Please excuse me for not filling in all the project fields -- when I try to things seem to get complicated so I'd rather talk about it here. The warp is 3-ply wool, tightly-spun. The ground weft is Berber wool yarn -- I'd sure like to get more but haven't found a site that sells this kind which is hairy and naturally-colored. The pattern weft is lopi from Arizona. This style of weaving, with a pattern laid in the manner of huckaback embroidery, is very typical of the wool weaving done in Bhutan. I wove this for my cousin to fit in a narrow hallway -- it's 2 feet wide and 10 feet long. I backed it with clingy stuff (technical term -- it's ecru-colored, rubbery underlay, widely available) so it won't slip and to add extra weight and cover the embroidery tails.
very pretty, love the patterns.
- I too have trouble filling in the fiddley fields for the detail
Filling in the form is a pain, but how about some detail pics?
Beautiful! Are the design motifs Berber as well?
Thanks for looking and commenting. Evelyn, the designs are Bhutanese. The only photos I took on the entire trip were of weavings done in this style. Here is one of them:
So I have been doing my version of this style of weaving, not as colorful though. Here are some closeups of the runner:
I'm now on my forth rug in this style -- everyone seems to like them!
Bonnie.
Wonderful work! Your cousin is very lucky!
WONDER-FULL. ♥
Very impressive!
This is AWESOME! I would dearly love to know what huckabuck is. And how in the world do you achieve berber? I am not a floor loom weaver so I don't understand how it works. Please a little more info.
Thanks again to everyone who has viewed, and thanks also for your generous comments.
To respond to your questions, Marsha. Huckaback is a weave structure that requires four or more shafts, and which produces a fabric that can have warpwise floats or weftwise floats or both. This is the toweling fabric that one used to find in washrooms on a big roll, to dry your hands. You don't see it that often anymore. Aida cloth, used for counted cross stitch, is a huckaback structure also. There is a style of embroidery (darning, actually) that is variously known as huckaback embroidery or Swedish weaving.
In this style of weaving from Bhutan a simulation of that type of embroidery is worked as the textile is being woven. Because one can only work the pattern threads in one direction it is not really the same -- for one thing there are tails on the back of the piece, which is not usually the case with the traditional embroidery technique, particularly on the narrow (15") toweling fabric.
As to what Berber is, it is a coarse, hairy, woolly, singles yarn -- I think it has a lot of goat hair/wool in it. It is naturally colored, usually a blend of a few tones with slubs and garnets. Try as I might I can find neither a definition/description nor a regular source. The Berber that I am using up now was from a weaver's stash reduction and was unlabeled. When I search the internet I get lots of hits for Berber carpets for sale but that's about it. I'll save a thousand words and show you a picture:
Just gorgeous Bonnie and thanks for the close-ups.
