I've been thinking stripe thoughts lately, and wondered if stripe design is a topic on its own.  My google-fu didn't find anything on WeavO or web-wide except some interesting-sounding classes across the US from me (sigh).

So I'd love to hear others' ideas, and to start the discussion, here are my working theories:

1) it takes 3 warp ends in a row to make a clear stripe in the warp (alternating colors is a different sort of color-and-weave effect, I'm focussing on stripes).

2) even-width stripes are neat, but remember to leave a few extra ends on the outside edges so draw-in doesn't make them look skinnier than the rest.

3) symmetry around the middle is very pleasing.

4) asymmetry needs someting that things appear to be rotating around -- raw chaos in stripe width/design looks like, well, raw chaos. Not that it isn't pleasing in harmonious colors, just saying that there's no pattern to please the eye, just a jumble of colors.

5) fibonnaci sequence is a good one to use to vary stripe widths.  If our 3 warp ends are taken as "1", then we have 3, 6, 9, 15, 24 -- after that my scarf is wide enough (yeah, I'm mostly doing my stripe thoughts in RH scarves). I might use stripes in widths like so: 15,6,3,6,9,6,3,6,15 for example. In an 8-dent rigid heddle that's about 8.5", a nice scarf.

--> I wonder what other types of mathematical sequences might be appropriate/pleasing/worth considering <--

6) bright colors seem wider than they are, murky/dark colors seem thinner than they are. So even yellow-and-black stripes will appear to have yellow wider than black, for example.

7) warp stripes appear the clearest if all of the weft is one color. otherwise, things start getting plaid-y or color-gamp-y, quickly.

8) besides color harmonies for choosing stripe colors, there are tartans (use the tartan warp as your striping sequence), and tools like http://www.colourlovers.com/ or http://www.colorhunter.com/ to pull key colors out of a picture you like. Nature is the best artist -- try pictures of flowers, landscapes, or scenery that you like. Here is a series of palettes from butterflies, even.

--> has anyone found a palette generator that also shows the relative percentage of colors in an image? *that* would be even cooler! <--

Phew!  That's all that comes to mind for starters.

 

Comments

Sat, 02/26/2011 - 20:02

Joanne Hall

Hi Amelia,

For my towel kits I have some things that I always do, which simplifies the winding and still makes them flexible for threading different patterns.  If a strip is based on four, then the threading on a floor or table loom is simplified.  That would also be true for a rigid heddle loom.  And if you multiply that to get 8, 12 or 16, the pattern is very simple.  And simple will make it easier to avoid mistakes in warping the threading. 

I also make the bouts symmetrical.  That way, one will not make a mistake when putting the bout on the loom.  For the four yard warps, I wind them 8 yards long with a cross on each end, so I am winding both bouts at once.  I then cut them in half.  So, if each bout is symmetrical, then it  is easy to wind the warp and put it on the loom.

Joanne

Sun, 02/27/2011 - 00:33

francorios (not verified)

I did a weavealong here Sept 09 on Weavo showing warp stripes

Here is the link


http://weavolution.com/group/rigid-heddlers/sept-09-rh-beginner-wal-project-10999

I hope it is helpful to you.

Have a good day!

Tue, 03/01/2011 - 10:33

kerstinfroberg

I have used Pascal's triangle for doing colour transitions, but it could be used for stripes too, I think.

I wrote it up for Complex Weavers some years ago - the article is found on my website - here is a direct link.

"Flame", triptych

Fri, 03/04/2011 - 03:30

Karren K. Brito

It depends a little on what the weave structure is, but let's assume you are planning a plain weave fabric that is either a warp dominate or balance structure.  What I observe is

  • one end gives a warp-wise row of dashes or dots
  • two ends give a solid stripe that wiggles back and forth a bit
  • three end give a stripe that has a beaded appearance to me-wider when 2 end are raised and narrower when only one is up.
  • four or more looks like a straight stripe.

I use two techniques to improve my stripe design:

  1. look at cloths that have stripes that I like.  If I have a scrap I pull out some wefts so I can see clearly the warp and how the stripes are made.  How many colors are there, what is the palette, why do I like it.
  2. I wrap yarn around a piece of board to test out ideas for stripes.  It is easy to change a color or the placement of the color.  It is a lot faster to wrap and discard little boards than to do it on weavings.

I like assymetrical stripes too. They create a different mood than symetrical stripes.