I pulled my book out when Erica started this idea and decided to play along too.  Here is a picture of my plain weave sample.  What it is now is a try at dimity.  In MWS it said that dimity could be woven by doubling wefts and sleying those doubled wefts in side-by-side heddles.  I have seen dimity woven with a combo of plain weave and twill, but I thought I would give this a try.

This sample has a bunch of things going on.  I designed on the warping board, which I never do, using Fibonacci sequencing for setting up the stripes, which I have used alot in the past, all the colors came from bobbins sitting in my bobbin basket so I was able to empty 5 bobbins, which was good because I was running out of bobbins, and I have a chance to take my new table loom for a spin.

The sample is 10" wide, sett at 20epi except the color stripes that are doubled, in 8/2 unmercerised cotton.  It is weaving well, but the cords do not show, just looks like 1/2 basket weave right now.  I am thinking that after wet-finishing the texture in the fabric should pop.

dimity sample

 

 

Comments

Thu, 01/01/2015 - 21:00

Erica J

Theresa,

You are making this warp work! I love your idea of designing on the warping board and emptying bobbins!

The cloth looks great!

Thu, 01/01/2015 - 22:15

kerstinfroberg

'scuse a foreigner (who also do not have the book), but how do you double wefts to sley in side-by-side heddles? Is this a way to make the cloth wider with every doubled weft shot? (I vaguely remember some making-weft-into-warp discussion in what's-his-name, Brody? Broudy? - the title may be something like The history of looms - I have it in the studio, so can't check now)

Fri, 01/02/2015 - 01:50

theresasc

I re-read my original post, and it should read:  doubled warp ends, side-by-side in their own heddles.  By threading in their own heddles instead of two ends in a single heddle, they will not twist, instead lay flat side-by-side in the finished cloth.

Erica, I see that you have started your warp, looking forward to seeing it on the loom.

Fri, 01/02/2015 - 04:15

Queezle

@theresasca - what a beautiful warp!  I think I can see your doubled warps, but I agree that they are likely to pop more after wet finishing.  I, too, like fibinacci for design. 

Does anyone else get color envy?  Every time I look at someone's posted weaving, I think about how much I wish I had their colors!

Fri, 01/02/2015 - 10:50

Artistry

Theresac, I think it's a great learning challenge to be following Mastering Weave Structures by Sharon Alderman. Lovely sample! Good going and keep going:) Cathie
Fri, 01/02/2015 - 15:28

sally orgren

I thought the idea of Dimity is to sley the selected areas at a higher density than the body of the cloth, so those areas raise up. When used with a twill, the idea was these raised areas would pull moisture away from the body when used as diaper fabric.

I first learned about Dimity from Marjie Thompson in her "Woven for the Home" workshop prior to 2008. Her hands-on round robin gave everyone a chance to explore a great number of historic textiles for their use and learn about their construction details. 

Actually, both Sharon Alderman and Marjie Thompson are slated to teach at MAFA this summer, so you could really have fun in either workshop with this exploration of the MWS book under your belt!

Fri, 01/02/2015 - 15:54

theresasc

made me go and re-read what I had read in MWS about dimity.  It is actually just mentioned in passing regarding adding texture to plain weave.  Doubling warp ends is just another way of increasing the density of a stripe area as those areas are now at 40epi vs 20epi of plain weave.  I have wanted to weave something like dimity ever since I saw your dimity towels for Hill House and saw this as an opportunity to try it using just plain weave.

Queezle, as for warp colors, just do what I did.  Look at all of your shuttle bobbins from other projects.  I probably weave 80% of my projects with 8/2 cotton, so I had a lot of partially filled bobbins in the bobbin basket.  Great way to get a striped warp and empty bobbins at the same time.


Fri, 01/02/2015 - 16:59

Ruby Leslie

If you have bobbins that are wound with leftover weft, an easy way to free those bobbins is to wind the weft onto paper quills or drinking straws.  (You can even label them with what the yarn is, if you are so inclined.)  This is especially useful if you tend to use a particular type of yarn in your weaving because you can easily grab an already wound bobbin with a specific color (or size) to use in a sample.  I actually keep a supply of pre-wound quills for all the yarns that I regularly use as weft, so I don't have to stop and wind potential yarn choices.

