16 Shaft Twill

You have all heard about 'shaft envy" ? No? Well, it is where someone (Marilynn) has more shaft than you (smile).

The lovely 16 shaft silk twill scarf is her latest. The drape and colors in this scarf makes us all want to go out and buy a 16 shaft loom. She did say she used only 8 treadles for the design. And who doesn't love silk?

Twills are characterized by diagonals called wales going across the fabric. Usually a one shuttle weave without tabby. Using more than 4 shafts and threaded 1-16 in twill progression gives the weaver lots of ways to skip, reveres, or tromp as writ to achieve lots of design potential.

Broken Twill

"Broken Twill - or if it isn't broken should we try to fix it?"

Those were the words Marilynn started with when giving her program on Broken Twills. She discussed the standard 2/2 twill, broken twill, Dornick twill, and Crystal twill. We learned the rules that must be followed for a twill to be called 'broken' or 'dornick' or 'crystal'.

Broken twill

A discussion and note taking

Dornick twill

Crystal Twill

The different yarns (some are not really different) from different vendors!  

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.

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.

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!

Just Two More

Single Two-Tie and Twill . . . . . .

Moving On

Rolling- rolling- rolling. Keep those doggies rolling. Roll On! Or in weaving terms: cut off and move on.......

 

I think I have explored this warp pretty much as much as I can think too. Of course I will wake up tomorrow morning and think "why didn't I try this or that?"

But for now, I have cut this off and will get back to that Fustian I have been winding warp for. Only 400 more ends to wind!

Woven Shibori Scarf Two

I finished scarf one and now I have started on scarf two using the woven shibori technique. I am still using the same threading I used for the red/black scarf. (That is the one that has combined twill and huck.) But for this I have picked to use only treadles two and six of the draft for my resist threads. I am doing each pattern treadle twice with the four picks of plain weave between.

Four rows of plain weave

Treadle 2 with resist thread

Four rows of plain weave

Treadle 2 with resist thread

Four rows of plain weave

Treadle 6 with resist thread

Four rows of plain weave

Treadle 6 with resist thread

Four rows of plain weave 

Woven Shibori Continues

Progress is being made. Remember that this will be a plain weave textile when finished, so you will want to maintain your plain weave order throughout. Those resist threads (pull threads) will be pulled out and thrown away.

Twill and Huck Scarves

This was a fun project. I really enjoyed working with the rayon and Bambu. And the way the treadling was done made them fast to weave.   

Red weft was Bambu.

Weft used was the black rayon.



Twill and Huck Off The Loom

Now that I have the scarves off the loom. It's time for some finishing work. I will need to twist fringe, wash, drip dry, then iron. But here is a peak before I do all that!

Twill Huck Ready to Cut Off

I have the black rayon and red bambu scarves ready to cut off. But before I cut, I am planning on tying onto this warp. So I will weave in a few picks of plain weave so I don't lose my threading order.

I usually try to use a yarn that is bigger and a different color than what I was weaving with. This will help my tie my new warp to this warp. 

Here you see my prep work for tying on a new warp  with the red/black scarf still on the cloth beam.

Twill and Huck Rolling-on

It is a good feeling when you look at the web rolling onto the cloth beam. I think that after you have woven and before it's cut off the loom it's called a 'web'. But don't quote me.... I am still learning.

Twill and Huck Color Change

The black I am using is rayon and is very shinny. In the photo it looks dull, but believe me, this is black-black. The two shades of red are very subtle.

I have changed the black weft to the darker red. This really shows up the huck.

Twill and Huck Half Done

Weaving to 72 inches on loom.