Networked Double Weave (3-D)

I was surprised with a nice 3-D fabric when I wove with one yarn that shrinks more than another yarn after wet finishing.  I think this is referred to as differential shrinkage in weaving.  I also learned that the kind of fabric you end up with depends not only on the yarns and the finishing that you use but also on the weave structure and sett.  I studied an enlightening article about this subject, “The Dimensional Scarf,” by Pauline Verbeek-Cowart in Weaver’s Magazine (issue #44, Summer 1999) that was very helpful.  After weaving many samples in double weave, I chose to design and weave a scarf and a wall hanging in networked double weave using wool and acrylic yarns.  Following are images and notes about these interesting projects.

Networked Double Weave (3-D) Scarf (8 shafts), wool & acrylic, 2023

Networked Double Weave (3-D) Scarf (8 shafts), wool & acrylic, 2023 (close-up)

Networked Double Weave (3-D) Scarf (8 shafts), wool & acrylic, 2023 (on the loom)

Networked Double Weave (3-D) Scarf (8 shafts), wool & acrylic, 2023 (on the loom, close-up)

Draft for Networked Double Weave (3-D) Scarf (click image to enlarge)

To weave the 8-shaft Scarf I used 20/2 white acrylic yarn (does not shrink when wet finished) and a cranberry colored woolen yarn (shrinks when wet finished) about the same size for both warp and weft that I had in my stash.  The sett is 16 e.p.i. and about 18 p.p.i.  I used a very light beat as is apparent in the close-up image of the weaving in progress on the loom.  I wet finished the piece by washing it vigorously by hand for the wool yarns to shrink and felt, being careful not to overdo it, and then laid flat to dry.  In the past I used my washing machine to felt woolen pieces and at times they felted so much that an adult size sweater became a child’s size.  I then ventured to design and weave a wall hanging, here it is:

Networked Double Weave (3-D) Wall Hanging (16 shafts), wool & acrylic, 2023

Networked Double Weave (3-D) Wall Hanging (16 shafts), wool & acrylic, 2023 (close-up)

Double Weave (3D) Wall Hanging (16 shafts), wool & acrylic, 2023 (on the loom)

To weave the Wall Hanging I used the same 20/2 white acrylic yarn and a 20/2 black woolen yarn for the warp and the same white acrylic yarn and a thicker white worsted wool for the weft.  The wet finishing was a little different than for the Scarf:  I washed it also by hand but then put it in the dryer for about 8 minutes, checked it and put it back for another 8 minutes until it was still a little bit damp and then laid it flat to finish drying.

Wishing you Happy Holidays and…

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Update December, 2023:  After publishing this post, I read Denise Kovnat‘s informative and beautifully illustrated book, Weaving Outside the Box – 12 Projects for Creating Dimensional Cloth.  I’m inspired to further explore this interesting topic, thank you Denise!

Amalgamation – Woven Designs

I was intrigued by a new feature on handweaving.net called “Amalgamation Drafting” which was developed by Alice Schlein.  To learn more about it I ordered from Alice her wonderfully detailed monograph, “Amalgamation: Double Your Dobby,” illustrated with many interesting drafts and woven samples.  Alice explains that amalgamation in weaving is a way of spreading out heddles when the sett is very close so they don’t interfere with each other by using a satin order, but it can also be used to design interesting patterns using fewer shafts.  Inspired, I was ready to experiment.

My weaving software, Fiberworks PCW in windows, does not support automatic amalgamation drafting so I manually entered parts of the threading and was still able to design my own drafts easily enough.  I designed and wove a wall hanging and a few sample pieces using networked drafting amalgamated with a satin base for all these pieces.

Shown below is a close-up and full view of the 16-shaft wall hanging which was the most challenging piece to design.  To weave it I used 10/2 Tencel for the warp at 36 e.p.i., 5/2 pearl cotton for the weft at about 24 p.p.i., and the longest float is 5.  The woven piece was hand washed and steam ironed before sewing the top and bottom hems.

