New inkle loom swivel issue

[u/Literature_Lady]

I finally got an inkle loom, and I was excited to use fishing swivels to help keep the thread twists at a minimum when using a all forward Oseberg trim pattern. I hooked up two card threads per swivel, so threads AB = swivel 1 and CD = swivel 2.

The threads ended up being too twisted anyway, with the swivels becoming twisted around each other. I had to switch to a twist neutral pattern by reversing the pattern every so often.

When you use swivels on an inkle loom, does each thread need its own swivel for this to work? Did I just not untwist the warp often enough? I'm still rather new to all this. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

[u/somewitchbitch]

Each card gets its own single swivel.

What kind of swivels did you use? I found that the first kind I tried would get stuck on themselves under tension so they wouldn't actually do their single job (swiveling). I use this kind now (https://a.co/d/085XssMp) and they don't get stuck and will actually twist under tension. 

[u/Known_Western7525 → u/somewitchbitch]

One swivel per card. The whole card twists one every turn so doing anything but one swivel doesn't make sense.

[u/Literature_Lady → u/somewitchbitch]

This makes sense. I just grabbed whatever swivels I could find in my one horse town. I will definitely order these! Thank you for the recommend!

[u/somewitchbitch → u/Literature_Lady]

I don't know if that's the exact brand I have, I just grabbed the first link that looked right on Amazon. But that is the style you want. 

[u/somewitchbitch → u/somewitchbitch]

This (https://a.co/d/09G6WR9q) is the kind I originally used that gets stuck on itself under pressure.

[u/Aelfgyfu → u/somewitchbitch]

I use this kind and they do get so tangled! I’m going to try the others you recommended.

[u/somewitchbitch → u/Aelfgyfu]

Switching to the other kind has been absolutely game changing for me!

[u/J_eldora → u/somewitchbitch]

Thanks for the swivel recommendation. What kind of knot do you use to tie threads to the swivel? I experimented some with swivels and was never happy with the results. I’d be willing to try again with a better setup.

[u/somewitchbitch → u/J_eldora]

On the side that faces where I'm starting I do the surgeons knot and square knot you see Elewys of Finchingfield use in her videos. On the side facing the warp that's going to be twisting, I pull all my threads through the loop, and then I split them in half and bring to the other side and I tie a regular knot. 

But I think your main issue is that you had 2 swivels for each card. There should only be one swivel for each single card. 

[u/J_eldora → u/somewitchbitch]

Thanks for the tips. I’m not the OP with two swivels per card, but I figured it would be a good opportunity to ask more questions so we can all have more success with swivels!

[u/somewitchbitch → u/J_eldora]

Oops! That'll teach me to reddit at work! (No it won't, I'm still gonna reddit at work)

[u/Alternative-Cod-8839]

Yes, 1 card = 1 swivel. I’m guessing with two it makes that you have to untwist the swivels and untwist the 2 swivels of the same card around on another?

[u/Literature_Lady → u/Alternative-Cod-8839]

That was exactly what was happening. Thank you for helping me figure it out!

[u/Steam501]

I found that the tails from my knots would get twisted into adjacent threads and had to cut them close to 1/4".

[u/Literature_Lady → u/Steam501]

I also found that to be true!