Plain Weave and Rep

Kelly Marshall is coming down to my neck of the woods for a Rep Weave workshop in April. I wanted to try wrapping the loom since it sounded strange.... but didn't want to buy any new materials. ...so I am using left overs! (carpet warp)

I might get a couple of place mats out of this. Just trying to get into the rhythm. I have had this mop cotton on the shelf for ages. I think it was for a rug, it is kinda rough. Or as we say in the fiber world:   "natural"!!

This threading is from the Joanne Tallarovic Rep Weave Book. I have Kelly's book now and will be reading it in preparation for her workshop.

This draft is only on two shafts! I am going for an 8 shaft draft when I go for Kelly's workshop in April. Love Kelly's color work.

Towels and More Towels

I finished up weaving my 'strip' towels. This was the draft from the book: A Weaver's Book of 8-Shaft Patterns edited by Carol Strickler. (page 227)

It was fun working with this draft. It still has lots of possibilities and I would have done more, but I ran out of warp and didn't want to tie on again. I used this same draft for those Christmas Ribbon Candy towels.

This is a shot from behind the loom. Candy gone... and so is the blue baby!

I have combined two different challenges. One was to weave using strips. Two was a towel exchange. A very fun adventure.

Guild Program - Plain Weave

Plain Weave is a vast subject. Linda gave a very informative program on just some of the possibilities of this weave structure.

She did have help when showing her sample of using crammed denting with plain weave.

The plain weave fabric can be altered by color, fiber, twist and thickness and the proportion of warp sett to weft picks. And using warp-faced or weft-faced patterns using plain weave is just a small drop in the plain weave bucket. 

"Plain weave fabrics can tell a story about the weavers who wove them and about the world around them. The special characteristics of different weaves reveal the history of textiles and plain weave fabrics have many names." Linda went on to have a list of 65 different names linked to plain weave. Some were familiar, but most we had never heard of.

Just a few of the names: Batiste, Bainin, Bandle, Cambric, Burlap, Nainsook, Sailcloth...the list goes on and on.......

Purple People Eater

Wasn't there a song about a purple people eater? On this towel I am crossing the blue warp threads with purple. A friend of mine is a purple person, so I had her in mind when I picked these colors.

I might have an orange towel coming up next for a friend who is into orange! Stay tuned!!

Am I Blue?

These towels are a combination of plain weave, basket weave and twill on 8-shafts. I had used some 8/2 cotton and dented it at 24 epi..... wrong..... I mean, they are OK, but not great. So instead of being blue about it, I will keep exploring this draft.

I am tying on some 10/2 cotton. I am using my handy-dandy cross holder. Works great when you need both hands free to tie knots. 

And another thing I noticed.... I did not tie up the treadles per the directions from "A Weaver's Book of 8-Shaft Patterns", edited by Carol Strickler. (page 227)  Like I said, the Christmas Ribbon Candy Towels are OK, the pattern is OK, and I will use them. But they are not 'what she wrote!'

This warp is blue 10/2 cotton and I am crossing it with white 10/2 cotton. I have kept the 24 epi. It is a one shuttle weave and is going very quickly. I am using a temple to keep the warp spread. I move it about every 1/2 inch.

A Lesson Learned - EPI and Me

These towels are woven with 8/2 cotton in the warp and weft. At an epi of 24 they turned out a little to stiff for my liking**. I was thinking about the twill, but I think between the plain weave and the basket weave I should have dented for them. The dent should have been 20 - maybe...

So another lesson learned. Think about which is the most dominant when having more than one structure in your project. I had basket weave and plain weave and just a little twill. So should have dented for the plain weave. But what is the fun if you don't learn while creating fun stuff?

I like the tracking that shows up in the plain weave area. Gives the towels a homestead look. A towel you won't be afraid to use.

**amyfiber did tell me that this was sett to close.

Christmas Candy for the Kitchen

Weft color is white.

How about these great towels using Christmas colors and strips? I have some plain weave, basket weave and point twill going along with some striping on this warp of hand towels. If you like this draft, it can be found in the book "A Weaver's Book of 8-Shaft Patterns, edited by Carol Strickler. If you have this book it is on page 227.

I have used two shades of green, a red and a white to create some strips while using only one color each for weft. I didn't do a towel with the lighter green, it just faded out. I wonder what other color combination I could come up with???

Weft color is red.

Weft color is red.

Weft color is green. 

Christmas Candy

This next run of towels could be called Christmas Candy. I found the draft in the book "A Weaver's Book of 8-Shaft Patterns", edited by Carol Strickler. This is a great resource book. This draft has plain weave, basket weave, and some point twill all in the mix. The first order of business is to get the candy, I mean, the threads on the loom.

Sample to Spirit Bag

This is an example of what I might do with some of those samples I manage to acquire .

