sett for overshot factory

I was recently weaving an overshot pattern that used 10/2 cotton for the warp/ground weft and 5/2 cotton for the pattern weft. I also have a few cones of 3/2 cotton, but I didn’t know if they’d be too big compared with the 10/2. I have a large collection of 8/2 yarn as well, would the 5/2 yarn be better suited as a pattern weft for a project that uses 8/2 for the warp/ground instead? Are there any guidelines about what size yarns work best as the pattern weft for overshot versus the warp/ground weft?

Too many variables (the yarns, the specific overshot draft, and the desired hand of the fabric) are involved to give a single rule of thumb for pattern-weft size vs ground warp and weft size in overshot. Probably the most common yarns/setts for contemporary overshot fabrics are 10/2 cotton for warp and tabby weft at 24 epi and either 5/2 pearl cotton or 3/2 pearl cotton for the pattern weft. The fabrics woven with these yarns/setts are usually sturdy fabrics in a weight suitable for placemats and towels. 3/2 pearl cotton would also work (and not be too heavy) for the draft you’re using with 5/2 cotton, unless the pattern-weft floats are very short (this would be for a delicate design, usually looking very twill-like). In that case, the 3/2 pearl cotton weft would not pack in well enough and you’d see streaks of the tabby weft between pattern picks. By the same token, if your overshot design has long pattern-weft floats with large blocks of pattern, a 5/2 pearl cotton pattern weft is likely to be too thin to cover the blocks; in that case, you’d also see streaks of the tabby weft between pattern picks.

Wool pattern wefts have the capacity to full to cover the blocks with wet-finishing, so their size can vary depending on the nature of the wool. With 10/2 pearl cotton warp and tabby weft, I like using Harrisville Shetland (its heathered colors add to the effectiveness of an overshot design) or other 8/2 wools. These fabrics (cotton ground cloth, wool pattern weft) are also usually sturdy, with a hand similar to colonial coverlets. If a soft fabric is desired, as for a shawl or scarf, wool, wool/silk, or silk would be good choices for warp and tabby weft. For a soft overshot fabric in all wool, the sett should be as for plain weave, but open enough that the wool threads have room to swell with fulling. For a wool pattern weft to show well on a wool ground cloth, it should be two to three times as heavy as the ground warp and weft. I’d follow that principle for silk, too: Sett the warp as for plain weave and choose a weft two to three times as heavy as the the ground yarns.

8/2 cotton is usually sett at 20 ends per inch for plain weave. 3/2 pearl cotton would be a good size for the patten weft, but it is mercerized whereas the 8/2 cotton is not. The contrast between the sheen of the pearl cotton and the matte finish of the 8/2 cotton might work well, or might not. You’d have to sample to see. Another option is to use the 8/2 cotton doubled for a pattern weft.

Although I know that traditionally overshot was used for coverlets, I have an idea for a shawl. I"m willing to sample, but I"m not sure where to start. I would like to weave it using 18/2 wool/silk as warp and tabby weft. Can I use that yarn doubled for my pattern weft? Normally with this yarn, I use a sett of 24 or 26 ends per inch for plain weave. If I use 24 epi, will I be in the ballpark to weave a lovely drapey shawl? I don"t want it to be too stiff so perhaps I should start with a looser sett?

Overshot drafts presume a 50/50 plain-weave ground cloth. Since the tabby weft creates that cloth and alternates with a pattern weft, if you sett your 18/2 wool/silk at 24 ends per inch and follow an overshot treadling draft from a specific source, the picks per inch should be double the number of warp threads per inch (I.e., 48) to produce the intended results. (Treadling drafts usually give the number of pattern picks that create square motifs--as wide as they are tall--if the weft sett is twice as many picks per inch as warp threads per inch.)

Most traditional overshot fabrics, as you say, are firmly woven utility fabrics, such as bedspreads or table runners, and you want something soft and drapable. A check of the

Be sure to put on extra warp for sampling to see what number of picks works well to create symmetrical motifs (and wash the sample to check the size and look of the finished motifs). I would sample on the complete threading (warping the loom at 20 ends per inch). If the washed sample proves too loose in both warp and weft directions, I’d then re-sley to 24 ends per inch. The shawl would then be slightly narrower, but it is always better to sample on the actual width of an intended piece to accurately judge the result.

