in 2-2 basket weave

P

• Paddle: A small, handled board containing holes through which threads are drawn so that several threads may be wound on a warping board or mill at the same time. The best paddles have holes and slots alternated, to facilitate making the cross
• Paper quill: Piece of paper rolled onto a bobbin winder shaft and around which yarn can be wound to use in a boat shuttle
• Pattern: A form, shape or outline. Anything designed as a guide or model for making something. In the classification of weaves, a pattern is the lowest or last division as it is a specific arrangement of design elements in one of any techniques. Also, pattern is one of the basic qualities of a textile design, the other being texture and color
• Pattern weave: Although pattern of some kind, even though merely the design made by a simple thread arrangement, is present in all textiles, the weaves which emphasize pattern and permit wide variety of pattern elaboration, particularly symmetrical patterns of bold design, are often called pattern weaves
• Pattern weft: see secondary weft
• Pawl: The lever that fits into the teeth of a ratchet to stop the ratchet from turning backward
• Perle cotton: A soft spun, high gloss, mercerized cotton thread or yarn
• Philadelphia system: The cut system of yarn count number for woolens in which 1-cut is 300 yards
• Pick: A term for weft shot. Comes from the designers practice of picking the weft, thread-by-thread, from the warp to determine the arrangement
• Pick-up: A technique of picking up by hand certain warp threads other than those lifted by the heddles, to form patterns in weaving
• Pick-up stick: A sharp-pointed stick for picking up warp threads
• Picker: a device to pick or open locks of wool
• P.P.I.: Abbreviation for "picks per inch". The number of weft threads in an inch.
• Piece-dyeing: The dyeing of a textile after it has been woven instead of dyeing the yarn before weaving
• Pile: The surface of a fabric formed by threads protruding more or less perpendicularly from the fabric
• Pine tree: A characteristic conventionalized design used on multiple harness Colonial summer and winter, or double weave coverlets as a border
• Pitch: the number of rows of tines on combs
• Plaid: A design formed by bands of weft colors crossing bands of warp colors
• Plain warp beam: A warp beam which has no dividing pegs, on which the entire warp width is beamed in a single process
• Plain weave: The simplest type of weave, in which the weft alternates going over and under the warp threads
• Plaiting: Intertwining threads that hang parallel
• Ply: Refers to the number of single spun yarn elements twisted together to form a heavier and stronger yarn, called a plied yarn
• Point twill: A twill weave in which the threading sequence is reversed at intervals so that the diagonals meet to form points
• Polychrome: Literally, multicolored. The weaving method of entering two or more colors, each in a different pattern block area, through weaving with all of the colors simultaneously. A structural weave rather than tapestry
• Poke shuttle: Same as stick shuttle
• Potassium aluminum sulfate: The metallic salt more commonly known as "alum," which is used as a mordant in natural dyeing
• Potassium dichromate: The metallic salt more commonly known as "chrome," which is used as a mordant in natural dyeing
• Primary color: A pure color that cannot be produced by mixing other colors together. In dyeing and painting, red, yellow, and blue are considered primaries
• Primitive loom: A hand loom made of sticks or bars and usually requiring the hand manipulation of heddles
• Profile draft: A short form draft which may be used for the class of weaves known as the unit weaves, in which each square on the draft represents a static group or unit of threads rather than a single thread. Only harnesses which control pattern blocks are indicated on a profile draft; harnesses which control bound weave or tie-downs only are omitted
• Pulled wool: Wool fleece that has been pulled by the roots from a dead sheep.
• Pulley: Small wheel over which pass the cords that support the heddle shafts so that the shafts can be pulled up or down. See also Bobbin pulley and Spindle pulley

Q

• Quarter: One of the grades of wool in the blood system of grading
• Quill: A bobbin with one pointed end off which the yarn unwinds
• Quilting: A double weave technique by which one or more threads on each surface are interchanged at regular intervals to hold the two surfaces together
• Quivit: The fiber from the downy undercoat of the Ovibos moschatus, more commonly known as the Musk Ox

