The top tool is a threading hook - the red bulbous end is
wooden and the long needle like end is metal with a tiny hook at the very tip.
The needle slides through the eye of the heddle to catch a warp end. I then
slide it back through the heddle and move onto the next warp end. I often tend
to hold the threading hook in my teeth as I quickly adjust heddle’s and warp –
there is something really satisfying about the metallic taste in my mouth
alongside the textured warp yarns in my fingers. The middle tool is called a
shuttle. It is wooden, with rollers along the bottom that enables the shuttle
to glide easily through the weave shed. This is a very tactile object which
makes a really rewarding clunky sound when it is pushed through the shed. The
shuttle holds the weft yarn that is interlaced at right angles with the warp
yarn to create the fabric. The shuttle is a tool that is in constant use during
the hand weaving process it is a very personal object that many weavers often
adapt and personalise to suit their weaving habits and needs. The bottom tool
is an aluminium ‘Fish’ or Reed Hook that has a hook at either end for ease of
use. It is a very light, narrow tool that is slotted through the read dents to
catch the warp and to pull it back through the dent. This Fish is slightly bent
at one end. I think this is down to me being right-handed and threading the
loom from left to right – I must often put pressure on the end of this hook
when pulling it back through the dent this has led to the develop of the slight
curve. Another example of how weaving tools mould to the weaver.
