Collapse Weave two

A new design which is to be dyed.

Weave structure: Plain weave

Warp and weft: 2/20 silk and an overtwisted wool yarn.

Overtwisted yarn can be tricky to put onto a loom.  Once the ends are cut, the overtwist can start to run out of the yarn. At each stage I tie the groups of threads together. This keeps the overtwist in the yarn.

Winding on 

Threading through the reed

Once I have threaded the ends through the reed I  tie them loosely onto the front beam.

A close up of the weaving.

This weave is loosely woven.  The weft alternates - two picks of wool to two picks of silk.  The wool is carefully tapped into place so that there is a gap between the picks. The first silk pick is tapped into place leaving the same gap as between the two wool picks.  The second silk pick is tapped into place so that it touches the first silk pick. This could be described as cramming and spacing. 

First sample

Reed 12 reed with one end per dent for the wool and two ends per dent for the 20/2silk

Width at reed:   28 inches   77 cm

                                                                           

Off Loom before washing    

Width         26 inches               

Length         11.5 inches   cm                      

After washing                

Width    approx           14.5 inches              

Length    approx      8.25 inches      20.5 cm

After washing I examined the sample carefully.  I would have liked the weave to be slightly closer together after washing so I thought that I would alter the sett and weave a second sample. 

First sample after washing and the second sample on the loom. 

Second sample

Reed 8 reed with one end per dent for the wool and two ends per dent for the 2/2- silk

Width at reed  25 inches  63.5 cm

                                                                                                 

Off Loom 

before washing              

  Width     23.5 inches  59 cm      

 length     7.75 inches  19.5 cm                      

After washing  

Width  approx   12 inches  30 cms

Length  approx    5 inches  13 cm       

I decided that the second sample was better so I used this sett for the final scarf.  

Long scarf

8 reed threading 1 1 2 (silk)

Before washing

Width at reed  23.5 inches   59 cm

Length before washing  119.5 inches  302 cm 

After washing

width  approx   12.5 inches    32 cm

length approx     81 inches    206 cms

The finished scarf has a lovely soft feel and a beautiful texture.  It has 'bounce' because of the collapse weave structure. This makes it difficult to measure exactly.  The fringe at each end has to be knotted as soon as it is off the loom. 

Completed scarf before dyeing

Closeup of texture

I am intending to dye this scarf. I am afraid that it has to added to the list of things to do! My pile of UFO's (unfinished projects) is growing longer by the week.

Susan J Foulkes

August 2023

Coal canals and cotton

Inspiration for a woven scarf for the National Exhibition

The 2020 National Exhibition was due to be  held from 5th – 20th September 2020 at Leigh Spinners Mill in Lancashire. http://leighspinnersmill.co.uk/  This exhibition has had to be cancelled due to the corona virus. Here is one item earlier in the year which designed and wove. I hoped would be accepted for the exhibition.

“Coal, Cotton, Canals”

The theme, Coal, Cotton, Canals, is the inspiration for exhibits for this exhibition.  I decided that I would like to design material which  echoes the different textures and colour of coal. 






The black is not uniform but alters with the play of light and moisture and shape of the pieces of coal.

 

I wondered how I could use bumpy texture in my material.








I had woven many samples of collapse weave some years ago.  I was fortunate enough to meet Anne Field who came over the the UK and put on a workshop for the Durham Guild of Spinners Weavers and Dyers. She was writing her book about collapse weave at the time and we had many long conversations about twist and collapse. I was honoured that she chose a couple of my own pieces of weaving to use in the book. 
Her book is wonderful.

ISBN: 978-1-877427-17-6  Published in 2008 by Willsonscott Publishing New Zealand.

I decided to weave a scarf. I set myself a personal goal of only using yarns from my stash. 

First I looked at all the cones of yarn that I had that were black or dark grey.  I wanted to use cotton as far as possible.

• Silk adds a sheen which might be useful and I had some black and dark grey 60/2 silk. 
• I had an enormous cone of 20/2 black cotton (why did I buy this?)  
• I found a 72 Tex cotton/cashmere yarn that I had never used - it looked interesting in the yarn sale some years ago so I bought it! 
• I found a black cotton? yarn which is spun with a  metallic thread in with my wool yarns. 
• I also had some cotton/elastic yarn in black and two cones of white cotton/lycra of different thicknesses.  
• When I was exploring collapse weave, I bought a number of overtwisted yarns from Anne Field and I still had a large cone of 52/2 overtwist merino.

