Cottolin Gothic

Cottolin Towels woven in
8H Gothic Cross Shadow Weave

It’s a rare rainy July morning and I'm Back-Blogged. I've simply lost track of the order of recent projects. I wove these towels months ago and can't remember what came before and what came after them. Checking my records will set it right.

Piles of recent work with my camera perched among them cover our dining room table awaiting attention. Lots of weaving time has been one of the few benefits of being stuck in since March. That and lots of gardening time. But since the virus hit my husband has been working from home and my computer time has been limited so posting opportunities have been few.

The Bull’s Eye Cottolin towels were such a success that I wanted to weave more. A fellow Structures Study Group member, Shelly, shared a draft for another Gothic Cross Shadow Weave that I liked very much. At the meeting she wore a smashing scarf she’d woven using this draft. I immediately wanted to weave her Gothic Cross. The draft comes from 1000 Patterns in 4, 6, 8 Harness Shadow Weave by Marian Powell.

Here I used 22/2 Cottolin sett at 20 e.p.i. The first warp is Natural paired with #2048 Dark Olive Grey. The second warp is Natural paired with #2080 Red.

Gothic Cross in Natural and Dark Olive Grey

Gothic Cross with the weft color order reversed

This design is dramatic but really very simple. The colors are used every other one in both warp and weft. The first photo is woven according to the draft. The second one shows the effect of changing the order of the two colors in the weft. Isn't the difference striking?

This swatch shows the effect of
throwing two Natural weft shots in a row.

These were fun to weave. They are fun to use, too. The time was well spent. If you are stuck at home, think about weaving some for yourself and for those you love.

Warp On/Weave Off,

RepWeaver

 

Cottolin Gothic Towels, Detail

Tax Day and Bull’s Eyes

Kitchen Hand Towel
Navy & Natural 22/2 Cottolin, Color & Weave Effect

After Samitum my Structures Group turned to Shadow Weave. The topic was soon expanded to Color and Weave Effect. A draft that caught my eye is in a wonderful book titled “Favorite Scandinavian Projects to Weave: 45 Stylish Designs for the Modern Home” by Tina Ignell of Scandinavian Weaving Magazine. For my study group project I chose the draft “Black and White Hand Towels with Color Effects” found on page 62.

On my shelf for some time now have been several full tubes of Cottolin plus many partial tubes of varying amounts. Some of it once belonged to fellow weavers and friends so it holds special meaning for me. Some of it came to me when a workshop was cancelled after the Sept. 11^th attacks. It is that old. I have been meaning to get around to using these Cottolins. This draft proved the perfect opportunity.

Cottolin Towels hanging off the back of my loom
Four different warps/Four color ways
I had fun trying highlight colors for selvedges and hems

Cottolin makes an excellent Kitchen Towel. It is strong, absorbent, has a pleasing hand, is readily available and comes in beautiful colors. It is pleasant to work with, too. I used much of the yarn from my stash. Isn't stash busting one of the best reasons for placing a new yarn order?

The structure for these kitchen towels is an 8 Harness point twill with both warp and weft ends alternating between black and natural. The Bull’s eye effect is striking and simple. The towels are a joy to weave and to use.

Kitchen Hand Towel
Garnet & Natural 22/2 Cottolin, Color & Weave Effect

This book is fantastic. I aim to weave several of the projects. Be aware that in early editions of the book this draft contains errors. Check for the “Errata” supplement page containing corrections for three of the book’s projects.

There are times when everything seems wrong. Times when it seems there's a Bull's Eye on your back. Being April 15, here in the USA it is Tax Day. Sadly it is an extra stressful occasion for many, many Americans. May each of you here and across the globe be and remain well. May the challenges we face make us stronger, encourage us to greater achievement and gratitude for good times. Spring is here. It is a time of renewal and looking ahead to brighter days.

Warp On/Weave Off, 

RepWeaver

Ketchup & Mustard Waffles

Ketchup & Mustard Waffle Weave

Here is a new combination. Let it be known that this is the one and only time I have combined waffles and those classic condiments. It does not sound appetizing but you might agree they make a terrific weave structure.

 Those of you who have followed my blog know waffle weave has been a particular favorite of mine. Following many experimental warps, this one is my favorite. Further experience may bump this one from first place but, so far, this one is tops.

What makes it so special? The cloth is lightweight and absorbent with a nice hand and pleasing texture, a perfect combination for kitchen towels or medium weight clothing.

