Eva

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In my research, I found an early reference to DPW in G. H. Oelsner’s, A Handbook of Weaves, first published in 1915.  Oelsner describes diversified weaves as patterns that “can be obtained by adding or removing risers from a ground weave,” and calls them “diversified plain weaves” when the ground is a plain weave.  In later books and articles there are references to Klara Cherpov’s 1972 monograph, “Diversified Plain Weave,” that seems to be a definitive study on the subject.  DPW is sometimes described as a weave structure where one color of heavy warps and another color of heavy wefts form a pattern and are tied down by fine warps and wefts that form plain weave.  The woven cloth is two-sided with the reverse pattern showing on the back.  There are no long floats, the surface is tightly interlocked so it’s great for such uses as upholstery fabric.

I then came across Madelyn van der Hoogt’s article, “Thick ‘N Thin Again” in Weaver’s magazine #36 (Summer ’97) where she describes a new variation of DPW that I decided to use for the pillows and scarves.  This new DPW is more appealing to me than the original DPW because it seems easier to follow and in some cases allows for more blocks with fewer shafts.  Some weavers prefer the original DPW because they say they like the surface structure of the woven cloth better.  For more information about DPW, Judy (Fibres of Being) has some great drafts and detailed notes about it.  Madelyn van der Hoogt’s book, The Best of Weaver’s: Thick ‘N Thin, is a compilation of many articles about it that were first published in various issues of Weaver’s magazine.

Below are images of the pillows and scarves with drafts and notes on how I designed and wove them.

Diversified Plain Weave (variation) Wool & Pearl Cotton Pillows

Diversified Plain Weave (variation) Pillows, wool and pearl cotton, 15"x15", 2011

Diversified Plain Weave (variation) Fabric for Pillows, wool and pearl cotton

Diversified Plain Weave (variation) work in progress on the loom, wool and pearl cotton

Diversified Plain Weave (variation) Draft for Pillows

When it comes to block weaves, I sometimes like to design a pattern in the tie-up rather than start with a profile draft.  About two years ago I designed a Summer & Winter table runner this way.  Experimenting with different swirly patterns in the tie-up, it was great fun watching the pattern evolve until I liked it enough to use for the pillows.  Note the thick and thin warps and wefts in the draft and how they interlace to create this weave that looks a little bit like needlepoint in the woven cloth.  Erica de Ruiter’s article in Weaver’s #44 (Summer ’99), “Petit Point Scarves,” shows a beautiful scarf with an intricate pattern woven on only 3 shafts that is also similar to the newer variation of DPW in a free-form pick-up technique.

I wove the fabric for the pillows using a tightly twisted 4-ply worsted type wool as the thick warp and weft (except the lavender pillow weft, I think, is a 2-ply woolen type) and 20/2 pearl cotton as the thin warp and weft.  I wove a few small samples first with different setts and finishings and ended up using 24 e.p.i., 3 per dent in an 8-dent reed, 2 thin and 1 thick per dent, with almost the same p.p.i.  Using 2 warp beams, one for the wool warp and the other for the cotton, helped eliminate any potential tension problems.  I know that wet finishing is best for wool in most cases but since these are decorative pillows I chose to only steam iron the back side of the fabric.  This preserved the loftiness of the wool in the front and at the same time softened the stiffness that the cloth had when it came off the loom.

Since I weave on a 16-shaft treadle loom, it would have been difficult for me to weave the pattern the way you see it on the draft because many shafts tied to one treadle can be very heavy to lift without some kind of lift assist.  So for easier lifting, I rearranged the treadles (divided the 14 shafts tied to one treadle to two treadles, placed them in the center and pressed with both feet) and reversed the other tie-ups so the back side of the pattern was facing up as I wove.

Diversified Plain Weave (variation) Chenille/Rayon/Cotton Scarves

Diversified Plain Weave (variation) Scarves, chenille-rayon-cotton, 9"x65", 2011

Diversified Plain Weave (variation) Draft for Scarves

After having some success weaving a shadow weave chenille scarf some time ago, I thought I’d try chenille again but together with other fibers.  I wove a series of scarves using rayon chenille (1450 yds./lb.) as the thick warp, rayon bouclé as the thick weft, and 20/2 cotton as the thin warp and weft.  The sett is the same as for the pillows, 24 e.p.i., but the p.p.i. is a bit closer at about 28.  The possible color combinations are endless and by changing the color of the thin warp and/or weft the saturation (intensity) and value (light/dark) of the heavy warp/weft colors may be altered in subtle ways.  The draft for the scarves shows only one possible color scheme and doesn’t represent the actual number of repeats I used.