Amalgamation – Wall Hanging woven on 16 shafts, Tencel & pearl cotton, 2022 (close-up with full view)

Partial draft for Amalgamation – Wall Hanging

Next is a 16-shaft sample.  I wove this sample on the same warp and used the same tie-up as the wall hanging, except that I made it less wide by removing warp ends from the two sides, changed the treadling, and used 10/2 pearl cotton instead of 5/2 for the weft at about 32 p.p.i.  This sample was also hand washed and steam ironed.

Amalgamation – Sample woven on 16 shafts, Tencel & pearl cotton, 2022

The last piece shown below is an 8-shaft sample followed by its complete draft.  If you click on the second view of the draft which shows one repeat, it will be enlarged and easily read.  For this sample I used 20/2 cotton for the warp at 40 e.p.i. and 20/2 cotton for the weft at about 40 p.p.i.  The longest float is 4.

Amalgamation – Sample woven on 8 shafts, cotton, 2022

Draft for Amalgamation – 8-shaft Sample (2 repeats)

Draft for Amalgamation – 8-shaft Sample (1 repeat, click to enlarge)

I’ve been a member of Complex Weavers for many years, and I’m thrilled about their new 40th anniversary book published this year (2022):  Eight Shafts: Beyond the Beginning (Personal Approaches to Design), edited by Laurie Knapp Autio.  This book is dedicated in loving memory to weaver, author and teacher, Wanda J. Shelp.  I’m happy to say that I’m one of 72 weavers featured in this beautiful book who have written about an original piece they wove.  My contribution is in the section about curved lines entitled:  “String of Ovals – Yardage in 4-Color Integrated Double Weave.”

40th Anniversary Book published by Complex Weavers, 2022

Wishing you well, see you next time!

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Interleaved Waves

It’s magical to watch the amazing color blendings of a four-colored warp and one-colored weft as the weaving progresses on the loom.  Inspired by the various images in both Marian Stubenitsky‘s book, Weaving With Echo and Iris, and Bobbie Irwin‘s book, Weaving Iridescence, I designed a few drafts using four colors and interleaving in the threading.  The color blendings looked pretty good in one of the drafts so I wove it as a sample that I plan to cut up and share with my fellow members of the Fine Threads Study Group at Complex Weavers.  Here are photos of the finished piece and also how it looked on the loom:

Interleaved Waves, woven on 16 shafts, cotton, 2022

Interleaved Waves, woven on 16 shafts, cotton, 2022 (close-up)

Interleaved Waves, woven on 16 shafts, cotton, 2022 (on the loom)

For the warp I used 20/2 non-mercerized cotton in four colors: blue, yellow, green, and black. For the weft I used the same cotton in a dark pink. The sett is 42 e.p.i. and about 40 p.p.i. As you can see below, these yarns do not look very impressive at first glance, they are not even shiny, but once woven, wet-finished, and seen in proper lighting, the transformation is magical. The colors become iridescent – they appear to be changing as the angle of view changes. The colors are most playful and bright from close-up and not so much when viewed from a distance.

Warp and weft for Interleaved Waves, cotton, 2022

Using Fiberworks weaving software, my design started out with a simple pattern or design line that I networked using initial 4. Opting for non-parallel threadings, I then interleaved this networked pattern line with a straight twill, and then interleaved this with itself. Sounds like fun, doesn’t it? It really is with the interleave tool in Fiberworks. The final result is four interleaved threadings with four repeating colors. The treadling is just one networked pattern line of one color. Here’s a partial draft of my design:

Partial draft for 16-shaft Interleaved Waves, 2022

Hope you’re inspired by this post. It’s mid-February now, and I’m enjoying the subtle beauty I see in my yard. A few days after I took this photo it snowed again, but I’m looking forward to Spring:

Waiting for Spring, February, 2022

Wishing you well, see you next time!