Ketchup & Mustard Waffle Weave detail

The colors make me happy, too. Red is my favorite and I like to use variegated yarns. Plus, these are yarns from my vast collection. Nothing new was purchased.

Hem rippling can be a problem with waffle weave. Combining waffle cells and plain weave helps. The plain weave stripes in warp and weft hold the cell groups to minimize draw-in and add stability. Using sewing thread as weft for the hems is another way to prevent the puckers.

Hooray for the latest gourmet treat – Waffles with Ketchup & Mustard!

Warp On/Weave Off,

RepWeaver

Spring Sunshine and Happy Colors

Great Colors Make Me Happy

Things that make me happy include grandchildren, sunshine, flowers and just the right color combinations.

My third foray into Strickler Draft #760 was a happy one. Color is one of my life-long delights. I am rather a practical person. Still, practicality does not exclude beauty.

I take particular joy in weaving everyday household textiles that are both useful and visually pleasing. This kitchen hand towel exemplifies my goal and makes me happy.

Kitchen Hand Towel, Stickler #760

Structure: Deflected Double Weave, #760 from "A Weaver's Book of 8-Shaft Patterns from the Friends of Handwoven" edited by Carol Strickler

Yarns: 10/2 and 20/2 perle cottons in three solid colors and one variegated. Sett: 30 e.p.i.

Third color way of Stickler #760 on 8 Harnesses

Reverse Side, Third color way of Stickler #760

Spring has sprung. Yard work beckons and the fun continues.

Warp On/Weave Off,

RepWeaver

Waffle Weave – Sample #5

This time of year is always complicated but this particular year has been even more so than usual. 

Since Thanksgiving we have had a week of hardwood flooring repairs and installation. Then Swedish finish fumes sent us out of the house for several days. During that process, our garage-door opener quit working. At 22 years old, it wasn’t a huge surprise but the timing was not optimal. To top it all off, this week I was called to Jury Duty. Fear of a prolonged Christmastime trial evaporated yesterday when I finished my service without being chosen for a pool, much less a jury. Hooray! Finally, it’s back to waffling.

Front and Reverse of Waffle Sample #5
Small swatches on top
Variegated threads make great details on front and reverse sides.

Here is the final sample for this year’s Christmas towels. For this one I used natural and dark teal 16/2 cotton sett at 35 e.p.i. The variegated highlight is 10/2 perle, which was a bit too heavy. The difference made each little cell slightly rectangular. Even so the cloth is light, colorful and textural – a happy result.

One swatch - Two pieces
Left: Machine washed and dried
Right: As it came from the loom

My first weaving teacher, Barbara Doyon, suggested weaving a short sample at the beginning of each warp. Once off the loom, the sample is cut into two equal pieces warp-wise. One is finished, the other left as is. Kept together with written weaving notes, they record valuable information about yarns, structure, shrinkage, etc. I have been a weaver for many years and this is the first time I have followed Barbara's advice. Silly me!

Now I think I am ready to tackle my Christmas towels.

Warp On/Weave Off,

RepWeaver

Side by Side Swatches, detail
The little dots of color peeking out from the center of each waffle cell make me happy.

Lost in the Woods

Pine Tree Towel
8H Summer & Winter

According to the calendar, spring is here but still we wait for sunshine and warm days. It was a tough winter for a lot of reasons including but not entirely due to severe weather. Instead of feeling blue while suspended between situations and seasons I decided to try my hand at weaving Summer & Winter.

So I headed for the woods and searched for a nice pine tree border in several books. My loom is limited to eight harnesses and ten treadles allowing me to weave six blocks in Summer & Winter. In order to achieve a nice branch effect I wanted to find a draft using all six possible blocks. I was particular that the trees appear as realistic as I could make them.

This draft seemed to best fit my requirements. You will find it on pages 27-28 of the Shuttle Craft Guild Monograph #19: Summer and Winter and Other Two-Tie Unit Weaves by Harriet Tidball.

Pine Tree Towel showing front and back sides
8H Summer & Winter

Summer & Winter has long been on my "to-do" list because it took time for me to get over being intimidated it. Most worrisome was the necessity of using a skeleton tie-up on my countermarch loom. I studied and sampled and discovered it was not as difficult as I had feared. It is possible to use the countermarch action using a skeleton tie-up but instead of tying only rising or falling sheds to every treadle, one ties only selected harnesses on each treadle to be paired. Yes, two countermarch treadles can be tromped at once when tied up this way.

