In the Handweavers Pattern Directory thare are notations in the upper right hand corner of the weaving drafts such as 2/16 or 3X2/16.  I have searched this book from cover to cover and cannot find an explanation of these numbers.  Obviously I am new to weaving. Laughing  Thanks in advance for your help.

David

Comments

Thu, 12/28/2017 - 20:31

Lainey

would it make sense to be the yarn size? I do not have that book, but 2/16 is a common yarn size and 3x2/16 sounds like you would use 3 strands of 2/16 yarn.

Thu, 12/28/2017 - 20:46

norgard

I suppose it could be, except that the notation 3X2/16 is used in a weft reference too.  Would you use three starnds at a time in a weft? I know how to do 2 strands with a double spool shuttle, but three?

Fri, 12/29/2017 - 02:18

sandra.eberhar…

3x2/16 means three strands of 2/16.  Many people do not use two bobbin shuttles (I do not),but wind as many threads as needed on the pirn.

Fri, 12/29/2017 - 04:38

norgard

so when the draft  says "pattern weft 3X2/16 used double, tabby 3X2/16" I'm supposed to use three strands for the tabby and six strands for the pettern?  How do you winds six strands on the bobbin at the same time.  I would need to have 6 spools of the same thread?

I'm confused as you can probably tell.

Sun, 12/31/2017 - 06:01

Yvonne K

No, your interpretation of the instructions is correct, but I wouldn't advise following them unless you have a tension box to pass the three or six threads through as you wind your bobbin. In my experience, the weaving will go well at first, but after a while loops will appear in your multi thread weft and you will need to adjust the weft on each row.

I don't have a copy of the book you are working from and there must be a reason for using these fine threads this way. However, you can substitue one thread of 8/2s for two of 16/2s in the warp, and 5/2's could probably be usde instead of three strands of 16/2s in the weft. You would still have to double the 5/2s for the pattern weft, but this is normal practice and not too difficult.

Sun, 12/31/2017 - 09:47

ReedGuy

Personally, I would wind a ski shuttle witht he three strands between my fingers coming off a spool rack. Or place the spools on end on the floor and run the strands straight up the back of a chair and stand a couple feet from the chair front to wind. This will allow the spools to feed yarn evenly and you hand can control the tension needed to find the ski shuttles. Stick shuttle will do in a pinch but slower passing the weft in the sheds. :)

And another solution is a floating selvedge at each side, but that will take 3 shuttle passes each pick and each pick will begin on the opposite side of the other since there are an odd number of strands (3). Much like weaving with one strand. I have done this with 2-4 passes in the project below.

https://weavolution.com/project/reedguy/ms-os-honeycomb

Sun, 12/31/2017 - 23:24

sandra.eberhar…

You can use whatever size yarn you want; what the pattern is trying to communicate is that to get results that look like the photo you have to have warp and tabby weft the same size, and pattern weft twice as thick.  Using several strands of a finer yarn instead of one strand of thicker yarn tends to give you a textile that is more flexible and softer.

Mon, 01/01/2018 - 02:58

ReedGuy

Actually, Dixon has a number of drafts with tabby and pattern using 3 x 2/16 strands of weft for each, and also in the warp. Some weave will use all the same yarns, but they could be any size as big white sofa dog says. Could be 5/2 cotton for the works, or whatever. The thing with Dixon's book is you get the see the swatches and know the yarns that were used, very useful info to plan your project. :)