Two dishtowels down
and one to go. But first, I had to decide how I wanted to weave it. I've done
something different with each towel, so for this one, I finally settled on
exploring the 'overshot fashion' section in Helen Bress's The Weaving Book. It continues with the same four twill threadings
I've been using for my gamp (straight twill, point twill, rosepath, and broken twill),
with overshot's heavier pattern weft and a tabby weft the same as the
warp.
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Third twill gamp dishtowel woven in overshot fashion.
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For my non-weaving friends, overshot is a traditional weave structure that uses two weights of yarns. The heavier yarn creates the pattern, and the lighter weight yarn basically holds the pattern in place. This is important because the patterns typically call for multiple repeats to build shapes of color in the cloth. The lighter weight tabby (which is just plain weave) serves as a binder between the rows of heavier yarn. You can see pictures of an overshot coverlet woven by my 4x-great-grandmother here.
My yarn stash is mostly 8/2 and 10/2 cotton, with very few choices in
heavier yarns. Of the 6/2 that I thought would be an option, the only colors
I have are pink, gray, white, and navy. Only navy looked good with my warp
colors, so navy it is! I'm using navy for the pattern weft for the
entire length of the dishtowel, and rotating tabby colors the same as my
warp.
Notes and Observations
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My
lever sequence counter
is working very well, although I still have to remind myself to move the
beads when I change the levers.
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I think I'm going to need to clamp the loom to
the new desk. It has a smooth surface and the loom wants to move with every
beat.
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I'm finally starting to take advantage of the two dowels on which the
beater bar can rest. Being a compact loom, there isn't much distance
between the breast beam and the castle, which means I have to advance
the warp frequently. Simply moving the beater back gives me a few more
inches before I have to do that!
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I'm wondering what it would look like if the pattern weft was a little heavier, although for the
purposes of a dishtowel, it' fine.
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Maybe that's just an excuse to talk myself into buying more yarn.
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The addition of a third color makes each unit visually more complex,
which intrigues me.
Even though I'm finding weaving on a table loom to be pretty slow, I still
seem to be making good progress. Here are the first four weft sections, each
with a different treadling pattern and tabby color. The treadling patterns
don't have specific names, so I'm just identifying them with the codes given
to them by Bress plus their page number in the book. All can be enlarged by
clicking on the image.
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| 1st weft section, II 198 A to II 201 D (page 70)
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| 2nd weft section, II 210 A to II 213 D (page 71) |
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| 3rd weft section, II 270 A to II 273 D (page 75) |
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| 4th weft section, II 202 A to II 205 D (page 71)
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3 comments:
This is just all so fascinating to me Leigh, a subject I literally know nothing about. It does make think about all my clothes a bit more.
I like all these samples!
TB, it is indeed a fascinating thing, and on so many levels too: historical, cultural, types of looms, exploring weave structures, color interaction, textile analysis and design, plus the joy of creativity while producing something useful. I'll never get bored!
Michelle, thanks! Overshot traditionally uses wool yarn for the patterns. One of these days, I'm going to try it with handspun!
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