As the weaving progressed, the chenille became slack while the cotton remained tight, so winding the chenille separately on a second warp beam was very helpful to correct this.  If you don’t have a double warp beam, on a short warp you can insert a rod and suspend it with weights so the chenille warp is weighted down enough to even out the tension.

To finish the scarves, they were first washed with a little detergent and rinsed on the gentle cycle in the washer, agitated for only half a minute, spin dried carefully (you can roll them in a towel instead), and laid flat to dry.  Instead of placing them in the dryer as I usually would with chenille, I steam ironed them because the rayon looks beautiful this way and the chenille, even though it’s flattened, has a sheen to it.  Also, instead of fringes, I hand sewed hems on these scarves.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

I’m sorry to share some sad news, my weaver friend, Fern (also known as “buyathread”), passed away on September 14 after a long illness…

In Memory of

Fern Devlin

1942-2011

Friend, fellow weaver and blogger, renowned scarf designer, and a truly nice person.  Fern, you will be missed and never forgotten.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

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Having woven rep weave before, I wanted to give it another try and learn more about it.  Following are images, drafts, and notes describing my recent rep weave projects that were great fun to weave.

Rep Weave (Warp Rep) Placemats (4 shafts)

While researching this topic, I came across a unique article I found online at handweaving.net, “Mattor,” by Robert Frederic Heartz, published in 1936.  I was inspired by the informative, hand-drawn illustrations, drafts, and meticulous notes.  I picked Draft No. 7 accompanying Illustration No.7, entered the info into my weaving program and wove a set of four placemats: 

Warp Rep Placemats, 14"x 18", cotton, 2011

Warp Rep Placemats, 14" x 18", cotton, 2011 (detail)

If you look at the article, each threading block consists of 8 warp ends, but you can vary this number as long as it’s in multiples of pairs.  I translated the handwritten notes into this computer generated profile draft and noted the block numbers on top:

Profile Draft for Warp Rep Placemats showing threading blocks

The threading of each block and the tie-up is easier to understand if you look at the two views below.  The top one is an interlacement view so you can see the plain weave structure and what is actually going on with the thick and thin wefts.  The bottom warp rep view shows what the actual weaving will look like, the weft is no longer visible covered by the close sett of the warp.  I didn’t include the border that is shown in the handwritten notes in the article because you can create solid colored vertical stripes by simply repeating any block using a solid color instead of alternating light/dark colors as in the rest of the warp.  Here are the two views:

Draft for Warp Rep Placemats showing interlacement and warp rep views

Additional Notes:

I wove a few samples with different setts and yarns before weaving the placemats to help me figure out how many times to repeat each block in the threading and the treadling so they would turn out nice and a good size for a placemat.  I followed the threading exactly the same number of times as indicated in the article with 8 ends in each block.  However, I treadled as if there were only 2 ends in each treadling block, otherwise the pattern would have been too elongated.

For the warp I used 20/2 cotton (2 strands together used as one) at a sett of 60 e.p.i., sleyed 4 ends per dent in a 15-dent reed.  For the wefts I used a thick, 4-ply cotton of variegated colors alternating with a thin 20/2 cotton (single, not doubled up as in the warp).  The final measurement of each placemat turned out to be 14 inches x 18 inches after wet finishing – washing by hand and steam ironing while still damp, and hand stitching the hems.  Next time they can go in the washing machine on the gentle cycle.

A word about the shed:  Because of the close sett it can be difficult to get a wide open shed for smooth and fast weaving.  In this project it was good but I still had to help it a little, prying it open wider as the shuttle passed through.  For a neater selvedge, I placed the weft in a rounded, inverted “v” shape and beat it in on the opposite shed.  I read in one article that if you keep the warp tension looser you can lay the weft in straight and the looser warp will do all the bending, but I didn’t try it this way.

