Crackle Manners of Weaving: Shadow Effects

Samples # 16, 17, & 18 of my 4-shaft crackle manners of weaving sampler.

I found references to "shadow" in four of the resources I'm using for my crackle study.

• Helene Bress, The Weaving Book: Patterns and Ideas, page 77
• Lucy Brusic, A Crackle Weave Companion, page 33
• Mary Snyder, The Crackle Weave, page 4 in the 1961 edition, page 11 in the 1989 edition.
• Susan Wilson, Weave Classic Crackle & More, page 41

NOTE: The term "shadow" in weaving is usually associated with "shadow weave." Traditional shadow weave is different than the samples I've done here. My briefest of explanations for shadow weave is that it's an interesting color weave, alternating contrasting colors of warp and weft threads to create interesting patterns. I've experimented with shadow weave in the past (list of posts here) and you can see some good examples here. For my crackle sampler, I'm calling these "shadow effects."

Of shadow effects I found three. To help me remember which is which, I'm calling them:

• Shadow-y crackle
• Shadow blocks
• Snyder's shadow blocks

Shadow-y Crackle

"Shadow-y" is a term used by Helene Bress to distinguish it from shadow weave. It's found in the twill chapter of her The Weaving Book.  It's also described by Susan Wilson as an overshot variation. She credits Grace D. Blum's now out-of-print-book Functional Overshot for the instructions.

Sample #16: Shadow-y crackle

• Switches the tabby and pattern wefts
• lighter tabby yarn is used for the pattern shots (10/2 in natural)
• darker pattern yarn is used for the tabby shots (5/2 in light green)
• Can be used with any twill treadling pattern.
• For the above sample, I wove it like overshot. My liftplan was:
• (use tabby)
• 1-2 (x 5)
• 2-3 (x 5)
• 3-4 (x 5)
• 4-1 (x 5)
• reverse
• It was difficult to photograph because of the low contrast between the natural and green.
• I like it. It reminds me of an heirloom tablecloth from my mother. 

Shadow Blocks

This one is called "shadow" by both Wilson and Brusic, with both crediting Mary Snyder. Yet when I compare their instructions with Snyder's I find a difference. This one is the more contemporary treadling described by Wilson and Brusic. 

Sample #17: Shadow Blocks

• 2-shuttle weave
  
• Uses two tabbies between each pattern shot
  
• Both tabbies are the same as the warp.
• Liftplan:
• 1-2, a, b (x 5)
• 2-3, a, b (x 5)
• 3-4, a, b (x 5)
• 4-1, a, b (x 5)
• Stronger color contrast highlights the pattern

Snyder's Shadow Blocks

Sample #18: Snyder's Shadow Blocks

• A three-shuttle weave
• Like the previous sample, Snyder's uses two tabbies between the pattern weft shots. 
• Tabby yarns are finer than the pattern yarn.
• One tabby is the same as the warp
• One tabby is a contrasting color
• Liftplan (same as sample #17):
• 1-2, a, b (x 5)
• 2-3, a, b (x 5)
• 3-4, a, b (x 5)
• 4-1, a, b (x 5)
• This one has more of the crackly look to it and I think it has some interesting possibilities in terms of color exploration. 

~~~

The discerning eye will likely have noticed that I'm having tension issues (!!!) It's a long warp (5 yards) and I knew it wasn't winding on evenly, but I kept on going because I didn't want to unwind it and start over. It's "just" a sampler. Oftentimes the irregularities sort themselves out with wet finishing, and that's my hope here. In the meantime, it's weave on!

Crackle Manners of Weaving: Shadow Effects

© Nov 2024 by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Related posts

Crackle Weave Study Part 1: Manners of Weaving on 4 Shafts

Crackle Weave: Manners of Weaving (an index)