So armed with this abundance, I checked Anne Fields book on collapse weave and my own notes and records of previous explorations of the effects of collapse weave.

I decide to try 3/1 and 1/3 twill as a  base structure. I made a warp of different yarns in stripes.

Sample Warp

One stripe each of 16 ends in the following yarns:
2/20 cotton, 2 ends of grey 2/60 silk, overtwisted merino,
1 end of grey 2/60 silk, metallic black cotton, overtwisted merino, metallic black cotton,
black 20/2 cotton, overtwist merino and finally black 20/2 cotton

There are ten stripes in all.

Weave Samples

I woven three samples on this warp trying different wefts.

Sample one

Weft;  overtwisted merino wool, cashmere/cotton/ elastic cotton yarn in dark green






Sample two

Weft: overtwisted merino, cashmere cotton, 2/20 cotton






Sample three

Weft
thick white cotton/lycracashmere cotton, grey elastic cotton, thin cotton lycra





Sampling is essential to see the effects of different types of yarn.


The different effects of the warp and weft were fascinating and formed the basis of my decisions about warp and weft for the final piece.  There was no collapse lengthwise. 

The white cotton lycra yarn gave a strong width wise collapse. Here is decided that this yarn should be used with no more than four picks. I did not want the white to dominate but merely indicate shine. 

I varied the number of weft picks in the main blocks to add variety and unevenness. 

I also tried using the twill only in one direction rather than changing it for the shorter blocks. Each smaple was examined to see the different effects and what would be suitable to use for the final scarf. 

Scarf

Warp: black 2/20 cotton used double, black and grey silk 2/60 two ends used, metal effect yarn

400 warp ends in all. 

Blocks

Cotton 16           24          16          16

Silk         16           24          24           16

Metal           16           16          24             centre: 20 then reverse sequence.

Total number of warp ends: 412

sett 20 epi  2 per dent in a 10 reed.

Weave structure 

3/1 and 1/3 twill in blocks.  The warp is threaded with different number of threads according to the type of thread used. 

Here is a picture of the final scarf. The width varies from 13 cm at the ends to 15 cm in the centre.  When stretched it measures 38 cm. Ideally, I think that it would have been better with a wider warp but the scarf is quite warm because there is a lot of bulk when it is wrapped around my neck.

And here is a close up with a small piece of coal.

Happy Weaving everyone

Susan J Foulkes

September 2020

Hooked on Huck

I seem to be hooked on huck at the moment.

I wove a silk scarf for a friend using the same pattern as my gold silk scarf which I described in my blog for October 2017 about the online Guild Challenge.

https://durhamweaver64.blogspot.com/2017/10/online-guild-annual-challenge-lace-for.html 

I thought that it might be useful to describe some of my working practices when weaving. So here are a few tips for setting up the loom.

Winding on the warp.

I always use sticks for the first turn of the back beam and then change to thick paper. My husband is very adept at being the warp winder on!

Threading the warp

I tie the warp  into bouts which correspond to the pattern threading.  In this case each loosely tied bout is one half inch.

When threading the pattern, I always choose the correct number of heddles in a group. Then I thread the group - in this pattern it is 25 warp ends. This means that if I have an empty heddle  or an additional warp thread at the end of each group, I have made a mistake.

Threading the reed

Why is it that any mistake at this stage always happens in the middle of the warp and never at either side?

 I had woven a few picks when I realised that there was a reed threading mistake. I had crossed two groups of yarn in the reed. 

Tips for weaving.

Weaving a sample.

I weave a short sample and cut it off the loom.  This means that I can have a final check for any errors.

Winding the bobbin.

Wonderful cone holders

The scarf is made of 2/60 silk used double.  This means that I have to wind the bobbin with two ends of the silk yarn.  I bought a set of these very useful yarn holders at the last Weave Fair in  Vaxjo, Sweden in 2017.

 Ideal for larger cones of yarn.

Wind carefully near to the bobbin

Winding two ends of yarn together can be tricky especially with silk which creates a lot of static electricity. Here is my bobbin wider.  I hold two ends of yarn firmly between a scarp of folded paper. I hold the warp close to the bobbin and gently feed the yarn going back and forth over a short distance.  Gradually the yarn fills the bobbin. Do not overfill.

Unwanted loop of one of the strands of yarn

This is the problem I am trying to overcome when winding the thread onto the bobbin.  After a while the two ends of yarn do not come off the bobbin evenly and a loop forms. if this happens, I cut the yarn and then rejoin it to the weaving taking up the loop.

