Archive: January 2024

MAFA2023-044

The threading is called huck variation by Russell E. Groff. I experimented with twill tie ups, but treadled as drawn, 121, 343, 121, 565, 787, 565. Weaving in the reed was 20.5, “ and the shrinkage was 15%. Total warp ends: 414 plus 1 floating...

MAFA2023-043

This was my first ever kitchen towel project! It also was my first shaddow weave! My inspiration was thinking about an American flag and how the stripes would undulate if the wind were blowing. I chose to shadow weave in blue and white vs red...

MAFA2023-042

This wove up very easily. I like both the straight treadling, and the reversing. I used organic cotton, natural, for the light weft. I find it softer than regular unmercerized, and more linty to weave. Perhaps more absorbent....

MAFA2023-041

The more contrast the better it looks....

MAFA2023-040

Towel uses 2 variations of treadling with a traditional M & W twill pattern. Vary treadling and colors as desired. Floating selvedges are incorporated. Hems are woven with plain weave, folded and machine stitched. WIF file shows 2 options for colors and treadling. There are...

MAFA2023-039

282 ends. Advanced twill threading inspired by Susan Balascio....

MAFA2023-038

This Handweaving.net draft was enhanced with the use of color warp stripes and can then be woven in a number of complementary weft colors. I found some errors in the original draft which I corrected and changed the widths of the straight twill, braided twill...

MAFA2023-037

452 ends I put on a long warp and regretted it later; with the color changes it was slow weaving. I was unable to find an attractive way to carry the colors along a selvage. I liked the use of two shafts to create a...

MAFA2023-036

Wind on 500 ends: 496 for the threading and 2 doubled floating selvedges (which I like for strength in a workhorse handwoven) Be sure to keep a record of your color order for symmetry. I found it best to create threading blocks divisible by 4...

MAFA2023-034

I used 2 patterns – one was Rosalie Neilson’s from her class and one of my own created in the class. There are 4 colors in both the warp and weft. I experimented with different colors in the weft. Floating selvedges were used. There was...

MAFA2023-031

I wet finished the towel by boiling it in water with dawn detergent for one hour and laid it flat to dry. I used a 19th century draft for a southern counterpane from Martin Marshall an Alabama weaver. I have not been able to find...

MAFA2023-032

Delightful Weave. Fantastic fabric. Total number of ends: 498. Increased EPI at selvedges. Serged and Hemmed....

MAFA2023-033

I have started into Jane Stafford’s School of Weaving and this towel is a variation of the Asymmetry sample from the second season. I substituted turquoise where Jane used red, and enlarged the graphic to get the size towel I wanted. I played with the...

MAFA2023-035

Each warp stripe is 6 ends wide, alternating black and white except between wider sections where I doubled the black stripe. Weft stripes can repeat as much as you like. This pattern was inspired by my recent trip to New Zealand and the preponderance of...

MAFA2023-030

This basic design was on the Handwoven Magazine website but woven in huck lace on 8 shafts. I liked the design and wanted to try some Swedish lace on 4 shafts so I modified the design and moved blocks around using weaving software. When I...

MAFA2023-029

Scottish Meadow Towels I created this pattern while watching the series Outlander. It’s a very easy draft to weave and goes very quickly. Warp Threads: 282 (7 pattern repeats + 2 selvedge threads)) Warp End Color Sequence: Maysville Navy Blue 20 ends + 1 floating...

MAFA2023-028

I used 6 shafts to reduce the number of heddles on shafts 1 & 2; putting the plain weave portion on #5 & 6. This could be woven on 4 shafts as well. I used Valley Yarns variegated “Cotton Candy” for the plain weave portions...

MAFA2023-027

Wanted to make the towel look like the sunrise I see most mornings from my garden window. It also was a stash buster. I hope when you are stuck drying dishes the towel will make you smile and think about the peace of nature....

MAFA2023-026

My weaving Study Group had a plan for a towel exchange this year. I was inspired by bright colors and designed a very colorful warp to include a mixture of smooth cotton yarns and boucle. I planned some color mixing in the warp with sections...

MAFA2023-023

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MAFA2023-025

I’m a beginner, so while the pattern called for 20 ppi, I was unable to beat that close. So I adjusted the pattern’s weft instructions and used 16ppi. I wove this on a 4 shaft table loom....

