Speckled Pickup (Baltic Pickup) on the Inkle Loom
With Annie MacHale
Speckled pickup is a simple technique to learn, but has vast possibilities for creating exciting patterns on a woven band.
It is used in many countries and cultures and, therefore, goes by many names. Some common ones are: Baltic, Sami, and Supplementary Warp.
We will look at examples to learn the many variations that are possible using the Speckled pickup technique, explore simple pickup patterns as well as pick and drop patterns, and learn to read and create charts for the designs. Students will set up their looms and weave a sampler of patterns.
Annie will share tips for warping, making heddles, fixing mistakes, starting and stopping, and keeping selvages straight. She will also demonstrate how to temporarily remove and replace the warp, as well as how to cut the final project off the loom and handle it when it is complete.
As time and student interest allow, we can also explore a free online tool for creating patterns. This workshop is for students with inkle weaving experience. Students must be proficient at warping the inkle loom and be comfortable doing plain weave.
- Skill level All
- Age appropriate 14+ (minors must have a parent on site)
- Materials $5
- Students should bring:
-Inkle loom (preferably an open-sided standard loom. If you have a loom with warp and cloth beams, contact the Instructor before class to discuss).
-30 heddles which fit your loom’s requirements (either string or Texsolv). If you are not sure about heddle length, please watch this video and find the right size before class: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJMobaaocT8
-Sharp scissors
-Stick or belt shuttle (suggested length 6-8”)
-Note-taking materials (paper + pen, OR students can take pictures if they prefer
-Cotton yarn in balls, cones, or easy-pull skeins and ready to use. 3 colors. 2 for the pattern area should have a high value contrast. The 3rd can be any color. Yarns should be 20 wraps per inch or less (e.g., #3 perle/crochet cotton, OR Sport or DK weight for knitting/crochet yarns).
-Optional: Pickup stick, a laptop, or a tablet to use with the free online design program, Raktres (https://www.raktres.net/seizenn/#/inkle)
Instructor
Annie MacHaleAt the age of seventeen, Annie MacHale first discovered the inkle loom, sparking a lifelong love affair. She built her first loom in 1976 with the help of her dad and a library book. Since then, she’s woven miles of bands, including over 1,200 guitar straps. She loves to play with colors and patterns and the inkle loom provides a very satisfying way to do this.
Annie is known to many through her blog, ASpinnerWeaver.com. The popularity of her patterns shared there led to the 2019 publication of a book, “In Celebration of Plain Weave: Color and Design Inspiration for Inkle Weavers”. This was followed by another book in 2021, “Three-Color Pickup for Inkle Weavers: A Modern Look at an Ancient Baltic-Style Technique,” in which she shares a rare, older Lithuanian technique that has fallen out of use. In her workshops she shares her decades of experience as a weaver working exclusively on inkle looms, her unique insight into working with color, and her discovery of three-color pickup.