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Woven Pleats, Squiggles & Waves

As I continue to weave through these difficult pandemic times to help me get through it all, new weaving projects are swirling around in my mind.  Searching for inspiration I came across Erica de Ruiter’s article, “Magic Pleats on the Loom from Eight Shafts to Two” in Weaver’s magazine, issue #31 (Spring 1996).  I also found a wonderful PDF file online from the Westfield Weavers Guild by Dawn McCarthy, “Creating Texture with Pleats, Fulling and Shrinkage.”  Weaving pleats looked like fun, and so I gave it a try.  I wove a few samples, some turned out well and some didn’t.  Here’s a pleated scarf that I think turned out well:

Pleated scarf woven on 8 shafts, cotton, 2021

Pleated scarf woven on 8 shafts, cotton, 2021 (close-up)

Pleated scarf woven on 8 shafts, cotton, 2021 (on the loom the pleats are flat and emerge after wet finishing)

I used 20/2 cotton, two strands together for the warp at 30 e.p.i. and 20/2 cotton, one strand only, for the weft at about the same p.p.i.  Notice in the photos above that on the loom there are no visible pleats, they really emerge only after wet finishing:  I washed the scarf by hand, gently squeezed out the excess water, rolled it in a towel, and placed it down flat to dry, pulling on it vertically helping the pleats to magically emerge.  I used a broken twill draft but straight twill will work as well:

Draft for weaving 8-shaft broken twill pleats

Erica de Ruiter wrote another article, “Scarves in Diagonal Pleats,” in Weaver’s magazine #37 (Fall 1977).  I really like these diagonal pleats that appear wavy when woven.  However, 16 shafts and 32 treadles are required, and I don’t have so many treadles.  So I made some adjustments to the draft, reducing the number of treadles to 16.  Instead of big waves I got smaller squiggles, but I still like it.  I used the same type of yarns, sett, and finishing process as for the previous scarf, and here it is:

Squiggly pleated scarf woven on 16 shafts, cotton, 2021

Squiggly pleated scarf woven on 16 shafts, cotton, 2021 (close-up)

Here’s the draft, straight twill this time:

Draft for weaving squiggly 16-shaft straight twill pleats

At this point I wanted to play with more waves, not necessarily pleated, and came up with some wavy interleaved designs.  I wove the sample below using purple and tan 20/2 cotton for the warp at 54 e.p.i. and 20/2 red rayon for the weft at about 38 p.p.i.  This sample is not pleated, it’s flat:

Interleaved waves woven sample on 16 shafts, cotton & rayon, 2021

Below are the drafts for the above sample.  I interleaved a straight twill threading with a 5-end advancing twill threading, and the treadling is networked.  The first draft shows two repeats.  The second draft shows one repeat and will be enlarged and more readable if you click on it:

Draft for weaving 16-shaft interleaved waves (two repeats)

Draft for weaving 16-shaft interleaved waves (one repeat, click to enlarge)

Hoping 2021 will be a good year for all…see you next time!

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Networked Double Weave Wall Hanging

Weaving has been a comfort to me during these worrisome times.  To keep my mind from wandering, I decided to design and weave something intricate that would keep me focused.  It took me quite a while to come up with a design I liked for a networked double weave wall hanging.  The final design turned out to have over 1,000 warp ends, and it kept me happily occupied as I was weaving it on my 16- shaft treadle loom.

Here’s how it turned out:

Networked Double Weave Wall Hanging woven on 16 shafts, cotton, 2020

Networked Double Weave Wall Hanging woven on 16 shafts, cotton, 2020 (close-up)

These are the 20/2 cotton yarns I used and the warp that was long enough to weave two wall hangings:

Yarns and wound warp for Networked Double Weave Wall Hanging, 2020

Threading the loom at 56 e.p.i.:

Threading the loom for Networked Double Weave Wall Hanging, 2020

Weaving in progress on the loom:

Networked Double Weave Wall Hanging woven on 16 shafts, cotton, 2020 (on the loom)

The partial draft below shows the order of the colored threads and how they interlace with each other.  I have written several posts about different types of double weave, including networked double weave, that have more detailed notes and drafts if anyone is interested to learn more.

