My current double weave sampling is going well but I’m discovering some very curious and unexpected things.

The concepts for this type of weave were triggered by an article in Weavers 11 (1990) by Alice Schlein and (blog). Even if you think you will never understand or have the equipment to weave as Alice writes, I would still recommend keeping either copies or references on her teaching as it is always compelling and innovative to read…and who knows it may lead to more one day.

This is a double weave (Alice called it Pizza Cloth) using a networked threading and two differing layers of cloth. One consisting of a fine yarn and the other a thicker one. This means that more ends of the fine yarn are in the fine layer and less ends in the thicker layer. The ratio of ends is 2:1.

The threading is based on a network using the smallest unit of description of the weave.

Shafts 1 and 3 carry the thick thread and shafts 2 and 4 carry the thin thread. This is the simplest description of the weave and how it can be woven with 4 shafts in principal. This will produce horizontal stripes of the thick on top, then thin on top on four shafts. However to get circle or other more juicy designs happening more shafts are needed. The design line is plotted on the network which, in this case, was 24 shafts high. Here is a copy of the network grid I made based on Alice’s notes for 16 shafts. This helped me to design a threading line based on the threading requirements for the weave.

The two photos show a few of the samples that I’ll probably take further. They are both made of the same yarns –  silk, tencel, wool/lycra and fine bamboo but with different setts.

If you look at the bottom sample in the top photo you can see lacy fluted edges – what a nice surprise! The cloth is in two layers at the edges where the oval design was part way through its shape. The textile is very pliable and organic looking.  The top samples were sett at 72 epi.

The next samples were sett at only 60 epi. But what a change. The cloth is actually heavier because it allowed more picks in the beat and has a more distinctive cell vs bobble rocky appearance.

Well onto the big warping now.

Also my Etsy shop has reopened and more weaves will be uploaded as my production increases. All weaves are woven with great passion and curiousity for the craft of handweaving.