Threading Error Revisited

As I was weaving today, I noticed a threading error. I had not seen it on the photo I posted yesterday. But when I went back to it and clicked on the photo, the closeup version came up and the error was crystal clear. Here it is, with a black arrow pointing to it, an arrow that I doubt is necessary............



Sitting at the loom, I looked at the heddles that held those warp ends. I discovered that I had threaded 1,4,1,4,1,4. This is definitely not a crackle threading! Clearly I had inadvertantly omitted some heddles.

So I decided to go back to the post where I had given the original threading. In that process I discovered the post titled, "Who Spotted the Threading Error?" At first glance, the error there looks quite different from the current error. In the earlier post what is visible is the extra-long weft shots. But what called my attention to the error here was the repetition of those 3 red warp ends, each alternating with a beige weft. Those red warp ends were coming up too often. I did not notice the long overshots until I looked at the photographic blowup.

So the error was not caused by incorrectly threading a block, specifically by leaving out some heddles in that bit. That is what I thought while sitting at the loom. Rather, the error occurred, as I explained earlier, because I had failed to do a good job in writing out the transition from the last threading in the draft back to the first threading. The result was the appearance of an incorrectly threaded separate block.

It was a good thing I noticed those overshots and finally discovered the real problem. Just sitting at the loom, not aware of the overshot, I thought this threading might become an interesting design feature by using a different colored warp and repeating the threading a few times. Of course that would be possible anyway. But I would have to be willing to have some wefts shooting over more than three warp ends. But there are problems with longish wefts in fabrics meant to be used. They can easily catch on things, especially when the yarn is slippery like mercerized cotton or silk.

Getting Back to Weaving

When I woke up this morning I was surprised to find myself still feeling the emptiness of of the house after the children and grand-baby had left yesterday. I did not feel like weaving. I understood a bit how empty-nest moms can go into a lingering depression.

I did put off starting to weave until the middle of the morning. As I said, I did not much feel like weaving. So I told myself, well, I would just weave one block length with the new colors of yarns (browns and blues on the red warp). I had wound the pirns while I was still up on weaving before everyone arrived for Christmas. So all I had to do was to put the pirns in their shuttles. I had also made notes of the treadlings and colors I wanted to use next.



The only reason I stopped at weaving two block lengths was that it was a bit late in the morning and I had to get my walk in before lunch............... Guess I'm back!

And on that walk, I took my Christmas gift MP3 player and listened to an episode of Weavecast. I am hooked....................

Authoritative Statements

Yesterday I was looking at my written plans for the next silk crackle scarf. The plans go on for four pages. I haven't looked at them for quite awhile, so it was kind of interesting to read what I had written. The pages include some preliminary ideas and some roaming around about color. Go here to see the colors I plan on using. And also here. I can hardly believe that my thinking about this next project goes back at least as far as early July.

Near the end the written plans I was looking at, there is a section I have called Final Plans. This section includes such things as the length and the width, the yarns, the epi, warp and weft calculations. Also, I have stated most authoritatively that I will use the 4-shaft crackle threading I used for the cotton crackle jacket, and two of the treadlings.

Ahem. So much for so-called authoritative statements.

I will not be using that 4-shaft crackle threading. The new authoritative statement is that I will be using the 8 crackle blocks on 4 shafts threading that I am now using on the current sampling.

Now..........just how long will this particular statement remain "authoritative'?!?

Related Post: Designing the Christmas Towels Yet Again

The Joy of Multiple Shuttles

Oh yes! With this crazy 8-blocks on 4-shafts crackle threading I can do amazing things with closely related colors.

Here is the last of this particular sampling, the sampling I hope to turn into a bag when I cut the warp off the loom. I have not exhausted the possibilities. For now, however, I have learned enough and I like what I have woven. Pay no attention to the two treadling errors.........



It is so much fun to weave this way because I never really know what the exact effect is going to be until I actually start treadling and throwing shuttles. This is the kind of weaving where I can wing it as I weave, at least if I am weaving something like a scarf where I do not have to worry about matching things. I can make decisions on the fly. And that is how I love to weave.

I am so glad that I decided to weave this part of the sampling as fabric. This decision has caused me to explore possibilities I would not really have thought possible. These explorations have so excited me! I can hardly wait to get working on the next warp. But first there are other things I must try on this warp. The holidays however, are also at hand.