 

Sat, 01/03/2015 - 14:33

NancyS

Looking for some clarification....double warp ends in their own heddles, but then those doubled ends into one dent in reed??

Sat, 01/03/2015 - 16:27

theresasc

The doubled ends are considered one working end, just threaded in two heddles, so they are sleyed as if they are a single end.

I worked on the sample some more yesterday, but the action of using a table loom is beating me up.  I am not as healed as I thought and that combo of reaching and then pulling and releasing the shafts has done a number on me.

When I go back to it I think that I am going to use a couple of different wefts to see the impact.  I know I have some 16/2 and 4/2 cotton in natural.  It will be interesting to see how the looks changes after wet-finishing.  I am really not used to doing this type of sampling at all. 

Sat, 01/17/2015 - 15:33

Erica J

Whew! I won't bore you with the details of things that got in my way, but I am working on my irridescence sample right now. Picture to be posted later, I promise! :)

Sat, 01/17/2015 - 16:02

Queezle

I stayed home from work yesterday, and among the reasons was getting this warp up and going. 

My first goal has been to produce alternating blocks of canvas weave to see the movement of the yarn in the PW section.  I have the edges of the blocks highlighted by a thicker pink yarn.  Although the movement of those edges will be accentuated after wet finishing, I think you can see the pink starting to sink into the canvas weave areas.  I'm not thrilled by the light blue weft, and will play around with color a bit more before abandoning the canvas weave. 

Sat, 01/17/2015 - 16:12

theresasc

Queezle, I like your sample, you have some interesting things going on.  I think that wet finishing is going to have major effects on how it looks.  How great that you have the warp weaving!

I am almost finished weaving on my sample.  I started with 8/2 cotton as weft, then changed to 4/2 and now trying 16/2.  I did not have a real lot of 4/2 on the bobbin so I am not sure how it will come out once it is washed.

Sat, 01/17/2015 - 19:24

Queezle

I think it would be useful to post pre-washed and post-washed photos adjacent to each other. 

I am starting to go through my stash for alternative wefts, too.  And I am going to order some additional colors for future sampling for this study.  Just don't tell my husband!

Sat, 01/17/2015 - 19:25

ainz

Queezle, this is a very beginner's question. How do you combine the two blocks -PW with the larger canvas? I still haven't figured out how to do block weaves.

I am about to finish my first 2 samples. Let's see if I can set up a basket weave warp tomorrow.

Sat, 01/17/2015 - 19:37

Queezle

Hi Ainz,  First, you need to have 8 shafts.  With a straight draw of four shafts, 1-2-3-4 you raise 1 and 2 together for two shots and 3 and 4 together.  What I did was to have some blocks threaded 1-2-3-4 and other blocks threaded 5-6-7-8.  This way, with the 1-2-3-4 block is doing canvas weave, the 5-6-7-8 regions are doing plain weave. 

Does this make sense?  I will draw something up and post it later today. 

Sat, 01/17/2015 - 19:58

ainz

Great. Thanks. I guess I'm doubly glad I decided on the 8 shaft table loom. I'll give this a try, too.

Sun, 01/18/2015 - 13:40

Erica J

There is obviously a skipped dent in the reed. I normally fix this, but want to test just how much yarns move back together during finishing. :)

Sun, 01/18/2015 - 15:05

Queezle

Wouldn't it be nice to know if the threads would move enough to ignore a reed error.  I had one of these errors in my sample, and went back to fix it.

Erica, I like your colors! 

Sun, 01/18/2015 - 15:54

theresasc

I finished up my sample and created the project here. 

Some observations on it:  I used 3 different weft sizes and none of the 40 epi stripes jumped up on the cloth like I thought they would.  It was quite disappointing because I really expected to see alot more texture.  I like the hand of the 16/2 the best, but then usually 16/2 does feel wonderful.  I need to to a better job planning the sample.  When I put it on the loom, I was just going to weave it in 8/2 and I thought I really need to try some other things.  This comes from me not ever sampling, I just do not think to try something else, it is just full speed weaving as planned.  So for my future samples I need to keep multiple sampling ideas in my head and plan the sizes accordingly.

Sun, 01/18/2015 - 18:11

ainz

Hi, everybody.

