COLOR-AND-WEAVE

In an early April post, I mentioned that I wanted to use color-and-weave effects for a handspun shawl I plan to design. 

I also plan to use color-and-weave effects for some towels for my daughter.  She has looked longingly on two different visits at some old cotton dish towels I wove and has virtually begged for some. How can I deny her?!  Weaving dish towels would give me a chance to pretty much just throw the shuttle without having to do too much thinking about it.  Maybe I could even listen to music!

WHAT IS COLOR-AND-WEAVE?

Color-and-weave is not a weave structure.  It is a particular way of using color no matter what the weave structure.

More specifically, color-and-weave means combining a particular color sequence in the warp yarns with the same or a different particular color sequence in the weft yarns. The result is a fabric where color creates designs, not stripes. Two colors are most frequently used, but one can design color and-weave-effects with three or more colors.

SOME SAMPLE DRAFTS

This first draft is a straight draw twill on four shafts.  It is threaded in two colors, alternating one by one. The treadling is a straight treadling.  And it too is treadled with two colors, alternating throw by throw.

 

Here is the same straight draw twill twith two colors alternating in the threading.  the treadling is also straight.  But now three shots of light weft alternate with one shot of dark weft.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is yet another treadling variant.  Now one shot of white weft alternates with two shots of dark weft. 

TREADLED FOR PLAIN WEAVE

And of course this threading could be treadled as plain weave. The result is still another color-and-weave effect.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Here are three good books that I have which are devoted specifically to color-and-weave.

Ann Sutton, Color-and-Weave Design.   Go here for some interesting information on Ann Sutton.
Margaret B. Windeknecht, Color-and-Weave II
Margaret B. Windeknecht, The Pinwheel: An Exploration in Color-and-Weave Design

WEAVING PROJECT WITH PAPER

Also, Handwoven has a weaving project available on the internet about how to weave paper coasters using color-and-weave.  Go here to download it as a pdf file.