I LOVE double-bobbin boat shuttles when I’m doubling the weft. You have to get used to “throwing” the shuttle when you use it; it only works if the unwinding bobbin jerks on both weft threads enough to turn them both smoothly at the selvedges. Doubling the weft on a single bobbin always requires adjusting the two lengths at the selvedge unless you ply them on a spinning wheel first. (I like them not plied better, anyway, for covering the blocks. They will tend to lie side by side like a ribbon.)

But refers to something pretty simple: how many strands of warp yarn there are in a single inch of weaving width. Because sett describes how many warp ends there are in an inch, it is commonly expressed using the term “ends per inch” or “epi” for short. A project with a sett of 20 epi, for example, has 20 warp ends in each inch of weaving while the project is on the loom.

Determining what sett a piece has is pretty easy: count the number of warp ends and divide by the number of inches in the width. Determining what sett a piece shouldhave is a little more complex, and a key element in planning a successful project.

The simplest way to determine sett is to check wraps per inch. This is how many times you can comfortably wrap a yarn around a ruler (or our handy-dandy Sett Checker!) in one inch. When you are wrapping yarn, do not leave gaps between wraps, and do not wrap so closely that the yarn overlaps. Hold yarn with a firm and steady tension. Don’t hold it so tightly that you stretch it out and make it look skinnier than it is.

All done? Just count the wraps within one inch. Take that number and divide it in half for plain weave. If you are weaving twill, take two thirds of your wraps per inch instead. This is your standard sett. Here’s an example. Say you had a yarn that came out to 30 wraps per inch. You would use a sett of 15 epi for plain weave (30 x 0.5 = 15). For twill, you would use a closer sett of 20 epi (30 x 0.66 = 20).

Wraps per inch give you a solid starting point. But for every material, there are multiple usable setts. Good sett comes in a range of possibilities, not in a single answer. Mercifully, other weavers are here to help you with this part. Gather’s Sett Chart shows ranges for many popular warp materials so that you don’t have to waste time (and yarn!) in trial-and-error experimentation.

Choosing a sett from the range of options is where you can get clever. Adjusting the sett changes the characteristics of your finished product. A close or dense sett makes stronger and stiffer cloth. A loose or open sett makes drapier, gauzier cloth.

Let’s look at 8/2 cotton for example. Gather’s Sett Chart lists a range of setts from 16-20 epi. If you’re planning tea towels, you will want to aim at the higher end of those scales for a close sett and hardy cloth--18 epi for plain weave or 20 epi for twill. On the other hand, if you’re aiming at a nice drapey scarf or gauzy window-covering, use the lower end of the range--16 for plain weave or 18 for twill.

In addition to thinking about the best sett for a particular piece, it can be helpful to think about the best sett for an overall warp. If you want the freedom to go back and forth between plain weave and twill on a long warp, choose a sett that is within the range for both structures.

If you’re using an unusual weave structure or combination of different yarns, if you’re aiming at a very specific “hand” or feel in your finished product, or if you just love experimenting and discovering things for yourself, sampling for sett is a great idea.

Sett is determined by one of the last steps in dressing your loom: sleying the reed. The reed spaces out your warp threads, which translates directly into how many ends per inch your project has. To sample for sett, sley your reed at one sett, lash on, and weave your sample. Then cut your sample off, re-sley at a different sett, and weave the next piece. Repeat as many times as needed.

If you’re weaving on a rigid heddle loom, your options for sett are limited to which rigid heddle reeds you have on hand. But you can definitely thread a warp in a 10-dent reed, then cut it off and re-thread in a 12-dent reed. To keep threads from tangling during the switch, pull your threads out of the reed about 10 threads at a time and tie them in a slip knot.

Finally, remember that wet finishing will make many fibres bloom and pull together. To get a true sense of the impact of sett, be sure to wet finish all your samples in the same way you intend to finish your final piece.

The advice above, as well as most advice out there about sett, applies to more-or-less balanced weave structures. In a balanced piece, the number of warp ends per inch (epi) and the number of weft picks per inch (ppi) are the same.

There are, however, several styles of weaving that deliberately aim at an unbalanced result. Rug weaving has a much higher ppi than epi. It is weft-faced: the weft dominates the piece, and you can barely see the warp. On the opposite end of the spectrum, techniques like rep weave have much higher epi than ppi. Rep weaving produces warp-faced pieces commonly used for placemats. There are so many warp ends per inch that sometimes the weft is only visible where it peeks out at the selvedges.

