AVL Looms Little Weaver User manual

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Little Weaver
Revision 2
User’s Manual
Version 1.0
May 9, 2023
AVL Looms
2360 Park Avenue, Chico, CA, USA 95928
Ph. 530-893-4915 | Fax [phone]
www.avllooms.com | [email protected]

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Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................... 1
Getting to Know Your Loom .................................................................................................................................. 2
Loom Diagram ........................................................................................................................................................................ 2
Picking Up Your Loom ......................................................................................................................................................... 2
Folding and Unfolding Your Loom.................................................................................................................................. 3
Power ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Changing Your Reed ............................................................................................................................................................. 4
Tension Release Lever......................................................................................................................................................... 4
Setting Up Your New Loom................................................................................................................................................ 4
Getting Started........................................................................................................................................................... 4
Software .................................................................................................................................................................................... 4
First Time Starting Up Your Loom.................................................................................................................................. 5
USB ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 5
Wi-Fi Direct & LAN........................................................................................................................................................... 5
Opening a Weaving File.................................................................................................................................................. 5
Weaving Action ...................................................................................................................................................................... 6
Advancing the Warp ........................................................................................................................................................ 6
Standby Mode and Shutting Down ................................................................................................................................. 6
Glossary of Terms.................................................................................................................................................................. 7
Learning to Weave ................................................................................................................................................................ 9
Finding or Designing a Pattern.................................................................................................................................... 9
Warping Your Loom ........................................................................................................................................................ 9
Calculating Yarn Usage ......................................................................................................................................................9
Using a Warping Board ...................................................................................................................................................10
Warping Your Beam..........................................................................................................................................................12
Threading, Sleying, and Tying On.............................................................................................................................13
Moving, Removing or Installing Heddles..................................................................................................................13
Threading ..............................................................................................................................................................................14
Sleying.....................................................................................................................................................................................15
Tying-On.................................................................................................................................................................................15
Automatic Warp Tension................................................................................................................................................15

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Weaving..............................................................................................................................................................................16
Winding Shuttles ................................................................................................................................................................16
Begin Weaving.....................................................................................................................................................................16
Advancing the Warp Using Standard Warp Tension..........................................................................................17
Continue Weaving..............................................................................................................................................................17
Finishing Your Woven Fabric.....................................................................................................................................17
Edges........................................................................................................................................................................................17
Washing.................................................................................................................................................................................. 18
Resources ..................................................................................................................................................................19
Books and Print....................................................................................................................................................................19
Online.......................................................................................................................................................................................19
Workshops and Community............................................................................................................................................19
Transporting and/or Shipping Your Loom....................................................................................................19
Troubleshooting .....................................................................................................................................................20
Weaving Issues.....................................................................................................................................................................20

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Introduction
Dear Weaver,
Congratulations on your new Little Weaver!
Your Little Weaver stands on the shoulders of some pretty phenomenal advancements in the world of
weaving. AVL Looms has been in the business of designing and building some of the world’s finest
handweaving looms since 1976. Our innovation in floor looms established the benchmark for production
hand weavers. AVL was the first to come out with a computerized dobby
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, or Compu-Dobby® as we call it,
for the hand weaver. This innovation opened up a world of complex patterns previously unattainable
without tremendous tedium.
Now, in an effort to make weaving more accessible and appealing to a greater number of crafters, we’ve
created Little Weaver. Little Weaver is a computerized table top loom that automatically selects your
harnesses according to the pattern you’ve chosen on your computer. All you need to do is weave!
Finally, welcome to the AVL family. We pledge to provide you a lifetime of excellent support and service.
For support, please email us at [email protected] or call us at 530-893-4915 and follow the prompts to
the support desk.
With warmest regards,
The AVL team
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A dobby is an apparatus that selects harnesses on the loom according to a predetermined pattern. Traditionally, a weaver had
to use flip levers or treadles to lift harnesses individually. This required a lot of mental work and restricted the pattern to the
number of treadles or levers that could fit on the loom, or that the weaver could use at one time.