MAFA2023-024

Woven with 8/2 hemp (40%)/organic cotton (60%) yarn in both the warp and weft, ordered from Gather Textiles. 444 ends at 20 epi for a little over 22 inches in the reed (10 dent, 2 ends/dent). About 19 inches finished width. Length was about 36″...

MAFA2023-022

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MAFA2023-021

This towel is 3/1 twill stripes of hand dyed yarn alternating with plain weave stripes. The plain weave stripes are sett at 20 epi and threaded straight draw on shafts 1-4. The twill stripes are sett at 30 epi and threaded straight draw on shafts...

MAFA2023-020

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MAFA2023-019

The warp was 359 ends.The hem is hand sewn with a polyester sewing thread....

MAFA2023-018

Our weaving study group had a challenge to design and weave something using a given simple profile draft. I decided to give myself a further challenge by using a weave structure that I had not or had rarely used, and chose turned taqueté. I used...

MAFA2023-017

This was from a warp that I put on to make thank you towels for my neighbor. She picked colors outside of my comfort zone, so my brief was to make towels that I liked out of colors that weren’t my favorite. I was pleased...

MAFA2023-016

6 repeats on the threading. Outside 2 are the floating selvage. Weft: 1.5″ border, Edge 13 repeats of middle section Edge 1.5″ border. Part of a 4 Season Towel kit by Lunatic Fridge Yarns by Mary Berent...

MAFA2023-015

On the .wif, the first 14 thread is one edge of the towel and the other edge is the last 32 threads. Repeat the 40 threads in the middle as often as needed for the towel you are weaving. I overestimated the shrinkage of my...

MAFA2023-014

This is actually a variation of the above draft. I was inspired by similar variation I’d seen in a Facebook weaving group. I loved the way she had highlighted one repeat of the design instead of repeating it across the whole towel – she had...

MAFA2023-011

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MAFA2023-012

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MAFA2023-013

This was the first project I wove on my first loom, an older 12-shaft Macomber that took me over 9 months to refurbish. The towels turned out better than I had hoped, so of course I put them away “for posterity”. I couldn’t bear to...

MAFA2023-009

410 warp ends total. 408 for pattern, plus one extra at each selvedge. Draft adapted for cotton instead of linen/cotolin. Woven using picks of sewing thread at each end to create fold lines for the hem. Sewing thread was removed prior to turning and sewing...

MAFA2023-008

This pattern is based on a draft that Robyn Spady sent me for my participation in her MAFA 2023 class ‘Pictures, Piles, Potpourri, and Perplexing Curiosities.’ She titled the structure “Better Than Basket Weave Basket Weave.” I used two threads for each floating selvage. After...

MAFA2023-010

The wider stripes in the warp are randomly placed, as is the order of the 4 pinstripe colors throughout. The warp is 506 threads plus 4 FS, 2 on each side.The weft repeats two more times, using a different color pattern (Chambray/Denim/Natural) of Plain Weave...

MAFA2023-006

455 ends – 1 end 6/2 and 2 ends 20/2 per dent in 8 dent reed. Warp: white thick, white thin Weft: blue thick, white thin Used Bluegrass Mills 6/2 cotton from Woolery for thick warp and weft and UKI 20/2 for thin warp and...

MAFA2023-007

Note – 1 doubled end/dent in 12-dent heddle)...

MAFA2023-002

I made a few small changes to the draft (especially the tie-up, so I could walk the treadling) but none of my changes alter the result in any significant way and credit for this design belongs fully with Ms. Hall. This towel used 368 ends...

MAFA2023-001

This towel is woven in the colors of the Norwegian flag to reflect Caroline Halvorson’s 1904 pattern and my Norwegian heritage. The selvedge has a denser sett, as described by Dixon in her book, A Handweaver’s Pattern Book. Ends Ends 5-8 and 400-403 have two...

MAFA2023-003

440 ends This was a really fun project, putting 4 threads through 1 heddle gave a really neat texture to the towel. Tom had a new to me suggestion for hems. Weave your hem length and then put 2 picks in the same shed to...

MAFA2023-004

I used Parson’s crepe threading, treadling and tie-up as referenced above, but added a band of my own design to one side of the towel....

MAFA2023-005

I used the Brighton Honey Comb towels in Handwoven as a starting point for my springy towels. I decided on 7 stripes of each 3 colors. Each group of three colors was separated by a thinner stripe of white and every stripe had a border...