Loopers to the Rescus

Here is another example of using loopers. This was a post from October 10, 2013.

I have used my nylon potholder loopers to help me while threading the heddles. They don't slip or slide. Maybe we should change their name to 'weaving nylon choke ties that also help when threading the reed and heddles'. 

 

view from behind the beater

view from in front of the beater

Ta Da.... Overshot-Woven Shibori

Just off the loom and laying on my floor I have two different overshot runners AND a little Woven Shibori !!! All on the same warp and tie-up! I will have fringe on the smaller runner and a turned hem on the long one. The Woven Shibori is just for fun and to use up the rest of the warp!

First I wove this small-ish runner.

Next I wove a longer runner.

The Woven Shibori will have to tell me what it wants to be a bit later. I will pull resist threads, apply dye and let it dry, then take out the resist threads. Next will be a wash and iron. Future Fun!!

Finishing off this overshot warp, I have Woven Shibori!! You can see where I had to  change to yellow resist thread because I ran out of the white. 

More Creative Overshot

I am now weaving ad lib..... I am still keeping my overshot blocks together: 1-2, 2-3, 3-4, 1-4

I am just having a bit of fun. Not sure where it will take me, but having fun. When I get to the middle...when ever that will be...... I hope I have kept good records so I can reverse.

For this runner, I am having a white turned hem.

Warp: 10/2 white tencel
Weft: 8/2 royal tencel
Tabby: 20/2 tencel

Weaving Overshot

Weaving for fun means that I can weave woven shibori, bronson lace, or overshot any day I want. And as I have mentioned before, I really love the look of overshot. Not just the 'traditional' but the 'creative' weaving of overshot. My good friend, Jeff, weaves the most wonderful coverlets, but I like to mix it up.

I have used a name draft to get my pattern. The pattern is NOT woven on the diagonal. Maybe the next one I can try that! (I think I have enough for two runners).

hemstitching

border

testing the pattern

this may work!

Wagon Wheels Moving On

I have come to the end of this warp. It is threaded to the pattern "Wagon Wheels" from "The Weaving Book of Peace and Patience" by Isadora Safner and Diane Piette. It was a fun project. I only put four yards on so didn't have much to play with. After I wove two different pieces, one green the other red, I went out-side-the-overshot-box. Taking the treadling from another one of their drafts, I treadled "Double Compass Work the Handsome Way." I still have my wagon wheels, but the diagonal line has been broken and give a different look to the area between the wheels.

This is showing the Double Compass Work the Handsome Way while it is still on the loom. Notice the diagonal line is not there.

Now it is off the loom and this is what the non-public (back) side looks like. Or I might make this the public side!

Here are the two different treadlings. Notice the different joining areas between the wheels.

Overshot Notes

 
 
While I am weaving on this overshot draft called "Wagon Wheels", I thought I would tell a little about weaving on the diagonal. Another term is to call it "tromp as writ". A Handweaver's Workbook by Heather G. Thrope says: "This simply means that the harness (shaft) combinations found in the written draft are taken for the tromping of it".




Here I am showing the block that I have just finished. It had 8 pattern picks and 8 tabby picks.



 

The next block to weave is always to the left of the one just completed. It shows me three threads, so I will weave 2 pattern picks and two tabby picks. You always weave one less than the number of threads shown. 

Pattern Between the Repeats

Wagon Wheel from The Weaving Book of Peace and Patience. by Isadora Safner and Diane Piette.

 

It is always interesting to see what happens as you work across your threading draft. You know what your main pattern will look like, but sometimes it is a surprise what the pattern looks like as you join the repeats.

 

This is the joining pattern that is being created as I work across this draft. I would call it the secondary pattern.

This is the main pattern showing the wagon wheels. It would be fun to just weave this  on the bottom of a towel, or apron, or runner, or........

Peace and Patience

This new overshot project I am working on comes from some draughts that a mother and daughter used to weave items for their home. The book I have by Isadora Safner and Diane Piette tell me that the draughts date from 1798-1826. The pattern I have chosen to weave is called "Wagon Wheel".  The Weaving Book of Peace and Patience. copyright 1980. It does not have an ISBN number.

I liked the green sock yarn I used first with this draft. I wove it to be a wall hanging. The pattern was not squared but elongated.

For this red version I have used 8/2 cotton for warp, 20/2 cotton for tabby and 2/18 wool for the weft. This lighter wool is allowing me to square my blocks. With traditional overshot you are to square your blocks. If I do end up squaring the blocks, I should end up with a square piece of fabric after I have woven once across the threading.  Time will tell!! 

Back Up and Reverse

Before I begin on another project on the big Macomber loom, I think I will play with the warp I put on the Baby Wolf for my big lecture at MSU. This draft is from a publication by Isadora Safner and Diane Piette. The title is "The Weaving Book of Peace and Patience". They titled it "Wagon Wheels."

I have used 8/2 cotton for the warp and 20/2 cotton for tabby. The weft or pattern thread is 60% alpaca, 15% merino, 10 % nylon hand dyed by one of my friends. She can be found here:  http://www.morningmoonalpacas.com/ . I was going to knit a pair of socks with this yarn, but liked the idea of weaving overshot with some hand dyed yarn. Diane: thanks for the cool yarn!

Name Drafting and Overshot

I have an idea for a new project. I am going to create a name draft using Overshot. I have a computer program (WeaveIt Pro) that will help me create this. I still have to use pencil and paper, but the computer helps a great deal.

I had such a fun time when I gave my lecture at the Ozarks Celebration Festival at Missouri State University (Springfield, MO), that I wanted to create something to remind me of the event. So I am using the words "Ozarks Celebration Festival". It will be a traditional four shaft overshot draft.