There are books and articles with different tips on how to weave rep weave efficiently, my favorite is Joanne Tallarovic’s book, Rep Weave and Beyond.  “Weaver’s” magazine has many articles on rep weave that were written during its publication years from 1988-2000.  My favorites are:

• “A Designer’s Handbook: Warp Rep,” by Donna Sullivan, Weaver’s #11
• “‘Ripped’ About Rep,” by Rosalie Neilson, Weaver’s #9
• “4 Shaft, 4 Block Rep: A Sampler,” by Rosalie Neilson, Weaver’s #9
• “Warp Rep: 8 Shafts, 8 Blocks,” by Rosalie Neilson, Weaver’s #11
• “Warp Rep: 16 Shafts, 16 Blocks,” by Rosalie Neilson, Weaver’s #15

Rosalie Neilson’s website has info about her work including the 4-shaft warp rep Sampler.

Rep Weave (Warp Rep) Table Runner (16 shafts)

Among my collection of samples woven by members of the Fine Threads Study Group at Complex Weavers, I found a warp rep sample that was designed by using parallel threading and treadling that inspired me to design a table runner.  I also read in one of Rosalie Neilson’s articles, “Warp Rep: 16 Shafts, 16 Blocks” (Weaver’s #15), how to easily derive tie-ups from 16-shaft twills that can be used in warp rep.  I went ahead and designed many parallel threadings and treadlings, tried them with different tie-ups, chose one I liked, and after a few revisions (ok, many revisions), was ready to weave it.  Using weaving software was really helpful in speeding up this process.  Here is the finished woven piece:

Warp Rep Table Runner, 19"x 35", pearl cotton, 2011

Below are two drafts for the Table Runner, one is a close-up that shows the colors I used in the warp, the tie-up, and the thick and thin wefts.  The other is a black & white version that shows one full repeat of the threading and treadling.

Weaving Draft for Warp Rep Table Runner (color detail and b&w showing one repeat)

If you are using weaving software and would like the WIF file of the draft, let me know and I’ll be happy to e-mail it to you.

Additional Notes:

I wove a few samples first for this project as well and chose 5/2 pearl cotton for the warp, sett at 40 e.p.i. and a thick, 4-ply cotton of variegated colors for the thick weft and a 20/2 cotton for the thin.  I tried sleying 4 ends per dent in a 10-dent reed but some warp ends didn’t sit where they were supposed to and so the colors didn’t look exactly right.  I resleyed at 2 ends per dent in a 20-dent reed, but this made it more difficult to get a wide open shed.  On the other hand, there was ample space between pairs of ends (e.g., 1,9 and 2,10) that somewhat compensated for this handicap.  I still had to insert a wooden sword in the narrow shed behind the reed, turning it on its side to open the shed wider so the shuttle could easily pass through.  It was slow weaving but it worked.

The only finishing for the Table Runner was twisting the fringes, no wet finishing because I want to use it mostly as a decorative piece.

There are many variations possible in rep weave such as multiple color combinations, a lesser dense warp where the weft plays a bigger role because it’s more visible, and even warp rep and weft rep in the same piece.  I wove a different, colorful warp rep runner some time ago that may be of interest, it’s the third image on my Gallery – 2005 & 2007 page.

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Weaving the scarf was easy because I simply tied the new warp to the old one that was still on the loom from my study.  I removed some warp ends to get the number of repeats of the pattern that I wanted and resleyed the reed to a wider sett.  But after finishing this scarf I decided to tie on yet another warp, change the tie-up to a twill, with the goal of weaving a single layer scarf that is finer, more subtle, and that drapes even better.

Here are images of both scarves, their weaving drafts, and a few additional notes about each:

Double Weave Coral Scarf:

Double Weave Coral Scarf, pearl & slub cotton & linen, 9"x65", 2011

Double Weave Coral Scarf - work in progress on the loom

Weaving Draft for Double Weave Coral Scarf

Double Weave Coral Scarf - tie-up designed in Photoshop Elements

For the warp I used a light blue/yellow space-dyed 10/2 linen I had in my stash from the days I dyed some of my own yarns and a reddish, variegated, slub cotton of similar thickness, and for the weft an orange and light grey 5/2 pearl cotton, with a sett of 24 e.p.i., sleyed 2 per dent in a 12-dent reed, and about the same p.p.i.  This is looser than I would normally weave the plain weave layers using the same yarns; I was trying to avoid a finished cloth that would be too thick and stiff to wear as a scarf.

After I cut the unfinished scarf off the loom, I twisted the fringes from the 7″ of unwoven warp I left on both ends for this purpose, twisting 3 ends with 3 ends, light colors together and dark colors together rather than mixing them because I thought it looked better this way with the overall design of this scarf.