This was some warp I had left on the loom, so I did a simple plain weave since I was tired of what ever I was weaving. I had been doing bookmarks, but there wasn't enough for an eight inch one, so I wove what I could and turned it into a "spirit bag". Or you could call it a woven necklace.....

Some Things Learned at Midwest Weavers Conference

I have been working on my report to the Weavers of the North Shore who, through the HGA, awarded me the Mearl K. Gable II Memorial Grant to attend the Midwest Weavers Pre-Conference.

As you know, I picked the class offered by Nadine Sanders: Weaving That Sings: Painting with Yarns. I went into this learning environment not knowing very much about the Theo Moorman technique. I have since learned it is a plain weave inlay technique. All you need is a four shaft loom, but now that I think I have the general idea, I see how this inlay technique has lots of design potential. The brain keeps churning and wondering.

A basic draft on a variation of the Theo Moorman technique. Nadine had other sleying options for different projects.

X

X

X

X

O

O

O

O

O

O

O

O

tie up

O= HEAVIER YARN

X

X

X= THIN TIE DOWN YARNS

X

X

plain weave

X

X

X

X

P

G

P

G=ground weft

G

P= pattern weft

P

G

Reed= sleying order

12 dent reed

P

2 ends- 2,1

G

1 end- 3

2 ends- 2,1

1 end-4

Gloom with a Twist

Looking out in the back yard makes me want to grab a blanket and take a nap.  I need to be working on some project I have going..................but it's a "uky" day!

This poor dogwood tree may not bloom in the spring. It is really old.

I have started twisting fringe on one of the scarves I cut off the Macomber loom.  I need to get the fringe twisted so I can wash it to see what it really look like. One small step, one project almost done!!

Cutting Off the Macomber

I finished the warp that was on the 10 shaft Macomber. Maybe people shouldn't try to weave during the holidays with going here and there and company and such...... My clasp weft scarf is only 36" long.... I guess I looked at the wrong notes and thought I had woven 72". Oh well, it was an experiment anyway.

The plain weave scarf is the right size, but the part where I did the pattern work doesn't really show that much. But I will go ahead and twist the fringe anyway. Who knows, it might wash up and be really something. Again, another experiment.

Before I cut this warp off the Macomber, I took my camera to see what this yarn looks like really up close. You think your yarn is really slick, but maybe not! Maybe this is why this Bambu is so soft?

Clasp Weft Scarf

While winding warp for Weaver Rose, I can also weave on the big Macomber loom. While I cannot do both at the same time, I can go back and forth. I call it multi-tasking!

Here is that plain weave gold Bambu warp I have on the loom. I am using black Bambu and the clasp weft technique for another quick scarf. When you do this technique, you are free to design as you go. You could work out a design if you wanted to, but I love the freedom of 'going with the flow'!

Garments Are Finished

Thanks to my friend Becky, (greenhouse owner, spinner, weaver, knitter, inkle weaver, basket maker, natural dyer, rug hooker, and several other fiber related skills) my Gold-Purple and Sparkle garments are finished. She took time away from her Country Petals Greenhouse to help a friend who doesn't speak 'sewing machine'.






Becky speaking 'sewing machine'!!




Gold-Purple

 


    

Sparkle

 



More Sparkle

Here is the sparkle warp drying on the back deck. I now have two projects that need to take a visit to a sewing machine. (This sparkle warp and the gold/purple one I did earlier.)

It has been fun working with plain weave, for a change. I felt like I could put all my 'thinking' into the color part of these two projects, and not have to worry about color and weave structure together. But I have another project already in mind, and color and structure will work hand-in-hand for it.

Sparkle Plain Weave

Now that I have my sparkle fabric off the loom, it's time to twist the fringe. then I will hand wash it and let it drip dry and then give it a gentle ironing.

Weave Structures Are All Around

I was going to show you the grass in my yarn. That is what I did yesterday. I watched the grass grow! But then I noticed some intresting things while I thought I was just watching the grass grow.


Plain Weave



Lace Weave



Collapse, Pleat and Bump



Plain Weave Is Not So Plain

I am still having fun playing with these sparkle yarns and plain weave.  I believe there is a book out there whose title says it all "Plain Weave Is Anything But Plain" by Leslie Voiers. I don't know if it's still in print, but hopefully you can find it through your guild or the Complex Weavers Library. 

The Rayon Loop yarn gives this a bit of jazz.

Sparkle

I had so much fun with the last plain weave project (gold/purple) that I have another idea to try. So this colorway is Rayon Metallic Cinnamon, Rayon Metallic Curry and green Bambu. This warp is all about the sparkle!

I did not tie onto the old warp, the knots would not have gone through the reed.

If you click to enlarge, you can see that I have used my loopers to tie

onto the breast beam while sleying the reed.

Twisting Fringe

Found my faithful fringe twister.  The great thing about twisting fringe is you get to touch each thread again and feel the texture of the threads and see how the colors blend in the twist. It takes a while, but it's a great TV watching activity.