Summer and Winter

Carol has always wanted to weave these 'trees'. This summer and winter runner is the second one she has woven. The first one I received at our December guild meeting as my exchange gift. And I agree with Carol, this draft is awesome. This, along with mine, will be treasured for many years to come!

"Summer and winter is a name traditionally, in the US, given to a Compound weave having patterns formed by a supplementary weft, closely held in a 3/1 weft float over 3 and under 1 warp end, or conversely, under 3 and over 1 warp end."  Summer and Winter and other two-tie unit weaves- by Harriet Tidball.

The great thing about S&W to me is the different effects you can achieve by playing around with the tabby order or the tie-down order, not to mention the color choices in warp, wefts, and even tabby. A subject worth years of study. This and overshot might be my favorite go-to weaves!

Trees

We, just in the past few days, lost our two Dogwood trees. One was a white Dogwood the other a pink Dogwood. They were very old. So when I found this bit of weaving and this frame, I knew I could 'replace' my old trees.

This was my exploration of summer and winter and the different background you can achieve by just changing the order of your tie-down threads.

I will remember the pink and white blooms in the spring and the green leaves in the summer. And I will remember the white snow on the bare limbs on those quite winter mornings.

Color - Color Everywhere, And Not A Drop To Drink

It boggles the brain to know there are almost endless possibilities with single-two tie. The color choices alone could send you right to the nearest straight jacket.

So now, I am trying out two colors in the weft and tabby a different color than the warp.

I have tired 1st color green, 2nd color purple with orange tabby. (that is the sample with the orange thread on it) The color order stays the same the whole cloth. If you have thought far enough ahead, you may have chosen another color for the warp instead of white. That also is something to use those brain cells for!

I hope this is close-up enough for you to see the tabby in the background. As you can see in the top photo the color combinations:  1st color is purple, 2nd color is black with green tabby. 

I find that when working with more than one shuttle that after the shuttle leaves the shed, I place it nearest to my belly button. This helps keep the colors in order so you don't have to think "Now what color was next?" I wish my Macomber loom had a 'baby wolf trap' to hold the shuttles when working with more than two.......  someone invent that-please! LOL

I Am Playing with Single-Two Tie Polychrome

Trying out colors and color order. This is some polychrome with 1-2-1-2 and 1-2-2-1 orders.

 So much to decide, so little time!

1. Which block to weave
2. Colors to use
3 Which order to use the colors
4. What color for tabby
5. How long to make blocks
6. What order of tie-down to use
7. Use all blocks or just one
8. Follow original pattern or weave twill or point twill or broken twill
9.  Add a fourth color in rotation
10. Change tie-up and answer more questions..............................

One part of this has pink tabby woven 1-2-1-2 order while the other has light green tabby woven 1-2-2-1 order. . 

Sampling Single Two-Tie

Sampling single two-tie (known as summer and winter in some circles).

I have some S&W Polychrome and Taquete going on here. I am limited on my colors as I am just using from my stash! I plan on messing around with this for a while..... It is a long warp.

Playing with Summer and Winter

I am working with single two-tie (summer and winter). This example is using the 1-2-2-1 tie-down order (with tabby).

I love the little circles! 

This is a draft that was originally an overshot on four shafts that I turned into a six shaft summer and winter draft. I know how to do this, but I let my weaving software do it for me. Soooo much faster and less chance of mistakes. I use WeaveIt Pro.

There are a lot of good programs out there, just use the one that works for you. They most always have where you can save a file in 'wif' that will go from your software to other software programs. I find my weaving software program is a great help when designing drafts.

And So It Begins

Yes, so it begins. ( a bit slowly, but going I am!)

I have 10 yards on this warp and will be playing around with single-two tie (summer and winter), S&W Polychrome and Taquete. Right now I am trying for a delicate pattern using 20/2 for the pattern weft and 30/2 for the tabby. The warp is 12/2. This is traditional summer and winter using the 1-2-2-1 tie-downs. I just love the little "O's"! But if you turn it over you get the "X's".

It is all about what "you" want sometimes and not what the traditionalists say. If you want to use 5/2 for pattern and 8/2 for tabby on a 10/2 warp... go for it! If you want to square your blocks...go for it! If you want an elongated look...go for it! In other words...Have Fun!!! Playing around is how we learn.

