Shuttles
Weavers love their tools - and shuttles are the one tool you can never have too many of. As you can see, I have a wide variety of shuttles. In this blog I will share my favourites and why I love them.
Surf Shuttle
My current absolute favourite shuttles (right now) are new. I know you’ve noticed them in my pictures because you’ve been asking me about them. They are Surf Shuttles and were designed by the Fibre Artist Supply Co. in Ohio. They come in 3 different lengths and are a combination of a boat shuttle and a stick shuttle. I love them because they are super skinny - they are easy to use with pick-up sticks and string heddles - and they have pointy ends. Also, they hold a tonne of weft! (I have all the sizes, I love the 16 and 20” ones best.)
These shuttles do take a little getting used to - what you *think* should be the bottom is actually the part that faces you as you weave. So it looks like the shuttle passes sideways through the shed. That means the pointy ends lead the way…clearing the shed as you go! I’ve found these to be fantastic for weaving double-width projects and projects with smaller sheds - some 2-heddle projects or projects with multiple pick-up sticks in use.
Handy Woman/Glimakra with the curve
I also love my Handy Woman shuttles. I love how they feel in my hand: the weight is just right, and they are so well finished that they just fly through the shed. Again, this is another American-made shuttle. For my Canadian folk, the Glimakra shuttle with the curve looks just the same. I’ve held it in my hand and it also feels lovely! I know that Loom Lust and Tisse et File carry them.
The shuttles are super slim, so they work well with pick-up sticks and string heddles. These shuttles also use pirns.
I confess I don’t really like pirns. I do find them a little more challenging to wind - I would love a manual winder that my pirns fit on, but I want yarn more, so…
Leclerc (top) and Schacht boat shuttles.
If you prefer a more traditional boat shuttle, I like the Schacht open-bottom slim shuttle and the Leclerc slim shuttle. The Schacht has a small upward curve on the ends making it slide though the sheds well. The Leclerc has a closed bottom and therefore a little extra heft - which I really like.
They also use standard 4” bobbins!!! I find it much easier to wind a bobbin than a pirn. And the bobbins fit on my bobbin winder, as well as my drill. (Now that I have the space my bobbin winder is always accessible and the drill is saved for pirns.) You can find these shuttles at any yarn shop that carries weaving supplies.
And again: personal preference, but I do not like the plastic Leclerc boat shuttles. I don’t like how they feel, I don’t like the weight and I don’t think they slide very well. The price is significantly lower for the plastic, but mine sit in a drawer and never get used.
Should you get rid of all your stick shuttles? NO! They certainly have their place and are considerable less expensive than boat shuttles! I like stick shuttles when I am dealing with sticky sheds, and winding my weft double (you can do this on a bobbin or pirn but it takes an extra level of patience) or when I am using lots of different colours. I could have one boat shuttle and switch out the bobbins as needed, but I prefer stick shuttles. I like ones that are smooth, thin and finished. Part of this is purely aesthetics, but also, a smooth shuttle will pass though the shed more easily.
Additionally, if the ends per inch is too high, the warp is a stretchy yarn or the tension can’t be too high, boat shuttles tend to fall through the warp. It’s also much harder to unweave if you have made mistakes with boat shuttles - sometimes it’s better to cut the weft and pretend you are starting a new bobbin!
Shuttles are a very personal thing. I want a shuttle that feels good in my hands, slides through the warp well and isn’t so heavy that it falls through. So if you don’t like one shuttle, don’t write them all off. Try a different one. Your local guild may have shuttles you can try out. If they don’t, maybe you can suggest a shuttle library!