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Getting to Know Your Loom
Loom Diagram
Picking Up Your Loom
A Little Weaver with a full capacity of 24 harnesses weighs about 50 lbs. (22.5 kg) with a reduction of
about 5 lbs (2.2 kg) for each group of 8 harness removed. It is important to recognize that this weight is
heavy enough to injure yourself if you are not careful.
The handles for picking up the Little Weaver are conveniently located under the locking knobs on the sides
of the loom. With the legs folded and locked in place, these handles are the best option for lifting and
carrying your Little Weaver as it allows you to bring the weight closest to your torso.
Cutouts in the side frames may also be used for lifting though they may not fit all hand sizes. We do not
recommend lifting the loom by the front and back rollers, especially when a warped loom may not provide
sufficient or balanced hand holds.

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Folding and Unfolding Your Loom
The Little Weaver is able to be folded for easier handling and transporting, to save space in storage and to
protect the loom during these activities. When folded the loom depth decreases from 26 ½ to 16 ¼ inches
(67 to 41 cm).
You will notice a small black Locking Knob on each side of your loom. The Locking Knobs secure the loom in
the weaving and folded positions. Beam Support Locks slide between weaving and folded positions with
established detents for each position to help secure it.
To fold your loom, loosen the Locking Knob on each side of the loom and then simultaneously lift both
front Beam Support Locks on each side and slide them all the way forward, positioning the breast beam
close to the harnesses. Press down on the support locks to lock into place. Repeat the process with the
rear Beam Support Locks and then tighten the knobs on each side to secure. If the loom is warped, use the
handle on the warp beam to crank the loose warp back onto the warp beam.
To unfold your loom into the weaving position, reverse the above steps. If there is a warp on the loom, you
must first flip the warp beam tension release lever to allow the warp beam to unroll freely. See Tension
Release Lever (page 3).
Power
Little Weaver includes a computerized dobby (Compu-Dobby®) which requires power to operate. Around
the world electricity is supplied to most household and business locations in one of two alternating
current-based voltage ranges (VAC): 110-125 VAC and 215-240 VAC. In the US, 110-125 VAC is most
common. In many other countries 215-240 VAC is more common. Your Little Weaver is equipped with a
self-switching power supply. It will automatically detect and select the correct voltage setting for your
loom.
A power cord is provided with your loom in order to connect to loom to the electrical power at your
location. Where possible, your power cord will come with the correct plug type for your local outlets.
Unfortunately, not all plug types are readily available from our suppliers. If your power cord does not
match your outlet type, you will need to supply a suitable plug adapter rated at 400 Watts or better.

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Changing Your Reed
Little Weaver can accommodate epoxy or solder-bound reeds 16 ¾ inches (42.5 cm) length or narrower
and approximately 5 inches (12.7 cm) in height. The bindings on older pitch-bound reeds are less likely to
fit the beater bottom and top grooves. Please note that the reed binding should be completely contained
within the groove. If the binding protrudes from the slot, it is a good indicator of a poorly fitting reed.
To change the reed, loosen the wing nuts on the beater top, lift the beater top up off the reed, and then
remove the reed. Reverse the procedure to install the new reed.
Tension Release Lever
If you need to release the tension on your warp, such as when you are folding or unfolding your loom for
storage or travel, there is a tension release lever on both the cloth storage and warp beams. Flip either
lever up into the release position which will allow the beam to rotate freely.
To put tension back onto the warp, flip the lever into the down position and then wind the Cloth Beam in
the appropriate direction to rewrap onto the Cloth Beam.
Setting Up Your New Loom
Little Weaver comes factory pre-configured and tested. It will arrive in its specially designed packaging
ready for weaving. You only need to plug in the supplied power, warp the loom and connect to your
computer to select a pattern to weave.
IMPORTANT! Save your Little Weaver packaging. The box and foam insert are designed and tested to
protect your Little Weaver through the rough treatment of shipping. Keeping them will save you the hassle
and cost of acquiring replacements should you ever need to ship your Little Weaver. Also, the foam inserts
fit perfectly into the Little Weaver Rolling Case (sold separately) for added protection during travel!
Getting Started
Software
Little Weaver utilizes the Compu-Dobby 5 architecture and internal loom driver software, AVLDrive™.
AVLDrive is accessed via any modern browser, including: Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari, and others. This
means you can monitor and operate your Little Weaver with nearly any computing device, including