R

• Race: A shelf, about 1 1/2 inches wide, on the front of the beater just under the reed, on which the shuttle travels through the shed
• Raddle: A comblike tool that is clamped onto the back beam to aid is dressing the loom during the beaming process to keep the warp threads evenly spaced
• Raffia: The fiber from the raffia palm, used for novelty effects in weaving
• Rag shuttle: A large stick shuttle consisting of two pointed side pieces joined together by two bars around which rags or heavy weft threads are wound
• Rambouillet: A fine-wool breed of sheep, one step down from the Merino, approximately 62s to 70s in the numerical count system
• Ramie: A spinable fiber from an Asian nettle. A heat-resistant vegetable fiber, very white and silky
• Ratchet: A circular gear-like device, used with a pawl, on the cloth and warp beams of treadle looms to allow them to turn in only one direction
• Raw silk: Silk in its natural state, which still contains 20% to 30% gums. It is harsh and stiff, but is used in some special fabrics. Silk noil yarn is often miscalled raw silk
• Raw wool: Wool that has been shorn from the sheep, not carded or spun
• Rayon: a wide range of regenerated fibers made from modified cellulose, usually wood pulp
• Reed: The comb-like device on a loom through which warp threads are threaded to keep them properly spaced during the weaving, and which acts as a comb for beating in the weft
• Reed hook: A flat hook for drawing warp threads through the reed
• Reed marks: Marks left in a finished fabric by the reed. Usually disappear in washing or steaming unless too many ends per dent have been sleyed, or the reed is faulty
• Reel: A turning frame on which warp is wound for chaining. Also called warping mill
• Rep: A fabric in which the warp completely covers the weft, or the weft completely covers the warp. A ribbed texture formed in either warp or weft-face fabric in which the invisible threads are larger than the visible threads
• Repair heddle: A heddle an be added to the heddle shaft in between other heddles to replace a broken one and enclose the warp thread
• Repeat: One complete drafted or threaded pattern of the type which is reporduced twice or more across a warp. For instance, the threads 1,2,3,4 make a twill repeat
• Resiliency: The property of recoiling or rebounding, similar to elasticity, found in some fibers, chiefly wool and nylon. Resiliant fibers do not crease easily
• Rett: damp/wet treatment of bundles of flax, separating the fiber from the stem material
• Return: The part of a pattern or a draft which is the mirror image of the preceding part; that is the second part, which repeats the first part in reverse
• Reverse: The reverse in the direction of a draft or a pattern. This may or may not be the same as a return, as a reverse does not necessarily produce a symmetrical arrangement but may simply be part of a design elaboration
• Rhythm: Measured motion. In handweaving usually refers to the correct way of weaving, with unbroken,continuous motions
• Rigid heddle: A combination reed and heddle with eyes in every other tooth for the threading of alternate warp threads; by pushing the rigid heddle down or up one forms alternate sheds
• Rippling: The process of separating flax seeds from the stocks
• Rising shed: The shed formed when a treadle is pressed and the corresponding heddle shafts are raised; as opposed to sinking shed
• Rolag: The roll of carded wool that is the result of rolling a mass of fibers when they come off the hand cards
• Rolled hem: A type of hem in sewing where the fabric is rolled under and sewn in that position with a slip stitch
• Rollers: The cylindrical bars on a counterbalanced loom from which the heddle shafts are hung, and which provide the pulley action for the shafts
• Roller shuttle: A Swedish type of boat shuttle which has small wooden rollers on the under side to facilitate its progress through the shed
• Romeldale: A crossbreed sheep yielding wool approximately 58s to 60s in the numerical count system
• Romney: A long-wool breed of sheep; 40s to 48s in the numerical count system
• Rope machine: A wooden device that twists yarns into a rope
• Rose: One of the basic figures which make up overshot patterns. The reverse of a star, and can be woven on a star threading
• Rough sleying: Sleying groups of threads rather than single threads when using the reed as a spreader
• Roving: The continuous rope of loosely twisted fibers prepared for spinning
• Rug fork: Same as rug beater
• Rug shuttle: A large stick shuttle that will hold a good quantity of heavy-weight yarn for rug weaving
• Run: The Boston system of measuring woolen yarn, based on 1 pound of size 1 yarn having 1600 yards
• Rya: A Scandinavian weave structure in which short length of yarn are tied around pairs of warp threads to for a pile fabric, these being secured by a structural wefts