Weaving with the skeleton tie-up requires half again as many treadle steps as otherwise therefore many more opportunities to go wrong. But with careful attention a rhythm establishes itself.

There are several methods of treadling Summer & Winter. I attempted to illustrate the three I chose to weave with these photographs. They produce similar but different results. It is tough to say which I like the best.

Click on Photo to better see results of three treading methods.
Lower Left: Paired X's
Lower Center: Singles
Lower Right: Paired O's

Treadling Variations:
Black: Paired X's
Dark Green: Singles
Medium Green: Paired O's (this towel shows reverse side)

In my usual fashion, I added color to the warp and tabby threads. To make the tree trunks seem more real, I used brown warp ends and in the very center of the brown trunks is one subtly variegated thread. I hadn't considered how the added color would play throughout the center of the warp. The result made me very happy. Variety is, after all, the spice of life!

8H Summer & Winter Pine Tree Towel
Hem details

After a while I grew tired of weaving with only green and gave black a try with pleasing results. Dark brown would work well, too. Take a close look at the hems on the black towel. I began with the hem on the right. By the time the ending came I'd decided to add two extra shots of black to close off the block design. This seems to make for a more finished look.


Summer & Winter opens exciting possibilities for further design exploration. But for now I am working to rethread my loom with another warp based on this draft. At 15x19 inches these towels are rather small so now I am working on something a bit wider.


Will I find my way with Summer & Winter or stay lost in the woods? Actually, being lost in these particular woods isn't so bad.

Warp On/Weave Off,

RepWeaver

8H Summer & Winter Towels
The towel at upper left showing the reverse side

Nordic Kitchen Redux

Nordic Kitchen Christmas Towels
Nine towels from this warp all in a stack
I'm paging through them in order, photographing each as I flip to the next one.

Once our house was finally repaired it was high time for a new weaving project. Many boxes of our packed-up belongings still haunt me. But it is December and they will simply have to wait. What is the point of unpacking things with a move impending? Instead of the rugs I had been planning prior to the flood, I wandered back to an all-time favorite draft. Yes, Nordic Kitchen was calling to me.

For the longest time, this bright yellow 20/2 cotton has been on my shelf. I always liked the color but was intimidated by its intensity. This is not a timid yellow. The thought that it is better to use it than move it gave me the jump start I needed. Besides, it had been such a long time since I wove, this could be a viewed as a test case. That way if it didn't work out all would still be well. I use a sett of 30 e.p.i. and sleyed two ends per dent in a 15 dent per inch reed. The pattern weft is 10/2 perle cotton.

Nordic Kitchen - Detail showing warp and tabby color changes

I combined the bright yellow with a pale yellow in the center of two red bands in the borders and added my ever favorite variegated ends. The color changes really pumped up the impact of an already striking border, a happy result.

I have to stop here and make an observation about my loom. It is a 135 cm Glimakra Standard. The water removal team and I took it apart in the dead of night. The poor thing was unceremoniously dumped in piles. There was a good chance parts might be missing. But it all went back together beautifully. Believe it or not, I put it back together by myself which brings me to my point. For years (years, I mean, YEARS) my poor loom had been in need of a tune-up. I just didn't ever want to break it down and take a break from weaving. And my loom deserved better of me; it is a very reliable, hardworking machine. Now that it is back together again, it works better than ever. Myriads of tiny adjustments over many years and many warps added up to major headaches. Now everything is back nice and tight and in alignment again. My loom has to be as happy as I am about that.

Nordic Kitchen Christmas Towels
Front side and reverse side are equally pleasing.

This post-flood warp is slightly different from my previous Nordic Kitchen warps. I went back to find the original source cited in Marguerite Porter Davison and found the earlier draft by Caroline Halverson contained five repeats while the Davison draft had only two. So I took my earlier draft and added one more repeat in that section of the border. Maybe eventually I will switch to five repeats because I really like the difference. I'm thinking of renaming my version of this draft Swedish Kitchen. Wink, wink!

Swedish Kitchen towels by RepWeaver.
Pattern weft colors clockwise from left: Black, Orange,
Elm Green, Burgundy, Nautical Blue, Ink Blue and Eggplant

So here they are - my 2015 Christmas towels. I wish the recipients as much joy using them as I had weaving them. And I wish you, my readers, joy as well.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Warp On/Weave Off,
RepWeaver

Norse Kitchen Miniature - Second Warp

Miniature Norse Kitchen by RepWeaver, Group photo

Miniature Norse Kitchen by RepWeaver, Group photo

Norse Kitchen in miniature was such a satisfying weave project I couldn't wait to get back to the loom for another round.


