I mentioned
in my last post
that crackle is primarily defined by its threading, which follows a set of
specific characteristics. As a review, I'll start by listing those.
Characteristics of Crackle
- Crackle is a twill based block weave.
- The blocks are composed of 3-shaft point-twill threading units,
- but it isn't a unit weave. In a unit weave, the blocks weave independently of one another.
- Crackle blocks do not weave independently of one another because each block shares pattern shafts with one of its neighbors. (See threading key below)
- Blocks A and B share shafts 2 and 3
- Blocks B and C share shafts 3 and 4
- Blocks C and D share shafts 1 and 4
- Blocks D and A share shafts 1 and 2
- Exception: by omitting one block in the sequence, it's possible to weave rows of only one block.
- The number of blocks is determined by the number of shafts. 4 shafts can weave 4 blocks.
- In 4-shaft crackle, blocks weave as either pattern blocks and background blocks.
- As a twill derivative, treadling follows the odd/even shed order of twill.
- To maintain that order, transitional thread ends (incidentals) are used between blocks.
- Floats are no longer than three ends or picks.
When I first started looking at crackle, I struggled to understand all of
that. Now, I can pull most of that out of my memory, although I did double
check myself to make sure I didn't miss anything.
So, those are the ground rules, with variety found in the choice of yarns and
colors, and the size and arrangement of the blocks. Crackle's true
versatility, however, is found in the numerous ways in which it can be
treadled, called "manners of weaving". The first part of my study plan is to
explore those ways by weaving a sampler on my 4-shaft table loom.
4-shaft Crackle Sampler
- Based on the sampler idea from Susan Wilson's Weave Classic Crackle & More, page 30.
- warp
- 10/2 cotton
- 160 ends
- 20 e.p.i.
- 10-dent reed threaded 2 per dent
- width: 8-inches
- length: 5-yards
- weft
- 5/2 (or 10/2 doubled) cotton pattern weft
- 10/2 cotton ground weft
- threading
- Susan recommended something with diagonals, points, or zigzags
- I used her diamond motif threading (page 34) because it includes both consecutive and non-consecutive blocks. That way, I'm hoping to get a better idea of what's going on.
-
threading key:
Threaded right to left. O = incidentals, threaded at the end of the block only. -
profile draft:
- tie-up
 |
| Numbers in right-hand column indicate shafts. Numbers along the bottom indicate treadling. |
Right now, my plan is to weave several crackle samplers, each with a
different emphasis.
- Part 1: manners of weaving on 4 shafts
- Part 2: color and crackle
- Part 3: manners of weaving on 8 shafts
Also, I need to figure out how to organize my samples so that I can refer
to them easily. For all the benefits of using a computer and a blog,
information does have the amazing ability to become buried who knows
where. I started a
Manners of Weaving blog page last year, but I think it will need to be revamped. I'm thinking to
make each sample it's own blog post, so that I can use the Manners of
Weaving page as a index, with pictures of the samples and links to details and more examples.
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