Partial Draft for Networked Double Weave Wall Hanging, 2020 (interlacement view)

Here’s another networked double weave wall hanging I designed and wove a few years ago:

Networked Double Weave Wall Hanging woven on 16 shafts, cotton, 2017

Networked Double Weave Wall Hanging woven on 16 shafts, cotton, 2017 (on the loom)

Inspiration from my flower garden:

Zinnia, Bee Balm, Mallow, 2020

I wish for all the weavers to keep on weaving, and for everyone to be safe.

See you next time!

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Ikat-Inspired Twills Revisited

Several years ago I explored “faux” or “false” ikat by designing network drafted twills.  I shared what I learned in a blog post and also in more detail in an article I wrote, “Ikat-Inspired Twill Studies,” published in the Complex Weavers Journal, issue #104 (February 2014).  I decided to come back to this interesting topic and experiment some more.  Here is how it turned out:

Ikat-Inspired Networked Twill Scarf, cotton, 2020

Ikat-Inspired Networked Twill Scarf, cotton, 2020 (close-up)

Below is a partial close-up of the draft I designed for this scarf.  I often start with pattern or design lines and then network them.  In this case I also interleaved the networked treadling, and the longest float is 4.  I used a white warp (20/2 cotton, 2 strands together, at 28 epi) and alternating black and blue weft (20/2 cotton, 2 strands together).  The gradual blending of these three solid colors works well, and the overall design reminds me of a waterfall.

Networked Twill – Interleaved Treadling (partial draft for scarf)

Next is another scarf I designed that I tied on to the same warp as the previous one.

Ikat-Inspired Networked Twill Scarf, Tencel and pearl cotton, 2020

Ikat-Inspired Networked Twill Scarf, Tencel and pearl cotton, 2020 (close-up)

Below is a partial close-up of the draft I designed for this scarf.  The treadling is networked with no interleaving, and the longest float is 3.  I used lustrous yarns:  8/2 Tencel for the warp, mostly blue with randomly placed green and purple at 28 epi, and 10/2 red pearl cotton weft, all are solid colors.  This scarf is iridescent – the colors appear to change as the angle from which it is viewed changes.  I often see iridescence in nature, such as when the humming birds come in the summer to drink nectar from their favorite red, tubular flowers of the Cardinal Climber vine in my garden.  At times the hummers appear to have a dull, lusterless color, but as they whiz around in the light they keep on transforming into brilliant colors.  If you are interested to learn more about iridescence especially as it relates to weaving, I recommend an informative and inspiring book by Bobbie Irwin, Weaving Iridescence – Color Play for the Handweaver.

Networked Twill (partial draft for Tencel scarf)

I designed many drafts and wove samples before weaving these scarves.  Here’s one of the samples showing both sides of the cloth:

Ikat-Inspired Networked Twill Sample showing both sides, 2020

Below is a partial close-up of the draft for this sample.

Networked Twill (partial draft for sample)

Lastly, below is a draft of an 8-shaft version that I designed, but the ikat effect is too subtle.  I think it’s a nice draft anyway.  Click on it to see it enlarged.

Networked Twill – 8 shafts (draft showing 2 repeats)

I hope you enjoyed this post and are inspired to experiment with faux/false ikat.  Perhaps you might be inspired to design and weave true ikat using dyeing techniques…maybe I should try it someday!

See you next time!

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Networked Double Weave Pillow

I find the blurred edges of the patterns in networked double weave subtle and interesting.  I also like the clear, sharp edges of the patterns in traditional patterned double weave.  In this post I’m delighted to share photos, drafts, and notes of a plain weave, networked double weave pillow that I recently designed and wove as well as photos of other double weave projects I worked on this year.