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desktops, laptops, tablets and even phones with sufficiently large screens. Since AVLDrive is already
installed on the Little Weaver, installation is not needed.
If using the USB connection point between your loom and device, a USB driver may need to be
downloaded and installed from the AVL website: https://avllooms.com/apps/help-center under MANUALS
& DOWNLOADS > Downloads.
AVLDrive allows only WIF format weaving design files. WIF is the universal “weaving interface file” format
that was developed in the 1990s and is supported by nearly all weaving design software. For a small
membership fee, a large WIF library can be accessed at handweaving.net.
First Time Starting Up Your Loom
To run your loom, plug in the power cord and select the ‘On’position for the power switch. Little Weaver
requires approximately two minutes to boot up. Watch the Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) on the front panel
under the beater. During the boot up sequence, all the LEDs will come on (except for the Error LED) for
approximately 45 seconds, turn off, and then Power & Network LEDs will power back on. Now, your Little
Weaver is ready.
There are two options for connecting to your Little Weaver for the first time: USB or wirelessly using Wi-Fi
direct or LAN.
USB
Connect the supplied USB cable between your Little Weaver and computing device, open a browser and
type 192.168.6.2 into the URL line for a device running the Mac OS, or 192.168.7.2 for every other device
(including Windows), and then hit enter. If a connection is made, the green COM LED will light and
AVLDrive will pop up on your screen. If an error message appears noting no connection made, install the
USB driver from the AVL webpage noted above in the Software section.
WiFi Direct and LAN
The Network LED color indicates to which WiFi type your Little Weaver is configured in AVLDrive. Green
indicates WiFi-direct is active and your Little Weaver is broadcasting its own WiFi SSID signal. Red indicates
that the WiFi-LAN is active and your Little Weaver is connected to your local WiFi router. When the
Network LED is flashing red, Little Weaver is attempting to connect to a router. If it fails to connect, Little
Weaver will automatically switch to WiFi-direct mode.
To connect via WiFi-direct, find Little Weaver’s WiFi signal on your computing device’s WiFi connection
menu. The id will typically be AVL_XXXXX where XXXXX is your Little Weaver’s serial number. Your Little
Weaver’s serial number can be found on the AVL plate on the side of the loom. Select it and type in the
passphrase CompuDobby5. Next, open your browser and enter the 192.168.16.2 in the URL line to open
AVLDrive. If a connection is made, the green COM LED will light and AVLDrive will pop up on your screen.
Using WiFi-LAN requires that Little Weaver be configured to connect to your local WiFi router. This
requires opening AVLDrive via USB or WiFi-direct, accessing the Network tab, enabling local router
connection, typing in your local WiFi router’s passphrase, and then selecting Restart network. If Little
Weaver logs onto your local WiFi router, the Network LED will light up red. Once Little Weaver is
connected, AVLDrive will provide instructions for restarting itself. And again, if a connection is made, the
green COM LED will light and AVLDrive will pop up on your screen.
Opening a Weaving File
In AVLDrive select the File tab. Your loom will come with a test file, which can be used to test the loom. Or,
use the File menu to access and download WIF files to the loom.