The next step was washing the scarf by hand, drying it flat but steam ironing while it was still damp.  The overall shrinkage was about 10%, fairly even among the different yarns, and the fringes ended up being about 5″ long.  The looser sett and lighter beating of the weft did help make the finished scarf drape fairly well, it has a lovely sheen and doesn’t feel too thick.  I like how the different yarns combined to create an interesting effect, but I would recommend using silk, Tencel, rayon or a loosely twisted cotton yarn for an even better drape.  How about something like this:

Twill Chocolate Scarf:

When our friend, Janie, saw this scarf while it was still on the loom, the first thing she said was “chocolate” so “chocolate” it is!

Twill Chocolate Scarf, rayon & cotton, 9" x 65", 2011

Twill Chocolate Scarf, rayon & cotton, 9" x 65", 2011 (detail)

Weaving Draft for Twill Chocolate Scarf

For the warp I used a 2-ply knitting type rayon yarn and for the weft a loosely twisted cotton, similar to embroidery thread with a nice sheen.  Both these yarns worked well at 24 e.p.i.  Wet finishing was the same as for the Coral Scarf.  I machine stitched the two ends and left about 3″ of loose warp for the fringes.

Variation on a theme, that’s what it felt like to weave these two scarves, it was so much fun and a great learning experience.

My related posts about patterned double:  Patterned Double Weave:  Two Projects and Patterned Double Weave:  Samples &  Drafts

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My plan was to start by designing different double weave tie-ups and then seeing what would happen when I tried different threadings and treadlings with each tie-up.  One way to design tie-ups is by cutting and pasting areas of the top and bottom layers.  I found the chapter on Double Weave in Bonnie Inouye‘s book, Exploring Multishaft Design, very helpful with this.  I found some more help in Alice Schlein‘s book, The Liftplan Connection (Designing for Dobby Looms With Photoshop and Photoshop Elements).  I was already familiar with Photoshop Elements, and even though the title sounded daunting at first, and I weave on a 16-shaft treadle loom, not on a dobby loom, I did find things in the book that I can use.  An easy and fun thing I can do now is to design double weave tie-ups that I can paste into my weaving software.

Below are images of a few of the samples I wove and the drafts I designed.  All the tie-ups were designed in Photoshop Elements, and to illustrate how a tie-up design appears in Photoshop Elements I included a screenshot of one in Sample 1.  Sample 4 is the culmination of my study and it’s a wider and longer fabric than the other samples because I might actually want to make something out of part of it and share the rest by cutting it up into samples for my Fine Threads Study group at Complex Weavers.

Sample 1:  To weave this sample I used 20/2 cotton doubled (2 strands together) with a sett of 40 e.p.i., sleyed 4 ends per dent in a 10 dent reed.  I washed and ironed all the samples.  Note that the threading and treadling is the same as in Sample 2, but the tie-ups are different.  I also included the tie-up design for this sample as it appears in Photoshop Elements.  The image of the woven sample shows a distant view and a close-up view of the same side.

Patterned Double Weave Sample 1

Patterned Double Weave Tie-Up for Sample 1 (designed with Photoshop Elements)

Patterned Double Weave Draft 1

Sample 2:  I used the same yarn and sett as in Sample 1.  The image of the sample shows a close-up view of one side and a distant view of the other side.

Patterned Double Weave Sample 2

Patterned Double Weave Draft 2

Sample 3:  For this sample I used 20/2 cotton again but this time single strands (not doubled up) and, therefore, with a closer sett of 56 e.p.i., sleyed 4 ends per dent in a 14 dent reed.  Note that the threading is the same as in Sample 4 but the treadling is slightly different and the tie-up is different.  The image of the woven sample shows a close-up view of one side and a distant view of the other side.  I really like the interesting edges around the diamond shapes, and I might weave something with this pattern using a thicker yarn to show off these pretty edges.

Patterned Double Weave Sample 3

Patterned Double Weave Draft 3

Sample 4:  I used the same yarn and sett as in Sample 3.  I chose this last pattern to weave a wider and longer fabric because it works well for playing around with all the color combinations.  Also, because there’s a lot of interaction between the two layers, there is a mottled appearance to the doughnut-like shapes that I really like.  The image of the fabric mostly shows parts of the front and back views of the main pattern and a close-up view as well.

