​ by Lori Rhodes

Back in March of 2020 things changed dramatically for all of us.  The world experienced a global pandemic and we went into lockdown.  I’ve heard that a lot of studios, home offices and closets got cleaned and organized. With “forced” time at home many of us also took time to get reacquainted with our yarn stash and wound warps and sat down to weave.  Of course, 20 months later we have found ways to meet safely and to be out in the wider world again.

Our study group is called Handwoven because we talk about the articles in the magazine Handwoven.  We study the drafts and the instructions, the yarn choice, the sett, the colors and the results.  It is a good way to attend to the details of a project and to learn the different methods weavers use.  This often leads to a discussion of someone’s preferred way to hem or to deal with loose selvedges, etc.

Our group has continued to meet quite regularly throughout these months.  We met by Zoom in the beginning.  It was good to “see” each other and what each was working on even if we couldn’t pass around the work to give it the feel test.  In warmer months after we were all vaccinated, we met in person outside at TFAC and continued sharing our projects.

Before the pandemic we were planning to weave the structure known as rep.  As you will see below, Jean Johnson, Peggy Myers and Peggy Sanford followed through with that with great results.

Some of the rest of us were distracted by other structures and the new influences of online classes and YouTube videos, or went back to earmarked pages of beloved “someday” projects.  Our group, like others, had some health issues and it certainly was harder to feel connected and keep the momentum of a group project going.  But we forge onward and in the future we will meet in person (inside!) and learn from the magazine and each other again and share the thrills and the mishaps that weaving brings us.

Below you will find descriptions and pictures of some of our group members’ latest weaving.

Jean Johnson

Block Design in Rep Weave

My interest in rep weave was re-kindled when perusing Rosalie Neilson’s website, with her enticing photos of weavers participating in workshops she teaches on block design. One of her classes involves block design based on weaving an 8-shaft rep table runner with linked blocks and solid stripes. A number of different block designs (weaver’s choice out of a possible 1024) are showcased along the length of the runner with several optional motifs used to separate one block design from another. The gallery from her class at the MAFA 2019 Conference in Millersville, PA shows guild member Pattie Lamb happily weaving along on her beautiful rep runner:

I had taken a workshop with Rosalie in 2010 that covered the basics of rep weave on four and eight shafts and introduced block design, but for that I wove on a four shaft loom warped with just two colors. After that workshop, I wove a series of rep rugs using one of her published designs also on four shafts. For those, I chose my own colors, and learned more about working with rep, but neither of these projects took me into the nitty-gritty of block design. With access to Rosalie’s workshop not readily available, I jumped in on my own using the photos in her gallery as a guide. That turned out to be a challenge for sure but a great way to explore and learn how to manipulate blocks for dramatic patterning effects. Fortunately, Fiberworks weaving software can be adapted to rep and was an essential aid all through this project.

The loom was threaded with 25 blocks of 24 threads, each block consisting of 12 ends for pattern alternating with 12 of background. The 10-dent reed was sleyed at 40 epi for a total width of 15 inches. In order to maintain the warp order and allow warping front to back, the reed was divided horizontally with a piece of masking tape and ends were sleyed two above the tape and two below the tape, rather than mixing four ends in a single dent. The warp was UKI 5/2 mercerized cotton in soldier blue, periwinkle, lipstick, ginger and lemonade. Thick weft was Borgs midi string yarn in dark blue, and thin weft was 5/2 cotton in soldier blue. The draft, shown below, incorporates four threading blocks beyond those that Rosalie suggests for her workshop. These weave the dark blue stripes framing the outer three blocks on either side of the runner and create a piece that is more balanced and slightly wider.

Treadling in the draft is shown as a lift plan, but each treadle was actually tied to two shafts using a skeleton tie-up for rep on eight shafts. With this arrangement, each thick weft pick was treadled using the left foot to lift two of the required four shafts and the right foot, at the same time, to lift the remaining two. The thin pick was then also treadled with two feet, lifting the four shafts that were not used for the preceding thick pick. For simplicity, I labeled the treadles as Left A, B, C, and D and Right A, B, C, and D. Treadles and their respective lifts were as follows:

Left A              12
Left B              16
Left C             52
Left D             56
Right A           34
Right B           38
Right C           74
Right D           78

With this basic plan in place, it was possible to easily modify the central motif to create multiple block patterns. Below is a photo of my working notes where I show a pattern sketch and the lift sequence required to weave that design. The light blue blocks on the two edges of the runner are “linked” to what is going on in the center. Designs appear there as well but are not intentional and essentially come along for the ride.

 number of our guild members experimented with block design in huck lace in Rosalie’s recent online workshop. There are interesting parallels between block design using rep weave and block design in huck lace. The two weave structures have different requirements in terms of threading, treadling and tie-up, yet the basic principles of working with blocks remain the same. Our study group member, Lori Rhodes, participated in the huck lace workshop, and her work is included in the blog post about Rosalie’s huck lace workshop. Looking at examples there you have a chance to see and directly compare blocks in the two weave structures.

Peggy Myers
 
From Turned Taquete to Rep Weave
​
I love rep weave and learned early on from Marie Kulchinski that I could use any overshot design and turn it into 8-shaft rep design.  I also learned to think of the “what ifs” from Leslie Killeen.
With both of those things in mind, and lots of time for my brain to percolate, I noticed that the same is true for the Turned Taquete draft in Handwoven May/June 2019.  In 2019 I wove The Turned Taquete draft several times, and after threading the draft for those projects, I realized that the draft would be suitable for rep weave.  I tested my theory by dressing my small structo loom and found out it could be done. 

I wanted to weave a medium gray and natural.  I love the result and plan to use it in my bathroom.  I even bought new towels to go with the rug.​Now for the particulars.

If you look at the draft, you will see that the warp threads are in pairs:  1-5, 2-6, 3-7, and 4-8.  One thread in the pair is a color while the other thread is a neutral.  I multiplied each thread by 4 and threaded my loom in the pairs referenced above.  For example I threaded 5-1, 5-1, 5-1, 5-1, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 etc. following the original draft.   The only other thing I changed was the treadling.  In the original draft each pattern pic is followed by a tabby pic.  For the rep design I treadled the first pattern pic using a thick weft and followed it by a thin pic of its opposite treadling.  In other words if the first pic raises shafts 1 through 4, its opposite pic raises shafts 5 through 8. 

Peggy Sanford

The placemats pictured below are a set of 7 for our rep weave project. The inspiration came from the Crosses, Floats, and Undulations article in the May/June 2020 Handwoven. I used the 6/2 cotton that I got at a Christmas gift exchange, and used multiple threads of 6/2 for the thick weft.The scarf pictured below has a base layer of Zephyr, one of my favorite fibers. The supplemental warp is the fiber that Jane Clark spun for me. It’s a combination of Alpaca, silk, and I’m not sure what else. I got it as a batt at a Christmas gift exchange, and Jane graciously agreed to spin it for me. I would have just kept it as a batt. It was so soft – it was a calming influence in my life.

​Sandy Lyles

These are photos (below) of my obsession with what I think is plaited twill…
I had the Handwoven issue from 2009 turned back all these years until I finally got an 8 shaft loom in 2018.

I tried first a narrow warp and did a few coasters, then a wider warp and did placemats and napkins, and last I did a scarf.