Weft-faced pieces have a loose sett; warp-faced pieces have a dense sett. In both cases, the sett may fall well outside the range suggested for balanced weaves. If you are planning a project where you want primarily the weft or primarily the warp to be visible, make sure to seek out advice specific to your desired effect.

A lot of advice about sett also assumes that weavers are using weft yarn that is about the same as their warp yarn. But what if you’re combining a thick weft and a thinner warp? Or a thin weft and a thicker warp?

Thick wefts with thinner warps tend to produce stiffer weaving. You can use sett to either enhance this effect, or to counteract it. A standard sett for your warp with a thicker weft will produce firm weaving, and a close sett will produce an even firmer product. For example, 8/2 cotton with a sett of 20 epi and an 8/4 cotton weft would make a sturdy table runner. If you want to use thicker weft but you’d like to counteract the stiffness it brings, loosen your sett. For example, 8/2 cotton with a sett of 16 and an 8/4 cotton weft would make a somewhat heavy but still drapey scarf.

The opposite holds true if you are working with weft that is thinner than the warp. Thin weft gives  a project more drape. So an 8/2 warp with a thin 16/2 weft will be lighter and drapier at 20 epi than the exact same piece with 8/2 for the weft. You might want to err on the side of a tighter sett to make sure you have stable cloth if you are using a thin weft.

Like so much with weaving, sett is an area where you can get started with the basics fairly quickly, and then spend the rest of your life exploring and experimenting. If this all seems overwhelming, there’s no need to understand it--let alone weave it--all at once. Start by using wraps per inch, or by going with the middle of the range from the sett chart. From there, slowly move your way around the recommended range and see what results you like. The more you weave, the more sett will make sense. In the meanwhile, enjoy!

You may remember that I recently returned from a visit to The Philippines. It may not surprise you that I am always on the lookout for interesting textiles, and especially handwoven fabrics. I don’t mean to do that; it just happens… Well, when I met sweet Beth at the Sunday market, I felt like I hit the jackpot! Beth and I had a common language – Handweaving! (She speaks fine English, too, of course; but you know what I mean.)

If you don’t have time to look at all the textile pictures today, at least scroll down and see my little granddaughter carrying her big umbrella on the way to the market. Umbrellas are always in season in Metropolitan Manila. For the rain in the rainy season (our visit), and for shielding your skin from the sun all the rest of the time. (You can always come back later and finish looking at the rest of the pictures. Smile.)

This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data.

This project was really popular when I posted it on Instagram, so I thought I would share it here also. It is a simple overshot pattern - with a twist. Also a great way to show off some special yarn. The yarn I used for my pattern was a skein of hand spun camel/silk blend. I wove the fabric on my Jack loom but you could also use your four or eight shaft loom.

Overshot is a weave structure where the weft threads jump over several warp threads at once, a supplementary weft creating patterns over a plain weave base. Overshot gained popularity in the turn of the 19th century (although its origins are a few hundred years earlier than that!). Coverlets (bed covers) were woven in Overshot with a cotton (or linen) plain weave base and a wool supplementary weft for the pattern. The plain weave base gave structure and durability and the woollen pattern thread gave warmth and colour/design. Designs were basic geometric designs that were handed down in families and as it was woven on a four shaft loom the Overshot patterns were accessible to many. In theory if you removed all the pattern threads form your Overshot you would have a structurally sound piece of plain weave fabric.

I was first drawn to Overshot many years ago when I saw what looked to me like "fragments" of Overshot in Sharon Aldermans "Mastering Weave Structures".

I have not included details of number of warp ends, sett and yarn requirements for my project - you can do your calculations based on the sett required for plain weave in the yarn you wish to use.

I wanted to use my handspun - but I only had a 100gms skein, I wanted to maximise the amount of fabric I could get using the 100gms. I thought about all the drafts I could use that would show off the weft and settled on overshot because this showcases the pattern yarn very nicely. I decided to weave it “fragmented” so I could make my handspun yarn go further. I chose a honeysuckle draft.

When doing the treadle tie-up I used 3 and 8 for my plain weave and started weaving from the left, treadle 3 - so you always know which treadle you are up to - shuttle on the left - treadle 3, shuttle on the right treadle 8. I then tied up the pattern on treadles 4,5,6 and 7. You can work in that order by repeating the sequence or you can mix it up and go from 4 to 7 and back to 4 again etc. You will easily see what the pattern is doing.