Patterned Double Weave Fabric (Sample 4)

Patterned Double Weave Draft 4

I hope you enjoyed reading about my double weave adventure.  My related posts about patterned double weave are:  “Patterned Double Weave:  Two Projects” and “Patterned Double Weave Scarf + Twill Version.”  I also wove an Optical Illusion Scarf and posted the image on my Gallery – 2011 page that might be of interest.

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Wishing you a joyous Holiday Season and a New Year filled with peace and happiness ♥

Eva

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Although a main subject on a background is nice, I was really trying to design a profile draft with a balance between the Huck and the plain weave areas so that the negative and positive spaces would be equally important.  This way the patterns formed by the Huck areas as well as the plain weave areas would be interesting.

I came up with a profile draft I thought would work, and what started out to be a lacy shawl ended up as a curtain because I love the way it looks when light passes through it.  Following are images, drafts and other details about it.

Huck Lace Curtain (pearl cotton) 2010

Huck Lace Curtain (pearl cotton) 2010 (detail 1)

Huck Lace Curtain (pearl cotton) 2010 (detail 2)

Profile Draft and Partial Weaving Draft:

After designing the profile draft, I used the “block substitution” feature in my weaving program to generate a complete thread-by-thread weaving draft.  But you don’t really need a full thread-by-thread draft; just follow the block order in the profile draft.  For example, if you look at the Profile Draft and Partial Weaving Draft below, reading right to left and top to bottom, the first block is threaded and treadled as:  1-6-1-6-1, 2-5-2-5-2, 1-6-1-6-1; the next block as:  2-7-2-7-2, 1-8-1-8-1, 2-7-2-7-2; and so on.

If anyone would prefer to see the WIF file that has the complete thread-by-thread weaving draft, please contact me and I’ll e-mail it to you.

PROFILE DRAFT for Huck Lace Curtain

Partial Weaving Draft for Huck Lace Curtain

Huck Lace Unit:

I used a 5-thread Huck in this project where warp floats alternate with weft floats.  The image and draft below show how one full unit of this type of Huck can be threaded and treadled repeatedly on 4 shafts as 2-3-2-3-2, 1-4-1-4-1.  For my project I used 1-1/2 units per block.

Huck Lace Sample and Draft

For more on Huck Lace using 4 shafts there are two superb articles on Weavezine:  Laura Fry’s “Woven Lace: Huck on a Twill Threading” and Michele Belson’s “Color Gamps” that has a draft for “Huck Lace Blocks in Plain Weave Ground.”

And my favorite book on the subject is:  Huck Lace (The Best of Weaver’s), edited by Madelyn van der Hoogt.

Weaving Notes:

I wove a few samples at first trying out different setts and yarns.  The winner was 20/2 pearl cotton sett at 30 e.p.i., sleyed 2 per dent in a 15-dent reed.  This sett is loose compared to 36 e.p.i. that I often use for plain weave with this type of yarn, but looser works well in this case.

With an added inch or so of plain weave at the selvedges, the width on the loom was about 26″ with a finished width of 24″ after hand washing and steam ironing while still lightly damp.  I wove enough yardage to make curtains for a small window.

There was one other sample I really liked where I used a very fine 64/2 merino silk yarn.  I’m thinking of doing a Huck Lace project with this.  Stay tuned.

Update (February 2011):  I wove two Huck Lace Shawls using the 64/2 merino silk yarn with a sett of 45 e.p.i., they feel really luxurious.  Here’s a picture:

Huck Lace Shawl, silk & merino wool, 17"x68", 2011

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Here’s my article, hope you enjoy it:

Complex Weavers Journal, June 2010, issue #93

Fun With Advancing Twills

by Eva Stossel

Fine Threads Study Group

My fascination with advancing twills led to some interesting experiments using my weaving software, but I realized that it was necessary to narrow down the variables because the possibilities became overwhelming.  I decided to design different patterns by varying the tie-up only and keeping the threading and treadling constant.  Using an eight-end advancing point draw on 16 shafts and tromp-as-writ treadling, I was thrilled with the intricate and beautiful designs that were produced by different tie-ups.

To weave the samples for the Fine Threads Study Group, I used a tie-up that is a fancy twill pattern (#548 in Oelsner’s book).  Looking at the drawdown I thought this design would be great to use for weaving a fabric with an interesting and playful pattern when viewed close-up as well as at a distance.

I used cotton sewing thread doubled up for the warp and 20/2 cotton for the weft with a sett of 42 epi and approximately 45 ppi.  The longest float is five ends.  The piece was handwashed, steam ironed while still damp with an overall shrinkage of about 4%.

