Rose Window

This month we showcase Lillian Whipple's "Rose Window, National Cathedral, 1993".

Lillian and Grey Whipple write:
"The evolution of the handwoven motifs is an interesting sidebar. ...The motif separation in the weft was ... done by using strips of adding-machine tape."

"Now the process has evolved to about 12 motifs across the warp. With the ¼ inch reed spacing in the warp-direction, and two 1/8th inch spacing strips in the weft direction, the motifs, when cut out of the cloth, will have 1/8 inch fringe on all four sides. The side fringe on the 'outside' motifs is created by selvedge edges added to the warp. The threading profile is usually a point, but can be straight, and generally the motifs are woven in Taqueté."

There is further information on how Lillian creates her cards in Complex Weavers Journal, #85, October 2007, page 54

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Modified Diamond Overshot

This month we showcase Pat Donald's "Modified Diamond Overshot".

Pat writes:
"The draft is the result of exploring different treadlings and tie-ups to produce a fabric fitting the definition of overshot but with a different look. I started with a draft from a workshop by Sigrid Piroch. The original draft had a strong diamond shape to the pattern in the fabric. I put the draft into my weaving design software and started substituting different tie-ups and treadlings until I ended up with a draft with a very subtle diamond pattern by using a block tie-up."

Warp: 10/2 Cotton
Tabby Weft: 20/2 Cotton
Pattern Weft: Jagger Spun 2 ply merino wool
Sett: 24 epi, sleyed double in 12 dent reed
Weave structure: Modified overshot

Pat wove her sample for the Study Group Sample Exchange - The Old Fashioned Way The group is featured in the February, 2007 Complex Weavers Journal. You can see a larger versions of "Modified Diamond Overshot" CW Journal # 83 Color Pictures

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Black Locust

This month we showcase Bhakti Ziek's "Black Locust".

Although we chose this work for its lovely fall colors, Bhakti had something entirely different in mind. She writes:
"...a series of hand jacquards used an ikat, natural died wool warp. Black Locust shows all the elements found in this series: the trees outside my home, which I consider personal guardians (and hopefully reminding the viewer of other species sharing this planet); text that is not intended to be read, but is present as a visual element but one that implies the importance of language for communicating to others (and the frustration when communication is hindered by other factors); and motifs derived from Turkish textiles that inspired me in recent travels, as well as, once again, implying my connection to historical textiles. This weaving prominently shows an element that comes from the process of dyeing and weaving -- the white horizontal line created from the process of folding the warp for dyeing -- an element that I love in Central Asian ikats; an element that truly expresses the specific language of textiles and textile processes."

"As I start to work on my new TC-1 loom, the challenges I put forth for myself is to create sensuous work that speak of my passion for weaving, my belief that textiles do have a unique expression derived from their innate processes and that it is possible to create intriguing work that speaks to our times, using modern technology, but still has its roots in the past, honors that past, but speaks to the future. It is not an easy challenge - I certainly hope I can persevere and succeed."

Bhakti writes in more detail about her work in the June, 2007 Complex Weavers Journal. You can see larger versions of "Black Locust" and other work by Bhakti at CW Journal # 84 Color Pictures

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September Wedding Shawl

This month we showcase Lynn Smetko's "September Wedding Shawl".

Lynn writes:
"This shawl was created to commemorate my daughter's special day. I dyed the warp and weft (Treenway's 20/2 spun silk) in the colors she used for her outdoor September wedding: aubergine, like the bridesmaids' dresses, and bright autumn colors, like the bouquets. "

"I designed a 12-shaft pattern using three turned twill blocks, arranging them in different combinations. The result was a 300-pick sequence that made gradual movement from left to right as the pattern progressed on the fabric. The selvedges were done in plain weave, and the fringe was beaded with Delicas in colors of the shawl and twisted."

"After its initial 'showing' at the wedding, the shawl has since won the following awards:"

• Best of Show: Dallas Handweavers and Spinners Guild Biennial Show, 2006
• 2nd Place Accessories, Professional: Blue Ridge Handweaving Show, 2006
• 1st Place Fashion Accessories: Contemporary Handweavers of Texas Members Show, 2007

According to Lynn, "September Wedding Shawl" is now being retired, having earned a well-deserved life of leisure

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Meander

This month we showcase Su Butler's "Meandering Thrums".

