Tag Archives: Early American Weaving

Books, Books, Glorious Books!

29 Wednesday Jun 2016

Posted by in Weaving Inspiration

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You can tell a lot about a person by looking at her bookshelf.

My mother loved books. She was a writer after all. She had shelves of histories. She had shelves of dictionaries (biographical, quotation, geographical, biblical, your standard Webster, and more). She had shelves – and shelves! – of cookbooks, because as a food writer, she researched – a lot! She had so many books that the auctioneer was overwhelmed—literally.

I have inherited my mother’s love of books. I look around me and I have shelves of histories, an interest my husband also shares. I have shelves of books by Wisconsin authors, some friends of my mother’s, some I know by reputation only. But my favorite shelves are those of fiber books!DSCN3998a

I still have my green-covered A Handweaver’s Pattern Book by Marguerite P. Davison, a classic I bought when I first started weaving. Right up there next to that is my copy of A Weaver’s Book of 8-Shaft Patterns ed. by Carol Strickler. I did pass along my Learning to Weave by Deborah Chandler to a friend who was just starting and I hope she got as much out of it as I did.

There are books on coverlets,DSCN3997a

books on design,DSCN3996a

and books on linen.DSCN3995a

Beside these sit books on early weaving manuscripts, and yes, more histories of weaving.DSCN3990a

Sometimes I buy books on techniques that intrigue me, but I have yet to go beyond reading the book. Tapestry is one of those. I have two books called Tapestry Weaving, one by Kirsten Glasbrook and one by Nancy Harvey, both of which I have pored over and dreamed through. Someday…DSCN3993a

Then there is Weaving as an Art Form: A Personal Statement by Theo Moorman—another classic—and More on Moreman by Heather Winslow. Both very inspiring and worthy of a reread.

And these are just some of the weaving books! There are also books on spinning, books on knitting, and a few on book-making. Handmade art books are so amazing!

Inspiration is right there in front of me. All I have to do is pull a book off the shelf and fall in!

What does your bookshelf say about you?

(For those of you who are interested, I’ve included a bibliography. Some of the books are out of print but you may be able to find them in your local library or on line. There are many other books on my shelf that I didn’t mention.  Explore your shelves and see what you can find!)

Bibliography:

Davison, Marguerite Porter (1944) A Handweaver’s Pattern Book. Swarthmore, PA: Marguerite P. Davison, Inc.

Glasbrook, Kirsten (2002) Tapestry Weaving. Turnbridge Wells, Kent, England: Search Press

Gordon, Judith (1995) American Star Work Coverlets. New York, NY: Design Books

Harvey, Nancy (1991) Tapestry Weaving: A Comprehensive Study Guide. Loveland, CO: Interweave Press

Heinrich, Linda (2010) Linen: From Flax Seed to Woven Cloth. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing Ltd.

Hersh, Tandy and Charles (2001) Rural Pennsylvania German Weaving 1833-1857. Carlisle, PA: Tandy and Charles Hersh

Jarvis, Helen N. (1989) Weaving a Traditional Coverlet. Loveland, CO: Interweave Press

Kurtz, Carol S. (1981) Designing for Weaving. Loveland, CO: Interweave Press

Lamb, Sara (2013) Spin to Weave: A Weaver’s Guide to Making Yarn. Loveland, CO: Interweave Press

Meek, Kati Reeder (2000) Reflections From a Flaxen Past: For Love of Lituanian Weaving. Alpena, MI: Penannular Press International

Moorman, Theo (1975) Weaving as an Art Form: A Personal Statement. West Chester, PA: Schiffer Publishing Ltd.

Oelsner, G.H. (1952) A Handbook of Weaves. New York, NY: Dover Publications, Inc.

Safner, Isadora M. (1985) The Weaving Roses of Rhode Island. Loveland, CO: Interweave Press

Strickler, Carol (1987)  American Woven Coverlets. Loveland, CO: Interweave Press

Strickler, Carol, editor (1991) A Weaver’s Book of 8-Shaft Patterns. Loveland, CO: Interweave Press

Thompson, Marjie, Kathleen L. Grant, and Alan G. Keyser. Forgotten Pennsylvania Textiles of the 18th and 19th Centuries.  Cumberland, ME: The Linen Press

Wertenberger, Kathryn (1988) 8, 12…20: An Introduction to Multishaft Weaving. Loveland, CO: Interweave Press

Winslow, Heather Lyn (1994) More on Moorman: Theo Moorman Inlay Adapted to Clothing. Sugar Grove, IL: Heather Winslow

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What Goes Around…

12 Wednesday Aug 2015

Posted by in Craft History, Towels, Weaving Inspiration

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Red Cotton Towel woven "as drawn in."

Red Cotton Towel woven “as drawn in.”

You know the old saying : What goes around, comes around.  This is certainly true in weaving, but I can always learn more from early weavers.

For some time, I have belonged to the Early Weaving Books and Manuscripts study group through Complex Weavers. Through the years, members of this group have worked to find and preserve old weaving drafts and manuscripts. The eastern United States had quite a number of professional weavers in its early days and they often kept account books, recording not only what they charged for weaving, spinning, and dying, but also often their patterns. Apprentices began their studies by copying their masters’ draft books, sometimes even including doodles in the margins. These manuscripts are treasured when they are found. And often, they are digitized so others can study and weave them.

