What are the 10 books that every average intermediate weaver should have?

While I still pull out my Deb Chandler book on occasion, I'm a bit beyond a beginner. I am, however, not to the level of being a complex weaver, and only have a couple of 8 shaft looms.

The answers might also serve as a shopping list ;)

 

Comments

Joanne Hall

Learning to Warp your Loom is my new book, which sounds like a beginners book, and it is very easy for beginners to follow, but it is also for anyone who has had warping problems, or weaving problems that come from the way the warp is beamed. 

The Big Book of Weaving has a lot of weaving techniques explained and the projects go up to 12 shafts.  It is an excellent book which has been used in weaving classes in Sweden since the 60s.  We are fortunate that with the third edition that it has been printed in English.  And the new projects in the book are really nice.

Joanne

jordanj (not verified)

My go-to book is "A Weaver's Book of 8-Shaft Patterns From the Friends of Handwoven" edited by Carol Strickler. This is a book of drafts - no projects.

Another "must have" is "Mastering Weave Structures" by Sharon Alderman. This is a great resource for understanding weave structures and their uses and limitation. Again, it is not a project book.

Great thread - thanks for starting it! I'm interested to see what others recommend.

Jennifer

Ellen (not verified)

would be my recommendation for the list. I also have 3 of the fabulous Swedish books from Väv, but that is probably not relevant in this forum. I have seen that one has just appeared in English, though, Favourite Scandinavian Projects. I have not seen the contents, but my guess is it would soon become a fovourite for good projects if I had it.

toomany (not verified)

All the Best of Weavers' books are excellent.  Twill Thrills, Huck Lace and the new Summer and Winter are my favourite. They have beautiful projects and tons of information to learn from.  I pull them out again and again just to read for pleasure and education.  Vav Magazine is also a favourite of mine.  Beautiful projects and fascinating articles.  I read it cover to cover when it comes.

kerstinfroberg

Cyrus: Manual of Swedish handweaving, ISBN 91-36-02139-3 (also in Swedish - Handbok i vävning, 6th ed ISBN 91-36-01301-3 - and in French - Manuel de tissage à la main, ISBN 91-36-00646-7)

Oelsner: A handbook of weaves, 1985 ed in English ISBN 0-486-23169-0

... and, handweaving.net, the page to search books is where you can find many, many older books, all for free!

Ellen (not verified)

I bought Oelsner's book not long ago and found it very hard to understand, a lot of the structures in there do not seem to have a draft, but just sometimes the structures and sometimes just the treading but not the tie up etc. I was quite disappointed and confused and never really managed to sit down and really try to understand the method of the book. Do you have advice on how to use the book ?

tien (not verified)

Peggy Osterkamp's books are all excellent - and the three she wrote before her new book for beginners are a fantastic source of information on warping back to front.  They are available from Peggy herself at http://www.weaving.cc/leasesticks/PayPal_trial.html , and at the moment if you buy all three, you get her DVD for free.

You may be thinking "I don't need that, I already know how to warp my loom!", but Peggy goes into so much detail and covers so many tips and tricks that I think it's a great set of books to have.

Weaver's Magazine is one of the resources I wouldn't be without!  I managed to acquire a complete collection and refer to it often.  They stopped publishing many years ago, but it's well worth searching for back issues, or buying the Best of Weaver's books.  They contain a wealth of information on weaving.

If you are interested in drafting your own designs, Bonnie Inouye's Exploring Multishaft Design is a wonderful book to introduce you to drafting.  Don't be intimidated by the fact that most of the examples are for 16-shaft weavers - I worked through this book with an 8-shaft loom and it was totally indispensible.  Bonnie was also extremely helpful when I ran into problems.

Once you get a little more into designing your own, Pattern Techniques for Handweavers by Doramay Keasbey is a super-rich book that covers virtually every structure you can do with weaving.  It is definitely dense and may be a bit of a stretch right now, but it's high on the list that I wouldn't be without.

Sharon Alderman's Mastering Weave Structures is another great book on structure and design, and is much more approachable than Keasbey's book.  I'd start there.