I am so obliged to Zielinski's work on crackle weave for opening my eyes to these new possibilities. To see a list of all of the books in the Master Weaver series, go here and scroll down to the M's. I believe they are also available at Halcyon Yarns, and probably other places as well.

Digital Photography for Textiles

Recently I had the good luck to discover a site for helping art quilters take good digital pictures of their art quilts. The articles are written primarily by Holly Knott. Holly is an art quilter and photographer and has many other talents as well. Though art quilts are what are on her mind here, much of what she has to say is useful for any kind of textiles weavers might produce as well.

There are pieces on choosing digital cameras, how to set up lighting and how to photograph the quilts. Holly has also put on an interesting group of pictures she uses as examples of bad photography and how to prevent said bad photography. Go here ot start reading the essays.

Thanks for this tip to a participant on the dyers email list, Sarah Ann Smith. Sarah Ann has her own blog here.

The Perils of Multiple Shuttles

Multiple shuttles increase the possibility of errors. At least for me. It is that simple. So I borrow some tricks from others and invent some of my own to help.

Warning: threat of boredom and desire for a nap for anyone continuing to read.


If one of the shuttles is a tabby shuttle I use a different kind of a shuttle. If I am using end-feed shuttles, for example, the tabby weft gets put on a regular shuttle. Also, if it is possible (it isn't always), I place the tabby shuttle on the fabric at the front beam rather than at my side with the other shuttle(s).

In my current sampling, however, all shuttles are carrying pattern weft. To help alleviate confusion when putting down one shuttle and picking up another I use positioning order.

When I use three colors across the treadles, as I have been doing, the shuttles get laid out at my side in the order that I need them. I place the just used shuttle at the end farthest from my body, and pick up the shuttle closest to my body. After throwing the shuttle I have just picked up, I then place that shuttle at the far end. What had been the middle shuttle is now the shuttle closest to my body, so I pick that up next. This takes practice but it is not too hard to get used to. I still have to watch carefully so that I do things correctly.

If I add a fourth shuttle to the mix I try to use the top of fabric for a resting place, much like I do with tabby shuttles. For example, if I might be using a cherry red for treadle 2 and a violet for treadle 5. Normally (at least the way I have set things up), I would be using the same color for treadle 2 and treadle 5. But now, when I get to treadle 5 I will have to not pick up the cherry red shuttle but rather the violet shuttle.

To help with this new change of plans, I place the two shuttles in question on top of the woven web. And I place those in the order I need them. If I am going to weave the cherry red on treadle 2 and the violet on treadle 5, I will put the cherry red in the front, closest to me. That is the first shuttle I will pick up.

So I weave treadle 1 with the shuttle closest to my side and then place it on my other side but farthest from me. With treadle 2 I will need one of the shuttles sitting on top of the fabric. I take the one closest to me, throw it and then place it back on the fabric, but behind the other shuttle. For treadle 3 I will pick up the shuttle closest to my side, throw it, place it on the othr side of me, on my far side. With treadle 4 I will pick up the shuttle now closest to my side, With treadle 5 I will pick up the shuttle closest to me on the fabric (remember, when I was done with the first shuttle there, I rested it behind the other shuttle on the web), and with treadle 6 I will pick up the shuttle closest to me at my side. Everyt ime I pick a shuttle and throw it, I will place it either to my other side, away from my body, or on top of the fabric, away from my body.

That all takes a bit of getting used to, especially when I change the order. Then I have to remember that the shuttles on top go either first and fourth or third and sixth, depending on what I have decided to do,

And then I got a bit insane. Not that this hasn't all been a bit insane..........

I tried two sets of two different shuttles. Yup, 5 shuttles. I kept one set on the top the fabric. The other set I kept always as far away from me as possible, in the well of my bench. There is a well on each side. The solitary shuttle I kept on the bench next to me. This system does work. But I also concentrate very very hard. And if there is lots of opportunity for making errors with three, there is plenty more with five. I definitely would ot weave for more than 30-45 minutes at a time and I would not weave when I was the slightest bit tired. This is fun weaving but it is definitely not relaxing weaving.

Weaving and Art

In her latest comment, Meg has said that she likes to "hear what other weavers think." I can understand that desire, and know, as well, that she is someone who is working at selling her own work. So I will try to address the two further questions she has asked me.

The first question is "...would you wait to be approached [by a gallery]?"

If I wanted my work to be shown in a gallery, I would not wait to be approached. By "wanting" I mean much more than, gee, wouldn't it be nice................. The "wanting" has to be truly intentional. Any "wanting" I may currently have is not of this kind.