Su Butler wove this sample for the Fine Threads Study Group. The pattern is deliberately reminiscent of a meandering river. Su writes:

"...I was doing some designing for a garment I intended to create to wear to a special wedding this summer. ... I prepared the [24 shaft] loom with a 60/2 spun silk warp, one of my favorites."

She tried several combinations of pattern and tabby wefts, including:

• 30/2 Tencel and 140/2 Tencel - the result was "too compressed"
• 30/2 Tencel and 60/2 Tencel - the result was "a more pleasing curve" but the white Tencel pattern weft resulted in a "washout" look to the design
• 10/2 Tencel (natural) and 60/2 silk - the resulting fabric was a little thicker than Su wanted for her dress.

Su writes, "I wanted the meandering line to be more prominent in my cloth. I opted to alter the draft and include multiple repeats of certain pattern treadles. I knew this would create a more 'stair-step' look to the pattern, but decided to try anyway." You can see a small pattern section of the sample in the Showcase shown here.

You can read more about this project in the article titled "Meandering Thrums" in the January 2003 issue of Complex Weavers Journal, pages 15-17.

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Seashore

This month we showcase Edith Brulla's "Seashore".

Edith writes us that she is just a novice at this. For this tapestry, she used a four shaft pick-up in twill using embroidery floss and perle cotton

This cooling picture for a hot summer's day won the Complex Weavers Award at the
Midwest Weavers Conference 2005
June 16-18, 2005
Lakeland College Plymouth, WI
Sponsored by the Shuttlecraft Guild

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Adventures in Not-So-Parallel Threading, Part II

This month we showcase Sandra Rude's "Adventures in Not-So-Parallel Threading".

Sandra wrote (in Complex Weavers Journal, February 2006, pages 30-35:

"I wanted to know what would happen if a draft interleaved two different design lines instead of two copies of the same design line... The first few attempts on the computer did indeed resemble mud. I found that overlaying two designs usually diluted or diffused both to the point where neither really showed up...

"...I decided to simplify my approach and interleave a straightforward five-end advancing twill threading with a threading that consists of a large curve followed by a smaller curve.

"...On my twenty-four-shaft loom, I use four shafts for selvedge and twenty shafts for the design. I found that using a standard turned twill tie-up (in this case, 3/1/1/3/3/1/1/3/3/1) broke the design up into such small areas that it appeared too scattered. The most visually appealing designs used a 1/3/1/3/1/3/3/1/3/1 tieup... This produces stronger, more easily 'readable' designs...

"I wove the scarves in 20/2 tencel, dyed in navy and light blue for the two warps and different colors of 30/2 tencel or 60/2 silk for each scarf's weft - dark green, teal, turquoise, grey, purple. The warp was sett at 60 epi; the weft was beat in at about 40 ppi."

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"Taqueté For the Drawloom" by Carolyn Gritzmaker

This month we showcase one of Carolyn Gritzmaker's samples for the "Diversity in Designing" Challenge

Carolyn wrote (in Complex Weavers Journal, May 2005):

" It all began several years ago when we were waiting on a flight. One of the ladies in the waiting area had on a wonderful knitted sweater. I just loved the pattern and drew it out so I wouldn't forget it, thinking I'd knit one of those myself one day. That day still hasn't come, but the design did help me learn to weave taqueté on my drawloom. This is the sample, which was in four colors. As my first piece of drawloom taqueté it leaves quite a bit to be desired, but still, I was pleased with the results.

"Since getting my drawloom and learning damask and opphämta, I was looking for a way to use several colors in the fabric without leaving obvious stripes showing in the ground of the finished piece or long floats across the back. Taqueté seemed a possibility, but I couldn't find any information on how to weave it using a drawloom. However, with many very helpful suggestions and a lot of good information from Lillian Whipple on how to weave taqueté on a table loom, I was able to transfer that to the shaft drawloom where it works almost the same way. I don't know that I would use a single unit draw to weave taqueté; it would take so much time. But using the shaft drawloom it is easy and relatively fast.

"Setting up the shaft drawloom for taqueté is different than normal for a drawloom: Since it is a tied weave, the ground shafts are used only for the tie-down threads, and not the pattern threads. These are threaded from the warp beam directly to the ground shaft heddles, not threaded on the pattern heddles, but passing between them. The pattern warp threads are two per unit, and are threaded on two separate pattern heddles per unit to allow the ground threads to run between them. And these pattern threads run from the back beam to the pattern heddles and directly to the reed, going through but not threaded on the ground shafts.

