30/01/2014

Spotted on a countertop:

a different take on block weave.


I didn't have a measuring tape, but each (tabby) square is approximately 1 1/2 centimetre.


Also, I did not look ar the back - I just assumed it would be totally reversible.
Started to count threads, from the photo. There are 30 ends in each tabby square, and the patterned squares are "different" - there is a slight warp emphasis on the vertical striped part, but the horizontally striped part does not have the same structure.

Try as I might, I could not get the analysis right, or at least could not make a reversible structure.
I settled on a compromize:


To get 30 ends per tabby square I had to skip one end per block.
As it is so much easier to have a "continuous" threading/treadling, I constructed a variant, with 32 ends per tabby square (or 16 ends per block).


The patterned squares are now a variant of the "rackel" weave described on this guild page, combined with tabby - and I think it still gives the same overall impression (as the original piece of cloth)

Don't have 16 shafts? I played with 8:


With cotton 16/2 sett at (say) 12 epcm, each square will be a generous centimetre square, after wet finishing...:


8 comments:

Laura Fry said...

This looks like a fun weave structure suitable for towels and such. :)

Cheers
Laura

Kerstin på Spinnhuset said...

Yes, looks great in real life :-)
(Next time, I'll bring a magnifier, a measuring tape and graph paper - maybe I will be able to make a "correct" analysis)
Kerstin (reading more about the DFW "inventor" aka "con man"...)

Valerie said...

Kerstin, Is there any reason you didn't think of using 3 shaft lace blocks to produce a similar fabric?

Kerstin på Spinnhuset said...

Yes, there is: "didn't think about it".
Feel free to do it yourself!

Have fun -
Kerstin

Valerie said...

Okay...I think I will! Just took a workshop on 3 shaft weaves with JoAnn Bachelder and my head is swimming in ideas.

I'll let you know when/if I do play with the draft and weave it...

Anonymous said...

This is a very interesting structure. I intend to play with the draft a little and then use it for my next set of towels.

Thanks! Erik

Valerie said...

I did play with the draft and came up with a 12 shaft version. It's at my blog
here
I was fascinated by your links to rackel weave. Thanks!

Kerstin på Spinnhuset said...

Valerie, what a nice sample! Isn't it fun, the way we can "diverge" (is that a word? if not, I suppose "get inspired by, and then going in different directions" will have to do...). Hmmm - I'm not much of rug weaver, but maybe the idea could make an interesting rug pattern, too?
Re: rackel: all of us had heard of it, as sort of a curiosity - we were all surprised to find it *everywhere*, once we started looking. (Different name everywhere, but the structure was the same)