Handweaving.net is a wonderful archive of over 60,000 weaving drafts and documents, many of which are public domain according to the site. I can get lost browsing through these patterns; they offer a glimpse into what weavers were doing 100 or more years ago.

Red and Plum Towel woven "as drawn in."

Red and Plum Towel woven “as drawn in.”

And these drafts do take study. Weaving notation is pretty consistent now, but early weavers had their own notation conventions and it isn’t always apparent to us in the 21st century what the weaver of the 1700’s meant by his marks. Does the pattern go from left to right, or right to left? Does the first line represent the closest shaft or the farthest? Many times, all that is shown is more like a musical staff than a pattern, a set of horizontal lines with a series of tick marks. Sometimes there is a tie-up, many times not. Rarely are there any directions on the treadling.

This is what makes these early drafts fascinating.

I particularly like the fancy twills that often show up in these old manuscripts. I picked one from the Jacob Snavely manuscript for my recent towel warp. It’s called variously Ms and Ws, or hin und wieder. I’m told that’s German for “back and forth” which is really quite descriptive of the motifs. They are characterized by fancy diamonds within diamonds, crosses, and stars.

Tangerine and Reg Towel woven in point twill.

Tangerine and Reg Towel woven in point twill.

The draft I picked was just a series of lines over lines, but it did have a tie-up included. After making some adjustments to suit my taste and yarn, I had to decide how to treadle this draft. Often these old drafts were treadled in the same order as they were threaded (woven “as drawn in” or “trompt as writ”). But there are other possibilities. In some of my towels, I did weave as drawn in, but in the orange one, I treadled a simpler point – just back and forth. Both designs are pleasing.

Now the warp is off the loom, but I don’t want to leave the design just yet. I’m in the process of tying on another warp so I can play some more. This new warp will feature blue, rose, and natural. We’ll see how far I can go with this early draft.

A Weaving Study — Or “How Did They Do That?”

17 Friday Apr 2015

Posted by in Coverlets, Craft History, Doubleweave, Weaving Inspiration

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For the last couple months, I’ve been reading The Coverlet Book by Helene Bress (2003, Flower Valley Press, Inc., Gaithersburg, Maryland). What a fascinating study of how our forebears elevated necessary household textiles to works of art!

The Coverlet Book by Helene Bress

The Coverlet Book by Helene Bress

Ms. Bress examined early coverlets and coverlet fragments over the course of many years, documenting the weave structures, the materials used, the design elements, and the history of the pieces if available. She recorded her first impressions of each coverlet or fragment, and analyzed the weaving. There were anomalies in some of the pieces and she delved into the possible reasons without passing modern judgement (21st Century weavers like rules that may not have been important to 18th and 19th Century weavers!)

The first volume is on overshot while the second volume covers twill, doubleweave, summer and winter, blended structures, and various other designs. Some coverlets were woven by professional weavers, but many overshot coverlets were woven at home on simple 4-shaft looms with home-dyed wool and homespun cotton or linen. Some of the earliest designs were Monks Belt – two blocks only. From there, the weavers played around with designs and over time, the designs got more and more elaborate.

Seeing the block designs in these volumes just confirms my fascination with traditional pattern weaves. What an array of designs can spring from one threading! How exciting to see how a pattern changes when the threading starts at a different point in the draft!

Doubleweave Placemat in Blue and Yellow

Doubleweave Placemat in Blue and Yellow

My current project has been a snowball and pine tree draft that is fairly common in coverlets. However, instead of weaving the blocks to form those snowballs and trees, I wove the blocks in straight order, one following the other, without combining them. From there the design evolved. This week the third rendition came off the loom. Here the blocks are just treadled in point order—zig zag order if you will. I like this pattern, but it is slower to weave because the blocks change constantly.

As I page through The Coverlet Book, I dream about weaving a coverlet. Maybe…someday…who knows! For now I am inspired and will keep exploring!

The Evolution of an Idea

12 Thursday Mar 2015

Posted by in Coverlets, Doubleweave, Weaving Inspiration

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Block Doubleweave, Second Warp

Block Doubleweave, Second Warp

Every project starts somewhere, inspired by some need, some desire for color, a picture in a book or magazine, a piece in a store window. My Mom tells the story of her grandmother seeing a crocheted doily in a shop window during the Depression, studying it, and then going home to recreate it. Inspiration!

Weaving drafts give the directions that tell the weaver what to do. Drafts consist of four elements:

  1. the threading: the order the threads are arranged
  2. the treadling: which treadle to press when
  3. the tie-up: how those treadles are connected to the shafts
  4. the draw-down: what the pattern will look like with all of the above

    Doubleweave Draft

    Doubleweave Draft

The inspiration for my block doubleweave goes back to a class at Madelyn Van der Hoogt’s Weavers School when it was still in Missouri. I pulled out my class notes and studied the draft. The blocks – the areas where the colors change – form a pine tree and snowball design, but what if I changed the order of those blocks? How would the overall design change?