I have been weaving for the past few days (whoo hoo!). I am making cloth for my next batch of hand bound books. In the face of a million possibilities I decided to stick with something traditional. So, I picked a few miniature overshot designs with names I thought might be appealing and/or seasonal, such as Young Lovers’ Knot and Star of Bethlehem, did some math, wound a warp, dressed my loom, and got to work.

I decided to start with the Young Lovers’ Knot. (Actually, I don’t know if it’s one lover or more than one for that apostrophe.) My warp is black 20/2 cotton which I picked because I wanted the scale of the pattern to be proportionate to the size of the books. Well, it is  delicate and pretty, but in retrospect my choice of yarn was crazy since it is taking forever to weave. For the tabby I’ve been using the same 20/2 black as the warp, and for the pattern I picked red in 10/2 cotton, thinking lovers, drama, passion….

Anyway, the point is, the second repeat of the design looked very different from the first and I though I had made a mistake. “Hmm. Weird. Haven’t woven overshot in a while, must be rusty.” I checked my treadling carefully and everything was accurate. I used my trusty angle-measuring tool, set at 45 degrees, and my beat wasn’t consistent between the repeats; one repeat was more square than the other. I figured my beat was the problem, and that I would settle into a rhythm after a while. So I kept going, and finished up the red section. The problem didn’t go away. I didn’t mind the alternating look between pattern repeats because it was consistent and kind of rhythmical. In fact, I liked the little daisies in the corners of the less compact version of the pattern. Daisies, diamonds, daisies, diamonds. Not too bad.

I decided to switch colors and yarns. For the new pattern yarn I picked 10/2 tencel in a bright green. Shiny, vibrant, almost neon… passion of a different sort. But same thing after two more repeats: they looked distinctly different, but again I checked and confirmed I had not made a treadling error. Why did it keep happening the same way each time? It would be an unlikely coincidence if I kept making the same mistake in the same place in the pattern each time.

Overshot is a weave structure where the pattern is created with long weft floats. They would be too unstable to be useful unless you secured the floats to a stable background. To make a stable background, you weave a pick (or row) of plain weave between each pick of pattern weft. Typically the plain weave thread is the same yarn as the warp, and the pattern weft is much thicker. Plain weave is a very stable weave structure because it has the maximum number of intersections of vertical (warp) and horizontal (weft) threads. For some reason that I’ve always meant to look up, plain weave is also called tabby, especially when it’s used in this way to alternate with pattern wefts.

Plain weave is made up of two alternating sheds: usually all the odd numbered shafts or harnesses work together, and all the even ones work together, and they alternate. They are sometimes called tabby a and tabby b to tell them apart. For overshot, you weave one row of pattern, then tabby a, the second row of pattern, then tabby b, the third row of pattern, back to tabby a, and so on.

Depending on your overshot pattern, one tabby tends to push the pattern weft floats apart, and the other tends to let them squeeze together. The pushy one can make the pattern pixelated, slightly elongated, or hard to see. The squeezy one helps the pattern pull together and look compact and distinct. The proper term for the squeezy tabby is “emboldening tabby.” You want the emboldening tabby. I was only getting the emboldening tabby on every other pattern repeat. Rats. After weaving the green section I decided, for the sake of consistency and for the sake of my good name as a master weaver, to fix it.

They"ve long been overshadowed by quilts, but overshot coverlets deserve their own place in the sun. The nubby-textured textiles, loomed from wool and cotton into arresting geometric patterns, first migrated to America from Europe in the 1770s. Later, industrial mills replicated the handcrafted heirlooms, and today these versions are plentiful at antiques fairs and on Etsy.

While flawless finds are rare, the fragments are just as impactful. Luckily, these fabrics can be upcycled into a myriad of household accents with just a few simple steps. We have several ideas: Consider slicing out a long, undamaged section, for example, and hemming the edges—and voila, you have a statement table runner that you"ll enjoy pulling out for a dinner party. Searching for some other project inspiration for the home? If you"re limited on scraps, try making an art display trio with squares or rectangles of all different sizes; simply apply a sealant on the edges you cut, dab fabric glue onto white backing, frame, and hang.