S

• S twist: Diagonals can be characterized by the direction of the slant and whether it matches the slant in the letter S or the letter Z. "S" means the diagonal goes up to the left
• Saddle blanket: Coarse wool blanket, very firmly woven, usually 30 X 60 inches in size, which is placed on a horse's back under the saddle. A weft rep is the often used
• Safflower: An important Old World dyestuff made from the plant of the same name; the yellow can be rinsed from it in a special process
• Saffron: Dyestuff collected from the pistils of the autumn crocus
• Sample: A small piece or mode of a fabric
• Sampler: A long piece of fabric woven with bands in different weave interpretations to determine the potentialities of a threading or the most suitable pattern. Sometimes incorrectly refer to as a gamp
• Sampling: The process of making samples. A step in textile designing
• Sassafras: An aromatic root bark that yields a pinkish-beige color in natural dyeing
• Satin: One of the basic weave structures, in which the weft floats over the top of groups of warp threads, forming a very smooth weft-face surface on the top side of the fabric
• Saxony yarn: The highest grade Merino wool yarn
• Scales: The overlapping surface structure of wool fibers - so called because under a microscope they look like fish scales
• Scorch: The burning of a fiber without the presence of flame
• Scouring: The process of removing the lanolin (grease), dirt and impurities from raw wool by washing soap and water
• Second cuts: Short fibers in a fleece that are the result of shearing the fibers twice in the same area
• Secondary colors: The colors (orange, green, and purple) that are produced by mixing primary colors
• Secondary weft: A term often applied to the pattern weft of a 2 shuttle weave in which the primary weft weaves the base or ground fabric and the secondary weft forms the pattern
• Section: One of the divisions in a sectional warping beam, usually measures 1 or 2 inches wide from center to center of the dividing pegs
• Sectional beam: A warp beam, varying in circumference, on which the warp is wound in sections in what is called bouts
• Sectional warping: A warping method in which sections of warp one or two inches wide are wound onto the warp beam one at a time. This requires as many spools as there are warp ends for each section
• Seersucker: A weave structure in which alternate groups of warp threads are of less tension than the rest; this forms puckers in the warp
• Seine twine: A heavy, 3 ply cord with a Z-S-Z twist. Used mainly for making fish net
• Selvedge (selvage, selfedge): The woven edge of a fabric
• Semi: The second classification in the grading of the condition of wool fleece
• Serape: Mexican blanket, usually of weft-face stripes and tapestry design
• Sett: Number of warp ends per inch (e.p.i.)
• Sericulture: Term for the process of raising silkworms and producing silk yarn from their cocoons
• Shadow weave: A multiple-harness weave based on the 2 harness log cabin technique, introduced to weavers by Mary Atwater
• Shaft: Same as harness
• Shed: The opening created when you pull some warp threads up and some down. Different types of looms create sheds with different methods.
• Shed stick: The stick that permanently separates alternate warp threads on the primitive looms
• Shot: The single passage of a weft thread through the shed
• Shrinkage: Loss of weight in fleece due to the removal of the yolk and foreign matter
• Shropshire: A medium-wool breed of sheep, approximately 48s to 56s in the numerical count system
• Shuttle: Any contrivance on which yarn is packaged in order to facilitate its passage through a shed
• Shuttle race: The lower horizontal member of the beater on a treadle loom, which supports the reed and on which the lower warp threads of the shed restSilk: A continuous protein filament secreted by certain larvae in order to make their cocoons
  • Bombyx mori: is the variety most commonly cultivated, as it produces especially fine, lustrous, white fibers
  • Tussah: is a variety of silk derived from a species of wild silkworm; the texture of the silk is rougher, the color is tan to brown, and the silk dyes less easily than commercial silk
• Singles: Thread that is a single ply
• Sinking shed: The shed formed when a treadle is pressed and the corresponding heddle shafts are lowered; as opposed to rising shed
• Sizing: A starchy solution into which yarn can be dipped to protect it during the weaving process
• Skein: A continuous length of yarn wound into a circle or other form
• Skein winder: A tool for winding skeins of yarn