12/2 warp, 20/2 pattern, 30/2 tabby.

For the first few rows of sampling I tried a thicker weft using 20/2  doubled, but I want a more delicate look, so I will use 20/2 singled.

S&W , Polychrome, Taquete

It seems as I work with single two-tie (summer and winter or double two-tie, or taquete, or S&W polychrome)...... that there just seems to be more and more that can be done.

Here are my two scarves plus all the sampling on the back porch trying to dry. The scarf on the left is woven in 1-2-2-1 tie-down order as regular summer and winter. The next scarf is woven in polychrome. That is S&W using two colors of weft plus tabby. The samples are my experiments with taquete, polychrome and regular S&W. I had already tied onto this warp once, so now it is time to stop and get ready for a workshop in June for this loom.

Things I have learned: 1. Weaving with one pattern weft and a tabby same size as the warp gives your scarf a nice drape.  2. Weaving with two same sized weft threads and a smaller tabby thread your fabric is a bit stiffer. 3.  Weaving with three wefts of the same size in Taquete produces a stiff fabric.

I think I could have helped the taquete drape if I had used only in the weft one large sized thread and two small ones. That "might" have helped the drape. Also with the polychrome the choice of weft size is important.

The main thing I learned is that you can put on one long single two-tie warp and have many-many different looks by changing the tie-up and/or treadlings.

S&W Polychrome to Taquete

Now I think I am going to be weaving Taquete.

Here is a small history lesson.
According to Summer and Winter, A Weave for All Seasons by Donna Sullivan - "summer and winter polychrome is 3 blocks of single two-tie and you rotate two or more colors of pattern weft with a tabby weft"

According to Harriet Tidball, Shuttle Craft Guild Monograph Nineteen 1966, "two differently colored pattern wefts follow each tabby shot."

Well, what is it if you don't use tabby?

Lilian Whipple says in her book, Summer and Winter to Taquete (A Lesson In How To Design And Weave In Two Basic Structures)  - "My definition of Taquete is summer and winter woven without the tabby thread." The tie down threads ( 1 + 2) must always alternate and all pattern blocks must be woven as pattern or floats will appear on the top or bottom side of the fabric."

So now, what I am doing is this... I am weaving using three colors in a set rotation alternating each of three different pattern shafts. I have 12 picks I must do before I can move onto the next block. There is no set three pattern shaft to use or what order to pick them... so I am having fun designing on the loom to find my blocks.

My sequence using three colors (pattern wefts):
1+ 1st pattern - mauve
1+ 2nd pattern - rose
1+ 3 pattern - turquoise

2+ 1st pattern - mauve
2+ 2nd pattern - rose
2+ 3rd pattern - turquoise

1+ 1st pattern - mauve
1+ 2nd pattern - rose
1+ 3 pattern - turquoise

2+ 1st pattern - mauve
2+ 2nd pattern - rose
2+ 3rd pattern - turquoise

*You will need to contact Lillian Whipple for her booklet..or it might have been a download.... and the Donna Sullivan book should still be available.

S&W to Double Two-Tie

sampling for bottom scarf

I have been playing around with a "double-two tie" draft. Double meaning that instead of the usual pattern shafts being on the same shafts, I have split the two pattern shaft threads and put them on different shafts. For instance: a normal summer and winter block is threaded 1-4-2-4, but I have threaded 1-4-2-8. This can make the edges of the block not quite so sharp.

Scarf not only finished, but mailed to friend. 

Now I am working on a different warp. I have tied onto the same threading as the above scarf. I am weaving it the usual summer and winter treadling of the "O" fashion. As you can see from the top photo, I have changed the treadling a little from the completed scarf.

New warp still weaving summer and winter.

More Winter Color

Just when you thought it was safe to go out side......

My driveway

Now you know why I needed some color in my head.

Summer and winter on eight shafts. Original design.

Winter Color

I am still pulling the threads through the heddles for the snowflake table runner in the loom room on the Macomber. It will be white on white. But, since there is all this SNOW...... I had to go get some color.