Of course, there"s nothing wrong with using these blankets as intended—as actual bed coverlets. Should you score a piece of overshot fabric that"s large enough to decorate your bed (and in mint enough condition to display), replace your winter quilt with this lighter iteration when the weather warms. Or, attempt our Envelope-Backed Pillow Cover, which calls for this fabric. However you decide to use these visually dynamic cloths, with our easy ideas, you will be able to weave some style and history into your home in no time.

Overshot: The earliest coverlets were woven using an overshot weave. There is a ground cloth of plain weave linen or cotton with a supplementary pattern weft, usually of dyed wool, added to create a geometric pattern based on simple combinations of blocks. The weaver creates the pattern by raising and lowering the pattern weft with treadles to create vibrant, reversible geometric patterns. Overshot coverlets could be woven domestically by men or women on simple four-shaft looms, and the craft persists to this day.

Summer-and-Winter: This structure is a type of overshot with strict rules about supplementary pattern weft float distances. The weft yarns float over no more than two warp yarns. This creates a denser fabric with a tighter weave. Summer-and-Winter is so named because one side of the coverlet features more wool than the other, thus giving the coverlet a summer side and a winter side. This structure may be an American invention. Its origins are somewhat mysterious, but it seems to have evolved out of a British weaving tradition.

Double Cloth: Usually associated with professional weavers, double cloth is formed from two plain weave fabrics that swap places with one another, interlocking the textile and creating the pattern. Coverlet weavers initially used German, geometric, block-weaving patterns to create decorative coverlets and ingrain carpeting. These coverlets contain twice the yarn and are twice as heavy as other coverlets.

Beiderwand: Weavers in Northern Germany and Southern Denmark first used this structure in the seventeenth century to weave bed curtains and textiles for clothing. Beiderwand is an integrated structure, and the design alternates sections of warp-faced and weft-faced plain weave. Beiderwand coverlets can be either true Beiderwand or the more common tied-Beiderwand. This structure is identifiable by the ribbed appearance of the textile created by the addition of a supplementary binding warp.

Multi-harness/Star and Diamond: This group of coverlets is characterized not by the structure but by the intricacy of patterning. Usually executed in overshot, Beiderwand, or geometric double cloth, these coverlets were made almost all made in Eastern Pennsylvania by professional weavers on looms with between twelve and twenty-six shafts.

America’s earliest coverlets were woven in New England, usually in overshot patterns and by women working collectively to produce textiles for their own homes and for sale locally. Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s book, Age of Homespun examines this pre-Revolutionary economy in which women shared labor, raw materials, and textile equipment to supplement family incomes. As the nineteenth century approached and textile mills emerged first in New England, new groups of European immigrant weavers would arrive in New England before moving westward to cheaper available land and spread industrialization to America’s rural interior.

The coverlets from New York and New Jersey are among the earliest Figured and Fancy coverlets. NMAH possesses the earliest Figured and Fancy coverlet (dated 1817), made on Long Island by an unknown weaver. These coverlets are associated primarily with Scottish and Scots-Irish immigrant weavers who were recruited from Britain to provide a skilled workforce for America’s earliest woolen textile mills, and then established their own businesses. New York and New Jersey coverlets are primarily blue and white, double cloth and feature refined Neoclassical and Victorian motifs. Long Island and the Finger Lakes region of New York as well as Bergen County, New Jersey were major centers of coverlet production.

Coverlet weavers were among some of the earliest European settler in the Northwest Territories. After helping to clear the land and establish agriculture, these weavers focused their attentions on establishing mills and weaving operations with local supplies, for local markets. This economic pattern helped introduce the American interior to an industrial economy. It also allowed the weaver to free himself and his family from traditional, less-favorable urban factory life. New land in Ohio and Indiana enticed weavers from the New York and Mid-Atlantic traditions to settle in the Northwest Territories. As a result, coverlets from this region hybridized, blending the fondness for color found in Pennsylvania coverlets with the refinement of design and Scottish influence of the New York coverlets.

Southern coverlets almost always tended to be woven in overshot patterns. Traditional hand-weaving also survived longest in the South. Southern Appalachian women were still weaving overshot coverlets at the turn of the twentieth century. These women and their coverlets helped in inspire a wave of Settlement Schools and mail-order cottage industries throughout the Southern Appalachian region, inspiring and contributing to Colonial Revival design and the Handicraft Revival. Before the Civil War, enslaved labor was often used in the production of Southern coverlets, both to grow and process the raw materials, and to transform those materials into a finished product.

