The four post loom can be modified into a six post arrangement, which allows the weaver to set up two interlocking warps, each with a separate color design. The warp is thus suspended with tension, parallel to the earth, and the weaver sits at one end on the ground and works from there. The warp beams are secured to the posts across the short ends of the rectangle, using woven straps. This selection of warp yarns creates one row of the woven pattern in the textile.
With the appropriate set of warp yarns raised, the weaver then, deftly and with incredible speed, picks up certain warp yarns and lets others drop, using either her fingers or a thin wooden tool. When the weaver lifts up on the heddle stick, the bottom yarns are pulled up above the top yarns, creating a shed. The heddle stick ( illawa in Quechua) is wound with string loops (heddles) that reach down through the top yarns and loop around each of the bottom yarns of the warp. The shed is created using the shed stick (D) and the heddle stick (E).
#Backstrap loom portable
The t’oqoro or shed string (C) helps to keep the yarns of the loom from tangling when this portable loom is set up or taken down, and is also for changing the shed. By moving her body, the weaver can control the amount of tension in the warp yarns throughout the weaving process. The backstrap (I) is fastened to the other warp bar and passes around of the back of the weaver, who usually kneels on the ground to weave. A rope (A), is attached to both ends of one warp bar (B), which is simply a heavy piece of wood the rope is secured to a post or other stationary object. The warp is wound between two warp bars (B and H), one at each end, either singly, for plain areas, or in pairs, in areas of the weaving which will be patterned. The loom is made up of nine core parts, with a certain amount of variation depending on region and the needs of the specific project. The backstrap weaving loom is an elegant tool in its simplicity, effectiveness, and portability. Note that there are very few yarns here, and the heddles are greatly oversized for illustration purposes. Left: A diagram of a simple backstrap loom, based on the wonderful illustration in the book Guatemalan Textiles Today, by Marylyn Anderson, page 52. it is the warp that determines the visible color, structure, and artistic character of the piece. An entirely non-mechanized instrument, it is constructed with wood, bone, and strings, and is easily portable from home to field, wrapped inside the traditional lliqlla or manta (carrying shawl) that every woman wears. In the Andes, traditional Quechua backstrap weaving uses the backstrap loom, the oldest form of loom in the world.
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