Saturday, December 07, 2024

Lap Robe Done

Finished at last, the Lap Robe I've been working on since July.
I'm happy with the way it turned out: the colors, the pattern, and especially the selvedges. I made one treadling mistake when I missed a reverse, but it's close to the end so I'll call it a border if anyone notices. Which I doubt because of the visual movement of the pattern. 

It's quite heavy, but I think it will be warm and suitable for its intended purpose. Best of all, it's finished in time to get it off in time for Christmas!

The Particulars
  • Yarn: Yarn Bee acrylic
    • warp variegated
    • weft solid
  • Warp tied onto my Dornik Herringbone threading
  • Sett: 8 e.p.i. 
  • PPI: 16 
  • Width
    • on loom: 37"
    • finished: 36"
  • Length
    • on loom: 60"
    • finished: 56" (excluding fringe)
Lap Robe Done © Dec. 2024

Related posts

Monday, December 02, 2024

Crackle Sampler Washed & Pressed

Samples #1-4
I ended up with 34 samples from my 4-shaft crackle manners of weaving sampler. Now that it's off the loom, washed, and pressed, I'm getting a better idea of what each manner of weaving has to offer.
 
The sampler particulars:
  • warp
    • 10/2 cotton
    • 160 ends
    • 20 e.p.i.
    • 10-dent reed threaded 2 per dent
  •  weft
    • 5/2 (or 10/2 doubled) cotton pattern weft
    • 10/2 cotton ground weft
    • Some samples used a 10/2 pattern weft
  • See introduction for profile draft, threading, and tie-up.
  • Width in reed: 8 inches
  • Finished width: 7 inches 

Shrinkage makes a difference, of course, both in fabric size and the look of the fabric. For example, sample #6 which is a twill treadled without tabby.

Sample #6 before washing

Sample #6 after washing

The summer & winter treadling was one I was interested in. If you recall, this is one I thought might be a contender for dining room draperies, to coordinate with my Blue Willow china. Wet finishing made a wonderful difference . . .

Samples 11 (top) & 12 (bottom), summer & winter manner of weaving

Sample 12 looks like it might do very well for that project and deserves a larger sample.

The woven as lace samples also improved with wet finishing. It's difficult to appreciate in a photo because the pleasingness of the effect is textural. Same color warp and weft makes it difficult to photograph. It needs the angle of light to see it in a picture. 

Samples #13, 14, and 15.

Bottom to top: samples 16, 17, 18

The shadow effects samples also interested me on the loom. The one on the bottom (on the right), #16 is called "Shadow-y." It doesn't have good color contrast between warp and weft, so I find it more difficult to appreciate. I'd like to try it again with contrasting colors. 

The middle sample, #17, Shadow Blocks, is okay, but doesn't inspire me, I think because it's flat looking compared to the top sample, #18.

#18 is Mary Snyder's Shadow Blocks and is much more interesting. I think this is because it has a more crackly look to it. Plus, using more colors offers more opportunity for color blending (which is what drew me to crackle weave in the first place). I chose two neutrals (dark gray and brown) for my two color wefts, and I think brighter colors would be really fun.

Another sample that I was curious to see wet finished is #27, lengthwise stripes. Here it is below, before and after wet finishing.

#27, lengthwise stripes on the loom

#27, lengthwise stripes after washing, drying, and pressing

I like that the stripes pop out more after finishing and I'm happy that the little background stripes remain. This one would be fun with various stripes being different warp colors.

Samples #29 - 32

I wove a lot of samples, and amazingly, I didn't exhaust the catalog of manners of weaving for crackle. But I've got a good collection and I'm getting important information about my yarn size and color choices. Some of them I'd like to weave again, to explore them on a larger project. Sampling is good to a point, but doesn't necessarily tell me how the fabric will behave on a larger project. 

My next step is to sew the edges of each sample to prevent fraying. Thankfully, I made good notes in my blog posts, and each of these will be printed out for a sampler book. Each sample will be secured with it's information and notes. I'll use the new photos to update my Crackle Manners of Weaving page. 

Between all that plus some sewing and mending, I have plenty to keep me busy for awhile.


Wednesday, November 27, 2024

Last Sample!

Sample #34 of my 4-shaft crackle manners of weaving sampler.

Finally, the end of my 5-yard sampler warp!


I had enough to eek out one more sample. For this one I decided to revisit my crackle stripes, this time with a lacy treadling as suggested by Susan Wilson. You can see my previous lace weave crackle samples here. This one is the 2-block lace. 