Because so many coverlets have been passed down as family heirlooms, retaining documentation on their maker or users, they provide a visual catalog of America’s path toward and response to industrialization. Coverlet weavers have sometimes been categorized as artisan weavers fighting to keep a traditional craft alive. New research, however, is showing that many of these weavers were on the forefront of industry in rural America. Many coverlet weavers began their American odyssey as immigrants, recruited from European textile factories—along with their families—to help establish industrial mills in America. Families saved their money, bought cheaper land in America’s rural interior and took their mechanical skills and ideas about industrial organization into the American heartland. Once there, these weavers found options. They could operate as weaver-farmers, own a small workshop, partner with a local carding mill, or open their own small, regional factories. They were quick to embrace new weaving technologies, including power looms, and frequently advertised in local newspapers. Coverlet weavers created small pockets of residentiary industry that relied on a steady flow of European-trained immigrants. These small factories remained successful until after the Civil War when the railroads made mass-produced, industrial goods more readily available nationwide.

I am very excited about the new project.  I would prefer to weave up my doubleweave samples, but since that’s out until I get a bit more practice warping sectionally, I’ve definitely decided to do the changing colors idea, and also to do the knitted-blank idea (if I can get the knitted blanks in time – not entirely certain).  Now the only question is the structure.  There are ever-so-many structures I could use, some of which I haven’t used before, which would give me a large scale pattern; or I could thread up straight draw, and do some sort of repeating pattern.  (Threading up straight draw would also allow me to recreate 4 and 8 shaft straight draw patterns, which might make a better article for Weavezine – something that’s in the back of my mind, since I had thought of writing up both the changing-colors idea and the knitted-blank idea for Weavezine.)

The big question in my mind is the sett: am I going to do something that is predominantly plainweave, or am I doing something that is predominantly twill?  It makes a huge difference to the sett, and that’s not something I can mess around with easily on the loom.

(The exact factor varies a little depending on the type of yarn, and obviously that doesn’t hold for novelty yarns, but .9″ is a good starting point.)

You don’t want to weave at the maximum sett, in fact it’s probably impossible to beat square at the max sett and you will wind up with a board if you do.  Instead, you multiply by a % of the maximum sett depending on what you want to do with it: if you want upholstery (tight and firm), use 90% of the sett, if you want shawls, maybe 70%, if you want something very lacy and light, maybe 50-60%.  There’s a lot of leeway.

I like Ashenhurst’s rule because it seems the most accurate to me – it takes weave structure into account, so it doesn’t matter whether you’re weaving a 7-end satin or plainweave, it gives you a number that’s a good starting-point.  You still have to sample, of course, but it’s a lot less blind than other methods or the manufacturer’s generic “recommended sett”.

For a 7000 ypp silk yarn in a 3/1 twill at 70% maximum sett, Ashenhurst’s rule recommends a sett of approximately 41, which is pretty close to accurate.  (I used a 45 epi sett and while the drape was what I wanted, it didn’t quite beat square.)

For the same yarn in plainweave, Ashenhurst’s rule recommends a sett of 27.  That’s a big difference from 41, too much for me to “get away with” in a similarly-sized weft.  So I have essentially four options:

I haven’t really decided what I want to do yet, but since it will take me some time (a week or more) to dye the warp and (the hard part) wind it all into lots of tiny balls of yarn, I have time to consider the matter.  I’m going to dye 24 different shades from turquoise to fuchsia (or another pair of colors that I have yet to choose), and use them in stripes to get the same gradual shading that I got for Liquid Fire.  After that it’s a matter of getting (and dyeing/playing with) the weft yarns, whether from knitted blanks or elsewhere.

That said, I have very little patience for delays, and like things to be settled early on, so I will probably choose a structure soon.  I am leaning towards threading up straight draw and going through some of the exercises in Bonnie’s book, but networked satin still holds a lot of attraction for me…oy vey!  It’s so easy to drown in options.

