Woven To Match

Day 290: Two more steps done and dusted! Over the last week, I have been working on stitching together the three panels of this lap throw/tablecloth as well as completing the band I'll be using for trim. Because I ran into a flaw in the warp toward the end of the band, I'm not sure I'll have enough to go around all four sides once both pieces have been washed and dried. Strangely, bandweaving shrinks more in length than cloth. You'd think it would work the other way around, given how firmly bandweaving is beaten, but experience proves otherwise. If I do run short, I'll have two options: leave the selvedges plain, or weave another length of band to apply to them. If I choose to do the latter, I will again have two options: weave an entirely different band to cover both selvedges, or weave another length of the same band since I know I have enough of this one for three sides. Choices! Choices! 

First, Remove The Cat

Day 127: Several times, I've been asked to demonstrate how I sew handwoven panels together to make a tablecloth or coverlet. First, remove the cat. That will make the process go a lot more smoothly. Seriously, though...beating evenly and measuring each motif as the actual weaving progresses to be sure it's within tolerance is critical to making a piece from panels. I cannot emphasize that strongly enough. With 8/2 cotton and (for example) a 2" motif, I insist that the number of passes be +/- one thread or I pick out the motif and re-weave it. If the motif I have just woven is one thread too long, I'll beat the next one just a tiny bit harder so that it comes out one thread short. Then, when I'm sewing the panels together, I can ease the difference. That said, the actual stitch is a simple whip stitch, picking up the "bumps" where the thread turns at the selvedge. As a right-hander, I pick up the bump on the right panel first, then the corresponding bump on the left panel, and when I draw the thread through both bumps, I pull it away from myself (not toward my body), drawing the left bump into alignment with the right. With overshot, I only join the tabby bumps. As for the Russian Blue bump, he's sure I wove this tablecloth just for him. (Crackle-weave Fantasy VI, HPB green version, p. 196)

Fantasy Trim

Day 124: Looms seldom stand empty in this house for more than 24 hours. Almost always, there is a "warp in waiting" wound on a warping board, next in line to follow whatever project I'm close to finishing. I'd been thinking about krokbragd sheep as I approached the end of the red-and-green band I posted a few days ago, but then remembered that the "Crackle Weave Fantasy" tablecloth (HPB, green version, p. 196, VI) needed trim. The sheep would have to wait. Using two of the four colours from the tablecloth, I ran eight yards of warp with nine doubled pattern threads for my design. The border chains are threaded singly. When I weave a patterned band on Nelda (my Glimakra band loom), I put the ground and border threads through heddles, but I run the pattern threads straight through with empty heddles on either side of them to keep them from twisting together. This arrangement means that when I open the shed, the pattern threads are suspended between the top and bottom layers of background. Between the posts, I use the band knife to pick up the ones I need, transfer them to the shed with my hand, reiinsert the knife in the shed and then pass the shuttle. It's a little slower going than if I had heddled the pattern threads, but I find it much easier to see what I'm doing, and there's no danger of accidentally picking up a ground thread while manipulating the pattern threads.

Crackle-Weave Fantasy

Day 56: The three panels of "Crackle-Weave Fantasy" (HPB green book, p. 196, #VI) are done, but as you can see from the lower picture, I still have enough warp on the roller to make at least an additional three feet of cloth. I always warp extra length just in case things don't go quite as planned. Depending on the width, any additional yardage can be used as towels, a table runner, placemats, even a cover for a throw pillow, and of course I always like to have a little piece of any new-to-me draft or fiber for my weaving files. Again, once the three panels are off the loom and stitched together, I'm considering weaving a band to use as trim around all four sides. This will require a decision, though. The reverse of this particular fabric is as attractive as the side shown. The overall look is darker. Which is the "right" side? Crackle-weave patterns often require that judgment call. The floats are short in crackle as opposed to other overshot structures, never crossing more than three or four warp threads. However, in crackle, a tabby is not always required as it is in true overshot, by virtue of the coloured weft not necessarily needing to be secured in place by a plain-weave throw. Crackle is an excellent structure to explore for newcomers to the overshot technique.

One Off, One On

Day 230: In this household, looms do not stay empty long. I usually have the next warp already measured (I call it the "warp-in-waiting") so that as soon as I cut a project off, I can begin hanging the next one. However, taking a piece off the loom does not mean it's done, not by a long shot! The lavender and black Orange Peel coverlet was woven as two panels which had to be meticulously joined, and even before I wash it to full the fibers, I have to twist the fringes. That said, when I'm taking breaks from the finishing work, I will be working on hanging the new warp which in this case is a crackle-weave called Fantasy VI from the Handweaver's Pattern Book by Marguerite Porter Davison. The crackle will be three identical panels, each changing colour seven times, and will be stitched together to make a spring-hued tablecloth. Meanwhile, the Orange Peel will be an entry in this year's Washington State Fair.