Shadow weave

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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 and white to maximize the contrast of the yarns.

This design was created for my submission to the Woolery 2023 Weave-Off. My warp was long enough for me to make several towels and I’m happy to share one of them as part of the towel exchange.

The trickiest part of this project was that some of warp threads wanted to cross. This resulted in 2 white threads or 2 blue threads being next to each other at a few places in the warp. It wasn’t particularly noticeable in the waves but it was quite obvious in the weft picks that became the hem. It’s not clear if this was a tension issue or if the sett could have been decreased. Getting them to uncross when weaving the hem picks is possible but tedious.

In the attached WIF and reading from right to left, the first 88 warp threads are the pattern and can be repeated. For the finished towel, I repeated this 5 times and then transitioned back to the hem portion.

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This towel was woven with 4 colors, 2 in the warp and 2 in the weft.

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Name draft created from the title Bellwether, a book by Connie Willis.

Because the warp threads alternated in color every two threads, it was easier to see any errors in the
blocks as the weaving progressed.

I only had a 15 dent reed with this loom that I borrowed for the pandemic, and would have preferred a 10
dent reed.

There were 360 ends in the warp, six repeats of 60 threads each with the addition of a floating selvage at
each edge; hemming was done by hand. The hem was woven for 24 shots with Guttermann cotton sewing
thread to reduce bulk.

The towel was washed on a regular cycle in a mesh bag and dried on the cotton heat setting in the dryer.

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I created this draft as a sketch and then modified it as I wove. I had intended to warp it in three sections: ABA. Somehow, my B section became 2 sections when I inadvertently went from beige, white, beige to white, beige, white in my threading.

I love my “happy accidents,” but they are difficult to share with others.

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I am learning more and more each time I weave. I am taking classes this time around to help me learn how to more efficiently warp my loom. And this was the first time weaving on my new-to-me Leclerc table loom.

I really enjoyed watching the pattern emerge as I went. My towel is based on the eight-shaft threading, treadling variation #5 in the workshop booklet. I miscalculated on how many repeats needed to be in the warp so the towels came out very narrow. I am still learning on how to make what dents I have work with what I want to produce.

I really enjoyed working with the colors and hope to do more with this pattern and loom in the future. And special thanks to Robyn Spady who taught us all about shadow weaving and was so patient with me.