The pillow project started out with pattern lines that I designed and then networked (initial 4) using Fiberworks weaving software.  I then played around with the resulting networked threading and treadling drafts, tried different twill tie-ups in case I decided to weave my yardage as a networked twill, and then tried them with double weave tie-ups in case I decided to weave it as a networked double weave.  Eventually I had to make a decision and the winner was a networked double weave draft that I used to weave this fabric from which I made the pillow:

Networked Double Weave fabric and pillow woven on 16 shafts, cotton, 2017

Networked Double Weave fabric woven on 16 shafts, cotton, 2017 (close-up)

The warp and weft are both 20/2 cotton, 2 strands used together, and the sett is 36 epi and about 37 ppi.  I wet finished the fabric by washing by hand, hanging to dry, and steam ironing while the fabric was still slightly damp.  I sewed the pillow as a one-piece envelope pillow.  I’m not great at sewing so I searched online and found a video on “How to make an envelope pillow cover” by CraftyGemini that was clear and easy to follow.

Here are images of the 16-shaft, networked double weave draft showing one side, the other side, and a close-up of one section of the draft:

Draft for Networked Double Weave showing one side

Draft for networked double weave showing other side

Partial Draft for Networked Double Weave – close-up of one section (interlacement view)

A few years ago I learned how to design double weave tie-ups using Photoshop Elements, thanks to Alice Schlein’s amazing book, The Liftplan Connection (Designing for Dobby Looms with Photoshop and Photoshop Elements).  I weave on a 16-shaft, 40 inch wide, Macomber treadle loom, and found things in Alice’s book that I can learn and apply even to my treadle loom.  It’s also so much fun!  Here’s the double weave tie-up I used for the pillow that I designed with Photoshop Elements:

Double Weave Tie-Up designed with Photoshop Elements

A more challenging networked double weave project that I designed and wove is this wall hanging that I plan to submit to my weavers guild annual exhibit next year:

Networked Double Weave Wall Hanging woven on 16 shafts, cotton, 2017

Networked Double Weave Wall Hanging woven on 16 shafts, cotton, 2017 (close-up)

Last but not least, I wove a traditional double weave runner as a gift for friends of mine and of my husband’s who are antique dealers of early American folk art.  It’s a 12-shaft, 3-block double weave.  I generated the draft with block substitution from profile draft No. 169 that I found in Mary Meigs Atwater’s classic book, The Shuttle-Craft Book of American Hand-Weaving, first published in 1928.  Below are photos of this runner, notice on the close-up the clear and sharp edges of the pattern as compared to the more subtle, unclear edges in the pillow and wall hanging:

Double Weave Runner, cotton, 2017 (woven from Atwater’s 3-block profile draft No. 169)

Hope you enjoyed reading this post, see you next time!

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Networked Twill Table Runners

I wanted to design a networked twill pattern, which is decorative and symmetrical, that would be nice to use for weaving a table runner.  For inspiration and guidance, I browsed through Alice Schlein’s wonderful book, Network Drafting: An Introduction, and came across a few ideas that I wanted to use.  One idea was to use reversing points in the threading and treadling and another was to try different tie-ups.  Using Fiberworks, I designed many pattern lines and generated 8-shaft networked drafts using initial 4, the most used initial because it works well with many twills and other weaves.  Narrowing it down to one pattern and two tie-ups, I was ready to weave a couple of table runners.

