One of the things that I need when I head out is a stylish halter. I have an extendable leash in basic black, but everyone needs a stylish halter.
Here is my current halter - a stylish lavender that works well with my gray fur, but I am not content with just one. After all, a stylish traveler needs many elements.
Things to Look For:
When deciding on a halter, one thing to remember is that us cats have a special halter set up. We don't do collars like dogs do.
We're smarter, for one thing, and can easily slip out of a collar.
When looking at halters, make certain it is cat designed. There will be a collar for our necks, and a second band to go around our chests with a connecting band between the two. You can see them in the photo.
Also, get make certain you have the right size. Most of them are adjustable. Fortunately, with the exception of kittens and Main Coon cats, most of us fall in a certain size range.
Handweaving
All bands (leashes, collars, harnesses) are made from woven material because it's stronger than any other material. The exception to handwoven is leather or plastic items. To make handwoven bands, there are two means to make them: inkle and tablet (or card) weaving.
Tablet Weaving involves using cards to manipulate the warp; inkle weaving uses an inkle loom to manage the warp.
A few terms before going into the differences between tablet and inkle weaving. Everything will use the tablet weaving to the right for examples. A loom is the equipment used to manage a warp.
Warp is the length of yarn on a loom. In the photograph, it is the brown thread (and parallel red and orange).
Weft is the part that goes through the warp to weave. In the photograph, it is the red string perpendicular to the weft.
A shuttle is the tool used to pass the weft through the warp. The shuttle used for inkle and tablet weaving is called a belt shuttle and has a pointed end to aide in packing in the yarn. It is the item that the weft is wrapped around.
Lastly, a shed is the space between the warp threads where a shuttle goes. The shuttle is sitting in the shed.
Below is a short video about inkle weaving.
The differences between tablet weaving and inkle weaving is the use of cards/tablets to create the shed. In the video, you can see pink yarn. These are the heddles that anchors down the warp. The heddles are used to make the shed.
Tablet weaving uses cards or tablets to create the shed. (Cards and tablets are the same thing - cards are used in the United States and tablets used in most other English-speaking countries).
In the picture to the left, you can see the tablet/cards used as well as the shed (that space right in front of the cards). As the cards turn, the shed changes allowing the weft and warp to interconnect to form the woven material.
Both of these styles of weaving create strong, durable bands of fabric. They also make pretty patterns that are fairly unique to their weaving styles. The one things that makes inkle and tablet weaving difficult (as far as weaving is concerned) is that the design element remains in the warp.
In other words, whatever the colors are in the warp those are the colors that are used in design. Therefore, colors can't be added into the weaving after warp is decided. We can only design by manipulating the warp.
Of course, I will add more photos as the human makes items for me. It is quite enjoyable.