First I will create the draft. Decide the size of threads, color, and dimensions. Will I do a small table topper or a long table runner? Should it be a pillow? There are lots of decisions to be made when attempting to do a new project. Sometimes making the draft is the easy part!

Playing with Overshot and Drafts

Playing around with trying to figure out some drafts that Weaver Rose had. They can be found in the book "The Weaving Roses of Rhode Island". Vicki has done most of the work here by getting the threading.

This is his draft 103.

The treadling needed some work, so I circle the blocks to know how many pattern picks to throw. Half the fun of overshot is figuring out the details out before weaving begins.

Weaver Rose Cut Off Loom

Finished what I wanted to do on this Weaver Rose draft. A very strange draft for the traditional overshot person. Well, maybe I am not that of a traditionalist. But I do like to know what is going on and why. One of my weaving guilds is studying about Weaver Rose and hopefully one of them will come to our next meeting with a better grasp of this draft than I seem to have.

This was woven 'tromp as writ'. It works really well if you don't have any threading errors. I have used Shetland wool pattern weft and 24/3 cotton tabby. It's itch-ey... but should be better after it is wet finished!

More Weaver Rose on the Blue Side

As we know by now, I have had several threading errors, but kept going anyway. And we have discovered that this draft of Weaver Roses (No. 10) is not a traditional overshot draft. For instance, this is what it look like when I weave 1-3 vs. 2-4. I like it.

Creative Expression on an Oversot Threading

Still working on the twill version of Weaver Rose No. 10. I am blending two reds, a 10/2 and an 8/2 as the pattern weft. It is covering very well.

......talking about weaving creative overshot on my last post, I was able to hunt up a couple of examples. These two pillows were done on the same warp. The treadling is different and so is the size and color of threads used. And I think one has been well loved, while the other has just been a show piece. If you squint your eyes, you can see they are the same-but different!

Weaver Rose Twill Treadling

For those of you who have the book "The Weaving Roses of Rhode Island", I am now going to treadle No. 10: The American Beauty or White House with the treadling given in the book on page 49. The book states the treadling given is twill-like. It reminds me of what I call "creative overshot". That is when you have a traditional overshot threading on your loom, but treadle it twill or even another overshot treadling. It appeals to my free-spirit to explore a threading!

Not Quite Plain Weave

Yes, I agree with yesterdays comment  from Diane in Oregon, the light was a problem back in the 1800's. But the cold, dark, overcast days would be a day that if the couldn't work outside, they would be spinning or weaving inside.

Here is a look one of my tabby sheds. Yikes.......

Weave on the Diagonal

The yellow pin is helping keep me on the diagonal.
 

OK, I am going to weave this on the diagonal. I am really-really sure that there are errors in my threading on the left side. But I am going to forge ahead and see just what I get. I am thinking that when in the 1800's a weaver only had so long to devote to getting a coverlet woven and on the beds before cold weather rolled in, she(he) would have not fixed her(his) errors, but kept going. With over 500 threads for this small width, I am sure she(he) would have said, "well - phooey". (or some such words) and got the job done. Or, maybe - just maybe, she(he) didn't notice the errors until it was finished (like me sometimes).

This is the next block I will weave. It's seven threads, but I will weave it six picks.

See how I follow the diagonal? I only care what is going on with this line. The rest of the areas will take care of themselves. 

Blue Sample

I am trying out some Shetland wool just to see what I get. I can see where I have several errors in the threading. I didn't try to weave tromp as writ, but rather I wrote down the treadling by reading my threading from the first look at this draft.

OK, here is my take on 'tromp as writ' and 'treadle as drawn-in'.
Tromp As Writ = You will weave your blocks one less thread than the threading shows you. I almost always think of these words when overshot is discussed.
Treadle As Drawn In = You weave each thread by thread as your threading shows you. This would be the words I might use if I were doing some kind of twill. I am not sure these are the accepted definitions, but that is what my brain thinks.

I forgot to tell all my Canada friends "Happy Thanksgiving Day" yesterday. I hope you had a great weekend and have lots of leftovers to eat the rest of the week!

Ei, Nej, Het, Nada, Nope, NO

 

This Weaver Rose guy has me stumped. I have changed to size 8/2 red cotton and tried some Shetland wool. These sizes look better. Will look through the stash and see if I have enough to do a pillow top.

I have treadled as the  book told me to and still don't get it. I can't figure out how to "treadle as drawn in" and make it work on the loom. It looks good on the computer, but......

His blocks are 2-4, 2-3,  1-3,  1-4. It doesn't look like summer and winter. It doesn't look like traditional overshot.
The first six threads 2-4-2-4-2-4,
The next six threads 2-3-2-3-2-3
The next four threads 1-3-1-3
The next two threads  2-4

The memo in the book says the treadling given is twill-like. But to treadle as drawn in that this is a three-table overshot. I wonder if I should weave thread by thread or by blocks? What combination is tabby?

I can get a viable cloth, but would like to get what he got! If this is 'on opposites' I guess I don't understand how to do that. Any ideas??????

 

 

Sampling Another Weaver Rose

 

It appears that there might be some operator error going on here.

I can't get a plain weave with shafts 1-3 vs. 2-4. I am getting a 'sort-a' plain weave with shafts 1-2, vs. 3-4. And, I am not using the traditional overshot tie up. Instead I am going for a direct tie up that has me stepping on two different treadles at the same time. Either I have not figured out his draft, or I did some crazy threading. I did not see if I had a plain weave when I did the computer work. Yes, operator error here!!!

Not real sure that this 10/2 will work. I know it will look better once it's washed, but think I might try something either bigger or maybe go find some 18/2 wool. But I really like these colors together. The warp is 24/3 sett at 30 epi.

I believe these are the reason we sample!!