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~ Jean Williams, Handweaver

jeanweaves

Monthly Archives: September 2015

A Satin by Any Other Name…

25 Friday Sep 2015

Posted by jeanweaves in Damask, Satin, Terminology

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Damask, Satin, Textiles, Weaving

My apologies to William Shakespeare:

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would still smell as sweet.”

Act II Scene II, Romeo and Juliet

What do you picture when you think of satin? Something smooth, with a sheen that reflects the candlelight? A fabric somewhat heavy but with a lovely drape? What is satin?

Red Damask on the loom

Red Damask on the loom

What do you think of when you hear “damask”? Do you see figured tablecloths on your grandmother’s holiday table? Do you see a dense fabric in a single color or an elaborate upholstery for the sofa?

In popular usage, satin is that shiny, slippery fabric commonly used in wedding gowns – and sometimes sheets, although I’m told that satin sheets don’t live up to their hype. Damask can be heavy suiting, upholstery, or table linens.

In weaving terminology, satin is “a weave with warp floats on one surface of the cloth and weft floats on the other.”  (van der Hoogt,  Madelyn, The Complete Book of Drafting for Handweavers. Coupeville, Washington: Shuttlecraft Books, Inc., 1993).

Snowflake Damask Runner

Snowflake Damask Runner

“Satins have one binding point only on each warp thread within the repeat.” (Cyrus, Ulla, Manual of Swedish Handweaving. Boston, Massachusetts: Charles T. Branford Company, 1956). Having only that single binding point produces long floats which reflect the light, thus giving satin its sheen. Using fine threads with more luster accentuates that characteristic of satin. Satin is closely related to twill but because those tie-down threads are scattered, there is no characteristic diagonal line.

Handwoven satin is not as fine as machine-produced satin, mainly because factory-produced cloth uses much finer threads than are available to handweavers. Nonetheless, handwoven satin produces a lovely fabric!

“Damask is a self-patterned weave which…is based on interchanging areas of warp and weft emphasis.” (Johansson, Lillemor, Damask and Opphämta. Stockholm, Sweden: LTs Förlag 1982). Satin is often used in weaving damask, but other weave structures can be used in one of the faces, satin with twill for example.

I’ve dabbled in weaving satin damask for many years and each time I thread the loom, I learn something else. This summer, I’ve learned a new way to weight my ground shafts so they come back to a neutral position (simple elastic straps). I’ve also played around with some floral motifs gleaned from early weaving manuscripts.

Red and White Dräll (as opposed to "damask"), front and back

Red and White Dräll (as opposed to “damask”), front and back

I feel like I have so much to learn about these structures. Case in point, in researching for this blog, I realized that I have been using the term “damask” exclusively when some of what I weave is more correctly classified as dräll weave which uses repeating blocks for patterning whereas “the patterning in damask is…freer and richer than the geometrical figures in dräll.” (Johansson).

I’d like to see how 8-shaft satin differs in look from 5-shaft satin. That experiment is yet to come. A friend also noted that a lot of early manuscripts show drafts that combine satin on one face with a different weave on the other face. Intriguing.  That too begs to be studied.

What do you think of when you hear “satin” and “damask”? Let me know.

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Where Did It All Start?

17 Thursday Sep 2015

Posted by jeanweaves in creating, Nostalgia

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

creative inspiration, Crochet, Knitting, Sewing, Textiles

While spinning this weekend, my mind wandered. I have a knitting project in the basket, a tatted doily in process, and two warps on the loom. My husband teases that I’m an incurable multi-tasker. Why do I always have to have multiple projects going, in different crafts? Where did it all start?

And then there was yarn

And then there was yarn

First, crocheting came to mind. I admired the doilies my mother and grandmothers made and wanted to make some of those. But yarn is easier to learn on than crochet cotton, so I started with granny squares. In high school, I made a few granny square purses for classmates and sold a few. Nothing fancy, but in perfect step with the styles of the early 70’s.

But it goes further back than that. When I joined 4-H as a 9-year-old, one of my first “projects” was Knitting. I remember our leader patiently teaching several of us around her kitchen table in the evening meetings. She must have been a saint because there was only one of her and at least 9 or 10 of us, but learn we did. My Dad’s slippers didn’t quite turn out—I’ve always knit large and he wasn’t really a slipper-wearer, but he was a good sport!