A long list, but I hope that helped!

tommye scanlin

Some of the best technical information is found in older books:

New Key to Weaving, Mary Black

The Weaver's Book, Harriet Tidball

The Art of Weaving, Else Regensteiner

The Weaving, Spinning, and Dyeing Book, Rachel Brown

Techniques of Rug Weaving, Peter Collingwood

Tommye

weave2 (not verified)

that's a great list you've supplied.  I have some of them, but will see about ones I don't have.

When you said Weaver's Magazine, did you mean Weaver's Craft Magazine?  I'm asking because I subscribe to Weaver's Craft and looked for your suggestion, but nothing in print came up.

Thanks again,

Alaa

weave2 (not verified)

some of the older books are the best!  I have a couple Atwater books that are very interesting and informative.  The approach to weaving is very different with the 'revivalists' compared to the more recent weavers, I think. 

tien (not verified)

No - Weaver's is very different from Weaver's Craft.  It's way out of print now (I think the magazine shut down in the '80s sometime) but sometimes copies come up on eBay or the various weaving sales places.  In the short term, the "Best of Weavers" books are probably your best bet - each is a collection of Weaver's magazine articles on a particular topic.  I actually have both the Weavers magazines and the books - the books are valuable because they have articles neatly organized by topic, which saves me from having to hunt through fourteen different magazines if I want to read up on a specific topic.  The magazines are valuable because there are plenty of articles that didn't make it into the books!

I forgot to mention, but old issues of Handwoven Magazine contain considerably more theory than the new version.  If you can find magazines from the 70's, 80's, or '90s, they're definitely worth purchasing and reading.  I was fortunate enough to "luck into" a nearly complete collection at a weaver's estate sale - would you believe they were GIVING all the magazines away???  I nearly fainted on the spot.  Then I grabbed a paper bag and took every copy of Handwoven that I could find.  I am seriously indebted to her and her heirs.

Anyway, I'm still working my way through those Handwovens, and they are much "richer" in theory and explanation than the magazine today, which is mostly project-focused.

Bonnie Inouye (not verified)

Once you learn how to use it, Oelsner is a very good book and very affordable. It came out in paperback years ago and was inexpensive so there are many copies around. It is probably in every guild library.

The text in the first part of each chapter is very interesting but sometimes I have to read a sentence twice to fully understand it. It includes good practical advice. This book was first printed in 1915 and was used in the textile industry. The drafts are mostly written as drawdowns for straight draw threadings. The text includes lists that go with the drafts. If you have an 8-shaft loom, look down each list to see which drafts are for 8- it will give a figure number. Then find that number under the draft. I used Oelsner a lot when I bought my first 16-shaft loom in 1987, marking all the 16-shaft drafts in certain chapters. Now we are very lucky to have all of these drafts on the handweaving.net website. I still like to use the book so I find the chapter of interest and read the text, then download some of the drafts from that website.

WeaverDave (not verified)

I learned to weave using Rachael Brown's book back in the early 80s.  She covered a lot in that book. 

Just wanted to add that I use a book on color schemes for artists.  This isn't the one I have, but its similar . . .

I think we can sometimes get great ideas by looking at other art forms and materials. 

Threshkin (not verified)

When I saw this thread I immediately thought of "Mastering Weave Structures" by Sharon Alderman.  Jennifer mentioned it first but it is good enough to be mentioned again.

Erik

Bonnie Datta (not verified)

I highly recommend the Master Weaver Series, by S.A. Zielinski.

Bonnie.

 

kerstinfroberg

One inconvenience is that the text and the illustrations often are not on the same page - if the text refers to a draft number, sometimes you can have to go several pages before finding that draft.

And yes, it is only drawdowns, so you have to know how to analyze a draft. (But: start with reading Cyrus, and most will be clear!)

Kerstin in Sweden, who really really likes Cyrus' books - not *just* being chauvinistic here...

kerstinfroberg

And a PS: many older books have the same inconvenience as Oelsner - drafts being far away from the text.

Joanne Hall

The Cyrus book in English can be purchased on used book sites.  Here is is the Manual of Swedish Hand Weaving.  It is very good, even though it is one of the older ones with no color photos.

Joanne

sally orgren

I love *any* Malin Selander book for interesting patterns and unusual warp and weft combinations. (I think I have them all, thanks to a guild mate.)