Her second question I have found more difficult to answer: "Will you, Peg, know when you've crossed that line [between craftsman and artist]?"

If I gave the impression of drawing a firm and clear line between craft and art, I did not mean to. If there was any line meant at all, it was a faint, shadowy, tentative line, perhaps a squiggle more than a line, which occurs when a weaver makes his first attempt at self-expression. The only thing he might be doing is changing the colors from the original that he is following. I don't care if he changes the color simply because he can't find the same color yarn as in the original design! When he does something like that, I might say that he is beginning to cross a line into a life of weaving adventures. I crossed that "line" a long time ago.

Now perhaps the line Meg refers to is a line I would have to draw in the sand, so to speak, should I choose to try to exhibit as an artist rather than as a weaver. This is not a decision, however, I could make. It is a decision made by the public. Painters exhibit as painters. Weavers exhibit as weavers. Art galleries display paintings. As a general rule they do not display weavings. So, to return to Meg's first question, if I wanted my weavings to be displayed along with paintings, really intentionally wanted that, it could not possibly happen if I waited to be approached. I would have to market my work very aggressively and be prepared for a great deal of rejection, perhaps (probably?) total rejection.

I would have to break down barriers: I would have to change how the world in general tends to think about art. I am not the kind of person to work at breaking down barriers.

Reading Meg's recent blog post, however, suggests to me that she has what it takes, including the very intentional wanting, to break down barriers. I will follow her pursuit with great interest (and envy!).

Now I am returning my energies back to weaving. That is where they belong. Of course, we are in the midst of Christmas preparations, and I already chafe at the resulting restrictions on my time. That chafing is far more real and important to me than thinking about displaying my work in any kind of a gallery.............. I do look forward to children and grandchildren arriving. But I also look forward to the time when Christmas celebrations are over......

8 Crackle Blocks on 4 Shafts, More Polychrome Treadling

This is continued weaving with various reds and violets:


I have tried something new here. I am now using 4 colors across the treadling of pedals 1-6. To be more precise, I am keeping the same basic ordering. This is color a for treadles 1 and 4, color b for treadles 2 and 5, and color c for treadles 3 and 6. But now for one of the colors I use two different colors. For example, on treadles 1 and 4, instead of using the same red, I might use two different reds. Or I might use a violet on the first and a red on the second. And then, when I have woven enough shots, I change the order.

The result, to my eye, is a greater depth and complexity. And to that end I don't like any more what I have been doing with the yellow. I think a different color would be better for the spark than the yellow.

Treadling this way requires more concentration and takes a bit longer, but it is worth it. And there is no reason for not adding two more colors across the treadles. Oh yes, preservation of sanity might be a reason...................

By the way, the color reproduction is now quite accurate. I have finally figured out what settings to play with in my PaintShopPro software to get this.

I thought it might be interesting to see what happens to the selvedges with this kind of treadling:

Weaving and Art

Meg made a comment recently in which she asked two questions. Here is the first question:

"....in your opinion, Peg, what makes a piece of weaving deserving of being in a gallery?"

I am not, absolutely not(!) going to answer the question of defining gallery worthiness, not for weaving, not for any kind of fiber art, not for any kind of so-called traditional fine art! That is a question for gallery owners/operators, or, in the case of juried shows, for the jurors. It matters not a whit whether or not I think a piece is deserving; the only thing that matters is whether these others think a piece is deserving.

And here is her second question:

"...what are we, or you, a weaver, a craftsperson, an artisan, an artist?"

I will try, for myself and myself only, to answer the second question.

I remember when I became engaged. I practiced over and over again what my new name was going to be. It sounded so foreign and yet wonderful. So scary. I have no idea when I finally became comfortable with that new name. I know a marriage certificate didn't make me feel comfortable with it. I know that a wedding ceremony didn't make me feel comfortable with it. However, both did help. Sometime in the course of our marriage, as the two of us lived into the commitment we had made, my name was no longer new. Now it is difficult for me to imagine that I ever had another name.

I remember when I began the struggle to think of myself as a weaver. No certificate marked the change. No ceremony marked the change. Only, finally, the internal commitment to weaving marked the change. But because there were no public vows to make, no public document to sign, the movement towards naming myself as a weaver came much more slowly and with much greater difficulty.

I can say right now that I do not, however, consider myself an artist. On the other hand, I cannot say that I am not struggling to move in that direction.