"I use a colored, graphed drawing for the pattern. Weaving top side up, I find it less confusing to draw all the pattern shafts and then release only those which are the color to be woven. In many weave structures this would not work because there would not be enough warp threads down for a weave-able shed. But because this is a tied weave there is always a good shed... "

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"Teddy Bears" by the Goodwins

This month we showcase the Goodwins' "Teddy Bears"

The late Roy Goodwins wrote (in Complex Weavers Journal, Sept 2003, "OzBod Weaver":

"Part of my joy of weaving is that I am free to do as I please, I rarely set out with a purpose. I find patterns and yarns and put them together to make cloth, others can find uses for it ... What I weave becomes anything from dish cloths to shawls to coats to rugs.

Shown here are Teddy Bears made by Roy's wife, Maureen, from his woven scraps. The silk came from their own silk worms. They raised the worms, unwound and cleaned the silk, spun it, and Roy wove it.

For an obituary about the late Roy Goodwins, see the October 2006 Complex Weavers Journal

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"Birds of Paradise" by Margaret Marshall

This month we showcase Margaret Marshall's "Birds of Paradise Scarf"

Margaret writes:

"The actual weave for my scarf is satin weave, a demanding if not Complex weave. The complexity came from the total concept involving materials (hand spun and commercial silk), design principles, especially balance and unity, weave structure, and above all, colour.

"The decisions involved necessitated careful thought, as satin weave involves subtle interplay between the two sides of a fabric, and didn't want one side to dominate. I wanted to include an element of surprise in the finished design so introduced shading on the horizontal (weft faced) side of the scarf.

"Is it complex? I leave that judgment to others, but for me the creation of this piece was deeply rewarding."

This work won the Complex Weavers' Award at the Creative Fibre National Exhibition 2005, Wellington, New Zealand.

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"Embroidery Weave" by Georgia Hadley

This month we showcase Georgia Hadley's "Embroidery Weaves"

Georgia writes:

This ...piece, inspired by an ... Atwater design, was done for the Dukagang requirements for the Hill Institute's Master Weavers Certification... The cotton floss supplemental inlay threads were always put into the shed where only shaft 1 was lifted...The inlay threads were separated by one plain weave pick...Although a number of colors were used, it is relatively simple to keep track of your position in a graphed pattern, and complete design freedom is allowed.

For more information, see Georgia's article in the October 2006 edition of Complex Weavers Journal, number 82. For more color pictures of Gerogia's work, see Complex Weavers Journal # 82 Color Pictures

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"Sedona Shawl" by Bonnie Inouye

This month we showcase Bonnie Inouye's "Sedona Shawl"

Bonnie writes:

The colors in this shawl were inspired by a visit to the Sedona, Arizona home of another CW member, Linda Sunstad, followed by a 16-day raft trip down the Grand Canyon in 2005. I watched the colors on red rocks shift in changing light and wondered if I could create fabric with similar shifting colors. The shapes in the draft also came from these weather and water-shaped rocks.

The structure is turned taqueté. I began with an extended parallel threading on 24 shafts. An advancing points treadling sequence was used to draw shapes reminiscent of sandstone cliffs and rocks. The tie-up was modified to include some surface decoration which alters the normally smooth surface of turned taqueté. These decorations are evident as the light falls from certain angles, giving the changing colors I sought. The yellow weft provides the sunlight glow and brings out the warm tones in one warp layer.

Threading and treadling are non-repeating and were designed for this piece.
Warp: 30/2/4 Lyocell Tencel from Textura Trading Co. in "aster purple" and 10/2 Lyocell Tencel from Textura Trading Co. dyed in dye pots before weaving, using Procion MX dyes, mainly orange, red, and rust. Sett: 40 epi
Weft: 20/2 cotton, yellow , about 30 ppi

I modeled this shawl at the CW Seminar Fashion Show in July, 2006, with the red and purple necklace that Ingrid Boesel made for me. I gave a seminar on turned taqueté at the CW Seminar 2006 in Michigan. This shawl was woven on the same warp as my Convergence 2006 yardage piece.

This work won the CW award at the Blue Ridge Handweaving Show
Asheville, NC, October 18-December 24, 2006

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