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Weaving Action
One of the best features of Little Weaver is how the shed is tied to the beater movement. With most table
looms, the weaver must reset levers for each shed, which destroys your weaving rhythm. With Little
Weaver, the shed action is tied to the beater movement. By pulling the beater forward to beat, internal
mechanisms close the shed and change it for the next pick. Push the beater back and the shed opens,
ready for you to throw the shuttle. Thus, your weaving action is simplified to beat –throw shuttle, beat –
throw shuttle, which allows a very nice weaving rhythm to follow.
More on beating… Little Weaver beating action is intended to be smooth, yet firm. This is in contrast to
floor looms in which you beat abruptly, fast and (possibly) hard. As you pull the Little Weaver beater
forward you will need to ever so slightly pause allowing the shed change to occur. You will hear or feel a
faint, rapid clicking to indicate the shed change. This happens in milliseconds, but it is still possible to move
the beater too fast and cause a mis-lift. It will take a little practice to get used to, but once you do, it will
become second nature. Also, should you prefer multiple beats per shed, push the beater forward half way
to avoid causing a shed change with each successive beat.
Advancing the Warp
Every so often, you will need to advance your woven cloth to keep the fell line in the working range of the
shedding mechanism. The most obvious indicator for this is that you will start needing to pull harder on
the beater in order to cause the shed change. Eventually, the fell line will move too close to the harnesses
and the beater will be unable to come far enough forward for the shed to change and shed changes will
cease. When this happens, it’s time to advance the warp. To advance the warp, use the Cloth Storage
Beam Crank by sliding the handle so one of the metal pins goes into a notch, then crank the beam to move
the fell line so it is a short distance from but not touching the breast beam.
Standby Mode and Shutting Down
The Little Weaver is in Standby Mode when the power cord is plugged in, but a file has not yet been
opened for weaving or the ‘Power’ button on the Weaving tab has not been clicked. The Power LED will
be yellow/orange in color, and AVLDrive is ready for the weaver to login and select a file for weaving.
To power down the Little Weaver, go to the Utilities tab in AVLDrive and select ‘Shutdown.’Wait for the
loom to completely shut down (all LEDs on the Little Weaver will turn off), then unplug the Little Weaver
from the wall outlet or power supply.

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Glossary of Terms
Beat/Beating: The act of pulling the beater toward you after placing a weft thread, to push it into place.
Bobbin: A reel, spool or cylinder that holds yarn.
Cross: Also known as a lease, the weaver’s cross is formed when preparing the warp threads. Every other
thread is crisscrossed, so that when you are ready to thread the loom, the threads are in order.
Dent: The space between the metal teeth on a reed. ‘Dents per inch’(DPI) refers to the number of spaces
per inch on a reed.
Draft: A weaving draft is the instructions for a particular weave structure, or design. It includes the
threading and treadling directions as well as a view of what the weave will look like –the drawdown.
EPI: The number of warp threads per inch is referred to as Ends per Inch. This is your warp density.
Fell Line: The line between what you have woven already and what has not been woven yet; the last pick
or weft that you beat into position.
Harness: Also known as a shaft, a harness is one of a set of frames on a loom that holds a set of heddles.
Each warp thread is threaded through one of the heddles. Each harness contains multiple heddles (and
thus warp threads). Your pattern is created by the combination of harnesses that are lifted for each pick
and the combination of warp threads that are contained on each harness.
Heddle: The heddles are installed on the harnesses and have a small opening (the eye) in the middle of
each one through which warp threads are threaded.
Pick: Each placement of a weft thread and beating it into place is considered a pick.
Pirn: A pirn is a specific type of bobbin that your weft thread is wound onto and inserted into a shuttle.
PPI: The number of weft threads per inch is referred to as Picks per Inch, or PPI. This is your weft density.
Quill: A small cardboard tube used as a bobbin in small boat shuttles.
Reed: A reed resembles a comb with metal teeth that are precisely spaced apart, through which warp
threads are placed. Located on the beater, the reed is used to beat the weft threads into place and to keep
a specific EPI. Also see Dent.
Selvedge: The edges of your woven fabric.
Set, Sett: This is the number of ends per inch (EPI). Set is the verb; sett is the noun. The scarf was set at 20
EPI. The warp sett was 20 EPI.
Shed: The opening that is created in the warp threads by lifting some of the harnesses. The shuttle passes
through the shed to insert the weft thread.
Shot: Also called a pick, one throw of the shuttle is called a shot (also see Throw).
Shuttle: A shuttle is a tool normally made of wood that holds the weft thread. The thread can be wound
around a pirn that is then inserted into the shuttle. The shuttle is thrown back and forth through the warp
threads and releases the weft thread as it goes, creating the weave.
Sleying: The process of pulling warp yarn between the dents of a reed.
Solenoid: Each harness has its own solenoid, an electronically controlled actuator hidden inside the Little
Weaver that physically selects or unselects the harness based on your pattern.
Swift: A tool for holding a skein of yarn in order to easily transfer the yarn to a different “put-up”such as a
ball, cone or directly to the warping board.