Also, the new "Complete Book of Bertha Hayes Patterns" is excellent. (Contains original hand-drawn drafts for overshot minatures, beautifully scanned samples, and computer-generated drafts.) Yes, all the drafts are available online for free, but the book was so beautifully done, I had to purchase it. (And I appreciate the corrected computer draw downs.)

I am currently reading "Fascination with Fiber," produced by the Michigan League of Handweavers. It's not a book that would have come up on my radar, but I was given it for the holiday. I am finding that reading about weaving "near history" in the US (1930's onward) has been *totally* fascinating. Paired with the opening in the Bertha Grey Hayes book, it explains a lot about where we are today in the weaving world, how HGA got started, Atwater, Tidball, Black, and all those other names that seem so distant to someone under 50. Like! Two thumbs up!

(non-disclaimer, I have no relationship to any of the authors or guilds who produced the works mentioned above.)

tommye scanlin

If you do a search using the word "weaving" at Library Thing you'll find many, many, many pages of books noted.  

http://www.librarything.com/

My library is cataloged at Library Thing as is that of many other weavers.

Tommye

Joanne Hall

I should state that the later copies of the Manual of Swedish Handweaving are under the authors name Ulla Cyrus Zetterstrom.

Joanne

nordic2 (not verified)

Many of the books you have mention are all wonderful.  I have several books--all of the Ostercamp older books are wonderful, several books on weaving in Scandinavia.  A suggestion for many of you: try looking at your public library for these books.  I live in the bay area and many of them are available at local libraries.  If your library doesn't have, as for an interlibrary loan.  Then you can get the book use it for the allotted checkout period and not have to purchase it, or look though it, evaluate its contents and then decide whether you want to buy it.  At one of the libraries I work at in the Bay Area the person in charge of ordering books knows of my interest in weaving and has started to purchase more books on weaving.  You can also suggest a purchase to the library.

nordic2 (not verified)

Many of the books you have mention are all wonderful.  I have several books--all of the Ostercamp older books are wonderful, several books on weaving in Scandinavia.  A suggestion for many of you: try looking at your public library for these books.  I live in the bay area and many of them are available at local libraries.  If your library doesn't have, as for an interlibrary loan.  Then you can get the book use it for the allotted checkout period and not have to purchase it, or look though it, evaluate its contents and then decide whether you want to buy it.  At one of the libraries I work at in the Bay Area the person in charge of ordering books knows of my interest in weaving and has started to purchase more books on weaving.  You can also suggest a purchase to the library.

suzyhok

I just ordered this book from the Saori Worcester Free Weaving Studio and am enjoying it very much.  Actually, its quite liberating!  I have been weaving for over 30 years and have explored all kinds of weave structures from simple 2 shaft Rag Rug weaving to jacquard weaving.  The basic premise of Saori weaving is freedom from rules and expectations and getting in touch with your creative self.   It stresses weaving in ways that cannot be reproduced by machines to create unique handwoven items. What fun!

 

handspunhandwoven (not verified)

Thanks for all the lovely suggestions. I have the following weaving books"

Learning to Weave - Chandler

all 4 Peggy Osterkamp books

Mastering Weave Structures - Alderman

Handwoven Lace - Muller

Warping All By Yourself - Garrett

A Handweaver's Pattern Book - Davidson

A Handweaver's Notebook - Alderman

Fnishing Touches for the Handweaver - West

I see I have some shopping to do.

Frances G. (not verified)

Peggy Osterkamp's books are so helpful. I taught myself to use a raddle and to warp from back to front, just using her books!

AnnaR (not verified)

I'm an Italian weaver (not very experienced).

Here in Italy it's impossible to find good weaving books: there are only 3-4 old books, which explain only the basics; there are no magazines for weavers, too.

But I was lucky to study a little English at school, so I had the opportunity to purchase (and read) some foreign books (thanks to online bookstores, too!)