The two finished table runners look almost the same when viewed from a distance, but the close-ups look very different.  As a weaver I find it very interesting to look at details, even more so than at the overall design from a distance.  Here is the finished Networked Twill Table Runner with tie-up 1:

Networked Twill Table Runner woven on 8 shafts (tie-up 1), cotton, 2016

Networked Twill Table Runner woven on 8 shafts (tie-up 1), cotton, 2016 (close-up)

You may notice that the twill lines appear to be on a plain weave background, and they are reversing or mirroring in the pattern.  In the drafts below, you can see this more clearly in the partial draft:

Draft for Networked Twill Table Runner (tie-up 1)

Partial Draft for Networked Twill Table Runner (tie-up 1)

Here is the finished Networked Twill Table Runner with tie-up 2:

Networked Twill Table Runner woven on 8 shafts (tie-up 2), cotton, 2016

Networked Twill Table Runner woven on 8 shafts (tie-up 2), cotton, 2016 (close-up)

In the drafts below, the partial draft for tie-up 2 shows a pattern with less discernible twill lines, no plain weave areas, and there’s more contrast between the light and dark areas:

Draft for Networked Twill Table Runner (tie-up 2)

Partial Draft for Networked Twill Table Runner (tie-up 2)

It’s interesting to look at a comparison of the same part of the draft with the two different tie-ups:

Networked Twill – two tie-ups (interlacement view)

Weaving Notes:  I wove both table runners on the same natural colored 20/2 cotton warp at 40 epi (ends per inch).  The weft is also 20/2 cotton for both except for the color – one beige and the other green.  The ppi (picks per inch) are about 34 for the beige runner and about 40 for the green one.  The smaller number of picks produced a more elongated pattern in the beige runner, and the finished cloth feels a little lighter and more delicate.  The longest float in both is 5.  I used a floating selvedge to help keep the selvedges neat.  I washed them by hand, let hang to dry and steam ironed while they were still a little damp, and then hand stitched the hems.  I would like to mention that I always read my treadling drafts from bottom to top and the threading as if I’m facing the front of my Macomber rising shed loom.  This way, as I’m weaving the pattern on the loom, it looks exactly the same as in the draft.

Network drafting can be challenging at first, but as you progress it will keep you captivated with so many possibilities.  On that note, here is a scarf I recently designed and wove using network drafting.  I used a variegated colored Tencel warp and a solid colored weft.  It looks as though the warp may have been painted, but it’s not:

Networked Twill Scarf woven on 16 shafts, Tencel & cotton, 2016

That’s all for now, see you next time!

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Interleaved Echo Weave…

…or non-parallel interleaved twill designs would be a more accurate way of describing what I’m working on now, as I later learned from Bonnie Inouye.  Bonnie gave a seminar called “Interleave” at the Complex Weavers Seminars 2014 which I was not able to attend, but in her usual generous manner she shared with me the handout for her presentation that answered some of my questions on this topic.

I have done some work already using parallel threadings to weave echo designs, and now I’m excited to share some of my experience with non-parallel threadings.  The first time I read about it was in Sandra Rude’s article in the Complex Weavers Journal 2006, “Adventures in Not-So-Parallel Threading, Part II.”  At that time I didn’t understand any of it, but after giving it a few tries and spending many hours using the interleave tool in Fiberworks PCW, I think I get it now.  Also, I bought Marian Stubenitsky‘s beautiful new book, Weaving with Echo and Iris, full of amazing color photographs that are a feast to the eyes.  The book has a lot of great technical information as well with chapters on various related weaves.  It’s a treasure!

I like to experiment and weave samples especially when I’m learning something new.  One of my first interleaved designs started out with two easy threadings that I interleaved to design a third one.  In Fiberworks you can copy one threading, go to the second threading and under “edit” choose “interleave paste.”  A dialogue box appears with several options and a slider that shows you how the two threadings are being interleaved as you move it to the right or to the left.

