June was a big month for WeavingGem. Beta testers helped us turn a tracking prototype into a full at-loom companion: open a draft, preview it, match your yarn, thread the warp, weave the picks, and check your place on Apple Watch. All without Wi-Fi at the bench.
Below is a roundup of what landed. We grouped the biggest changes by what you do at the loom, not by build numbers.
Drafts and your library
Open drafts from anywhere
Tap a .wif file from Files, Mail, or AirDrop and WeavingGem opens it. Threading, treadling, tie-up, and colors come through ready to weave.
Save your color edits back to a file
After you adjust yarn colors or rename a draft, save changes back to the original file or use Save as to write a new copy through the Files picker. Your merged colors travel with the draft.
Duplicate patterns and stay organized
Duplicate any draft in your library to try a color variation without touching the original. New imports and copies pin to the top of your home list so the draft you are working on stays easy to find.
Clearer library actions
Rename, remove, and View / Thread / Weave shortcuts use plain language. Removing a draft from WeavingGem does not delete your original file on disk.
Draft preview before you weave
Pattern, Colors, and Tie Up in one place
The View sheet now has three tabs: see the drawdown, edit warp and weft colors on yarn stripes, and verify your tie-up grid. Open it from the eye icon anytime during a session.
Match your physical yarn
Tap a yarn stripe and use the system color picker to match the bead and drawdown to the yarn on your shelf. Changes apply before you start threading or weaving.
Full-resolution drawdown with pinch zoom
The pattern preview renders at full WIF resolution, not a tiny thumbnail. Pinch to zoom and scroll so you can study floats and repeats before you warp.
Set up for your loom type
Choose rising shed for jack looms or sinking shed for counterbalance and countermarch looms in Loom Setup. Treadling and drawdown follow how your loom actually behaves.
Warp threading
Right-to-left threading walk
Warp threading follows the right-to-left walk many North American weavers use. LEFT and RIGHT progress anchors show where you are in the draft.
Chevrons and swipes that match the loom
During threading, advance and regress controls follow loom direction so you are not fighting the UI while your hands are on the warp. The same gemstone bead slides with your tap or swipe.
Partial end groups and repeat warps
When your warp end count does not divide evenly into your group size, the last group lands on the correct ends at the left of the draft. After you finish a warp once, you can move freely at the start on round two and beyond.
Rewind from Complete
Finished threading? You can step backward through every group from the Complete screen instead of getting stuck in a loop at the starting end.
Weaving sessions
Gemstone beads built for the bench
Large, bright beads highlight the active thread or pick. Past and upcoming picks dim so your eye stays on the center bead. Labels stay readable on any yarn color.
Bigger controls for reading glasses
Session navigation buttons are sized for at-loom use from two or three feet away, with extra spacing so you are less likely to tap the wrong control between picks.
Pick up where you left off
Close the app, switch drafts, or come back days later. Your threading and weaving position saves automatically on device. No account required.
Apple Watch
A companion on your wrist
WeavingGem for Apple Watch shipped in June. Start a session on iPhone or iPad and glance at one gemstone bead on your wrist for threading or weaving.
Threading on the watch
During warp setup, the watch steps through ends right-to-left within each group, in sync with your phone. Tap to advance when your hands are near the heddles.
iPad at the loom
Larger beads in portrait and landscape
iPad threading beads grow toward a readable size when the layout allows, with scroll for wide drafts instead of shrinking beads until they are unreadable.
Landscape layout polish
Focus cards fill the landscape card width consistently. Side chevrons sit with comfortable gap from the card edge so you are not tapping cramped controls at the bench.
Room for draft preview on iPad
The draft preview panel is wider on iPad so drawdown and color editing feel natural on a large screen beside the loom.
Look and feel
Twilight palette and glass cards
We refreshed the app with a warm twilight canvas, sheer glass cards, and sharper sapphire and amethyst accents for threading and weaving modes. The goal is glanceability without glare at the bench.
A clearer home screen
Library draft titles are bolder. Thread and Weave shortcuts use soft mode-tinted chips so you can see at a glance which session type is active for each project.
Thank you to everyone who tested in June. Your notes on threading direction, bead size, and watch sync shaped this release. More updates are on the way.
