Detailed instructions for doing the mock damask are in the 1994 May/June Handwoven magazine. Take your time on pick-up work. Wrong threads can occasionally get caught resulting in very long floats and it’s difficult un-weaving pick-up work . The instruction don’t indicate it but you should leave your pick-up stick in between the second and third pick-up indicated on the draft. I found a long cable knitting needle work really well for the pick-up work. After the pick-up work the towels weave really fast.
Weave Category: Twill Simple
MAFA2019-013
This twill is threaded and treadled based on draft on Heinrich Woolhever’s 1821 Pattern Books Draft. It represents further use of a pattern I chose to explore for the Early Weaving Books and Manuscripts Group of Complex Weavers. The cheerful stripes are my addition.
MAFA2019-014
Page 31 of the BGH book shows a skeleton drawdown of Wishing Well for a bookmark that is significantly different from the Wishing Well draft on page 97 (the book suggests it may be due to a treadling variation). Using the skeleton drawdown, I determined the threading/treadling that would provide this effect.
The threading was not drafted as overshot, preferring instead to have groups of 2 or 3 consecutive ends threaded on the same shaft for textural interest. The majority of the towel is woven as plain weave, with one or more bands of the pattern woven as for overshot (pattern picks alternate with plain weave picks). The threading had 431 threads, plus 2 for the floating selveges.
MAFA2019-016
A 4-shaft point twill sounds boring but when you add warp stripes of tan, red, green and bright yellow separated by white stripes edged by a single navy thread there is hope. Add an interesting tie-up and treadling to create an interesting texture you have a towel of beauty. Towels like this make dish drying something you look forward to doing.
I have arranged the treadling on 6 treadles for ease. Only 4 treadles are necessary.
MAFA2019-019
I recorded this draft in iWeaveIt quite a while ago as Simplified Damask from Marguerite Davison’s Handweavers Pattern Book. However, this is not that draft so I now have no idea where the pattern came from.
I repeated the pattern 8 times and added 28 ends at the left-hand side and 12 ends on the right-hand side to balance out the pattern.