#34, lace lengthwise stripes

 It's kinda hard to see them though, isn't it? Here's another shot at an angle. 

Does that help?

I think I will add this to my lengthwise stripes sample post, to have all the information in one place.

The next step was to take the sampler off the loom and sew the ends to prevent unraveling. 
 
 
On the loom, the fabric was stretched tight, so it was hard to tell how well my yarn  choices were working. Off the loom, it's relaxed and softer, and I have a better idea. Next I'll wash it, which will make it look even better. I'm curious as to how the samples will look after that.

Monday, November 25, 2024

Lap Robe Off the Loom

I haven't mentioned the lap robe lately, for a couple of reasons. One is that weaving has been off-again-on-again due to a messy, dusty building/renovation project. I've had the loom covered with bedsheets much of the time to protect it from the dust. Unfortunately, I lost momentum.

The other problem was that, as much as I love the colors, this just hasn't been all that interesting to weave. I definitely like the pattern, but it's been repetitious (60 inches worth) and, even all the color, wasn't able to hold my interest. It was duty weaving (and why I'd never make a good production weaver.) Still, it's off the loom and ready for the next steps.

I've got fringe to finish twisting and ends to weave in. After that, it's ready to send off to its recipient.

Saturday, November 23, 2024

Crackle Manners of Weaving: Honeycomb

 Sample #34 of my 4-shaft crackle manners of weaving sampler

Like swivel and petitpoint, honeycomb is a treadling system, and therefore applicable to a variety of threadings: typically overshot, but also M's & O's, huck, monk's belt, and even twill.

Once upon a time, I wove honeycomb on M's and O's threading (pictures here. This is one where wet finishing makes a dramatic difference to the fabric.) Even so, it's not one I was terribly interested in for this sampler. Like swivel and petitpoint it's an unbalanced weave that creates long floats on the back. 

Both Susan Wilson and Lucy Brusic have a section on honeycomb in their crackle books, but in both cases it's more of a description rather than instructions. But I found instructions in Mary Snyder's The Crackle Weave. And what was truly amazing was that I actually understood them! I gave up on this book when I first started experimenting with crackle because I couldn't follow what she was saying. Finally, (after 32 samples!) her book is starting to make sense.

Honeycomb is so called because it weaves honeycomb-like cells in the fabric. A heavy weft curves around cell-like shapes with plain weave in the centers. Long floats form on the back of the cells from the heavy outline weft.

Doesn't exactly look like bees' honeycomb, does it?
More like waves. Probably has to do with the threading.
  • For the most part, I followed Snyder's project #12, "crackle blocks woven in honeycomb manner," page 32 of the 1989 edition.
  • My loom was already warped, so there is a difference there in sett
    • Snyder recommended 10/2 warp with sett of 24 ends per inch
    • My warp is 10/2 with sett of 20 e.p.i.
  • Weft yarns are similar to her recommendations
    • tabby: 3/2 cotton (3 times heavier than the pattern weft)
    • pattern: 16/2 cotton
    • This is opposite of how it usually is. Usually, the pattern weft is heaviest.
  • Tie-up is the same as swivel
  • Tension should be looser than normal
  • Beat firmly
  • 4 cells possible with 4 shafts
  • There are many treadling possibilities (Bress pgs 130-136). The one I used is Snyder's variation A:
    • 1-3 (tabby a)
    • 2-4 (tabby b)
    • 2-3-4 (pattern)
    • 1-3-4 (pattern)
    • 1-3 (tabby a)
    • 2-4 (tabby b)
    • 1-2-4 (pattern)
    • 1-2-3 (pattern)
  • Creates a one-sided fabric with long floats on the back.

Lucy Brusic states that honeycomb really isn't worth the effort on crackle, and I have to agree with her. I much preferred it on my other sample on M's and O's threading.

Resources


Thursday, November 21, 2024

Crackle Manners of Weaving: Petitpoint

 
Originally, I was going to make one long post covering two related manners of weaving, swivel and petitpoint (which is a subcategory of swivel). It was a lot to wrap my head around, however, so I broke it down into two posts. You can read about swivel, including the similarities and differences, here.
 
