Idling Packs

For the beginning of 2026, Tablet Weaving Draft Designer has an exciting new capability: Idling Packs! When a group (or pack) of tablets is intentionally left unturned and other tablets are turned, the idled tablets' threads will float over or under the weft (depending on their position in the tablet) instead of twisting around it.

Under "Show grid" in the Display section of the Control Panel, you will now find a new tick box labelled "Show idling". When this is enabled, it adds a row of letters below the threading diagram. The default is "T" (twining), which causes the threads to behave in the same way as before, and it can be cycled between that and "O" (odd) and "E" (even). The draft used as the example on this page is called Lattice which a free draft from this site.

Setting a tablet to O will cause it to only turn on odd numbered picks/rows when turning forward and setting it to E will cause it to only turn on even numbered picks when turning forward. When a tablet is turned on a pick, there will be the usual slanted oval in that box of the turning diagram, but when it is idled, there will be a new symbol: a vertical oval. For the first pick of the draft, only the boxes representing twining tablets and those turning on odd rows will have a symbol in them to make it clear to see that the even group are not turning. It is helpful to separate the tablets into an E pack and an O pack (and a T pack if you're using one) so you can turn all the tablets from that pack together. If you aren't using twining selvedges, always pass the weft from the side of the band whose outermost tablet has just turned. If your draft has an odd number of tablets, you will need to asign the final tablet to the E pack.

In the text version of the draft, this idling is represented with "I" rather than the usual "F" (forward turn) or "B" (backward turn). 

To change your turning direction and weave out twist behind the tablets, turn the next pack of tablets forward as before, then pass the weft through the shed and turn THE SAME pack backward and pass the weft again. For the next pick, turn the other pack of tablets backward and resume alternating your turning between the packs as before. Tablets in pack O will now turn on even picks and tablets in pack E will turn on odd picks. Tablets marked T continue turning on every pick as usual. To prevent the weft from pulling through the threads of the outermost tablets after the direction change, either switch those tablets to the other pack or cut your weft and pass it throught the shed in the opposite direction to before.