I cut out the extra warp theads from the first samples (sorry, wound up and forgot to take pictures) and used the same threading (1-2-3-4) for this simple 2/2 basket weave. 

I like the white on white. But really like the sea green weft.

Mon, 01/19/2015 - 04:42

ainz

Here is a picture of my basket weave: I have placed the unwashed sample on top of the washed one. The shrinkage has resulted in an almost completely weft faced cloth. 

I enjoyed weaving this sample. By only having to change shafts half as often, I managed to keep a steady rhythm. Or maybe it's because I am getting used to using my hands instead of my feet.

Mon, 01/19/2015 - 04:52

ainz

And here is a picture of the finished, washed Dimity. The ribs were created by 2 or 3 threads woven together as one. 

The 2-thread ridges are visible, but not really apparent to the touch. But I can really feel the 3-thread ones.

I should try weaving another sample in an other color or maybe in wool - maybe it's the white cotton that makes the ridge so apparent. 

Please forgive the weaving mistakes.

Mon, 01/19/2015 - 07:05

CelticCats

What a lot of work that all looks fantastic. Queenside, thanks for sharing your draft. I have about 20" more to finish a huck lace scarf which has some plain weave in it. I found two weft errors that were more than a few inches back so decided not to unweave. No one will ever notice unless they use a "fine tooth comb". I will take a picture tomorrow and add to this post. Nice job everyone! Dorn P.S. Still trying to find time to try the sample on page 8.
Mon, 01/19/2015 - 17:23

Erica J

I cut off thr first 6" sample and put it in the was to wet finish. It is in the dryer now. I am going to fix the skipped dent tonight. It does not look like the threads are evening out that much.

Mon, 01/19/2015 - 17:34

theresasc

that came out better than what I tried.  I did not use one color for both warp and weft, so the colors might have had a visual impact.  The color bands that were doubled look heavier, or I should say the color is deeper, but there is very little texture difference.

Aniz, on your basket weave, did you use one or two picks per shed?  I tried to expand the picture so I could see better.  My understanding of basket weave is two over, two under through each shed using a floating selvage to get the edge to catch.

color and weave on basket weave

Above is a photo of some towels I have on one of my looms using color and weave along with type of basket weave.  Instead of the ends being 2 by 2, it is 1-2-3, and then woven the same with picks, 1-2-3.  Really cool effect, I need to finish these off one of these days.

Mon, 01/19/2015 - 20:04

ainz

Yes, Theresa, 2 picks per shed, using a floating edge to catch the weft thread on the edge. 

Love your towel. I see the 1-2-3 sequence  in the warp - are the 3 ends sleyed together like we did in the dimity? 3 ends/dent, then each one in its heddle?

Let's see if I've got it right: 3R, 1W, 3R, 1W, 3R, 1W, 2R,  2W,  2R, 2W, 2R, 2W, 1R, 3W, 1R, 3W, 1R, 3W for the warp. But then I'm lost. It looks more like a log cabin than a basket?

Hmmm.

Mon, 01/19/2015 - 22:25

theresasc

and heddle.  I did not use seperate heddles for this project.  If it called for 3 ends, all 3 ends went into 1 dent and 1 heddle.  Log cabin is color and weave on plain weave.  This project is color and weave on a form of basket weave.  One major pain to wind, let me tell you!  Keeping all the numbers and color changes in order, but so far it was worth it.

Tue, 01/20/2015 - 16:02

theresasc

without even realizing it.  I was weaving on some bath mats that I have had on the Cranbrook since November and had a "aha" moment.  The mats are stitched double weave on basket weave, so that makes two looms that have some type of basket weave, which is plain weave on even prior to starting MWS.  Kinda cracked me upSmile

Tue, 01/20/2015 - 16:15

ainz

I do agree, Theresa. They are very interesting. Might try to figure it out next month, when I have more time.

Wed, 01/21/2015 - 01:34

sally orgren

Is that great color shift due to the way the pattern is treadled? It looks like the warp alternates one end each, dark-light, but are you also using two shuttles, dark-light? And then what...?

(Do you have a project load and wif file on the site under your projects?

I really like this one, it looks quite fun to weave!

Wed, 01/21/2015 - 13:26

Queezle

All samples are so interesting - and I love, love, love Theresa's orange and white towels.  I join Sally in asking for the draft - its like a modern log cabin and so beautiful!

