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...

MAFA2023-039

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...

MAFA2023-036

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...

MAFA2023-032

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

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...

MAFA2023-021

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...

MAFA2023-014

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...

MAFA2023-006

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...

MAFA2023-002

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...

MAFA2023-005

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...

MAFA2019-068

I like to choose a threading that can provide several patterns. Then I play…use one for the hem, another for the body, intersperse plain weave....

MAFA2019-060

We are big tea lovers in the family – so this towel in Handwoven S/O 2003 caught my eye. I have used this draft numerous times over the years – in various colours and weights of fibre – for towels and as material for tray...

MAFA2019-055

The hand-painted stripes were dyed using Procion MX Fiber Reactive dyes. I used a different color weft for each towel....

MAFA2019-078

The section on the draft that is labeled to be omitted was included only to illustrate that I used a variety of colors for the last 8 threads of each 40-thread unit. I used unmercerized cotton for both warp and weft....

MAFA2019-073

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MAFA2019-072

This has become one of my favorite towel warps. It is draft #246, false damask check. I call it woven ribbons, as that is what it looks like to me. Although it uses two shuttles, it is actually a very rhythmic weave. On my ten-yard...

MAFA2019-067

I did a straight tabby weave hem for approximately 1-1.5 inches at the beginning and end of the towel. I used a weft that was laceweight in order to have a hem that was flatter when I folded it over twice....

MAFA2019-066

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

MAFA2019-065

A great way to use up small quantities of yarn...

MAFA2019-056

I started out with Strickler #246, and as I was working with two different shades of red in the weft, I realized how much it reminded me of watermelon. I decided to add some lines in shades of green to represent the rind, along with...

MAFA2019-059

Really enjoyed Tom Knisely’s “Weaving on a Straight Eight” class taken during the 2017 MAFA conference. Wanted to weave something from his class booklet and chose the pattern ‘Ribs of Twill and Plain Weave’. It’s a nice easy piece to weave, and the treadling is...

MAFA2019-057

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MAFA2019-053

This was a warp and project that was my first exploration of a complex (for me) gamp. While a newer weaver, and always trying new things, I loved working on a twill sampler with friend and weaving mentor Jane Stafford via her Canadian Online Guild....

MAFA2021-054

Hand-dyed warp, dyed in the skein using fiber-reactive dyes, undyed weft. Woven on a new-to-me Bexell Cranbrook countermarche loom....

MAFA2021-052

Warp Width: 19.5″ Sett: 24 Reed: 12 Sley: double # Ends: 470 Warp Yarn: unmercerized cotton Count: 8/2 Color: 6 colors Weft Yarn: unmercerized cotton Count: 8/2 Color: 6 colors, same as warp. Used one color for each of the 6 towels. Finished dimensions: 16.5...

MAFA2021-051

This design was inspired by 200 Patterns for Multiple Harness Looms by Russell E. Groff (1979). Calculated as follows: Weaving width 20″ EPI: 20 400 warp ends, but I calculated 405 warp ends to balance the design. I added 2 floating selvages at each side....

MAFA2021-050

I selected this pattern because I liked the geometry. I learned more about block patterns and how they are constructed. Strickler’s book notes that this draft, woven by Barbara McClanathan, is a 2 block twill adapted from Väv Magazinet, 1984, Nr.4, pages 20-21. Here are...

MAFA2021-049

This towel was washed in the machine, dried in the dryer, ironed with steam and hand hemmed with cotton thread. Other notes on making the towel are included in the WIF. I might sett it a tad closer next time—22-24 epi. It offers a great...

MAFA2021-043

A temple is most useful to prevent draw-in. You can make a coordinated set of towels on the same warp, having fun varying weft colors and block sizes. 480 ends Sett 2 per dent in a 12-dent reed Wet finished Hemmed, hand-stitched Love this cottolin!...

MAFA2021-034

Warp (10/2 organic cotton) was 513 ends including floating selvages. Used #3 treadling. A rolled hem was machine stitched....

MAFA2021-035

The colors I used were blue, gray, red, and turquoise. This was a fun project to weave. I also added a hang tag woven with the same colors....

MAFA2021-036

I used 422 ends including floating selvages. The warp is Chocolate Brown by Spartan Dyers from Cotton Clouds. The weft is turquoise by Maurice Brassard from The Woolery. My draft is #355 in Strickler’s A Weaver’s Book of Eight-Shaft Patterns. This is a plaited twill...

MAFA2021-022

I always loved the look of turned twill and Jane Stafford renewed my interest with her lesson in her Online Guild. The colors in the towel were inspired from a clothing tag that I’ve held onto for years. I also love purple and green and...