Two threadings interleaved to design a third one

My complete 8-shaft draft includes the interleaved threading as shown above, a twill tie-up, an advancing point treadling, two colors alternating in the threading and one solid color in the treadling.  Here it is showing one repeat of the threading and one of the treadling:

Draft for Interleaved Twill Woven Sample showing one repeat of threading and treadling

Below are photos of the sample I wove using the draft shown above.  I used 20/2 cotton with two strands together for warp and weft with a sett of 28 epi and about the same ppi.  The warp ends alternate purple and burned orange and the weft is bluish turquoise.  I learned from sampling and from reading articles about these types of designs that the sett may be closer or may be more open and warp and weft may be of different sizes, depending on what you want to achieve.  For example, Sandra Rude in her earlier article in the Complex Weavers Journal 2005,  “Adventures in Parallel Threading, Part I,” writes that a more open sett looks more like an ordinary twill but you get more color blending because more of the weft shows.  More color blending is what I was aiming for in this sample:

Interleaved Twill Woven Sample

Interleaved Twill Woven Sample (close-up)

The more I experiment with interleaved designs the more I like it.  Below is an example of a 16-shaft, non-parallel interleaved networked twill design that shows just part of a larger draft.  For short, I prefer calling it “interleaved echo weave” because back in 1996 Alice Schlein already named these types of designs with parallel threadings “echo weave.”

Interleaved echo weave partial draft – non-parallel interleaved networked twill threading and networked twill treadling

Finally, here are photos of 16-shaft interleaved echo weave scarves that I designed and wove with different patterns.  I used 20/2 Tencel that I dyed with fiber reactive dyes.  I was invited by our friend, Jill Beech, a ceramic artist whose beautiful work is interesting and inspiring, to show and sell some of my work at her open studio during the end of the year holiday season.  That’s where these scarves will be going.

Interleaved Echo Weave Scarf woven on 16 shafts, hand-dyed Tencel, 2014

Interleaved Echo Weave Scarf, hand-dyed Tencel, woven on 16 shafts, 2014

Hope you enjoyed reading about my adventures in the non-parallel weaving universe.  See you next time!

Eva

UPDATE January, 2016:  Below are images of a new interleaved echo weave shawl I designed and wove:

Interleaved Echo Weave Shawl woven on 16 shafts, pearl cotton warp, cashmere/silk/merino weft, 2016

Interleaved Echo Weave Shawl woven on 16 shafts, pearl cotton warp, cashmere/silk/merino weft, 2016 (close-up)

UPDATE 2019:  Marian Stubenitsky, author of Weaving with Echo and Iris, is now sharing some of her beautiful drafts on handweaving.net at this link.

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Turned Twill Adventures

It all began with our new dining room table that needed a functional and pretty runner.  I say functional first and pretty second because this project was going to be designed so that form follows function and not the other way around.  I must confess that sometimes I do weave things out of curiosity without thinking too much about what useful things I can make from them.  The pattern I designed for the table runner turned out to be a traditional turned twill block design woven with lustrous pearl cotton.  I liked the clean lines between the warp-float and weft-float areas in this design and wondered what a design with fuzzy lines would look like, so I tried that too.  Here are photos and drafts of the runner followed by a few more daring adventures:

Turned Twill Woven Table Runner – 4 Blocks

I wove a few samples first, one with a pearl cotton warp and a linen weft that was lovely, but I liked the colors of pearl cotton I had in my stash better.  So I wove the table runner using 5/2 pearl cotton for warp and weft with a sett of 24 epi and about 21 ppi, using a very firm beat.  A wider sett of maybe 20 or 22 epi would have been better for a more balanced weave woven with a lighter beat.  I wove a few inches of plain weave at the two ends with a thin 20/2 cotton so that I could turn and hand stitch a hem for a neat and lasting finish.  I should mention that I used a floating selvedge on each side that was not threaded through a heddle, only sleyed through the reed.  The woven piece was washed in the washer on gentle and ironed while still damp.  The finished runner is 18 inches wide by 60 inches long, perfect for our table:

