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~ Jean Williams, Handweaver

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Tag Archives: Handwoven Magazine

How to Get There From Here

22 Saturday Oct 2016

Posted by jeanweaves in creating, Planning, Weaving Inspiration

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creative inspiration, Handwoven Magazine, Weaving

I have always enjoyed Sharon Alderman’s articles in Handwoven Magazine. She has a comfortable style of explaining things and even when discussing complex structures, she is easy to follow. Recently I borrowed Mastering Weave Structures, by Sharon Alderman and published in 2004 by Interweave Press, and was quickly absorbed in the wealth of information she included.

Mastering Weave Structures by Sharon Alderman

Mastering Weave Structures by Sharon Alderman

Sharon inspired me right from the get-go by her approach to plain weave. What can a weaver do with simple old plain weave to make an interesting fabric? What about grouping warp and/or weft ends? You can vary the denting. Vary the yarn sizes. Use mercerized with unmercerized cotton. Use different fibers in the same fabric. Use colors close in hue or value. Combine basket weave, a form of plain weave, with plain weave itself. Use color and weave effects, including rep weaves. Sharon discusses how these choices and others affect the end fabric.

What makes a twill? What is the difference between an even twill and uneven twill? How do you make a twill more or less steep? What about sett? What if you weave the draft in a point, or combine different points, or advance the twill line? What happens if you weave one pick from one treadling sequence and the next pick from the second? What if you rearrange the treadling order?

She starts each structure with 4-shaft drafts and moves on to include drafts for 8 shafts, 16 shafts, and sometimes 24 shafts. She gives the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches. Several times, she points out that an uneven beat will produce crosswise striations in the finished cloth. And she strongly encourages weaving good sized samples, at least 12” x 12”, in order to see what the yarns will actually weave up as.

Compound weaves are those that use more than a single warp and a single weft. They include overshot, summer and winter, crackle, and beiderwand. Sharon covers treadling variations, skeleton tie-ups, and going beyond the expected. “Pushing an idea boils down to this: try the idea, notice what happens, and if you like what happens, see if you can exaggerate it.”

I was particularly curious about her chapter “Inventing Your Own Weave Structures.” Here she presents three different approaches she uses to achieve the fabric in her head, working backwards to the draft and figuring out what she needs to put on the loom to get the result she wants.

In one approach, she starts with paper and pencil, sketching the elements she wants in her cloth and their relative position. Another approach is to design from the tie-up: start with a basic tie-up and make changes to form the elements you want to include. Her third approach is to draw out the design on graph paper and then work out the threading, the treadling, and finally the tie-up.

Anyone who is familiar with Sharon’s articles in Handwoven Magazine will recognize her easy style and practical approach to weaving. She includes drafts, diagrams and sumptuous photos of the resulting fabrics to illustrate the possibilities.

“The important thing, as always, is knowing how to achieve the effect you want.”

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New Year, Revisiting Old Techniques

16 Friday Jan 2015

Posted by jeanweaves in Doubleweave, Planning, Weaving Inspiration

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creative inspiration, Double Weave, Handwoven Magazine, Table Runners, Weaver's, Weaving

January holds all sorts of possibilities. Old deadlines are past and there’s time now to consider more carefully what goes on the loom rather than assuming it will be another towel run. This is a great time to revisit those weave structures that I don’t get to work on usually.

Last January I sampled some Finn weave and figured double weave. That was a small project just to see if I could do it. But all through the year, a thought was niggling at the back of my mind: what if I set up the draw loom for double weave? I’ve done it before, although it’s been many years ago. Can I do it again?

Double weave articles abound in Weaver's and Handwoven.

Double weave articles abound in Weaver’s and Handwoven.

The first step for now was to review what resources I have on double weave. I have many back issues of Weaver’s and Handwoven. “Colonial Double Weave” by Madelyn Van der Hoogt in Weaver’s Issue 12 has great cross-section drawings of what the threads are actually doing and how to weave an overshot pattern as double weave. Then Weaver’s Issue 17 has several articles on double weave color and design. Weaver’s Issue 32 has articles by Bonnie Inouye and Doramay Keasbey on manipulating double weave drafts. And the November/December 2011 Handwoven has an article by Judith Yamamoto and Patricia Stewart on two different takes of one draft.

A page from a 2002 double weave workshop

A page from a 2002 double weave workshop

I’ve also attended numerous workshops over the years, one of which was entirely on double weave. Ingrid Boesel visited our guild in 2002 to teach about color in double weave. My binder included photos of our round-robin projects along with the drafts. It’s fascinating to see how different colors affect the look of a fabric.

Looking through these articles and studies was just the jump start I needed. A warp of dark blue and medium blues went on my small loom to refresh my memory. I sampled a selection of weft colors, settled on one, and took off.

Double weave sample (lower right) and resulting runner

Double weave sample (lower right) and resulting runner

Overall I’m pleased with the result and am already winding a follow-up warp with improvements. My “light” side doesn’t have to be stripes to match block arrangements; I’m blending the light colors to see how that looks. I’m also going to sett the warp closer (48 epi for 10/2 mercerized cotton vs. 40 epi as in the first warp). And I do have to be careful about weft skips on the underside, but because this is plain weave, the repairs are not difficult. And then there’s the question of whether or not to join at the edges. I chose to join on this runner, but it puckers a little because of that, meaning one layer pulled in more. I’ll have to leave the edges open next time. An ounce of prevention…

Once I get warmed up, my plan is to expand to the draw loom. With my 20 pattern shafts, I think I can weave five pattern blocks of double weave compared to just two blocks on my 8-shaft loom. An exploration of block arrangement and manipulation is in the wings!

An Ode to Overshot

13 Tuesday May 2014

Posted by jeanweaves in Coverlets, Overshot, Weaving Inspiration

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Coverlets, Early American Weaving, Handwoven Magazine, Overshot

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.

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