A few notes about the Treadle and hints and tips for the Mirrix

A couple of my friends on Ravelry asked me to show them why I love the treadle for my Mirrix loom so much.
(Apart from the fact that my wonderful husband and family bought it for me for Mother’s Day, which automatically pins a rose!)

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

So, I made a video about why the treadle is so great.
Of course, the whole point of having the treadle is to have it open your shed for you without having to reach up to the shedding device to  change sheds by hand.

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

It does this beautifully, which allows you to create a lovely uninterrupted rhythm in your weaving.
Your hands are happily, busily doing their thing at the fell line of the weaving.
Also, if you have a wide loom, like the Joni, and short arms like mine…. then your shoulder is going to go ‘boink’.
The treadle is ergonomic heaven for sore shoulders.
I like to work my treadle with both feet, so I have it set up directly in front of me, parallel to the edge of the table.
I have to have bare feet, as I need to feel exactly where my feet are on the treadle and what they are doing.
Shoes make that impossible for me.
While I am weaving, I sit in an office chair that easily goes up and down.
I raise it as I weave up the warp, and lower it again, after I advance the warp.
A few other handy tips and hints that I have found to make weaving more fun and efficient:

• a magnet on the wing nut is very handy for holding needles and small crochet hooks
• having a pair of thread snips tied to the warp bar or a lease stick is VERY handy
• placing the loom on a piece of plywood that is a couple of inches wider than the loom is a great way to deal with a table that is too narrow for the loom
• lifting the front feet of the loop slightly by placing 1/2 inch/1 cm high blocks under them eases neck and shoulder strain because it tilts the loom back a little more
• I don’t like marking my looms, so I cut measuring tapes to fit the upper and lower beams and attach them with velcro straps.
• Velcro straps (AKA velcro cable ties) are one of the best inventions ever! I use them to connect all kinds of things to my looms without damaging the loom.  So handy!  I bought my velcro cable ties from Lee Valley tools (link)
• If you use velcro cable ties as connectors, be sure to have the fleecy side out, not the loop snaggy side out.
• I think of my Joni with the treadle attached as a floor loom. She’s so big that I don’t want to be moving her around, especially with the treadle in tow.  So, having her permanently living on her own dedicated table works great, especially since I have plastic containers full of yarn sitting under the table.  Good use of space!  Gotta store that stash!  
• I drilled holes in the ends of a dowel, put split rings into the holes, and velcro strapped the dowel to the loom so I could hang the cartoon over the dowel. It works a fair treat!

There… I think that I have covered all the hints and tips in the video….
and without further ado, here is the video about the wonderfulness of the Mirrix treadle.
I think Claudia is a genius to have come up with it. 

Happy Weaving!
:o) Noreen