• Skeleton tie-up: The tie-up in which each treadle is tied to only one shaft (or harness). If there are two extra treadles on the loom, each of these can be tied to two shafts to form a tabby shed, and the tie-up is still considered "skeleton."
• Skirt: Remove the short, dirty fibers from around the edges of a fleece
• Ski shuttle: A stick shuttle shaped like a ski, with two turnedup ends and a cleat in the center on which the yarn is wound
• Sley: The spacing of the warp threads in reed. A verb used to describe the process of pulling the warp threads through the reed.
• Sleying hook: Same as reed hook
• Slip stitch: A sewing stitch that is more or less invisible and used mainly for hemming
• Sliver: Industrial term for wool carded and ready for spinning woolen yarn
• Snitch knot: A knot to join two ropes together, used in the tie-up
• Sodium hydrosulfite: Chemical used to remove the oxygen from the indigotin in making the indigo vat
• Sodium hydroxide: Chemical used to dissolve the indigo white in the process of making the indigo vat; commonly called caustic soda
• Soumak: A weave structure in which the weft winds around warp threads instead of passing over and under them
• Southdown: A medium-wool breed of sheep; approximately 56s to 60s in the numerical count system
• Spelsau: A Norwegian breed of sheep yielding long, lustrous, fairly coarse wool
• Spindle: A slender rod which is rotated in order to twist fibers into yarn. A drop spindle has a weight at one end to improve its rotation
• Spindle pulley: On a spinning wheel the grooved circumference at the base of the spindle around which the drive band passes
• Spindle whorl: The disk or sphere on a hand spindle that provides the weight for momentum needed to keep the spindle spinning
• Spinning: twisting of fiber to make thread/yarn
• Spinning oil: Oil (usually vegetable, mineral, or neatsfoot) used to ease the slippage of fibers in carding and spinning
• Spinning wheels: A wheel-driven spindle for spinning yarn
  • Charka wheel: First type of spinning wheel, developed in India c. 750 A.D. in which a the spindle was attached to a frame and rotated by means of a wheel with a handle
  • Great wheel or Jersey wheel: European version of the Charka wheel; larger in size, and operated while standing
  • Saxony wheel: A spinning wheel design in which the flyer, bobbin, and spindle are positioned slightly higher than the axle of the wheel, requiring a diagonal base
• Splicing: Joining wefts by overlapping
• Spool rack: Rack for holding spools of yarn for unwinding. See also Creel
• Spools: See Warping spools
• Sprang: A braiding or plaiting technique in which the ends of the threads are held in a fixed position and progressive twists are held in place by temporary rods
• Spreader: Same as raddle
• Square knot: A knot used to join two ends in which the looped ends interlock with each other
• Squirrel cage: A swift that is a vertical stand with two freeturning and adjustable cylindrical cages around which the skein is placed
• Standard tie-up: The tie-up in which each treadle is tied to all the shafts that must be raised or lowered for each particular shed
• Stannous chloride: The metallic salt (commonly known as tin) that is used as a mordant in natural dyeing
• Staple: The length of unstretched wool fiber
• Stick loom: A primitive loom on which the warp is simply wound around two sticks, and the sheds are formed by a shed stick and heddle stick
• Stick shed: The shed formed by the shed stick
• Stick shuttle: A flat stick around which weft yarn is wound
• Stretcher: A tool used to hold the fabric out to its full width during the weaving process; same as temple
• Strike: The penetration of dye into the fiber : A string heddle tied in place after a threading is completed to correct a threading error
• Structural weave: A weave in which the pattern or texture is formed by the weft's passing through a variety of sheds from edge to edge of the weaving; as opposed to controlled weaves
• Structural weft: A weft that forms the structure of the fabric as opposed to an additional decorative weft
• S twist: Term used to describe the twist in yarn spun on a spindle that spins counterclockwise
• Suffolk: A medium-wool breed of sheep; approximately 48s to 56s in the numerical count system
• Sulfuric acid: A very corrosive acid used to make the acid dyebath in synthetic dyeing when using acid dyes
• Staple: One length of fiber from tip to end
• Swift: A tool for holding different-size skeins of yarn for unwinding
• Sword: The vertical side members of the beater on a treadle loom; or same as a batten for stick looms
• Synthetic dyes: Synthetic organic compounds formally derived entirely from coal tar, and originally called "aniline" dyes because they were specifically derived from aniline