The easiest way to change a pattern is to treadle it differently, so I played around with the order of those blocks. Weaving the blocks in the same order as they are threaded, “as drawn in,” produces rings in the corners with ovals and diamonds in the center, like the green placemats. But I’m not a production weaver, so after weaving a couple placemats in this design, I started to ponder how to change it yet again without rethreading.

Doubleweave Designs Evolving

Doubleweave Designs Evolving

Again, I looked at the block order. What if I treadled just one set of blocks over and over? How about treadling them in point order – back and forth, one repeat of each? There are so many possibilities. I have the second pattern on the loom now in a natural pattern against a deep wine background, and a third set will tie on after it in yet different colors. Three different designs with one threading, just by changing the block order!

This is the evolution of design.

Loom Envy

02 Wednesday Jul 2014

Posted by in Craft History, Looms, Terminology

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Many years ago, I heard a well-known weaver speaking at a conference. He joked that whenever he wanted to change threadings, he just went out and bought another loom. At least I thought he was joking and all us in the audience laughed with him. But now I wonder if, indeed, he was just being honest.

You see one of the most time-consuming tasks of weaving is threading the loom. Each thread has to go through a heddle and a dent (a slot) in the reed (the beater). Patterns weaves like damask and double go through two heddles and the reed. Some warps have hundreds of threads. So for that conference speaker, it was more cost-effective to buy another loom than to keep rethreading every time he needed to change patterns. I don’t think I can make the same argument.

One alternative is to put on very long warps. For me, “very long” is defined as 20 yards. One of my friends routinely puts on 21 yards. Some weavers put on 50 or more yards. The longer the warp, the more fabric you can weave before you have to re-thread.  But what if I get bored with the pattern after 10 yards and there are 20 more to go? What if I get an order for something that needs that width, but there are 20 more yards to weave before I can change warps?

Loom threaded with damask, using drawloom shafts.

Loom threaded with damask, using drawloom shafts.

Earlier weavers had a solution for this. Their looms had pieces that could be interchanged. There are references in their records to “gears” which controlled the pattern. When they needed to weave an overshot coverlet, they put that “gear” into the loom frame and tied on a new warp. If they needed to weave dimity, they stalled that “gear.” So it sounds like they had a limited number of loom frames and multiple “gears” to weave the various patterns they offered.

I’ve tried to imagine what these gears were. I have an antique Newcomb loom which has a cast-iron device that changes the shed and advances the warp every time the beater is pulled. Is this what they are talking about? If so, it would be pretty heavy to change out when a new order came in. Or are they referring to the actual shafts with heddles? I can see bundling my threaded shafts and carefully rolling them up to preserve a threading, but it would work better if I kept the threads in the reed and bundled the reed with the shafts. That requires extra reeds.

All this discussion is really an attempt on my part to fend off “loom envy.” For the past year, I’ve vacillated about getting another loom. I’ve pretty much decided that it’s not necessary, but there are times when I really could use another wide loom. A girl can dream!

An Ode to Overshot

13 Tuesday May 2014

Posted by in Coverlets, Overshot, Weaving Inspiration

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Everywhere I turn lately, I’m seeing overshot. Or maybe I’m just more aware of it because I used that weave structure for my mug rugs (see previous post).  But the March/April issue of Handwoven Magazine did include an article about researching a found coverlet , “The Story of the Martin Brenneman Coverlet” by Tom Knisely followed by a project for a table runner in overshot. And there are numerous books – books on my very own bookshelf!—about overshot. So I want to take another look at this weave structure.

Overshot Throw woven in wool and cotton

Overshot Throw woven in wool and cotton

It’s curious how weaves come and go. And it’s amazing what is woven today in structures that have been around a really long time, how structures are combined and envelopes are pushed, making something old speak to today! I think that’s why overshot is showing up again.

I recently reread American Woven Coverlets by Carol Strickler (Loveland, Colorado: Interweave Press, 1987).  Strickler writes here for anyone interested in coverlets, not just for weavers. She defines a coverlet as “a hand-woven bedcover with loom-controlled pattern” and differentiates coverlets from quilts (quilts are two or more separate fabrics put together like a sandwich). She goes on to cover the why, the when, the who, and the where of coverlet weaving.  She includes chapters on the fibers, the equipment, and the patterns used to weave coverlets. It’s a fascinating and very readable book for weavers and non-weavers alike.

Another book referenced by Strickler and one that I’m currently reading is Keep Me Warm One Night: Early Handweaving in Eastern Canada. Burnham, Harold B. and Dorothy K. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1972. This is a classic! Strickler notes that although this book only discusses Canadian coverlets, the patterns, materials, and equipment used are “closely related to a large portion of Eastern American weaving.” (bibliography). More on this classic next time.

What appeals to me about both coverlets and overshot is that they were often woven at home by the homemaker. The looms that these weavers used were usually simple four shaft looms. The materials were often spun and dyed at home. And the weavers were busy with the demands of life, but found time to create beautiful household linens with the materials at hand. My deepest respect to the weavers who have gone before me.