GLOSSARY OF WEAVING TERMS

CARDING: A process similar to combing, in which the wool fibres are aligned. Wool can be both hand carded or machine carded.

HOOKING: Weavers at Musqueam use the hooking technique to bridge between two colour sections and to thread loose yarn ends into the weaving.

GRAPHING DESIGNS: Many weavers begin their designs on graph paper as a way to both visualize the design and create a pattern which can easily be transferred onto the loom. Some weavers graph their design after the weaving is completed, thereby leaving a record for future reference.

LOOM: A frame around which the warp yarns are stretched so that the weft threads can be interlaced through them at right angles. Salish weaving uses a two-bar loom which can be set up using a third "floating" bar, or warped up using just the top and bottom bar.

MORDANT: A chemical, usually a metallic salt, which when combined with a dye fixes the colour in the yarn.

PLY: The twisting together of two or more strands of yarn; e.g., two threads plied or twisted together constitute two-ply. Warping on Salish weavings is often two or three-ply wool.

ROVING: A loose rope of parallel fibres, slightly twisted to hold them together before spinning. Weavers at Musqueam often rove by rolling the rope of loose wool along their thighs; sometimes this is called thigh spining. However, wool still requires spinning on a wheel.

TENSION: The weaver must constantly be attentive to the tension of the weft on the loom. If it is too tight, the design will start to lose its shape and the edges of the weaving begin to pull in. If it is too loose, the weaving can stretch and distort the design.

SHOCKING WOOL: Wool once spun is placed first into boiling water and then quickly into cold water to shock the fibres of the wool. This process makes the fibres hold together more firmly.

SPIN: The direction in which a fibre is spun resulting in an "S" or "Z", according to whether it is twisted in right-hand or left-hand direction. The act of spinning the wool holds the fibres together creating thread or yarn.

SPINDLE WHORL: A device for twisting fibres together into one continuous strand or thread. The Salish spindle consist of two parts: a slender shaft of oceanspray (Holodiscus discolor) wood about a meter long, and a disc-shaped weight or whorl of wood, bone, or stone with a central hole through which the shaft is inserted. Most of the weavers at Musqueam now use a spinning wheel to spin. They control the spinning through their hands and a foot pedal.

TABBY: Sometimes called plain weave, the weft is threaded over the warp and under the next.

TWINNING: A type of finger weaving using two weft threads which are not only successively placed over and under the warps, but also twisted over and under each other as the weaving progresses.

TWILL: A weave where the weft is threaded over two warps and under one, creating a diagonal pattern.

WARP: The webbing of yarn placed on the loom before weaving.

WEFT: The yarn woven at right angles over and under the warp threads.