Baltic pickup is inkle weaving with thicker pattern threads, which you pick up or drop by hand on each pick to draw motifs on a plain background. The pattern threads ride in the warp alongside the background threads, and everything else — the loom, the belt shuttle, the two sheds, the beat — is exactly what a plain band needs. The inkle guide gets you there: dress the loom, weave a flat plain band, and this is the next technique on the same warp.
| Item | What to get | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| The inkle setup | An inkle loom, heddles and a belt shuttle | The same as for a plain inkle band — nothing extra |
| Background yarn | Strong, smooth cotton | It carries the plain face of the band |
| Pattern yarn | Twice as thick as the background, or two strands of the background yarn together | So the motif stands out |
The warp has two kinds of threads. The background threads weave plain, warp-faced cloth, exactly as any inkle band does. The pattern threads — the app's word for the thicker warp threads you lift or drop by hand to draw the motif — sit between them: two background threads between each pair of pattern threads, and the pattern threads themselves alternate heddled and open, one per pair through a heddle, the next pair left open. If you choose to double the pattern yarn with two strands, both pass through the loom as one thread, through one heddle.
A doubled pattern thread counts as two threads across the band, so the motif area rides slightly wider than the end count suggests. Leave the pattern threads alone, and each one rises to the surface on its natural rhythm — every other pick — which the band shows as a checkerboard. The design, then, is a matter of interruptions: on the picks where the chart wants a pattern thread out of its natural rhythm, you pick it or drop it by hand.
The pickup chart is a grid: one column per pattern thread and one row per pick. A filled square is a pattern thread on top for that pick. A triangle pointing up means pick it up into the top; pointing down means drop it underneath. With no pickup at all, the pattern threads make a checkerboard — the chart marks it with dots, so you always know what the chart plans to fight and what it plans to obey.
Two honest numbers about floats — a float is a thread that lies on the surface across several picks without being tied down. A motif float is usually three picks. Fiber Bench marks floats longer than five, which can snag. And the app writes its charts with an even number of picks, so when the chart repeats, each pick lands back in the same shed as its first pass.
Two habits carry the whole craft. First, many designs need drops as well as pick-ups — check both against the chart before you pass the weft. Second, Fiber Bench draws the band under the chart, so you can check each pick on screen before you weave it at the loom.
The app ships fifteen named Baltic pickup drafts — the site's drafts gallery shows all fifteen with their real previews and levels. The app's lesson sends the very first band to Diamond lattice (9 pattern threads, 45 ends), because it uses pick-ups only, no drops.
| Draft | Pattern threads | Level | The app's note |
|---|---|---|---|
Diamond lattice baltic-lattice | 9 | Beginner | Two diagonals cross to make diamonds. Pick-ups only, no drops. |
Chevrons baltic-chevrons | 9 | Beginner | One diagonal that turns at each edge. |
Little diamonds baltic-little-diamonds | 11 | Beginner | Small diamonds stepping from side to side. Pick-ups only. |
Arrows baltic-arrows | 9 | Beginner | Double arrowheads pointing along the band. Pick-ups only. |
Crosses baltic-crosses | 11 | Beginner | X-shaped crosses, one after another, the arms of each touching the next. |
Zigzag and dots baltic-zigzag-dots | 9 | Beginner | A line of floats running corner to corner and back, with a single float in each bend. |
Diagonal lines baltic-diagonals | 9 | Beginner | Parallel slanting lines of floats, four picks apart: a calm, even band. |
Stepped diamonds baltic-blocks | 11 | Intermediate | A diamond outline with picks and drops. |
Diamonds and dots baltic-diamond-dots | 9 | Intermediate | The diamond lattice with a float in the middle of each diamond. |
Double diamonds baltic-double-diamonds | 13 | Intermediate | A wide lattice with a small diamond inside each large one. |
Bars and diamonds baltic-bars-diamonds | 11 | Intermediate | A small diamond between solid bars, where every pattern thread is up for two picks. |
Little trees baltic-trees | 11 | Intermediate | Two-tier fir trees with a trunk: a winter band any time of year. |
Hearts baltic-hearts | 13 | Intermediate | Heart outlines: two rounded tops meeting in a point. |
Diamond eyes baltic-eyes | 9 | Intermediate | Diamond outlines with a float at the heart of each, joined tip to tip: an old Baltic motif. |
Nested diamonds baltic-nested | 17 | Advanced | Two diamonds, one inside the other, with a float at the center: a wide band and long rows of pick-ups. |
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Motif catches or snags | A float left long on the surface | Keep floats around the usual three picks; the app flags any chart row floating longer than five |
| Pick looks right but the band doesn't show it | A missed drop among the pick-ups | Check both against the chart before passing the weft |
| Pattern yarn disappears into the band | Same weight as the background | Twice as thick, or two strands together |
| Not sure a pick is correct | Rushing the row | The app draws the band under the chart — read each pick there before weaving it |
| First chart scrambles you | Started on drops too early | Start with Diamond lattice: pick-ups only, no drops |
The whole technique shares one rhythm: shed, beat, pick, weave the pick. Lose count of the pick-ups, and the chart's dots — the plain checkerboard — are always underneath to catch you.
The drafts gallery carries every Baltic pickup draft the app ships, with a real chart preview and the level to start at.