Early lessons in sewing

Early lessons in sewing

But maybe it went back even further. When I was 7 or 8, trolls were a fad. They came with all colors of hair. Mine had orange hair. And you could make simple felt outfits for them. My Mom purchased a sewing pattern for a variety of outfits, sat down with my sister and me and taught us the basics of sewing outfits for our trolls. Again, nothing fancy, but we were proud of the clothes we fashioned ourselves.

In the intervening years, I’ve added tatting, spinning, and weaving to my craft skills. Each brings its own pleasure and satisfies the need to always have something in my hands.

I am so grateful to all those who patiently taught me skills that bring such joy. And it’s my turn to pass along the joy!

The Wool Review

03 Thursday Sep 2015

Posted by jeanweaves in Scarves, Wool

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Scarves, Weaving, Wool, Yarn

Cranberry Scarf

Cranberry Scarf

This week I’ve been working on some wool scarves since we are moving into the cooler fall weather. I had some slate Shetland wool and some cranberry Jaggerspun wool, both 2/8 weight, that I thought would go well together. And for an added interest, I put in a few threads of some iridescent black rayon which has quite a “hairy” look. I thought a little fluff in the scarves would be nice.

I sett the warp fairly loose, just 16 ends per inch, to give the wool room to bloom in the finishing process. (What a difference from the 52 epi satin weave on my other loom!) I also focused on beating very lightly, 15 picks per inch. I didn’t want to make a stiff board – I’ve done that before and that scarf was not very pleasing!

I haven’t woven that much in wool and I approach the finishing cautiously. Wet-finishing (basically washing) is necessary to make the fiber bloom. The combination of heat and agitation opens up the fiber. Not enough agitation and the fiber remains somewhat stiff. Too much agitation and it felts. So I had to experiment to find the “Goldilocks” amount of finishing for this wool. What is “just right?”

Cranberry sample

Cranberry sample

Fortunately, I had half a yard of warp at the end that I could play with, so I wove it up the same as the scarves and took it to the wash machine. It didn’t look like it was finished yet after one minute of agitation, so I left it in for another minute. Then I laid the sample out to dry flat.

The wool opened up nicely, resulting in a soft and light-weight fabric. The rayon fibers did not fluff like I’d expected, so I gave the surface a little brushing. More vigorous brushing would be necessary if I really want the rayon to come to the surface. It will probably work its way out as the scarves are worn, but for now, the rayon just gives the surface a slightly grey cast. The rayon also didn’t shrink up the same as the wool, so there is a little rippling. That is to be expected when combining different fibers, but I’m glad I didn’t use too much of it.

Now I had a little more confidence in how to finish the actual scarves. I chose to agitate in very warm water for 1 ½ minutes only and rinse in the same temperature water. This is not a project I could pop in the washer and walk away—it needed to be watched to prevent felting.

Slate Scarf

Slate Scarf

All in all, this was a good learning experience. I may have more wool to work with in the future since I have lots of fiber to spin in my closet. From this comfortable starting place, I can consider more wool projects in the coming year.

What is your latest learning project? Share your progress!

A Weaver of a Different Sort

01 Tuesday Sep 2015

Posted by jeanweaves in Nature

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Weaving

I’m going to come clean right off the bat here—I don’t like spiders. My family can tell many stories of my antics growing up on the farm, where there were plenty of spiders, and the lengths I went to just to avoid them. Even as an adult, I don’t like them. But the Good Lord created them for a purpose, so I just steer clear of them.

A weaver of a different sort

A weaver of a different sort

Then last weekend I noticed this “lovely” in amongst my fading zinnias. My husband says it is a golden orb spider. She is a weaver of a different sort.

She (he?) is really lovely in her own way. She must be 2” to 2.5” long and her web extends at least a couple feet from stem to stem.  But at the same time, she makes me shudder. I have never seen a spider so big. Fall is on the way here in mid-Missouri and spiders have grown large over the summer months.

Golden orb spider

Golden orb spider

Needless to say, the zinnias will have to fend for themselves until after a frost.

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