Attention To Detail

Day 338: Thanks to the magic of photo-processing software, I can show you both sides of my first piece of false damask weaving at once. You will notice that, unlike summer-and-winter weave, the pattern appears in exact reverse. The means to effect this is no easy process and requires an enormous amount of attention to detail at multiple times before a single pass of the shuttle can be made, but any two-colour design which can be charted on graph paper can be executed in this manner. Let me explain.

A single square on a graph represents four...yes, four!...passes of the shuttle. The checkerboard pattern on the top and bottom of the piece required 72 throws (24 for each block). To make a single throw, first the pattern threads must be selected. This is done by opening the shed which holds them, working a pickup stick through them to raise the desired set. When they are selected, a thin wire is passed through the resulting shed and the pattern shed is closed. Got it? You haven't made a shuttle pass yet. Now the wire is slid back to the reed, and the first actual weaving shed is opened. This raises the selected pattern threads as well as the ground threads. To be on the safe side and to make double-checking easier, the pickup stick is again threaded through the shed to ensure that it is entirely clear of unwanted ground threads. At this point, I examine each set of raised threads to be sure that there are three (not four!) in each grouping for the ground, and then the shuttle can be put through the shed. This is the first pass of four to be made in a similar manner in order to complete one line/square on the graph. Referring back, this means that each large checkerboard square requires repeating this process 24 times, since each check is six lines as graphed. Now that I'm more experienced with the technique, I can do a line in about eight minutes, i.e., each row of checkerboard squares takes about half an hour to complete. It is impossible to speed up the process any further. Don't make a mistake, because picking back is difficult, to say the least. A more efficient use of your time is to check, double-check and triple-check each shed to be sure the correct threads are raised. Some sheds are harder to clear than others.

Since making this piece, I've changed the design up a little to remove the bulge in the birds' tails and to add a tip to their wings. I'm two-thirds of the way done with a second version in blue with smaller checks top and bottom. I love the technique, slow though it may be.