Donkey Blanket

Day 40: In the words of the immortal Donkey, "In the morning, I'm makin' waffles!" Thus this throw shall be known henceforth as the Donkey Blanket. When released from tension, this deeply textured weave contracts into ridges and pits not unlike those found in a breakfast waffle. It makes for a deliciously warm fabric. As weavings go, it's easy to set up on a four-shaft loom, even a table model operated with four jacks. However, this time around, I've warped it onto my floor loom which has the benefit of having six treadles, two of which can be employed both in the textural weave and as tabby sheds (border, bottom). I am using a direct tie-up which is a little different from that shown in Mary Black's "Key to Weaving." Rather than tying multiple treadles to harnesses 2, 3 and 4 as she suggests, I discovered that if a direct tie-up was used for 1, 2, 3 and 4, and treadles 5 and 6 were set to operate harnesses 1/3 and 2/4 (the tabby), by treadling the sequence as 1, 2, 1/3, 1/6, 2/5, 1/6, 1/3, 2, I could open the same sheds. What does this mean? Most importantly, it means that I don't have to crawl around on the floor changing the tie-up I normally have set up! This is another fascinating thing about weaving: there are often multiple ways the same end result can be achieved. This, then, is my own recipe for waffles. Maple syrup, anyone?