The Finnweave and doubleweave samples are finished and I learned a lot. It’s fun to try a new technique, all the while thinking about how I will use it in future projects. The Finnweave sample is on the left above. The sample on the right is doubleweave.

As a comparison, the Finnweave is threaded two by two: two threads of background, two threads of pattern, etc. Doubleweave is threaded one by one: one thread background, one thread pattern and so on. When weaving Finnweave, you pick up your design and throw the shuttle twice before you have to pick up the next row. In doubleweave, you have to pick up each row. That is the main reason Finnweave is considered faster to weave than doubleweave. Also in Finnweave, the diagonal lines are smoother than in the doubleweave. That may make a difference if you want to weave something with lots of diagonals. And while Finnweave is technically not reversible, the back side is still pleasing and usable. Doubleweave is completely reversible.

It took me a couple tries to figure out the Finnweave process. The green was my background color, pink the pattern color. So with every throw of the shuttle, I had to think about whether I needed the pattern to be horizontal (like the “stitching” along the bottom and top) or vertical (like the “stitching” along the sides). The pattern color is picked up on different rows depending on how it should look in the design. This slowed me down quite a bit and I had to unweave several mistakes.

The doubleweave sample went much faster. Perhaps it was because I’ve woven loom-controlled doubleweave, where the layers are interchanged with the treadles rather than picked up manually. Perhaps it was because I didn’t have to think about the horizontal or vertical pitch of the pattern thread. Whatever the reason, I enjoyed the weaving and went on to weave two other small samples of old graphed designs.

Now it is time to move on to other warps. But it will be interesting to plan how Finnweave and doubleweave will show up in projects to come.