Learning Curves

 

Learning curves, plural. For example: In the photo above -- a networked Echo threading on 32 shafts -- can you see two threading errors? I will give you a clue: They're pretty obvious ;o)

These are just two of nine, count 'em, nine threading errors in this project so far. I've named it "Learning Curves" because it's the inaugural project for a new-to-me 32-shaft Louet Megado.

I am thrilled, to say the least, to have this loom. However -- and this is a big however -- it may be 15 to 20 years old and may have sat unused for the past four years or more. Which means that, not only did I have to up my game to weave on such a complex machine (which meant hours and hours of designing on Fiberworks), but the loom itself had to be reconditioned, basically. (Spouses are useful in this regard, particularly if they are smart and willing to help out.) And learning how to recondition it involved making mistakes, lots of mistakes, in the process of weaving this first design.

For instance, ends fraying and breaking at the left selvage: Too much draw in (which I should know enough to avoid). My answer was to go easier with the shuttle and, more important, to use my lovely Bluster Bay end-feed-delivery shuttle, which really makes a difference on the "drag" of the weft against the selvages.

And then I needed Texsolv cord. Lots of it.

Texsolv: Don't weave home without it.

I needed -- well, rather, WE needed -- lots of Texsolv because the cords that ran the pulleys that connected to the dobby box that lifted the shafts... kept breaking. But what we didn't know was that, more than Texsolv, we needed Teflon spray to un-gum-up all the pulleys. 

Teflon spray: It works.

We did lots of consulting, too, primarily through that brainy listserve known as WeaveTech (weavetech@groups.io, an invaluable resource for all questions weaving). There I learned how to get in touch with Dave Vanstralen, president of Louet Looms, who got back to me immediately and gave me lots of pointers on how to get this ship out of dry dock. And then there was Mimi Anderson, president of Complex Weavers, who pointed out to me that I should actually check back on WeaveTeach to look at all the answers people had posted. And Fran Osten (www.danforthweavers.com) who suggested using heat-shrink tubing to protect the Texsolv cord from abrading when it meets a screw that's attached to one of the pulleys.

Heat-shrink tubing, which we haven't used yet, because painter's tape is doing the job. 

I won't bore you with a photo of painter's tape! And I may be boring you right now, if you've read this far, because this is a blog about weaving and I haven't shown you any weaving.

Well, long story slightly shortened, I am finally weaving. There is just one more threading error to fix, but here is where I am at this point, weaving an Echo design on 32 shafts.

This same is the same tieup and threadling as the design in the first photo of this blog post -- but here the weft is an azalea-colored 20/2 cotton.

I didn't mention that the warp comprises two highly saturated complementary colors in 10/2 cotton:

These are colors I would not ordinarily have chosen for an Echo warp, but that my previous blog post discussed the use of complementaries with Echo designs. I was thinking out loud about how complementaries can add so much energy and interest to a weaving -- and so I decided to go full bore with these striking colors. Not pretty, but striking.

I really like the results so far.

The top sample uses a dark forest green/emerald weft in 20/2 cotton, while the bottom portion uses a gold/khaki-colored linen singles that I don't think works as well as the cotton.

After this, I hope to do more samples: another Echo design, a few in Jin and a couple in double weave. I'm hoping to try some differential-shrinkage techniques with one of the double-weave designs. Here's the drawdown I'm thinking will work for pleating and puckering.

Meanwhile, I will keep the Teflon spray nearby. Thanks for reading!

How to Design 8-Shaft Echo Using Fiberworks

Just finished: this sample above on 8 shafts, in preparation for my workshop at Convergence this July. (For details, click here and scroll down to the eleventh listing.) I'm using 10/2 pearl cotton in the warp, sett at 36 epi, with a 20/2 pearl cotton weft (in black). I like to call it "Many Rivers" because of the vertically flowing design.

In this blog post, I'll try to outline the steps it took to design this in Fiberworks. No easy task, learning how to do this! But it's so worth it: While weaving most any pattern can be a delightful journey, it's a great pleasure to create your own designs and then weave them up to see exactly what happens. I encourage you to try.

So here goes! (Note: I have a Mac, so keep in mind that the commands in Fiberworks may differ slightly for PCs.)

STEP 1: Create a design line

Using the "Draw Freehand" button, I designed curves that change in shape and size. Try it! Any rounded forms will do for starters.

STEP 2: Create a networked threading based on the design line

Click on the drop-down menu under "Warp" and then click "Redraw on network." A box will appear and you want it to have these settings: "No reduction," "Straight Twill" (under "Style of Initial"),  "4" (under "Height of the Initial").  (You do not need to enter anything under "Set Result to X Shafts.") Then click "Apply" and "Accept." Voila! You've created a networked threading.

Notice how the curves in the threading, based on a twill structure, follow the curves of the design line. If you want to learn more about network drafting, the definitive book is written by Alice Schlein.

STEP 3: Create an extended parallel threading

Again in the drop-down menu under "Warp," this time click on "Parallel Repeat," then "Extended Parallel," "Shafts Shift by 4," and then "Apply."