Looking at the finished fabric, I just love the way all those little squares and diamonds grow in and out of each other and that so many of them are unique in their appearance.

"Fun With Advancing Twills" Fabric

"Fun With Advancing Twills" Fabric (detail)

"Fun With Advancing Twills" Draft

Bibliography:

Inouye, Bonnie. Exploring Multishaft Design. Weavingdance Press. 2000.

Oelsner, G.H.  A Handbook of Weaves.  Dover Publications (republication of the original edition published by The Macmillan Company in 1915).  [this classic book is also available online for download in its entirety here at handweaving.net]

van der Hoogt, Madelyn.  The Best of Weaver’s: Twill Thrills. XRX Inc. 2004.

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In the early 90′s I wove several rugs and used Peter Collingwood’s book, The Techniques of Rugweaving, as my guide.  I especially liked the two-tie unit, four-end block weaves described in Chapter 8 that use the same threading system that is used in Summer & Winter (S&W).  The weave is weft-faced, without any tabby wefts, and when 2 weft colors are used, one weft color shows on one side and the other weft color on the reverse side.  Years later, as I was browsing through Weaver’s Magazine #42, the issue about rugs, I read that when S&W is used this way the structure is called Taqueté.  Taqueté can also be woven using finer yarns and one might not recognize it as a rug technique.  See Lillian Whipple’s excellent articles on Weavezine  (here and here) about S&W, Taqueté, and other related weaves.

Since I already did S&W related posts (here and here), I thought it’s time to write about how I wove two of my small Taqueté rugs that are being used as meditation mats.  I wove a series of these in different colors and patterns on the same warp by rearranging the treadling blocks for each design.

RUG #1

Taquete Rug #1, Wool, 30" x 32", 1993

Taquete Rug #1 (detail showing both sides), Wool, 30" x 32", 1993

Profile Draft for Rug #1:

I originally designed these rugs on graph paper starting with a profile draft.  In this Rug there are 4 threading blocks – A, B, C, and D, and 4 treadling blocks – 1, 2, 3, and 4.  A total of 6 shafts and 8 treadles are needed to weave it on a treadle loom.  Here’s what my original profile draft looked like:

Profile Draft for Taquete Rug #1 (A-D threading blocks) (1-4 treadling blocks)

Partial Weaving Draft for Rug #1:

The  Draft below shows the threading to be 4 ends per block and may be repeated as many times as desired.  In this Rug it’s repeated only one time because at a sett of 4 e.p.i. that was enough to create the design that I wanted.  If read left to right, the threading goes like this:  Block A (1,3,2,3); Block B (1,4,2,4); Block C (1,5,2,5); and Block D (1,6,2,6)

The Draft below also shows the treadling to be 4 wefts per block that may be repeated as many times as desired.  For lack of space, this Draft does not show the actual number of times each block is repeated to create the design for this Rug which is 5 times (total of 20 wefts).  Note that 2 treadles are pressed at the same time for each weft because otherwise 16 treadles would be needed instead of only 8.  If read from top to bottom, the treadling goes like this:  Block 1:   lift shafts 1+3 together and throw a weft with the color indicated; lift shafts 1+(4,5&6) together and throw the second weft with the color indicated; lift shafts 2+3 and throw the third weft with the color indicated; and lift shafts 2+(4,5&6) together and throw the fourth weft with the color indicated.  Likewise, refer to the Draft for treadling Blocks 2, 3, and 4.

The Profile draft is a shorthand notation for a thread-by-thread draft (the Partial Weaving Draft here).  Once you know what each block represents you simply follow the block order in the Profile draft when threading and treadling.

Partial Weaving Draft for Taquete Rug #1

Weft-Faced View Profile Draft for Rug #1:

By entering information a particular way into my weaving program, namely in liftplan mode with alternating colors and in weft-faced view, an amazing profile draft is generated that can easily be changed and used with the block substitution feature to create other weave structures, not only Taqueté.