 Petitpoint
  • A subcategory of swivel.
  • So called because it resembles petitpoint embroidery.
  • Uses the same 3/1 twill tie-up as swivel (here)
  • Unlike swivel, petitpoint adds tabby to the pattern and background wefts
  • Two shuttles and two colors 
    • pattern is one color and can be heavier
    • background and tabby are the same as the warp
  • Also like swivel, petitpoint has long floats on the back
  • In The Weaving Book, Helene Bress offers three ways to treadle it 
 
Petitpoint I. This treadle pattern is the one found in Wilson and Brusic (see "Resources" below).

#30 Petitpoint swivel I.
  • Block A
    • P: 2-3-4
    • B: 1-2-4
    • T: 1-3
  • Block B
    • P: 1-3-4                
    • B: 1-2-3
    • T: 2-4
  • Block C
    • P: 1-2-4
    • B: 2-3-4
    • T: 1-3
  • Block D
    • P: 1-2-3
    • B: 1-3-4
    • T: 2-4
  • My block order is D, A, B, C

Weaving Observations

  • Like swivel, this is somewhat complicated to weave on a table loom, because each shed requires manually lifting three shafts. 
  • Makes an interesting design.
 
Petitpoint II. From Bress page 99. The pattern treadling is still used, but the background treadling is replaced with tabby a (1-3) and b (2-4), with both following each pattern shot.
 
#31, petitpoint swivel II
  •  Block A
    • P: 2-3-4
    • Ta: 1-3
    • Tb: 2-4
  • Block B
    • P: 1-3-4                
    • Ta: 1-3
    • Tb: 2-4
  • Block C
    • P: 1-2-4
    • Ta: 1-3
    • Tb: 2-4
  • Block D
    • P: 1-2-3
    • Ta: 1-3
    • Tb: 2-4
Weaving Observations
  • As far as I can tell, it looks identical to variant I
  • Easier to weave that variant I
 
Petitpoint III. Easiest and quickest yet. Alternates pattern shots with tabby. 

At first I thought I would weave each block to square, but after one block decided it wasn't interesting enough to continue.
 

Instead, I rotated the pattern shots, one after the other, with tabby in between.
 
#32, petitpoint swivel III
  • Block A
    • P: 2-3-4
    • T: 1-3
  • Block B
    • P: 1-3-4                
    • T: 2-4
  • Block C
    • P: 1-2-4
    • T: 1-3
  • Block D
    • P: 1-2-3
    • T: 2-4
 
And one more. This one is a "what if I . . ." sample. Petitpoint I has pattern, background, and tabby wefts. What if I left the tabby the same as the warp, but used different contrasting colors for the background and pattern wefts?
 
#33. Pattern weft in pink, background in blue, and tabby in natural.
 
close up

It was definitely the most interesting sample to weave, and one I wouldn't mind playing around with more. Someday.

Tuesday, November 19, 2024

Crackle Manners of Weaving: Swivel

 
A heads-up: This (and the next in this series) will be long, technical, and likely boring, except for the pictures (hopefully). This is because I really struggled to understand this one. I had to piece together bits of information from five different books plus experiment a bit. I'm hoping that by being thorough, I won't be completely lost should I decide to revisit it again someday.
 
Originally, this post was going to cover two related manners of weaving, swivel and petitpoint, of which petitpoint is a subcategory of swivel (although, apparently, some say it's the other way around). Why it's called swivel, I have no idea.

Harriet Tidball classifies swivel as a weaving method rather than a threading system. This means it can be treadled on a variety of threadings. Swivel treadling with crackle threading is one of the variations.

Similarities between swivel and petitpoint

  • Weaves as small dots on plain weave on the front of the fabric, with long floats on the back. 
  • Two shuttles and two colors (pattern and background)
  • Uses a 3/1 twill tie-up, instead of a 2/2 twill tie-up (see "tie-up" in my sampler introduction.)
  • 1-3-4, 1-2-4, 1-2-3, 2-3-4 & tabby
  • With a table loom, I must lift the sets of shafts myself to make the shed.
  • This unbalanced tie-up is what weaves the design on the front of the cloth and leaves long floats on the back. 
  • Usually woven on twill threadings, which is why it works with crackle. (See "threading" in my sampler introduction.)

Differences between swivel and petitpoint

  • The difference (that I can tell) between swivel and petitpoint, is that swivel uses only pattern and background wefts. Petitpoint uses uses the same, with the addition of tabby.