This threading may look at little strange if you're not familiar with extended parallel threadings. (For more on this, read the first four paragraphs of my blog post here.) But look carefully at the threading and compare it with the threading in the previous image: The first and second warp threads in the earlier image are on 1 and 2. In the second image, the extended parallel threading shown above, the first warp end is on 1, followed by its "echo" four shafts higher on 5. The second warp end is on 2, followed by its "echo" four shafts higher on 6. Echo threadings are in two parallel lines. Corkscrew twills are based on this concept as well. The threading goes round and round.

STEP 4: Assign colors to your extended parallel threading

In the "Warp" drop-down, click on "Fill Warp Colors." In the next box, set the colors for "AB," then drag the colors you want from the color panel into boxes A and B. Then click "Replace."

Why use two different colors? As each thread in the original networked draft is followed by its echo or parallel, so you have to distinguish these parallel patterns by using different colors. Otherwise, you wouldn't see the echo! So the colors are always A-B-A-B, etc. (In Marian Stubenitsky's book, Weaving with Echo and Iris, she often designs with as many as four different colors on four parallel threadings, for the beautiful effect that she terms "iridescence.")

STEP 4: Create a twill tieup

That's a simple twill repeat, rising, with 4 shafts up and 4 shafts down. This means that, for any warp thread and its parallel (for any pair of purple and black threads), one is up and one is down at any given time. This is the 4-shaft interval for the parallel threading, allowing the patterns to play one against the other.

STEP 5: Decide on a treadling pattern, based on a twill

For the treadling, I usually "draw" it in by hand, using the "Draw Freehand" button at the top left. There are lots of other ways to do this, but it's my preferred method.

I chose an advancing point twill, with a pattern of 1-2-3-4-5-4-3, 2-3-4-5-6-5-4, etc. I love the way the "points" in the treadling seem to sparkle in the drawdown! But there's a problem: there are long floats in the warp. If you can't tell just by looking at the drawdown, it's a good idea to check: You do this by clicking on the "Tools" menu, and then clicking on "Float Search." You can search for floats of any number in both warp and weft -- but Bonnie Inouye suggests that, with Echo, you don't want floats of more than 5 ends or 5 picks. That's a lot, particularly if you're using threads that are as thick as 10/2 cotton or thicker.

STEP 6: Change the tieup, if needed, to reduce the number of floats

This means that you will have to add more variety in the tieup, so there are more tie-down threads in the warp. You may have to play with the tieup a bit to see how it works and what you like.

So that's the how-to. Hope it's clear enough to get you started. And then, if you're really ambitious, you can begin designing other patterns using different tieups and treadlings. For instance...

STEP 7: Bonus! Add tabby for Turned Jin.

This is a structure that automatically eliminates floats of longer than 3: Jin! Just by adding tabby to a 4/4 tieup for an extended parallel threading, you can create a Jin design. (It's not TRULY tabby, but rather a half-basket weave, but that's another discussion for another time.)

In any event, here's how to do this: Under the "Treadling" drop-down menu, scroll to the end and click on "Insert Tabby." What you'll get is a form of tabby -- but you'll have to adjust it so that treadle 1 lifts shafts 1, 3, 5 and 7 and treadle 2 lifts shafts 2, 4, 6 and 8. It's always a reward to see the design nice and clear and neat -- which is why I love Jin.

Here, in conclusion, is a detail of the back side of my Echo sample, which is quite different from the front, pictured at the beginning of this post. Thanks for reading!

Echo... Echo... Echo...

12-shaft Jin currently on the loom, 

woven on an Echo threading. 20/2 handpainted silk warp 
(really two handpainted warps) and 60/2 silk weft, 
advancing point twill threading and treadling.

The drawdown for the above pattern (the treadling has a long repeat)

Echo enjoys so much popularity these days, thanks to Marian Stubenitsky's wonderful book, Weaving with Echo and Iris.

Above and beyond this groundbreaking book, however, is the beauty and potential of Echo techniques themselves. Because you're weaving on an extended parallel threading, the possibilities are pretty much endless. You can change the treadling and tie-up in myriad ways that will alter the pattern and still weave Echo. Or you can add plain weave to the treadling and weave Jin -- which again can be woven in a variety of patterns. Or you can weave Double Weave. Or Shadow Weave. Or Rep. And you can change to a networked treadling. And on and on.

Looking ahead to Convergence in Reno next summer: I am scheduled to teach a 3-day workshop on "One Warp, Many Structures: An Exploration of Extended Parallel Threading." (For more information, please take a look at the course description here.) Weavers will come to the workshop with their looms threaded in a two-color warp in an extended parallel threading, with enough weft to weave a range of structures using different tie-ups and treadlings. If there's time, we may even cut off and re-sley to weave double weave and shadow weave. As I've experienced myself with the 12-shaft structure above, it's a process of endless discovery.

Preparing for the workshop, I've been playing with drafts for 4-shaft and 8-shaft looms. Below are some of the designs I'm working on to date. Woven samples will come later.

 A 4-shaft advancing twill on an Echo threading, 

advancing point-twill treadling

 An 8-shaft networked design on an Echo threading

A traditional point-twill design known as the Earl on 8 using an Echo threading

4-shaft Cat Tracks and Snail Trails (also known as Wandering Vine), 
woven as Jin on an Echo threading

Comments, questions, ideas welcome! Much work to be done and lots of discoveries in the making. Thanks for reading!