This is a painted warp I have had around for a while. It is 10/2 Tencel. I am using a very soft pale green silk as the weft and a 140/2 silk as tabby with this summer and winter draft. Both cones of weft and tabby were garage sale items so I only have the words on the cones to go by. I know they both are silk, but don't know the size of the pale green. But it seems to be about like an 8/2 bamboo size.

So I will keep threading the white snowflake threads while going to the Baby Wolf when I need a shot of color.

Back to Hand Painted Warp

It is great fun to be able to flip back and forth on two different projects. They are both scarves, but the color and structures are sooooo different, that it makes it fun.

I am weaving a single two-tie (summer and winter) with a painted warp. The weft is black and the tabby is black sewing thread. There is enough plain weave in the design to help show off the warp colors.

Painted Warp

OK, I have gotten distracted from overshot to my painted warps. I still hope to weave the name drafted overshot some time in the future. But onward and upward.....

 

As you can see, I have found the reed I need (12 dent) and have added some black rayon to get the width I want. I worked up a single two tie draft I think will help show off the painted warp. This is the warp I painted at Katie's house.

 

I am weaving with black bamboo as pattern weft and polyester black sewing thread as tabby.

What Is Old Is Now Done

Here are a couple of baby blankets that I had started way-way-way back before April....... The red, yellow, and blue one was from the Kit I bought from Yarn Barn-KS.  It is a four shaft draft using summer and winter to produce four blocks. It would have been a quick project had I been able to get to the loom. So I finished he kit, then went ahead started on another, but instead of changing blocks, I just keep doing the one over and over again. So one warp, two different looks just by changing the treadling. My kind of weaving!!

The purchased kit.

My version.

Complex Weavers Study Group

I have been a busy beaver. Well, not weaving but reading and doing paperwork. I needed to get my samples and write-up together and mailed off for one of my Complex Weavers study groups. So I put my nose to the grindstone, ah... maybe the computer.... and mailed off my samples today to 'Samples the Old Fashioned Way Study Group'. I like this study group because we work on just about anything we want then share our explorations. The past two years I have been consumed with single two-tie (summer and winter). And I really love to go outside the box.... so my submission is Double Huck with Three Tabbies on a summer and winter threading.

This is just a four shaft draft.

If you are a member of Complex Weavers, you can borrow our study group notebooks to see my stuff and other very exciting stuff. As a matter of fact, their web sight is a place you could spend several days checking out!

Baby Blanket One, Weaver Two

Finished the Red-Blue-Yellow blanket. It ended up being 39 1/2 inches long. I must have missed a repeat some where or "beat" it to hard... anyway, that one is done. I think I saw an error as it rolled around the front beam... maybe this will be my blanket. I get to keep all with errors. 

I have some warp left. So I will do some summer and winter dancing with this mint green pattern weft and a darker green as tabby.

Which Summer and Winter?

My title doesn't make any sense, since, or huh???  The weaving for this four blocks on four shafts of summer and winter is going fairly quickly. At least when I am home and can get to the loom. Looks like the 20 inch mark was half way.

 



This is how I am keeping track of which part of which block and which color to use. Which, I am sure you know, is very important! Which is why I am stopping today.

S&W Up Close

Here are the four blocks of summer and winter on four shafts up close and personal. They do look different, don't they? The two on the right are the "real" blocks. All are woven in 2-1-1-2 order with a-b-a-b tabby order.

The only problem is that two blocks will always weave together. Although that is not really a problem as much as a design element.

Not much time to weave today. Another nice "golf" day. Having a new set of golf clubs might cut down on my weaving this summer. Time will tell!!

Weaving Away On The Blanket

Had a little time at the loom today. Weaving might be fun, but you need time to weave for it to be fun too! Huh? I might be suffering from 'Spring Fever" with a sentence like that. Maybe it's the pollen in my little gray brain cells.

This is a very interesting kit I am working with. I can see doing lots of different color stripes and combinations. Instead of the red-yellow-blue that I am doing now, how about red-blue on white warp? How about yellow-purple-green? Why not put stripes in the warp and use a solid weft? The mind does wonder......

I am adding a gold metallic to the yellow weft.