Swivel

#29, crackle threading  treadled as swivel
  • alternates 3 shafts with 3 shafts 
  • one shed for pattern (p), the other for background (b, called “binder” by Bress)
  • treadled as drawn in (treadling follows the threading draft). From Bress:
    • Block A is threaded on shafts 1-2-3-2 and treadled
      • 1. p: 2-3-4, b: 1-2-4
      • 2. p: 1-3-4, b: 1-2-3
      • 3. p: 1-2-4, b: 2-3-4
      • 2. p: 1-3-4, b: 1-2-3
    • Block B is threaded on shafts 2-3-4-3 and treadled
      • 2. p: 1-3-4, b: 1-2-3
      • 3. p: 1-2-4, b: 2-3-4
      • 4. p: 1-2-3, b: 1-3-4 
      • 3. p: 1-2-4, b: 2-3-4
    • Block C is threaded on shafts 3-4-1-4 and treadled
      • 3. p: 1-2-4, b: 2-3-4
      • 4. p: 1-2-3, b: 1-3-4
      • 1. p: 2-3-4, b: 1-2-4 
      • 4. p: 1-2-3, b: 1-3-4
    • Block D is threaded on shafts 4-1-2-1 and treadled
      • 4. p: 1-2-3, b: 1-3-4
      • 1. p: 2-3-4, b: 1-2-4
      • 2. p: 1-3-4, b: 1-2-3
      • 1. p: 2-3-4, b: 1-2-4
    • no tabby
  • Yarns
    • background weft is the same weight and color as the warp
    • pattern weft is same weight as warp but a contrasting color

Notes & Observations

  • To be honest, I wasn’t sure I wanted to include this in my sampler at first. The sticking point for me was the long floats in the back. If crackle doesn’t have floats longer than three ends, is this really crackle??? None of the authors questioned it, and it does look intriguing, so I gave it a tr.
  • I think some interesting things could be done with color. Maybe thread each block in different colors and ditto with the weaving.
  • I like the look of it, but found it complicated to weave. With a table loom, I’m lifting three shafts for each throw of the shuttle and I found it difficult to keep track of. I worked out a system for keeping my place, but it was slow going.
  • The long floats on back limit the use of the fabric. It would best serve for things that either could be lined, like vests and jackets, or which displayed only one side of the fabric, such as throw pillows or upholstery.
With a hand mirror, you can see the long floats on the back.

Resources

 

Sunday, November 17, 2024

Crackle Manners of Weaving: Lengthwise Stripes

Samples #27 & 28 of my 4-shaft crackle manners of weaving sampler. 

Lengthwise stripes are attractive and easy to weave. Using different warp colors is one way to do it, but in this sample, the stripes are created with pattern weft. The tie-up is for 2/2 twill, so it's just a matter of choosing one pair of shafts to lift for every shot. Tabby is thrown in between to stabilize the fabric. My sample was done with shafts 2 & 3, just because I liked the location of the stripes with my particular threading.

#27, lengthwise stripes on the loom

The wider brown stripes in the pattern blocks, of course are dominant. But what I find interesting, is the tiny stripes in the background blocks. This may change with wet finishing, which will shrink the fabric somewhat, and is something I was curious about.  

#27, lengthwise stripes after washing, drying, and pressing

With a different threading, I could change the width and location of the stripes. I could even make them different colors, to add more interest.

Another idea for stripes comes from Susan Wilson, who included lengthwise stripes in her lacey manners of weaving section. 

#28, lacy lengthwise stripes

 It's kinda hard to see them though, isn't it? Here's another shot at an angle. 

Mary Snyder's book has an exercise in creating a variety of crackle stripes. See resources below for the page number

Resources


Thursday, November 14, 2024

Crackle Manners of Weaving: Mixing Drafts

 Samples #25 & 26 of my 4-shaft crackle manners of weaving sampler.  

One of the points Lucy Brusic emphasizes in her A Crackle Weave Companion is that drafts can be mixed and matched. In chapter two, "Rethinking Crackle," she states,

"New Crackle patterns can be evolved simply by using the treadling of one Crackle pattern with the threading of another." Lucy Brusic, page 14

She showcases numerous examples of this as she discusses how to choose compatible pairings. Two somewhat universal treadling patterns are Scandinavian Favorite and Blooming Leaf. These are the two I chose for my sampler. 