The books I found more useful are:

- Lundell's "The Big Book of Weaving"

- Chandler's "Learning to Weave"

- Davison's Pattern Book for 4 shafts

- Dixon's "The Handweaver's Pattern Directory"

- Alderman's "Mastering Weaving Structures"

- the "Weaver's" series

About history and traditions in weaving, I loved these books:

- Hecht's "Art of the Loom"

- Harris "5000 Years of textiles"

- Anni Albers "On Weaving"

But I have a lot to learn, so I will read all your suggestions about other weaving books!

lkautio (not verified)

I'd consider the intermediate level the one where you are starting to figure out how things work and going beyond recipe books.  Start acquiring books which explore single structures or topics in some depth.  Some examples include Handwoven Laces by Donna Muller, Summer and Winter by Donna Sullivan, Sheer Delight: Handwoven Transparencies by Doramay Keasbey, Embroidery Weave by Jeanetta Jones, Overshot by Ellen Saltzman (more for the design discussion), Collapse Weave by Anne Field, Techniques of Rug Weaving by Collingwood, Weft-faced Pattern Weaves by Nancy Hoskins, Weaving as an Artform by Theo Moorman, etc.

Also, look for books that make you think about the possibilities in weaving and equipment.  Some examples include Weaving on 3 Shafts by Erica de Ruiter, the Zielinski master weaver library mentioned before, Handweavers Sourcebook by Marguerite Davison (not the Patternbook), Designing and Drafting for Handweavers by Berta Frey, Designing with Blocks by Doramay Keasbey, Ideas in Weaving by Ann Sutton, Handloom Weaving Technology by Allen Fannin, Falcot's Weave Compendium edited by Ann Sutton, Woven Structure and Design (two volumes) by Doris Goerner, Jacob Angstadt: His Weavers Patron Book by Ruth Holroyd and Ulrike Beck, etc.

The exact list doesn't matter, it is mostly a case of reaching a critical mass through a variety of explorations.  You will undoubtedly find many of these suggestions challenging, but working on understanding how things work in detail will lead you to the more advanced level of understanding how structures relate, design, and finding a personal voice.

Laurie Autio

lkautio (not verified)

The Weaving Book by Helene Bress, recently reissued.  Great place to learn about treadling techniques that can be applied to many structures.  These are being rapidly forgotten for many reasons, but hold a bonanza of weaving ideas and structural understanding that can bring your work out of the ordinary.

Laurie Autio

handspunhandwoven (not verified)

I'd consider the intermediate level the one where you are starting to figure out how things work and going beyond recipe books.  Start acquiring books which explore single structures or topics in some depth. 

Also, look for books that make you think about the possibilities in weaving and equipment.

Exactly - thanks for the suggestions.

weaversouth (not verified)

that was our "go-to" book when I worked in the design dept.  We could weave up to 16 shafts and wove up a lot of stuff out of that book.  It's great.

sibelabmom

You should sticky this thread. This is one I'd bet a lot of beginners will refer back to as they can! I know I will!

debmcclintock

Bringing this thread back up the list so some of the new folks can see the books suggested!

Slipstream (not verified)

"The Complete Book of Drafting for Handweavers" by Madelyn van der Hoogt 

"Joinings, Edges and Trims" by Jean Wilson

"Weaving is Creative" also by Jean Wilson

"A Handbook of Weaves" fro Dover Press

"Pattern Devices for  Handweavers" by Dornay Keasby

I like the "Weavers Study Course" by Else Regensteiner but I prefer Weaving by Shirley Held

"Macrame" by Helene Bress for finishing trims

Regards, Charles

sarahnopp (not verified)

by Elizabeth Wayland Barber- 

Prehistoric Textiles: The Development of Cloth in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages

Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years

 

by Betty Linn Davenport-

Hands On Rigid Heddle Weaving 

 

by Peter Collingwood-

The Techniques of Tablet Weaving 

WilsonSmith

All the books are useful and if we talkk about the weaving books then I would say that every library should have certain books that are based on each topic and with all prospects.

lisarothwell

Way hasn't anyone rated and cross referenced books according to focus, strength, experience level, and type of machine.  or  product type if weaving patterns (i.e. tartans, rag rugs_) dye gardens ... etc.

Sara von Tresckow

Ellen,

This is the traditional German Bindungslehre - what look like just fabric squares contain the complete draft. Unless otherwise noted, the book is based on a straight threading and straight draw - the tieup creates the pattern.

Where there is a threading or treadling diagram, it is because the threading or treadling is not straight.

The number of shafts needed is usually marked off by hash marks where the smallest repeat resides.