A painter is a painter. But he is also an artist. A sculptor is a sculptor; he too is an artist. An oil painter is an oil painter, also an artist. I person who works in batik is a craftsman but also an artist. Many quilters are not only quilters but artists. I don't think most people have trouble with all this. I certainly do not.

And there are weavers, as well, who are artists.

Any painter, quilter, sculptor, weaver who is trying to express something of himself, whether beauty, meaning, opinion, has moved beyond being simply a craftsman. He is moving into the world of art. And the longer that person continues the struggle along that path, trying to follow his own voice and not the voices of others, the more what that person creates becomes more recognizable to others as that person's work.

On the other hand, a painter who simply copies the works of others, a quilter who only follows patterns designed by others, a weaver who always reproduces someone else's design, none of these is an artist, none of these is moving along a path which would lead him into the creation of art.

As for my own work, all I know is that this is the kind of path I have chosen to follow. I, once a bashful individual who always did what she was told, who always tried to live out the expectations of others, am now trying to listen to my own voice.

8 Crackle Blocks on 4 Shafts, More Polychrome Treadling

Here is more of the polychrome treadling I started yesterday:


The red at the bottom is the treadling from yesterday using three reds. I then continued the same treadling, but using blues and purples as well in various ways and proportions. On occasion I interpolated a short band incorporating yellow for a spark of interest.

Also I incorporated some yellow warp. This is visible on the left side of the photo. What I did here was to take two lengths of gold/yellow 10/2 pearl cotton and threaded each of them through neighboring heddles. These are heddles which already had warp ends threaded through them, so I was added ends to them. I then sleyed them, tied them to the cloth and weighted them at the back of the loom. The pin at the top with the gold/yellow thread coming from it is the beginning of another length of yellow warp ends.

I like what is going on here and think it has possibilities for my next silk warp. Also, I like this part well enough that I am going to weave it so that I have enough length to make some kind of small bag with it. Thanks to Leigh for this idea.

What I do not like about this is the blues and violets with the orangish red. Used with the reds, that is fine, but not with the blues. Either that or I would have to make a more subtle transition.

By the way, the colors in yesterday's post are much more accurate than the colors in today's post.

8 Crackle Blocks on 4 Shafts, Continued

Here is the next set of samples, all treadled with 10/2 pearl cotton as weft:


These are treadled, for want of a better word, polychrome style. That is, I used three colors of weft (or, in the case of the red, three shades of red), and treadled them sequentially. In the case of the sample at the bottom, I treadled the first group (at the very bottom) as follows:

treadle 1-blue;
treadle 2-gold;
treadle 3-purple;
treadle 4-blue;
treadle 5-gold;
treadle 6-purple.

I then repeated these six treadles with the same colors until that group of blocks was as tall as I wanted. Then I changed the order of the colors for the second group of blocks. And I changed the order once again for the third group of blocks.

One thing is very clear with this treadling and this use of color. The "blocks within blocks" phenomenon that I mentioned when talking about the first set of samples is much more obvious. I can count 25 blocks across the width of the weaving shown in the above photo.

The red sampling is treadled the same way, except with three shades of red: a dull red, an orange red and a cherry red. The photo does not reveal the "blocks within blocks" phenomenon so clearly here. Looking at the actual fabric, however, one can clearly see them.

Now I feel like I am getting somewhere with my sampling. I very much like what is happening in the red sample. And I also like the roughish texture, not visible in the photo, which has developed. I do not know if that texture effect will stay through the washing and pressing of the fabric.

I must confess that one of the things that I like is that no binders are needed and the treadling is very easy.

Randall Darwall

I mentioned Randall Darwall in an earlier post when I was discussing weaving as fine art. In my early days as a weaver (I was but a raw beginner) I took a one-day workshop with him. The workshop was offered by my weaving guild in Atlanta . We were supposed to bring some of our weavings for him to critique. Few of us dared. Certainly I did not. Nevertheless it was an unforgettable day in which he shared his life, his weavings, his techniques.

Darwall was the first weaver I'd ever heard to suggest that scarves could be art. He told us that he wove his, not necessarily just to be worn, but to be draped over a chair, on a wall, used on a table.

Since that day, whenever I am in a boutique that carries his scarves, I study them intently. Studying them is like studying a magnificent oil painting. I get glimmers and smatterings, but I never fully understand. All I really know is how beautiful his scarves are.

Yesterday I discovered a blogger who had taken notes at a week-long hands-on workshop offered by Darwall last year in New Zealand. Her notes can be found here on her blog.