  • Both treadling drafts are found in Marguerite Davison's A Handweaver's Pattern Book.  
  • Both are woven in overshot manner (pattern-tabby-pattern-tabby).
  • Blooming Leaf as a whole draft is not one that particularly draws my interest, but I have done several table runners in Scandinavian Favorite variations. You can see my samplers here
  • The particulars for my sampler threading and tie-up can be seen here.
#25 treadled as Blooming Leaf (Davison page 201)

#26 treadled as Scandinavian Favorite (Davison page 200, variation I)

The Blooming Leaf treadled sample doesn't look anything like the complete Blooming Leaf draft in the book because my threading is different. But Scandinavian Favorite looks similar because my sampler is threaded in a diamond pattern anyway. I could experiment with others, but I'm not sure this manner of weaving is something I would be interested in pursuing in the future. Still, it will make a good addition to my 4-shaft crackle sampler.

That said, I now find myself checking how much warp is still wound on the back beam. I've worked my way through most of the ideas presented in Brusic's and Wilson's books, at least the ones I want to try. Some ideas need a different threading, and some don't interest me as much. I'm getting anxious to get this sampler off the loom and wet finished, so I can see how they turn out and which ones I'd like to explore more.


Tuesday, November 12, 2024

Crackle Manners of Weaving: Pictorial

Sample #24 of my 4-shaft crackle manners of weaving sampler. 

The term "pictorial" crackle comes from Lucy Brusic's A Crackle Weave Companion (pages 52 to 62). While not terribly detailed, crackle is capable of weaving recognizable albeit stylized shapes. Brusic lists a number of them:
  • flower patterns
  • church (ecclesiastical) motifs
  • cottage windows
  • pine trees and snowflakes
Most of these I've already woven in various projects, and I'll put photos of them at the end of this post. The one I'm particularly interested in for this sampler is the pine trees. Pine trees and snowballs were a favorite when I wove them on eight shafts in Summer & Winter: According to Harriet Tidball, crackle is the only structure that can weave pine trees on four shafts. In looking through my books, I found three designs for pine tree motifs in crackle.

Mary Snyder, The Crackle Weave page 23, adapted
from Mary Meigs Atwater's The Recipe Book.

Mary Meigs Atwater's The Recipe Book,
Series I, "Coverlets," Recipe No. 12.

Several designs from Harriet Tidball's The Weaver's Book page 131

Because my loom is already threaded in a particular pattern I can't weave any of the above for the sampler. Nor can I try the snowflakes. But considering that loom woven pine trees are highly stylized anyway, I decided to see what I could do.

A pine tree of sorts. Can you see it?

Okay, not one I'd do on this threading again, but I liked giving the possibility a try and I'm curious as to how wet finishing will tidy it up. I think tree motifs have a lot of possibilities: small towels, table runners, place mats, napkins, scarves, gift bags, etc. Maybe add some beads and embroidery to make Christmas and fruit trees.
 
As promised, here are my other pictorial crackle motifs from previous projects:

Church weaving as another table runner.

Cottage Windows table runner

Sunday, November 10, 2024

Crackle Manners of Weaving: Broken Twill Treadling

Sample #23 of my 4-shaft crackle manners of weaving sampler.

I found this one in Susan Wilson's Weave Classic Crackle & More, when I was working on my Italian manner samples. It's in her polychrome chapter, of which there are so many examples that I started with only a few for my polychrome sample page. There wasn't a photo for this one, but there was a quote from an article by Nancy Lyon. She calls it a broken twill polychrome. Of it she says that it "lets me blend many weft colors within and across threaded blocks, creating the illusion of complex threading on four harnesses." 

That statement caught my attention, and I like the result so much I wanted to give it it's own blog post. It's one I'd like to further explore in the future.Here's my sample:

Sample #23, broken twill treadling on crackle
  • The description presented in Wilson's book is described as one method to treadle polychrome in this manner. (I'd love to get my hands on the original article).
  • Description calls for two colors with a note that more may be used.
  • Uses broken twill treadling. I'm also notating it as a table loom liftplan:
    • Block A (1-2-4-3)
      • 3-4
      • 1-4
      • 2-3
      • 1-2
    • Block B (2-3-1-4)
      • 1-4
      • 1-2
      • 3-4
      • 2-3
    • Block C (3-4-2-1)
      • 1-2
      • 2-3
      • 1-4
      • 3-4
    • Block D (4-1-3-2)
      • 2-3
      • 3-4
      • 1-2
      • 1-4
 
With only two weft colors, I'm not seeing it as polychrome. But it presents an interesting visual complexity that gives me all kinds of ideas. 

Friday, November 08, 2024

Crackle Manners of Weaving: Italian Manner

Samples #19 - 22  of my 4-shaft crackle manners of weaving sampler.