Weaving the scarf

I use a Schacht shuttle which is excellent. I also use a stretcher to help keep the edges straight.













Checking the woven length.

Before the woven cloth winds around the cloth beam, I slip a length of coloured yarn into a pick at one side.  I measure how much I have woven and make a note.

Every time the coloured thread nears the cloth beam I add another thread at the side and again make a note of how much I have woven.

Then I know how long the scarf will be at the end.

Ending the weaving

I use a thicker coloured yarn to weave a few picks in plain weave.  The weaving can be cut off the loom leaving a sufficient amount of unwoven warp ends for the fringe.

Finishing the scarf.

I make the twisted fringe before washing the scarf.  The hair braider make this process easier but it is still time consuming.

I measure each fringe and then knot it. 

Once the fringe is finished, the scarf is washed. 

Natural silk is washable, but most soaps are harmful to silk. Use a small amount of delicate wash liquid.  This silk is dyed and dye will come out in the wash. 

Washing instructions.

1. Use lukewarm water. Use a very small amount of liquid soap and dissolve thoroughly before adding the scarf. Do not rub the silk fabric, but gently agitate it in the water.

2. Put a very little amount of distilled white vinegar into the last but one rinse (no more than one teaspoonful in a bowl of water). This helps to neutralise alkaline in soap. The final rinse should always be in pure water. 

3. Once the scarf has been washed, hang up to dry.  It can be ironed on silk setting. If you store the scarf rolled up, there will be no creases.  

Once the scarf has been washed, I check the fringe length.  Any part of the fringe that is not even, I retie. I iron it and press the knots on the fringe firmly. The fringe is now trimmed.

At last, the finished scarf.

All this weaving made me want to design another scarf.

A new design.

I have two large cones of 2/60 silk in a deep pink. I wanted to design a different pattern so I came up with this smaller pattern repeat.


My new huck lace design on 10 shafts.

Scarf on the loom

Here is the scarf being woven.













I always weave a sample to check that the pattern is correct
and the sett is right for the handle of the material.

The sample has been washed and you can see that the pattern has a texture.

I was pleased with the result.

The Finished Scarf.

The finished scarf

Here is a close up of the weave pattern. 

Susan J Foulkes  July  2020

Inspiration red and blue

Huck Lace squares on 6 shafts.

I have a stash of yarn which is too large.  Tidying my room earlier in the year I found two cones of very fine linen.  It is 1/33 singles linen in blue and red.  Why did I buy it? I have no idea but it obviously looked inviting at the time.

two cones of 1/33 linen

I thought that I would experiment with a lace weave and make a summer weight scarf. I made a long warp and wove a short sample. I wanted to check the sett and I was not sure whether the weft should be thicker.

I found that I had made a threading error.  I cut off the sample and washed it. I was very pleased with the way the lace weave showed up with the two colours.   The sett was fine.
I corrected my threading error and I was now ready to start.

Warp:

navy blue         100      100      100     
red              30       100      100       30

Weft same as warp

Epi: 40 epi  using a 10 reed there are 4 ends in each dent.

I started and finished the length with 12 picks in plain weave in the navy blue linen
Alternate the colours so that there are 100 picks of navy blue then 100 picks of red.

The Weave Chart

Huck lace squares on 6 shafts.

The squares are made up of multiples of 10 warp ends. each of the squares on this weave chart has 20 ends. The squares can be any size but need to be a multiple of 10 warp ends.

The first block is threaded:  2 5 2 5 2  1 6 1 6 1   This is 10 ends. Multiply upwards to increase the size of the squares.

The second block is threaded: 2 3 2 3 2 1 4 1 4 1  This is 10 ends. Multiply upwards to increase the size of the squares.

When tying onto the front beam, I had to use very small bouts and also I had to stroke the threads to ensure that the tension was equal.

I started the scarf with 10 picks of plain weave using the blue linen.  I beat firmly. 

Huck lace squares on 6 shafts

Weaving

I was pleasantly surprised that the weaving was so easy.  I had thought that the very fine singles yarn would be difficult but there were no breakages.
The yarn was strong but stiff and springy whilst weaving.  The scarf softened considerably after washing.

To finish the warp ends, I plaited them in small groups.

Close up of the squares.

The linen has a slight slub which shows up in the plain weave squares.

Washing

                length            width

before         84 in           13.5in

after            81 in            13 in


A really lovely summer weight scarf and my stash is reduced a little!

The completed scarf.

