Mayster Designs Ltd.

Mayster Braille Loom®
301-951-1899
301-951-1897 (Fax)
www.maysterbrailleloom.com  
E-mail: jjmaydesigns@aol.com

Jennifer Mayster conceived the idea for a special kind of loom that would allow her students who were blind or had low vision to learn braille and weaving at the same time. Using the Perkins Brailler as a model, she invented the Mayster Braille Loom. The loom has seven shafts and seven front levers, which correspond to the levers on the Perkins Brailler.

The loom is strung with yarn of different colors and textures. Each color and texture corresponds to one of the six braille dots. The weaver simultaneously pushes a combination of these levers, which lift different sets of strings and create textile patterns that are actually words. Blind persons can read these words by touch, and sighted persons may decipher the words by the color combination.