Weft-Faced View Profile Draft for Taquete Rug #1 (showing both sides)

RUG #2

Taquete Rug #2 (detail showing both sides), Wool, 30" x 32", 1993

Partial Weaving Draft and Weft-Faced View Profile Draft for Rug #2:

Although I wove this Rug on the same warp as Rug #1, it can easily be woven using only 3 shafts and 4 treadles because it’s really just the repetition of 1 threading block and 1 treadling block.  Again, for lack of space, the Partial Weaving Draft does not show the actual number of treadling repeats but together with the Weft-Faced View Profile Draft you get the idea:

Partial Weaving Draft for Taquete Rug #2

Weft-Faced View Profile Draft for Taquete Rug #2 (showing both sides)

Additional Notes:

For both these rugs I used 5/2 warp twist cotton tripled with a sett of 4 e.p.i. (ends per inch) for the warp, and a 4-ply light/medium rug wool tripled for the weft approximately 20 p.p.i. (picks or wefts per inch).  The finished rugs are 30″ x 32″ and each weighs about 3 lbs., nice and thick and comfortable to sit on.  I have also used linen for the warp when weaving larger rugs, but I heard that seine twine is also very good, even better because fringes don’t fray as much with less overall wear and tear over time.

My favorite large Taqueté rug that I wove in 1990 is in our living room and we really do use one side in the summer and turn it over to the reverse side in the winter because both sides are equally nice.  It’s the second image on my Gallery – 1985 & 1990 page.

By the way, I posted an image of a new shadow weave sample I wove this year for the Fine Threads Study group at Complex Weavers, it’s on my Gallery 2010 page, the fourth image down.

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Starting out with a fairly simple 4-block profile draft, I tried several different weave structures and chose a diamond twill (turned twill).  I liked it but I just had to see what would happen if color-and-weave effects were added.  I liked it even more and wove this scarf:

Diamond Twill Scarf with Color-and-Weave Effects, Pearl Cotton, 11" x 72", 2010

Diamond Twill Scarf with Color-and-Weave Effects, Pearl Cotton, 11" x 72", 2010 (Detail 1)

Diamond Twill Scarf with Color-and Weave Effects, Pearl Cotton, 11" x 72", 2010 (Detail 2)

To weave the Scarf I used 5/2 pearl cotton with a sett of 20 e.p.i., washed the finished piece by hand, air dried it until almost dry and then steam ironed it.  Here are the profile draft and thread-by-thread weaving draft for the Scarf:

4-Block Profile Draft

Draft 1 - Diamond Twill With Color-and-Weave Effects Generated from 4-Block Profile Draft

The colors I chose, blue and red/orange, appear to mix (referred to as optical mixture or visual mix) as the viewing distance increases into a lavender-like color, and the pattern appears subtle with small areas of color next to one another.  Drafts 1, 2, and 3 are identical in threading, treadling and tie-up and the only variable is color.  So, if instead, I would have woven the Scarf with solid colors in the warp and the weft, there would be larger areas of colors next to one another and the pattern would be more striking with less optical mixture and look like this:

Draft 2 - Diamond Twill Generated From 4-Block Profile Draft

The size of the areas of color next to one another and the viewing distance is important in how optically mixed the colors appear.  There are also other important factors: 1)  value – how light or dark the colors are in relation to each other, 2) hue – what color family they belong to such as the warm family of red, orange and yellow or the cool family of green, blue and violet, and 3)  intensity – purity of the color, whether it has black or white mixed in it.  There is more optical mixture if the colors are not only small in area and are viewed from a distance but are similar in value, hue, and intensity with value having more effect than hue or intensity.  So, if I wanted the pattern to be even more striking with even less optical mixture I could have used a lighter blue and a darker red/orange and it would look like this:

Draft 3 - Diamond Twill Generated From 4-Block Profile Draft

I learned about color theory in an art class back in college in the 70′s, and Josef Albers’ book, The Interaction of Color, was the guiding textbook for the course.  We had to go to the Library to be able to see the early version of the book that had all the color plates in it.  What an inspiration that was!

There are a series of incredible articles on color theory in “The Weaver’s Journal” magazines.  Unfortunately, these magazines are probably not easily available but libraries or local weaving guilds might have them.  The articles, “Color Theory for Handweavers” are in four parts written by Pat Boutin Wald:  Part I: The Basics (issue #38, Fall 1985), Part II: Visual Mix (issue #39, Winter 1986), Part III: Visual Illusions with Color (issue #40, Spring 1986), and Part IV: More Visual Illusions with Color (issue #41, summer 1986).

Lastly, here’s an enjoyable way to learn about color theory, from a lecture at the Textile Museum in Washington D.C. on color in oriental rugs and textiles.  Thanks to the weavers who recommended it!

Just one more thing – there are links to other posts I did about color-and-weave on my “Weaving Drafts and More” page.

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