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~ Jean Williams, Handweaver

jeanweaves

Monthly Archives: March 2017

Making the Most of Time

29 Wednesday Mar 2017

Posted by jeanweaves in creating, Planning, Weaving Inspiration

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Projects, Time Management, Weaving

Gebrochene on the loom

Gebrochene on the loom

Last night our study group met. We were a small group—the local colleges are on spring break and many people are out of town. Those of us who came shared our current projects and the conversation turned to tying a new warp onto the previous one.

Susan said she rarely ties on. She says she is always planning the next project while she is weaving, and it is often in a different structure.

As an example, Susan brought a rainbow colored baby blanket woven in 8-shaft crackle. What a bright and cheery blanket! The blocks for her crackle pattern came from an overshot name draft that she designed. She showed us that same name draft woven in fine white and blue linen overshot. Then there were the lace towels in 10/2 cotton—again using those name draft blocks, this time in lace. That’s three different structures from one block design. She couldn’t tie each warp onto the previous one because they are different structures, but she started with the same block design for each.

Paula said she ties on whenever she can. Paula has an Ms and Os warp on right now for a baby blanket after which she will reduce the sett for a scarf, then after that, she’s spread the warp again and tie on for a rug. Paula has studied Ms and Os for years. She starts with that one weave structure and interprets it into everything from fine to heavy fabrics. She knows just what to expect from different yarns in that weave and how they will respond to the floats and interlacements. One weave structure—many ways.

I’m somewhere in between in the tying discussions. I tie on when I can, but like Susan, I’m often on to a different structure with the next project.

Gebrochene Draft

Gebrochene Draft

Currently I’m working on a gebrochene weave. That’s an old German name for a fancy Ms and Ws twill. I really love the intricate patterns created with just the classic twill line going in different directions. From this one threading, I can weave plain weave with a fancy twill border, gebrochene in a straight treadling, gebrochene in a point treadling, trompt as writ, or a combination of any of these. Using different colors and fibers and tying on to the existing warp, I can weave towels, runners, napkins, even scarves before I have to rethread.

All of us have ways to get the most out of our creative time, whether it tying on to the previous warp, or using the same draft in multiple structures, or weaving a single structure into a variety of items.

How do you get the most out of your creative time?

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Problem-Solving in the Works

06 Monday Mar 2017

Posted by jeanweaves in Planning, Thrums, Wool

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Boundweave, creative inspiration, Thrums, Weaving

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about my thrums dilemma and eventual inspiration to weave a bench pad in rosepath boundweave. On Friday, I pulled the pad off the loom and yesterday, finished the hemming.

Thrums waiting to be woven

Thrums waiting to be woven

The bed covering in the painting “Lallah Rookh” is my source for inspiration. It has, as one of its motifs, an elongated flame shape on a solid ground. Because I had a limited supply of thrums for patterning, I focused on that shape rather than trying to duplicate the entire covering. I supplemented the thrums with other wools from my stash for additional colors. From this image, I went to past magazine issues for specifics.

I have seen different tie-up methods for boundweave. Tom Knisely threads boundweave in the typical rosepath arrangement and treadles the colors in blocks which float two ends up, two down. (see “A Boundweave Rug” p. 34 November/December 2010 Handwoven). This results in a reversible fabric.

Flame taking shape

Flame taking shape

However, I chose the tie-up from “Rugs in the Scandinavian Way” in the May/June 1987 Handwoven Magazine for no other reason than I just wanted to see how it would work. Here, Phyllis Waggoner uses a boundweave tie-up that lifts three ends against one. With this set-up, the backside is definitely a backside. Her rug shows several design bands in varying colors, one of which was a distinctive flame motif. Sometime, that would be a fun rug to weave in its entirety, using the block treadling to produce a more reversible fabric, but for now, I needed to focus on that flame pattern and maybe a smaller diamond.

Backside of the boundweave, right off the loom

Backside of the boundweave, right off the loom

Weaving progressed slowly, not just because boundweave is a slow weave, but because I was working with weft in one-yard lengths. Lots of loose ends! Every end had to be overlapped and tucked to the back of the web while weaving. Here is where I made a decision based on expediency: because the back side would not be seen, indeed would be tied down to my loom bench, I decided not to worry about all those loose ends. If this had been a piece on which both sides would be seen, I would have used a needle to weave those ends in after taking the piece off the loom.

Because I didn’t know how long the flame motif would end up, after weaving the hem and header, I started the border just a couple inches in from the beginning. As it turned out, one repeat was going to be too short, and if I wove a second one, the pad wouldn’t fit on my bench. An added smaller diamond on one end resulted in a more useable length, even though it does bother my “symmetry” sensibilities a bit.

The finished boundweave bench pad

The finished boundweave bench pad

This was definitely an exercise in problem-solving that resulted in something useful—which is what I wanted from my thrums.

What challenges are you working on this week? Share your discoveries!

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