T

• Tabby: A balanced plain weave; or can refer to a plainweave shed
• Table loom: A miniature version of the treadle loom but with hand levers for operatingthe shafts rather than treadles
• Tablet weaving: Same as card weaving
• Takeup: The extra length that is "taken up" by the undulation of the yarn over and under threads
• Tapestry: A weft-face weave structure in which the pattern is formed by different-colored wefts woven back and forth just in their color area
• Tapestry bobbin: A bobbin with one pointed end for inserting wefts in tapestry weaving
• Tapestry fork: A fork-shaped beater used in tapestry weaving
• Tapestry frame: A four-sided frame on which a warp is stretched for tapestry weaving; string heddles are operated by hand
• Tapestry loom: Any loom designed specifically for weaving tapestry; can be treadle operated
• Tapestry yarn: Usually a medium-fine two-ply long- and lustrous-fibered yarn
• Targhee: A crossbreed sheep yielding wool approximately 58s to 60s in the numerical count system
• Tease: To pull apart fibers by hand in preparation for carding or spinning; same as pick
• Temple: Same as stretcher
• Tender wool: Term used in the industry to describe wool that breaks easily
• Tension box: A box through which warp threads can pass over dowels to provide even tension for each thread; used in sectional warping
• Tertiary colors: Colors made by mixing secondary and primary colors
• Thread count: a sum of the warp threads plus the weft threads in one square inch. EPI + PPI = Thread Count Per Inch. Same as yarn count
• Threading: Drawing the warp threads through eyes of heddles and dents of reed
• Threading hook: Hook used for threading the warp through the heddles and reed
• Three-eighths: Third category in the blood system of grading wool
• Thrums: is loom waste, the left over ends at the finish of a weaving that results when finished piece is cut off
• Ti-dye: A dyeing technique in which fabric, yarn, or fiber is tied tightly in certain areas so that dye cannot penetrate
• Tie-up: The arrangement of ties made between treadles and heddle shafts. See also Skeleton tie-up and Standard tie-up
• Tin: Short for stannous chloride, a mordant
• Tippy wool: Term used in the industry to describe brittle, dry tips in wool fleece
• T.O.A.D.: Tossed Object Abandoned in Disgust
• Top: A continuous coil of combed fibers. When pulled apart it forms a squared end. This is best quality
• Top-dyeing: Dyeing a color over already-dyed wool
• Tow cards: Hand cards for preparing flax, hemp, or jute for spinning; distinguished from wool cards by the heavier wire brushes; good for carding coarse wools and hairs
• Treadle loom: A loom that uses treadles to operate the heddle shafts
• Treadles: The pivoted levers at the base of the loom, which operate the heddle shafts
• Tubular weaving: Weaving two layers of fabric at a time, with a fold at both edges; the weft follows a circular route as it alternates from upper to lower layer
• Tufting: Term used for a Navajo technique in which tufts of wool or hair are laid in behind two warp threads with ends protruding
• Turkey red: A dye derived from madder by a complicated process; the brightest and most lasting color from madder especially for cotton dyeing
• Turkish spindle: A hand spindle used in Turkey, which has two removable bars for the whorl
• Twice woven: A pile weave made of chenille (usually handwoven chenille) so that the fabric loosely resembles flossa. Used for an excellent type of rug. Also called false flossa
• Twill: A weave structure characterized by diagonal lines formed by the shed sequence moving over one warp thread after each shot of weft
• Twined warp: Warps twisting around weft threads, as in gauze and card weaving
• Twined weft: A double weft strand that is twisted around the warp threads; a technique of weaving used since the very beginning of weaving history
• Twining: The twisting of warp or weft threads in the process of weaving
• Twist: Term for the procedure essential to the spinning of yarn from fibers. Twist may be "s" or "z". Certain fibers spin better in one direction because of their own natural twist; Flax spins tighter in "s" direction and Cotton spins tighter in "z" direction. Wool spins equally well in either direction. Direction of spin may also be a cultural habit of the spinner that can aid in the identification of historic textiles

U

• Umbrella rib: One of the metal ribs of an umbrella that has an eye; used by Navajo weavers as a large needle for inserting the weft toward the end of the weaving
• Umbrella swift: A swift made of ribs that unfold somewhat like an umbrella to accommodate different-size skeins of yarn
• Up shed: The shed on an inkle loom formed by pushing unheddled warp threads up; as opposed to the down shed

V

• Value: Term used by color theorist Albert Munsell to describe the property of light and dark in colors
• Variegated yarn: Yarn that varies in color
• Vat dyes: Dyes that are applied to fiber by the vat method. See also Indigo vat
• Vegetable dyes: Dyes from plant sources
• Virgin wool: Wool fiber converted into yarn or fabric for the first time

