Ruta, a Loom for Making Sense of Industrial Weaving
Daniëlle Ooms, Nick Voskuil, Kristina Andersen, Hanna Ottilia Wallner · 2020
Weaving is the technique of making fabric through interlacing yarn, and it can be seen as a way to program a material. However, due to this programming complexity, the novice weaver finds it hard to quickly engage in weaving. We designed Ruta through an iterative process involving weave experts and novice weavers. In effect, Ruta is a tool for sensemaking the complexity of Jacquard weaving which enables novel weavers to understand and feel what weaving actually entails. We present the Ruta loom and demonstrate how it imparts meaning to the process of complex weaving.