I had hoped once retired from teaching, that I could indeed turn this business of 45 years into a hobby. A real hobby. Where I have no deadlines, or immediate goals, other than getting a loom set up for a coming workshop, like the one next week on Huck Blocks with Rosalie Neilson. Done and check…

So what that means, is I need little looms to easily carry outdoors, and just weave. I have plenty of inkle looms. And many have projects on them. But I have a large collection of 18 little Structo looms, the 8″ wide metal kind, four of them are 8 shafts, and I have a couple of adorable 4 shaft Leclerc 10″ wide looms of about the same vintage. I had visions of setting them all up with different weave structures to explore, and one of the perfect ways to do that is with what’s called a Gamp, which is a sort of sampler with blocks of design across, so whatever you ‘treadle’, affects all the different threadings across. It is like creating a library of little designs.

There is no purpose to these for me, other than an opportunity to learn. Not everything has to yield an end product. Learning is a really good reason to do anything. And I’m in a position that I can invite in a student or friend to just come and try out a structure they might be curious about, because a loom is already set up…

So over the last few weeks, as my broken shoulder starts to heal, I’ve been really busy just playing in the studio. I’m making progress on the overshot placemats I agreed to do for a friend (this is a really good friend), and I’m actually half way done. I’ve completed three mats and only have three more to go. And I’m really enjoying the scale, working with 20/2 cotton for the ground, and 10/2 for the pattern. I thought I’d hate it, but I can weave half a mat in an hour, and I’m getting really smooth at handling two shuttles. (The pattern is from Handwoven Magazine Nov/Dec 2010 in an article by Mary Berent, pg 38).

I have three more drafts planned out for another group of 8″ Structos, an 8 shaft Quigley from Tom Knisely’s handwoven table linens, a deflected double weave gamp from Marion Stubinetsky’s Double Twist pg 204, and another Robyn Spady gamp, in overshot on 4 shafts from Handwoven Magazine May/June 2014.

And yes, there is always stuff to update, and organize, and work to be done for places I volunteer for, like my guild, where I am the treasurer. I spent the whole morning on the phone with the state of NJ trying to get the Division of Revenue and the Division of Taxation to talk to each other over the official guild address. Occasionally there are really helpful people in our government, with a sense of humor, who can actually get something done. Still, it took the whole morning…

I spent a couple days updating my design journals, both tangible and digital because I realized that I hadn’t done that since before the pandemic, and I’ve created a lot of new work and there are no records of what I did in permanent places. Just lots of scraps of paper… Now what weft did I use for that fabric?…

When we bought the home where I’m currently living, in the early 80’s, the first thing we did was plant a Kwanzan Cherry in the front yard. It has bloomed every year for our anniversary. Never fails. Recently I had to call in a tree expert to save the tree from some fungal infection, which really brought the tree back to life, so much so that the top became too heavy and it was in danger of splitting right down the middle of the trunk. So the tree experts came back, and for a considerable sum of money, I had them bolt through the trunk, and top the tree, by about half. And sure enough, on my anniversary today, this beloved tree hasn’t let me down. What we do for love…

Stay tuned dear readers, there is lots more adventures awaiting in my studio as I plan to head outdoors for the summer, which we all know probably won’t happen, but it is still fun to plan and dream. ‘Course weaving on a small loom in the comfort of an airconditioned house works too…

Last week was a week for finishing projects.  I had a long warp of linen curtains for our corner bay windows on the loom for a couple of months.  48″ wide, 24 epi and 50/2 linen from Gisela’s stash of Knox linen.  This linen comes in small spools with about 900 yards per spool. The curtains were to let in the light and provide us with privacy.  I wanted the fabric to be quite plain but with some small point of interest.  I saw John’s place mats in 6 shaft spot weave and loved the meeting of “hands” the spots suggested to me.

The other project I finished was two Tallits for family twins who are to Bar Mitzvah in October. The boys are identical twins and have since birth been identified by the color blue and green.  The Tallits are in silk (from Gisela), a grey warp and I dyed the weft.  My daughter who loves to cross-stitch sewed the initials for the two boys.

I recently wove a towel using a strip of birds eye and then mostly plain weave (in the threading). I used 2/8 cotton and I chose to use a sett in between plain weave of 18 and twill 22. I used 20 epi. and I think it worked well. I was worried if I chose 2 different setts, it would show as more crammed (in the twill section) when I just wove plain weave across the whole width.

If the birds eye is across the weft, as you’ve threaded birds eye and you want to weave a few rows of birds eye twill in the weft, but the towel is more plain weave then use epi for plain weave. Just remember that those rows of twill will shrink more after washing, giving you a scalloped selvedge. I hope this answers your ?