W

• Wale: Parallel lines that appear when a weaving pattern is repeated. For twills, the wale is a set of diagonal lines which are very apparent if the warp and weft are two different colors. For corduroy, the wales are the "bumps" in the fabric.
• Walking wheel: Same as high wheel, so called because the spinner steps back and forth as he or she spins
• Warp: The group of parallel threads that are held in tension during the weaving process
• Warp beam: The horizontal roller at the back of the treadle loom on which the warp is wound
• Warp beam rod: The rod at the end of the apron or other extension on the warp beam to which the warp ends are attached
• Warp-face: Describing any flat-weave structure in which the warp threads form the surface of the fabric and the weft is more or less invisible; as opposed to weft-face
• Warping board: A board or frame with pegs on which a warp is wound to measure out the length
• Warping frame: Same as warping board; or the temporary construction of horizontal bars sometimes used in warping for primitive looms
• Warping mill, horizontal: The framework drum that turns on a horizontal axis, on which a warp is wound in preparation for winding directly onto the warp beam
• Warping mill, vertical: The framework drum that turns on a vertical axis, on which a warp is wound in preparation for making a chained warp
• Warping paddle: A small hand paddle with numerous holes for threading warp threads to keep them in sequence as they are wound onto a frame or mill and for making the cross
• Warping reel: Same as warping mill
• Warping spools: The large cardboard, wooden, or plastic spools onto which skeins of warp yarn can be wound in preparation for winding a warp onto a warping board or onto a sectional warp beam
• Warp-weighted loom: A loom in which warp tension is achieved by hanging heavy weights on the ends of vertically hung warp threads
• Weave: To form, with threads of any kind, into cloth, by interlacing threads, in such a manner as to form a texture
• Weaver's knot: A knot used by weavers to join two ends with a minimum-size knot so that it can easily pass through the heddles and reed
• Weaving: The act of one who, or that which, weaves; the act or art of forming cloth in a loom by the union or intertexture of threads.
• Web: The woven fabric. Or same as batt
• Wedge weaving: A Navajo weaving technique in which diagonal patterns are formed by weaving the weft in on a diagonal; this weft "pulls" the warp out of its vertical alignment and makes the edge "scallop," so it is also called "pulled warp" or "scalloped" weaving
• Weft: The independent thread woven across the warp threads in such a way as to join them together to make a fabric; also called "filling", or "woof."
• Weft-face: Describing any flat-weave structure in which the weft threads form the surface of the fabric and the warp is more or less invisible; as opposed to warp-face
• Weld: A dye plant that yields one of the best and fastest yellows
• Whorl: See Spindle whorl
• Winding the warp: Measuring out all the warp threads to a certain length by winding them around pegs or bars a certain distance apart
• Woad: A dye plant that contains indigotin, but in smaller amounts than the indigo plant
• Woof: Same as weft, but the word is more or less obsolete
• Wool: Usually refers to the fine, soft, scaly fibers covering the skin of sheep, although it may occasionally be used as well to refer to the hair of the Angora goat (Mohair), the Cashmere goat, the Camel, and the Alpaca, or Vicuna (animals of the Andean plateau).
• Wool cards: Hand cards with rather fine teeth for carding wool
• Woolen: Yarn made from rolags of carded wool; or wool fibers that lie in all different directions
• Wool grease: The fatty substance, actually a wax, that is secreted from the sebaceous glands of the sheep, and from which the commercial product lanolin is made
• Worsted: Yarn made from the longest fibers of the fleece that have all been combed parallel to each other
• Wraps per inch (W.P.I.): The number of wraps of yarn one can do in one inch around a ruler. It can be varied by whether you pack the yarn in tight or wrap loosely, but gives a rough estimate of how thick the yarn is and how close you will want your sett to be.

Y

• Yak hair: Fiber from the coat of a wild ox of the same name from the Tibetan highlands
• Yardage: Fabric by the yard
• Yarn: Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibers, suitable for use in the production of textiles, sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving and ropemaking. Very thin yarn is referred to as thread.
• Yarn Count: The size of thread as given in numbers, based on the size thread that can be spun a certain length out of a pound of fiber; sameas thread count
• Yucca root: Root of a plant growing in the warmer regions of the U.S.; has saponific (sudsing) qualities; good for washing wool and hair

Z

• Z twist: Diagonals can be characterized by the direction of the slant and whether it matches the slant in the letter S or the letter Z. "Z" means the diagonal goes up to the right or clockwise.

 

 

 

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