I'm putting in occasional half-passes and passes of single yarns on top of a pick that's in place... those are being pulled from the gray bundles that are hanging at the top. And they're hanging on a raddle that I've tied to the top of the beater to have handy pegs from which to hang either these yarns or the bobbins as I get them up and out of the way so I can see what's going on.
This Ruthie loom (very similar to the Fireside Traditional Tapestry loom) has a beater that holds a reed through which the warp ends pass. I don't use the beater as such but do like to have the reed for spacing. The mechanism of the beater is such that it has a counter weight at the rear of the loom and so the beater will stay to its highest point easily--which is where I need it as I weave. My cartoon is hanging over a PVC pipe that's tied to the beater.
Tapestry is such a simple weave. Tools like the loom used by the weaver can be very simple, as well. Put a frame loom together, pound in some nails at top and bottom, string thread up and down--and you've got a tapestry loom. Yet the loom can be a bit more complex. Looms that are designed and made by companies specifically for high warp tapestry weaving aren't as numerous as floor looms, however. I happen to have several types made by different companies, a couple that aren't produced anymore. Almost all of my looms were previously owned by one or more people through the years. Each of them have their quirks and I enjoy the way some of them function more than others.
Rebecca Mezoff is writing about tapestry looms at her blog. Here's a link to her initial post about this and she'll be posting more about it all in the future. Follow her interesting and informative adventure in compiling information about tapestry looms!
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