Why Crackle?

During my second year of weaving, the weaving guild I belonged to put on a workshop called "Old-Fashioned Recipes." The workshop leader was the lady who had introduced me to weaving in a mind-boggling one-weekend whirlwind.

Never having taken a workshop, I was a bit worried. Actually, I was scared stiff. But Elaine (my first teacher) assured me that this was a perfect first workshop for the beginning weaver. And she explained it was about some of the standard old weave structures: overshot, Summer&Winter, huck lace, for example.

The workshop was wonderful. It was a round robin workshop, with each loom threaded for a different structure. And we all got to weave samples on each of the looms.

One of the looms was threaded to crackle and there were two treadlings. One of them was a four-color rotation. Four shuttles. But no tabby. Four shuttles!!! Oh, how hard that was! And how on earth to keep track of them and of the treadling! But when I saw what was happening as I wove, I fell in love. Absolutely in love. And I knew that someday, maybe far away, I would come back to this.

To be continued..................