Meg introduces her blog entries: " It was like Christmas. But better. We waited and waited for the whole year. And then it finally happened. For six exciting days, our two Santas greeted us at 8.30 AM every morning and we got stuck into the magical world of colors (and values and proportions, but more on these later)." Do go read the whole thing for yourself.

And for her responses to the Darwall scarf she purchased (and also a gorgeous photo of it), go to her post here.

And do look at some of her other posts. A good blog. I now have a link to it on my blog.

Related Posts: Art Piece 2: Weaving Continues

Crackle Yardage Two

Here is a photo of the second crackle yardage bit I wove. It has been mended. That is not quite true. Aside from an unfixable mis-treadle, there was no need for mending. All I had to do was cut off all the extra bits of weft thread. Then I washed and hard-pressed it. And here it is as it looked while still on the ironing board:



Yes, the ironing board looks a bit big. That is because I have laid something called a Big Board over the top of the ironing board. It is covered with padding and muslin, just like a regular ironing board is. Sometimes, though, when I want a really hard press, as for silk, I press directly on the board itself with no padding or muslin cover. This has been a wonderful tool for me. For more information, check out the website for Big Board.

And here is a picture of the fabric draped over a lamp:


The fabric is quite light weight and, considering the structure, drapes rather nicely. The lampshade underneath, of course, causes the fabric to look bulkier than it really is.

My original intention was to use this piece as trim. Of course, that was only an intention. I do not know what will finally become of it. I do like it, however, and almost wish this had been the main yardage.

8 Crackle Blocks on 4 Shafts: More Treadling on Opposites

Here is the first set of samples from the 8 blocks on 4 shafts crackle warp. These are treadled on opposites, using two colors. There are 3 repeats, each repeat using a different set of colors. Interesting, but I can live without them.

The samples do show something interesting, however. At first glance, this looks like a row of long blocks 11 blocks to be more precise. Closer investigation, however, shows that each long block actually comprises two blocks. Treadling on opposites does not play up this distinction, though it is clearly there. Perhaps another treadling will.


This is a bit more interesting. Well, at least it is suggestive of some promise. This continues the treadling on opposites but using two different reds. It's difficult to see in the picture; it does show up more in reality, though it is still subtle (which is good, by the way). Now I am starting to get a glimmer of some possibilities.

The black wefts you see are 10/2 pearl cotton. I wound a length on a knitting bobbin and just inserted in sheds, choosing when quite arbitrarily. The heavy dab of black in the center results from winding the black around two warp ends every other shed.

A little to the left is a black thread following the warp for a bit. What I did there was to hang the black yarn on its bottom off the back of the loom. I put it through the reed but not through a heddle. Then, as I wove, I lifted it up or let it lay at the bottom of the shed, depending on where I wanted it to appear. It tended to want to stay at the bottom, but it was not hard to raise it using a crochet hook, or even my fingers.

This hand manipulation was not difficult to do. I am thinking of using it in the final fabric, picking up the black lines from the oyster shells. To see the picture I am using for my inspiration source, go back to this post.

I have now started working on polychrome treadling. More on this later.

Crackle Pleats?

Dorothy got me thinking. She has just published an interesting post on creating pleats while weaving. You can read it here.

I have read about this technique a number of times. It turns up in a lot of the weaving literature. But the idea has only brought a yawn from me. Something about Dorothy's piece, however, intrigued me.

I think what intrigued me was the description of her process, including good pics. I started to think: crackle pleats? I put this in a comment on her post, but meant it as little more than a small joke, since I am so enmeshed in crackle.

Maybe I shouldn't consider it as a joke? I have put it in my folder of ideas..............

Weaving and Blogging

Blogging does take time away from weaving. Blogging does not take time away from weaving. Huh????

It is obvious that sitting at the computer means that I am not sitting at my loom. But weaving is a craft that comprises a lot more than just sitting at the loom and throwing the shuttle. And one of the main things that is involved in weaving is thinking.

My last post, Who Spotted the Threading Errors, illustrates a bit of one of my recent thinking activities. What I want to point out here, however, is that I am not sure I would have done all this thinking had I not also been blogging. Blogging forces me to write stuff down. Writing stuff down means I have to think. Thinking, for me, is facilitated by writing things down.

There is an irony here. The whole threading error that I was talking about earlier occurred because I did not write the ending and beginning threading out so that I could see the threads in black and white on paper (well, really on the computer screen......).

