Bi Colour Warp on a Pointed Threading

I have mentioned earlier that I attend weaving classes at the Hand Weavers and Spinners Guild of NSW. Out tutor is Liz Calnan.

Last term we built on some work we had done previously on Summer & Winter and moved onto Taquete, Double two tie Summer & winter, other DoubleTwo Tied Unit weaves and Stitched Double Weave and then Turned Taquete. I did some samplers of some of this ( see Stitched Double Weave and Back to the Tent Stitch) but I put it all to one side when I started on the Big Block Blue Blanket.

Classes started again last week and after a nice catch up (Liz had been to Convergence) we studied Interleaved Threadings. What was of particular interest was the insight that we were given into the number of different things that one can weave with an interleaved threading.

Armed with my class notes and handouts, several reference books and magazines and my weaving software (pixeLoom) I have been combining what I have learnt in the classes with things that I have read and thought about in the past and only partially understood. I have ended up with a set of drafts that fit onto a 22s pointed bi-colour threading (I started with 24S as that is what I have but gave up two shafts for plain weave selvedges.) I think that there is sufficient here to keep me going for years!

Stitched Double Weave

Once I got started I found it difficult to stop as I wanted to see what each new motif would look like. The end result  is that what was intended as a sampler has become a wall hanging. A bit ropey in certain places and a bit OTT but my story is that it meant to be looked at from afar!

The photo is equally ropey and doesn't do full justice to the splendour of this piece of fabric art.

If I were to use this for something like a shawl I think that the more subtle patterns would look best - diamonds or little hollow motifs. I am planning to tie on another warp so I will try something a little more subtle.

We studied Double Two in our weaving class last week and it is serendipitous that this threading that I put on for stitched Double Weave is also a Double Two threading

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Stitched Double Weave

At long last I have started work on my Stitched Double Weave sampler. The draft is Strickler #691 with the treadles moved around a bit I could understand it better. The draft below is as it was just before I converted it to lift-plan. It shows the "theoretical" tie up as opposed to the practical.

Treadles 1 and 3 weave brown in the top layer on shafts 7 & 8. Treadles 2 and 4 weave ecru in the bottom layer on shafts 1 to 6 (7 & 8 are also lifted every time to lift the top layer out of the way when weaving the bottom layer). The stitched design is produced by lifting any combination of treadles 6 to 11 when weaving the top layer. This pulls individual stitches of the bottom layer into the top layer to form the pattern; in the example below, a heart and a box shape.  The practical tie up is as shown below. I got the idea of deconstructing a tie up into its theoretical components from Weaver's Issue 2 Summer 1988 and some of my class notes.
I have put on a warp of bright cotton in blue and yellow so that I can see exactly what is happening. Rather than having a print out of the lift plan I have positioned my net book computer next to the loom so that I can use a magnified view of the treadling and the cursor keys to check where I am.  I am finding it much easier that marking off on a bit of paper. I change the colour of a weft on the screen to mark where I am whenever I take a break.

Getting the warp onto the loom took much longer than it should have done because of some silly errors that I made because I didn't properly think through how to thread two warps when using a double back beam.The photo below shows the moment when I  was halfway through sorting out my problems.

I also became distracted on a nice sunny day by a side project that I have on the go which is weaving a wall hanging. The idea comes from this book ( I felt that I should put on a pair of flared trousers just to read it). 

There are only three different techniques used and I am particularly taken with warp wrapping which has possibilities. I am not sure what I shall do with it when it is finished as my wife has issued a pre-emptive banning order!