Tiny Bubbles Dishtowels
This project is for the 2012 Weavolution Dishtowel Exchange, coordinated by Yarnfloozie.
I am *loving* the assymetical overshot patterns of Berta Gray Hayes, and especially when you can get a loom to make circles, AND with just 4 shafts! My plan is to weave each towel slightly differently, to keep my interest level up for so many yards. And the overshot will appear at the borders of the towels.
I like to turn the tables on overshot, using a dark warp with a light pattern. For dishtowels especially, I like a darker towel over a white one, so it will look nicer longer. I also picked two different colors of green for the warp (but close in value) so there is some modulation of warp color in the background for subtle interest.
The loom used is a no-name, home built, 4 shaft, 24" floor loom. I am calling it my "Wubby" after Syne Mitchell dubbed her very first loom by that name.
another version of NOT my great grandmother's overshot
Making wider version of NOT my Great^3Grandmother's overshot. I sampled and sampled, but when I used what I learned from sampling, the weaving is not balanced. (The photo is foreshortened).
JHW Overshot Exchange
I am completing mats for a guild exchange originally undertaken in 2008-2009. I will be weaving something like 14-15 placemats to complete the project for two different groups of 8 participants (16 total). I love Bertha Gray Hayes patterns because they are visually interesting, and fairly easy to weave. (At least this one was!) I am able to complete several mats in the course of a few hours after work!
The draft is: "Unnamed", page 179, Weaving Designs by Bertha Gray Hayes
Fear of Overshot!!
I'm excited about this project! Great idea, Weavolution, to give folks a nudge to do something they've been wary of or just plain avoiding! I'll post more pictures as I weave my way through Marguerite's drafts. I hope after completing this sampler to plan another overshot project using what I've learned and taking it a step farther.
Oct. 6 - I've started using the second of Marguerite's treadlings for the Maltese Cross sampler. I'm using a cotton yarn that's a warm taupe color with a nice sheen. I'm not sure you can see that in the picture. The yarn is a little thinner than the first yarn and beats down a little more compactly. I've done two repeats of the second treadling. I photographed the two treadlings together so the differences can be compared. I'm learning and enjoying this pattern and process. :-)
Oct. 29 - The sampler is off the loom. This was great fun!
Large Overshot Sample
I needed a warp to set up the little Toika Laila, I also wanted to test my overshot design for a coverlet. The warp is 8/2 cotton with a 16/2 plain weft and 3/2 cotton pattern weft. The actual coverlet sample uses red wool. It is a large scale repeat. I am glad I sampled as I found a design error which I can now correct before starting the 60 inch coverlet.
Overshot Throws (qty 3)
When this is finished you will find it on http://www.artfire.com/users/AdamNWeave
BGH's Trellis, Turned
This loom was set up for summer 2011 demos, beginning with the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival. I turned the draft so visitors would only have to use one shutttle to weave. (More notes about the source draft can be found under "drafts" along with the .wif file.)
The original swatch was sett at 30 epi of 100% 20/2 cotton. Because I was turning the draft, the warp was now a combination of alternating thick and thin yarns. I set my first sample at 2 threads per dent in the 15 dent reed, thinking the thicker yarn would make a difference in the way it packed in. The width in the reed was 8". What was I thinking?! This was way too loose!
The next sett was 3 per dent (somewhat ignoring the fact it was thick and thin warps) for an epi of 45 in the 15 dent. That dropped the width down to 5.25" in the reed. The appearance of the pattern was a LOT better, but I was still seeing ovals, and I was shooting for circles. (Overshot should be woven square.) I ended up resleying 3,4,3,4 etc. per dent for a final sett of 52. If this had not worked, I was thinking to go ahead and try 60 epi (4 per dent), completely ignoring the thicker pattern threads altogether.
After sample #1 and #2, I decided I liked the underside better, so for sample #3 I reversed the treadling. (I treadled the opposite of what I treadled for the first two.) It was at this point I noticed a theading error on the left. Bottom line for me is the sett is always tighter than you would expect!
With loom waste, this set of samples took 17" away from the total warp length. The first sample had 12% take-up in width (the difference between the sample under tension, in the reed, and off loom, relaxed). The second sample had 9% take-up in width. I have not washed these samples yet to determine shrinkage.