MAFA2021-023

My towel has a combination of twill treadling with narrow strips of basketweave to outline the weft color changes. This was a simple project with lots of opportunities for different outcomes by changing tie-ups and treadling....

MAFA2021-025

Twill blocks in 4 warp colors (red, black, grey, white) with block changes not coinciding with color changes. Blocks were woven as 3/1 and 1/3 twill rotating the same four colors as the warp. Color changes were made every 16 picks, alternating which side the...

MAFA2021-026

I used the napkin patterns in the Handwoven article and adapted them. I used the treadling for towel 1. I began and ended the towel with 1 ½ inches of 10/2 weft to make the hems a little less chunky. 20″ in reed; 30″ long....

MAFA2021-027

This is a draft that blends overshot and huck with plainweave in between. It was very hard to beat the overshot to square, so I ended up using sewing thread for tabby. 418 ends; 2.5 yards long. 8-shaft loom, 21″ weaving width; 10 dent reed....

MAFA2021-021

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...

MAFA2021-016

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...

MAFA2021-013

Hems are in plain weave using quilting weight sewing thread—weave 1/2″, insert thicker white yarn, another 1/2″ and another thicker yarn, and the last 1/2″. That gives a crisp fold line (after pulling out the thicker threads) for your hems. Cotton bouclé (teal) in warp...

MAFA2021-018

I wanted to weave a linen towel but with this design the linen weft didn’t work well, so I changed to cotton and was well pleased. This can be woven on a 4 shaft loom also—Davison has many patterns....

MAFA2021-010

This towel represents the many towels I have woven on the straight 8-shaft twill threading using many tie-up and treadling variations in preparation for the MAFA class I am teaching. The threading offers so many options for weaving with the 8 shafts or 4 shafts...

MAFA2021-008

Huck draft used from page 12 of The Best of Weaver’s: Huck Lace; treadling on page 15...

MAFA2021-007

I like weaving turned twills and find that towels woven with the design have a nice texture as well as visual pattern. I had a partial cone of variegated 8/2 cotton that would not be enough for a full towel, so I started placing stripes...

MAFA2021-004

I played around with the threading by adding some bands of straight twill between sections of the rosepath threadings. I also used sewing thread for weaving the hem sections....

MAFA2021-003

This towel is a design to combine waffle and tabby. I used five shafts for the waffle areas and three shafts for the tabby areas. For the waffle areas I sett the ends at 32 epi, tighter than the tabby areas of 24 epi. I...

MAFA2021-002

I used several colors of Bluegrass Mills’ 6/2 unmercerized cotton yarn for my towel. Plain weave for turned hem, sewn by hand. I love this weave, and have used it several times for towels. I varied the stripes in warp and weft for more visual...

MAFA2021-001

I am a novice weaver, and this is my 10th project. I had initially planned this project for 40/2 linen, but I was unable to find colored linen in that grist. Scaled up for 16/2 linen the pattern is more dramatic and the cloth is...

MAFA2019-071

This is based on a towel in Handwoven, but modified by me....

MAFA2019-069

According to the monograph, shadow weave is basically a balanced weave but the patterns are derived from twill. The warp arrangement and weft picks alternate light and dark and the greater contrast, the greater visual impact....

MAFA2019-064

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MAFA2019-063

I followed one of HW patterns for exchange towel. For others on warp I randomized- using 3 colors, adding alternating stripes etc. Made towels more fun in my opinion....

MAFA2019-062

Towel is 8 repeats plus 18 ends to balance. Was 17.83″ in 15 dent reed. The warp had 418 ends of white 20/2 @ 30 EPI and 272 ends of 16/2 blue @ 60 EPI. From the manuscripts of J. P. Meyer and F. Walbert...

MAFA2019-061

I wanted to use the ‘Netting A’ from Davison’s book page 95, but didn’t want to have to move heddles, so I used shafts 7 and 8 to substitute for shafts 2 and 3 when necessary. I also wanted a small selvedge and used shafts...

MAFA2019-058

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MAFA2019-054

Block Twill is fun to play with, especially with colorways. Used only one color for warp, but is great fun in color stripes. I chose this pattern particularly to reacquaint myself with profile draft, though the draft attached is a full draft/draw down. Started and...

MAFA2019-052

Towels are a bit on the wide side. Could have made them narrower and/or longer as they came out rather square. Treadling: Woven in plain weave for40 picks white, Turq/White, White/Turq 5 times, 14 picks white, Pink/White, White/Pink 5 times, 14 picks white, Orange/White, White/Orange...