Then there is overshot. If you’re  using a thin fibre such as 2/16 cotton for your towel, and you just want to add a few rows of birds eye across the width of the towel,  then I would use 2/8 for the overshot pattern (birds eye) only  and use a sett for overshot based on your ground fibre. In this case it is 2/16 so I would use 22 epi.

As a young child visiting my great aunt in the nursing home, I would love to sneak to the lower floor and watch as residents wove blankets on large floor looms. I dreamt of weaving my own blanket. When I married and moved to Charlottesville, Virginia, over 30 years ago, I walked by a shop selling Schacht looms and offering classes. I went home with a table loom that day—a far cry from those big looms in the nursing home, but just as exciting. Money was tight, so I got an old spinning wheel and ordered raw fleeces to make my own yarn. When we moved to a small colony farm in Palmer, Alaska, in 1989, I knew right away I would get the perfect sheep to grow the best wool for my projects. Many more looms and sheep followed. Superfine merino sheep originally from Morehouse Farm in New York entered the picture in 1990 and our flock continued to grow and produce amazing wool. I was unable to keep up with the spinning and started sending our wool to Blackberry Ridge Woolen Mill, who do a great job spinning yarn. I use this yarn to make woolen goods for purchase, including blankets, shawls, scarves, and felted yardage.

When the original creamery of the farm became available, we thought it was a great opportunity to open a small weaving shop. Among the offerings are pre-warped merino wool projects, group scarf classes for those with little to no experience, private beginning warping classes, workshops, and studio time. Supplies are also available: yarn, finished products, looms, and all the other tools and equipment needed for weaving. We teach our group classes on Wolf Pup, Baby Wolf, and Mighty Wolf looms. It is convenient that we can move the looms as needed.

I have always dreamed of weaving a coverlet with my merino wool. I have a copy of Of Coverlets and have envisaged weaving every last one of them. I had eyed the Cranbrook for years and schemed a plan of how to acquire just one more loom. The shop had a great space that called its name. I wanted to weave on this beautiful loom, as well as have it available for others who share the same dream.

We purchased the 60″ 8-shaft Cranbrook with 12 treadles, the sliding threading bench, the sectional warping beam, tension box, and spool rack. The instructions were amazing, and it was easy to set up. The tension box was essential during the beaming process. We only had one Schacht spool rack which only controlled 20 of our 40 cotton bobbins. We improvised “racks” for the remaining 20 bobbins, which we do not recommend. The threading bench is another accessory that helped us to complete the warping of this large project (getting a friend to sit there is also recommended). With the ease of the tension box, it made sense to warp a 30-yard warp. In this way, the warped loom would be available for commissions and studio hours for those weavers who wish to weave their own coverlet.

One thing I did not realize when I bought the Cranbrook was that the treadles can lock into place to keep the shed open. This is especially helpful when weaving a wide project, as you don’t need to keep your foot on the treadle when you “catch” the shuttle at the other side. (If I had known this, I would have bought the 72″). I tied my tabby threads to treadles 3 and 4, skipped two treadles, and tied my pattern threads to treadles 7, 8, 9, and 10. It was easy to get in a great rhythm and “dance” through the pattern. Good music kept up my beat. The weighted hanging beater option made it relaxing and gave me a dense consistent beat with minimal effort.

Thread following Lee’s Surrender draft in A Handweaver’s Pattern Book, page 184. Repeat center block 30 times. Tie up according to draft. Note: the drafts in this book are written for a sinking shed loom. For a rising shed loom, tie up the blank boxes, not the boxes marked with X.

To remove the fabric from the loom, cut groups of 20 warp threads at least 12″ long and tie an overhand knot close to edge. I find it easier to do a few groups on one side, then the other, working my way towards the center. (See “Assembly” to continue the fringe pattern.) Remove the fabric from the front apron rod, untying the warp bundles to use for fringe.

For the second row of knots, divide each of these groups into two groups of 10. Skip the first group of 10. Combine the second and third groups of 10, tying them together in an overhand knot. Repeat across the weaving until you come to the last group of 10, which is left untied on this row.

For the final row of knots, divide each group of 20 into two groups of 10. Combine the first group of 10 (skipped on the previous row) and the second group of 10, tying them together in an overhand knot. Repeat with the third and fourth groups of 10, working across the weaving. There are no groups of 10 untied on this row.