I'm still doing my at-least 10 minutes/day, but was mostly setting up another loom for a workshop later this week.

Wed, 01/21/2015 - 17:02

theresasc

but I cannot take credit for the color and weave on basket weave.  This is from an article and draft on WeaveZine.  I do not know what the copyright issues are and if I can actually post the draft here, so I gave you all the link. 

In the article, it is woven on 2 shafts, but I expanded it to 6 to put it on my 6-shaft loom.  I really dislike moving heddles around, so with the jack looms its just easier for me to expand the drafts to fit the loom.  I like a bigger towel, so I have 447 ends vs. 301 as in the article.  It is woven with 2 shuttles, light and dark, opposite of how its threaded.  It looks really complicated, but once weaving starts, you can see how the pattern sets up. 

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 16:19

Erica J

I finished weaving my irridescence and colour samples today. They are cut off, but not uite off the loom. I started rethreading the loom for different stripes. I plan to do one last plain weave sample in basket weave, then I will use the remainder of the warp for twill samples. :)

Mon, 01/26/2015 - 06:39

Erica J

I haven't taken more photos yet, but I finished the color interaction sample, changed the threading to intersting stripes, wove a plain weave sample with my preepreferred weft, sampled a twill sett. I am going to weave my basket weave samle at the new sett then resleigh and weave at least one twill sample, while I warp my 8 shaft loom for twill blocks!

Mon, 01/26/2015 - 12:23

Queezle

... is a wonderful thing.  Looking forward to seeing the results, Erica.  It seems like such work to re-thread the heddles and re-sleigh, but certainly its faster to skip the warp winding step. I wonder why I've not done that before. 

 

I cut my plain weave sample off the loom last night, and hope that I will get to wet finishing tonight.  I did discover how wonderful dark grey warp is with dark brown weft - it seems to sparkle -- miuch more so than the other color combinations. 

Fri, 01/30/2015 - 04:38

Queezle

Here are photos, and I will also post as a project.  I used a multi-color warp, threaded to have alternate blocks of basket weave.  Doing this uses all 8 shafts, so I cannot have plain weave selvedges. 

I did a couple things - 1. basket weave with different block sizes; 2. A sort of half-basket, where the blocks had sets of 3 adjacent shafts lifted, alternating with a single warp thread; and a bit of plain weave where I inserted 3 wefts in the place where usually there was a single. 

 

This first image shows the unfinished 2/2 basket weave, I found the color interaction interesting, esp the dark grey warp crossed with a medium/dark brown.  The image just beneath it shows the wet finished and not wet finished.  The wet finished is on the top - note that the smaller the basket weave square, the greater the warp movement.study of color interaction and warp movement

basket weave, finished on top

Here is my attempt at a sort-a half basket. It is turned 90 degrees, so warp goes left to right (see those pink heavier strands?  they are warp).  To the left are my fake half baskets, blocks of 3/1, treadled just alternating shots.  This gave me more warp movement than the 2/2 basket.  To the right are the three grouped wefts - they actually really stand out!

sideways! fake half basket and grouped wefts

Fri, 01/30/2015 - 07:40

ainz

Remember, Quezzle, when you were warping, you mentioned the boring colors you had to play with. Ha! This looks gorgeous. And love the interaction between different size basket weaves. I am taking note for futrure reference.

I have been traveling this week and have done "nothing" - not weaving, anyway. I have bought some interesting fabrics, silk threads and raw cotton. As soon as I get settled, I will post pics here and on my blog. 

Fri, 01/30/2015 - 17:14

theresasc

and I agree with Ainz, the warp is really pretty.  Good color in the weft as well.  It was interesting to see the interaction between the basket weave and plain weave.  I have woven towels in basket weave and twill stripes - the sett is similar so you don't have the movement that your piece had.  Really nice sample, sure gives me ideas.  It also makes me wonder about how my plain weave hems are going to come out on my color & weave on basketweave towels.

Sun, 02/01/2015 - 21:46

ainz

That is one happy looking piece of cloth, Erica.

Mon, 02/02/2015 - 01:57

Queezle

Those colors look regal!  Did you put basket weave across the entire cloth?  It looked like finer weave an the lower end of the photo.  Its very nice, and it looks as if it has a nice hand as well.