This time I chose a warp of 20/2 UKI perle cotton in color #52 Chestnut. To this I added variegated ends at specific spots in the draft across the warp. These warp ends range in color from brown to gold to olive green to red. Click on the detail photos for a closer view of how these variegated colors seem to magically appear and disappear in the finished towels.


Even though overshot is a two-shuttle structure, weaving these was a lot of fun. Watching the variegations morph from one color to the next adds interest during the process. When warping I don't try for any Ikat effects but sometimes this happens. Serendipity is part of the fun.

Warp On/Weave Off,
RepWeaver

Norse Kitchen Miniature
Detail showing variegated warp ends

Norse Kitchen Miniature
Detail showing variegated warp ends

Norse Kitchen Miniature
Detail showing variegated warp ends

Conundrum Solved

How did I solve those four problems that bothered me about "Norse Kitchen"?

Miniaturized "Norse Kitchen" (red)
"Norse Kitchen" original towel (blue)

Recently I have been inspired by the work of Josephine Estes and Bertha Gray Hayes and have been weaving a lot of Miniature Overshot. So the ideal solution was already on my radar - write my own miniaturized version of "Norse Kitchen".


Once I'd finalized my Mini "Norse Kitchen" draft I needed to adjust the number of center repeats to maintain the same width as my original towel warp. Then I cut off the first few towels I'd woven using the old draft and rethreaded the remainder of that warp with the revised design. This required three additional warp ends. I also decided to add one more twill repeat at each selvedge which added another eight ends.

Miniaturized "Norse Kitchen" towels

While I was at it I changed the direction of some of the border twill lines so each border is symmetric. You can see the change in the red towel above the original blue one. It is even clearer in the detail of the magenta towel below.

Weaving the rest of the warp was thrilling because the result brought me great joy. Never again will I view an overshot draft without wondering how it would work in miniature. Such fun!

Miniature "Norse Kitchen" - Detail

Miniaturized "Norse Kitchen" towels showing the reverse sides.
It's hard to decide which side is my favorite.

Warp on/Weave off,

RepWeaver

Bother Number Four

This is the last one, I promise. Going by the level of annoyance, this really is number one on the list.

After the first few inches weaving this problem really stood out. It was especially apparent in the repeating middle section. Take a close look and you will see what I mean.

"Norse Kitchen" from draft in A Handweaver's Pattern Book by Marguerite Porter Davison

The ground interlacements on either side of each little white cross are not even. Checking the draft from the Davison book, one side of the center repeat section has six ends alternating on shafts two and three and eight ends on those two shafts on the other side. This problem pops up in the border sections as well but isn't as noticeable.

If you look at the photo accompanying the draft in the Davison book you will see that sample also shows this problem. I guess this is a lesson to look very carefully at sample photos as well as at drafts. It's dangerous to make assumptions.

The Davison sample photo is curious. It is so different from other samples in the book. It appears to be an entire woven piece and clearly shows crease marks. This made me wonder if the draft had been copied from the woven article and not actually woven by Davison herself. At the top of page 186 is a notation "Adapted from Caroline Halvorsen's Page 106 - No. 185".

Last week I did a search and discovered a book by Caroline Halvorsen and placed an order for a used copy. I do not know if this particular book is the source of inspiration for the Davison draft. But I aim to track it down.

Reading the "Understanding Overshot" chapter in The Complete Book of Drafting for Handweavers by Madelyn van der Hoogt it looks as if this draft may have originated in an abbreviated form. If you read the section "Variations in Drafting Format" on page 41 there is a clear explanation of how an unbalanced draft could occur.

When the Halvorsen book arrives I'll let you know what I discover. Then I will show you my solution to the problems with the Davison draft.

Bother Number Three

Take a close look at the double narrow wavy lines that define each border area. After sitting at the loom weaving those narrow lines really got to me. The twill threading for each of them in the original Davison draft is 4, 3, 2, 1 meaning that each curvy line all the way across the warp curves in the same direction. This is especially noticeable in the corner block in the borders. Perhaps this would not bother others but I did not like it.

"Norse Kitchen" towel - draft from A Handweavers' Pattern Book
Notice the way the twill lines all curve in the same direction. It's especially noticeable in the corners of the borders.