I did a blog post earlier this year on The Italian Manner, when I was working on my Cottage Windows table runner. In reviewing it for my 4-shaft crackle sampler, I also looked through my books again, and found several variations of  Italian manner (or Italian style) to try.

Definition: A three-color polychrome treadling that alternates pattern weft with background wefts woven on opposite sheds instead of tabby. 
  • Tabby is plain weave woven between pattern weft shots. It alternates shafts 1 & 3 with 2 & 4 and provides a stable structure to hold the pattern. 
  • On opposite instead of tabby means alternating either shafts
    • 1 & 2 with 3 & 4
    • 2 & 3 with 1 & 4
  • These are called "background" wefts instead of "tabby" for Italian manner weaving.

 In exploring my weaving resources, I found three variations of Italian manner.

  • 3-shuttle 
  • classic crackle
  • Lyons Italian style

Lucy Brusic includes 2-shuttle and 1-shuttle Italian manner in her book, but since they don't conform with even her own definition, I didn't do them. I think they more properly fit in the on-opposites manners of weaving category.

For my samples below, I'll give page references for where I found the details, with a more complete bibliography at the bottom of the post.

3-shuttle Italian Manner

This is probably the most commonly thought of treadling for Italian manner. 

Characteristics
  • 3 shuttles, each carrying a different color yarn
    • two colors in weights similar to warp to weave on opposites
    • one heavier weight to weave in pattern
  • Treadling begins with a pattern shot
    • pattern
    • background x
    • pattern
    • background y
    • (end block with pattern)
Sample #19, 3-shuttle crackle in Italian manner
 
References (see bibliography below)
  • Snyder, page 13
  • Atwater, page 145
  • Tod, pages 249-250
 
Classic Crackle
 
The difference between classic crackle and 3-shuttle is which thread starts the treadling sequence.

Characteristics
  • 3 shuttles, each carrying a different color yarn
    • two colors in weights similar to warp to weave on opposites
    • one heavier weight to weave in pattern
  • Treadling begins with a background shot
    • background x
    • pattern
    • background y
    • pattern
    • (end block with background x)

Classic crackle already has it's own manners of weaving blog post (here), but I decided to do another sample with the same yarns as my 3-shuttle Italian manner above. I was curious if I would see a difference.

Sample #20, classic crackle

Then I used the Gimp to paste the photos side by side. You can probably detect the seam in the middle, from pasting the two photos together. 

Samples #19 and 20 side by side for comparison.
3-shuttle Italian manner of the left, classic crackle on the right.

No one will notice from a galloping horse, as my grandmother used to say. The clue (if one understands the structures and looks closely) is that the classic crackle on the right has a more pronounced line of pink where the blocks change because each block ends and starts with the pink x background weft. In the 3-shuttle sample on the left, each block begins and ends with the gray pattern weft. I have no opinion as to which one is preferable; it's just information for now. 
 
References (see bibliography below)
  • Wilson, page 53
  • Brusic, page 26 (although she doesn't call it "classic crackle")
  • Tidball, pages 125-126
 
Lyons Italian Style Crackle 

Wilson mentions this one on page 53 of Weave Classic Crackle & More. It's taken from articles written in 1987-1988 by Nancy Lyon for Shuttle Spindle & Dyepot magazine.
  • 3 shuttles in different colors
  • 3-pick straight twill repeats. Here as my table loom liftplan:
    • 1-2, 2-3, 3-4
    • 2-3, 3-4, 4-1
    • 3-4, 4-1, 1-2
    • 4-1, 1-2, 2-3
  • No tabby
  • Repeat each sequence until block is desired height, then move to the next sequence.
  • Color order remains the same throughout.

No mention is made of yarn weight, so I wove two samples, one with weft yarns the same weight as the warp, the other with heavier, pattern weft weights.

Sample #21, Lyon Italian style with warp weight weft yarns

  • The pattern is subtle with the finer yarns, but it's there. I like the idea of subtle patterns in things like upholstery fabric or garments, such as a jacket.
  • I can really see the inconsistency of my beat! Something I hadn't noticed with any other sample.

Sample 21 close-up

For the next sample, I used heavier pattern weight wefts.

Sample #22, Lyon Italian style with pattern weight weft yarns

I reversed the treadling for sample 22 to weave an X instead of a flower.

Sample 22 close-up

I think these are the yarn weights intended, but doing both samples gives me a broader perspective and a path for more ideas.

Bibliography