So, I am grateful to Leigh, who encouraged me to blog. And I am grateful to Sara, who posted a long and cogent argument for weavers to blog.

Who Spotted the Threading Errors?

When I looked at the pictures I had taken of this first 8-blocks crackle sampling, one thing immediately jumped at me. Something I had not noticed in the weaving. Something I had not noticed in the computer drawdown. Here it is, with the black arrows pointing to the problems that caught my attention:



Those arrows point to places where the weft yarn skips over more warp ends than it ought to. I went back and looked at the computer drawdown. These skips are not there. Clearly I made a mistake in the actual threading. When I looked at my threading and my notes, however, I threaded exactly as I had printed the threading out. However......and this is a big however....

The error appears at the point where I end the last block of the repeated group of blocks and begin the first block of that group of blocks. And since I repeated the group of blocks three times, that error occurs two times.

Here is the threading for the end of the repeat:

4 1 4 2

Here is the threading for the beginning of the repeat:

3 1 4 1

It had looked to me like there would not be a problem here when I entered the threading blocks into my computer software. What I did not do, however, is write out the last block and the first block as they would appear together. And this is what I would have gotten, had bothered to do this instead of thinking I "knew it all:"

3 1 4 1 4 1 4 2

Now the error is obvious to me. There is a repetition of the 4 1 pair. That repetition destroys the crackle block structure at the point and results in an extra bit of weft going over the warp ends. To correct the matter, all I have to do is leave out two warp ends, one on 4 and one on 1. Doing that gives me:

3 1 4 1 4 2

The first four numbers (3 1 4 1) give me one unit of the first block. The second two numbers give me the last two threads of the last block. The entire unit of that block reads 1 4 2 4. So, the last unit of the last block and the first unit of the first block, when written out look like this:

3 1 4 1 / 4 2 4 1

The slash indicates the division between the two blocks. All is well.

Now I know I cannot trust my imagination to see what is going on in the threading. I must write it down.

No, I did not rethread. This is only a sample. And seeing these two errors over and over again as I weave will reinforce what I need to do from now on. Hopefully................!

8 Crackle Blocks on 4 Shafts: First Sample

Here is a photo of the first sample on the loom.



The weaving is very simple. I simple treadled on opposites. This means that when I treadled such that I raised shafts 1 and 2 (treadle 3), that treadle was followed by a treadle which raised shafts 3 and 4 (treadle 8). On the first treadle I threw brown weft; on the second I threw weft. I repeated this for a total of 6 times (2 shafts treadled constituting 1 time). Then I moved on to the next set of opposite treadles (4 amd 7) and repeated throwing the wefts for a total of 6 times. I continued with treadles 5 and 6, then 6 and 5, then 7 and 4, and finally 8 and 1.

One thing visible is a slight M's and O's effect. Zielinski warned about this in overshot style treadling. If you continually repeat the pattern treadle with the opposite shed for the binder, you will get this kind of effect. Apparently it happens even when the opposite shed is not used for a binder but for a second pattern shot. Perhaps the effect would be more apparent with a finer binder thread? One thing I will look for is whether or not this effect washes out in the washing and pressing.

Because I am using only 4 shafts, treadling on opposites can produce only three blocks. At first glance it might look like 6 blocks are being produced. The effect, however, is an illusion. The illusion is created by the handling of color.

The second set of three blocks is really nothing but a repetition of the first three blocks, only in reverse order. The order is reversed because beginning with the 4th treadling sequence and continuing with the 5th and 6th treadling sequence, the treadling is the same, only in reverse. Since I continued to throw the brown weft first and the red weft second, the colors are reversed.

Looking on the third group of shots and the fourth group of shots shows this clearly. The red weft floats in the third group (treadles 5 and 6) and replaced by brown weft floats in the fourth group (treadles 6 and 5).

The drawdown shows something interesting going on between the third and fourth set of blocks.


There is an awkward repetition of two treadles in a row. The red arrow points to the problem. This happens because treadles 5 and 6 are the last set of treadles of the first group, while 6 and 5 are the first set of treadles for the next group. I have moved from having the first treadle of each group being first 3, then 5, then 5. When I get to 6 (and 7 and 8), the opposite treadles turn out to be the first treadles of the first three groups.

When I saw this on the draft, I realized I needed to figure something out to get away from that awkwardness. But then I looked at the fabric.


The fabric is fine. The doubled treadle is virtually invisible. Drawdowns are not the last word.