Turned Twill Woven Table Runner, 4 blocks, pearl cotton, 2013

I weave on a 16-shaft treadle loom, good for a 4-block, 3/1-1/3 turned twill pattern.  I designed a profile draft where Block A is threaded 1,2,3,4; Block B – 5,6,7,8; Block C – 9,10,11,12; and Block D – 13,14,15,16.  The treadling blocks are the same as the threading blocks.  The direction of the twill lines depends on whether you treadle top to bottom or bottom to top.  I chose to weave it so that the warp-float twills go left to right and the weft-float twills go right to left on the side that I wanted to show when I place it on the table, the way you see it in the above photo.  You can repeat the blocks in a profile draft to your liking, easily accomplished with weaving software, and with block substitution you can try it out with different weave structures.  Below are the profile draft followed by the thread-by-thread draft and a close-up of the draft that shows how the warp and weft are interlaced:

PROFILE DRAFT for Turned Twill Woven Table Runner, 4 blocks

Draft for Turned Twill Woven Table Runner, 4 blocks

Close-up of Draft for Turned Twill Woven Table Runner, 4 blocks (interlacement view)

Without elaborating too much, I would describe turned twill as an uneven twill, and in this project, blocks are made up of 4-end units of 3/1 twill and 1/3 twill.  The contrast between warp-float and weft-float areas on the same side of the fabric can be used to design many kinds of patterns – from stripes to fancy figures.  Sometimes turned twill is referred to as twill damask.  Irene Emery describes it in great detail in her book, The Primary Structures of Fabrics.  To learn more about blocks and profile drafts, I recommend Madelyn van der Hoogt’s book, The Complete Book of Drafting for Handweavers, Chapter 5: From Blocks to Units.  I think Madelyn also has a video out about block weaves.  I have a few past posts with profile drafts, you can find them if you go to my home page and click on “Profile Drafts” in the Categories cloud.

Networked Twill Woven Fabric – Turned Twill with Fuzzy Borders

After the table runner project, I continued experimenting with turned twill but digressed and kept only the tie-up and instead of blocks I tried networked threadings and treadlings.  I liked the fuzzy borders, very different than the clean cut ones in traditional block turned twill, and the longest float was still only 3.  I also read an article by Alice Schlein in Handwoven magazine in 2001, “Network Drafting – Turned Twills on Eight Shafts,” that inspired me to experiment with this idea.  Below is a photo of some yardage I wove from one of my designs using 20/2 cotton in alternating dark and light colors in the warp and a solid color for the weft, at 42 epi and about 40 ppi.  I washed the yardage by hand and ironed it while it was still damp.  The yardage is a bit narrow in width, about 16 inches, not really functional for my purposes, but hey, it’s kind of interesting and I may use it for next year’s Fine Threads Study Group at Complex Weavers, cut into swatches for members of my group:

Networked Twill Woven Fabric, cotton, 2013

Below are the drafts for the fabric.

Draft for Networked Twill Woven Fabric

Close-up of Draft for Networked Twill Woven Fabric (interlacement view)

More Turned Twill Drafts – Variations

These are drafts I like but haven’t tried to weave.  This one with a 5-end advancing twill threading and treadling illustrates the fuzzy borders between the warp-float and weft-float areas, and the longest float is 3:

Draft for 5-end Advancing Twill

Here’s an 8-shaft, traditional 2 block draft and the dramatic change that you see when color-and-weave is used on the same draft – 4 dark and 4 light ends alternating in warp and weft:

Draft for 8-shaft, 2 block, Turned Twill with color-and-weave version

And here’s the same draft as the previous one, with some fun colors for the color-and-weave effect:

Draft for 8-shaft, 2 block, color-and-weave Turned Twill

Hope you enjoyed reading about my Turned Twill adventures.  Just one more thing…

Something Completely Different:

E-Reader Case, Crochet, pearl cotton, 2013

OK, this is not woven, but I just love this little crochet case with the little button that I made for my e-reader.  It’s just simple continuous single crochet with 5/2 pearl cotton going round and round and then back and forth for the flap, finished with a double crochet edging.  It’s sitting on a shadow weave mat so there is some weaving in the picture!

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