I've posted this question over on Weaving Today, but the forums seem eerily quiet, so will try for help here, as well!.

I have never tried log cabin or shadow weaves before, and thought I understood the draft I was using, but something is very wrong somewhere!

I've been weaving some test samples, and tried a repeat of the log cabin runner with supplementary warp shown on pgs 58-61 of the Handwoven May/June 2000 issue. I followed the threading, tie-up, and treadling diagram given (Figure 2, at top in the photo below), without the supplementary warp. I treadled from bottom to top, and I am using a 4-shaft counterbalance loom. While I know this can reverse the weaving, the other side of the fabric looks much the same.

My sample shows no weftwise lines at all, just warpwise columns and shorter checkerboard-like bands, with no visible block transitions. The illustration of the thread-by-thread drawdown, as well as the photos of the runner itself show strong horizontal lines and narrow vertical columns. My sample (see attached) looks nothing like it. Ignore everything to the left and above, where another threading for a different sample is just being carried along, and I have been sampling other yarns in tabby, respectively. The upper part of the log cabin sample section is pinker because the narrow pink weft is tripled (as it is in the warp); in the lower section, this thin weft is used singly.

Have I missed some important feature of the threading and/or treadling? I understood the thread-by-thread illustration and the threading/tie-up/treadling diagram to be representing individual threads, as for other weave structures - an alternative presentation to the block profile draft also shown. 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Comments

Sun, 01/04/2015 - 01:41

Bonnie Inouye (not verified)

To see the little vertical and horizontal lines of log cabin and also in shadow weave, you want a balanced fabric. That means that you have the same number of warp ends per inch (epi) as weft picks per inch (ppi). To get this result, you need to use an appropriate sett for balanced plain weave and you watch the cloth to see that the epi = ppi.

If you are following a pattern in a magazine for log cabin, then you can use your own colors but they need to have one dark and one light thread. You could use the same size and fiber as the author, or you could use another weaving yarn with a sett for balanced plain weave. There are sett charts available including one from Handwoven Magazine.

Your photograph shows a weft-faced cloth. You need to have a closer sett and perhaps not beat so firmly.

Bonnie

Sun, 01/04/2015 - 02:33

Textilis

Hmmmm. I wondered if the pattern could be hidden by my decisions about sett and beat. I didn't expect it to look like the example, which is done with much thinner yarns, but I was trying it out for a blanket project, with a thick cotton yarn and a tripled thinner yarn. There are only 8 wraps per inch for these, so I set it at 4 epi, every other dent in an 8-dent reed. You're right about my beat, which appears to be around 18+ ppi! I just wouldn't have thought that the pattern could be under there somewhere!

I thought I shouldn't go tighter than 4 or 6 epi with a fat yarn, but I am too new to know from experience. I just went by the rule of thumb that 4 wraps in a 1/2 inch is about right for a tabby epi. Thanks so much for your input! Any advice on how much tighter to try for the sett?

Sun, 01/04/2015 - 03:33

Joanne Hall

You also should consider that your loom, being a counterbalance, can beat more tightly than a smaller jack loom or a table loom.  So, for a blanket, you will need to beat more lightly.   Also, when you wrap the yarns, you need to push the yarn up against the previous round.  If you do this, you might get more wraps per inch.

It would not be hard to re-sley the reed to 8 epi and then beat more lightly.  This will tell you more about what the proper sett should be for your warp yarn. 

Also consider, that a very thick yarn does not necessarily make a nice blanket.  It might not be the best choice.  A sample will also tell you more when you have wet finished, or washed the sample.

Joanne

Sun, 01/04/2015 - 05:34

Textilis

Thanks, Joanne. That's more good advice. I will try re-sleying tomorrow. I put a couple of yards of warp on just to sample and wet finish, so maybe I'll learn something useful after all. 

I have to say that I like the brown and coral color combination of these yarns, but the necessary sett to see the pattern might end up more like a rug than a blanket! We'll see how it behaves. 

I'm having fun learning all I can on my little English Dryad floor loom. Just bought an 8-harness Bergman to clean up, but that won't happen until the weather warms up again in Spring!

Thanks again to you and to Bonnie for your prompt advice!

Jennifer (Textilis)

Sun, 01/04/2015 - 19:28

Bonnie Inouye (not verified)

Rugs are often weft-faced. It is easier to make a firm, flat fabric when you have a lot more picks per inch than ends per inch. Place mats can also be weft-faced if you like, and tapestry is weft-faced. Bound weave is a weft-faced technique often used for wall hangings.

A balanced fabric will be more appropriate for a blanket. I have woven lots of blankets but not using very thick yarns. Often I choose a wool or a wool-mohair blend sett at 12 or 16 epi. I have woven cotton blankets with 5/2 cotton warp. 16 epi is good for plain weave with 5/2 but I prefer twills, so I use a closer sett for those. I make baby blankets with 8/2 cotton warp or a combination of 8/2 and 10/2 because a thicker cotton will take a long time to dry. Baby blankets need frequent washing.

When you have a lot of ppi, it covers up the warp. That means that you cannot see the warp colors. Log cabin and shadow weave show patterns because of the alternating dark and light yarns in both warp and weft, so you need to see both warp and weft.

Bonnie Inouye

 

 

Sun, 01/04/2015 - 20:08

ainz

one of the samples in the Mastering Weave Structures in Chapter 1 is a log cabin. I still haven't started, but will keep in mind all these ideas and tips. Thanks.

Sun, 01/04/2015 - 20:43

Textilis

I re-sleyed and beat gently, and voila, the pattern emerges! Right off the loom, it looks exactly right. It feels more like placemat than blanket, but then that was what I was sampling to find out. I'll wet-finish it to see if anything changes. 

Thanks for all the blanket guidance, Bonnie. I have some beautifully colored wool that I got in a lot of old yarns,but it seems very scratchy. That's why I wanted to check out this brown cotton. 

Thanks again, ladies!

Jennifer