Susan J Foulkes  August 2019

Inspiration Ireland

I enjoyed a fantastic holiday in Ireland in 2016 and we will be returning for another holiday next year. Researching ancestors and visiting new places is always exciting. We take lots of photographs which are also useful as inspiration for weaving.

The Aran Islands are amazing. The scenery is so different from the type of farmland that I am used to.  A small island means that every space is utilised.

Look at these pictures of the fields and stone walls from Inis Oirr.  The weather was misty which added a lovely feel to the scene.  When the clouds parted the green fields seemed to sparkle.

irregular walls

an evocative landscape

I loved the way the colours of the stonework and the fields changed as the clouds, sun and mist altered the light.  They reflected the mood of the weather.  Looking at the images afterwards I was stuck with the irregular pattern of the walls and the many shades of green.  I wondered whether I could capture this in a weaving design.

A few years ago I spent many happy months experimenting with deflected weave structures. I examined my too large yarn stash and wondered what I could use to give a feel for this wonderful landscape.

I thought of a pattern with grey silks for the borders.  It is an eight shaft design with two further shafts for plain weave selvedges. The weave is a two shuttle weave.

Drawdown.

I used two qualities of silk, a light grey tussah silk and four strands of dark grey 2/60 spun silk to represent the walls. These outlined the green areas.  I had three shades of green silk for the grass areas and a lighter shade for the weft.


Warp: 2/20 light grey tussah silk sett at 20 epi.       2 ends per dent in a 10 dent reed.
2/60 silk used double in shades of green sett at 30 epi.       3 doubled ends per dent in a 10 dent reed. I shaded the green colours across the width of the scarf.

Weft: I used a lighter shade of green silk for the grass areas which I thought would help to meld the other greens together. This was 2 strands of 2/60 silk. For the walls, I used a grey 2/60 silk with four strands. I used two colours of grey silk hoping to provide a contrast and to reflect the changing greys of walls in the photograph.  There are 50 groups of cells.

Total number of warp ends:   500 plus and extra 8 tussah silk to balance the pattern.  508  ends in all.

Width of scarf: 18.5 inches.

close up of the scarf showing the structure

The finished scarf

Although I enjoyed the designing and weaving of this scarf I am not happy with the final look. The green silk across the warp is not shaded sufficiently and the green colours needed to be brighter.

We will be going back to Ireland and the Aran Islands next year. I loved the country and the people I met.

The ferry to the Aran Islands

The Handwoven Belt of the Aran Islands. 

The crios is part of the heritage of the Aran Islands and demonstrates the creativity of the women who devised and wove them. 

Cleas Crafts on Inis Oirr was a delight and I am looking forward to another boisterous boat ride to the island. They were very  helpful when I was researching crios weaving. I was particularly thrilled to buy a crios that had been handwoven on the island. Cathleen, the outlet manager,  showed me how to tie the crios how the crios was traditionally tied around the waist

Here is the short YouTube video:

How to tie the crios.    https://youtu.be/Z5jfQJGD5eEI 

My latest article has appeared in the Journal for Weavers, Spinners and Dyers.  http://www.thejournalforwsd.org.uk/home

My article is called: The Crios: A Weaver's Quest.  It describes my research journey to Ireland and the Aran Islands to find out more about the crios.  For the article I made a YouTube video showing the different ways in which a crios can be woven. 

Here is link to my Youtube video Six Ways to Weave a Crios.

https://youtu.be/43R8no-9hG0

My next blog will be in the New Year.  

A Happy Christmas and a delightful festive season to everyone. 

Susan J Foulkes (December 2017)

Online Guild Annual Challenge Lace for All Seasons

I decided to take part in this years annual challenge with the Online Guild of Weavers Spinners and Dyers  http://www.onlineguildwsd.org.uk/

The title of the challenge was 'A Lace for All Seasons.' The brief was broad - any techniques and skills as long as spinning, weaving or dyeing were included.

When I first started to learn to weave, I wove a silk stole on a table loom in the weaving class I attended.  It was a pattern by Sharon Alderman.  I loved her patterns and always looked out for any ideas and articles by her. This pattern appeared in Handwoven in Jan/Feb 1989 page 106

The silk lace shawl was woven in 2/20 white silk and is very long. the treadling sequence is 72 picks. For the class table loom, I had to have a detailed list of sheds and keep track of them very carefully.  I think that there is one small mistake in the treadling which I noticed when the shawl was off the loom.  I know the mistake is there but to most people it is invisible. In the weaving class we were encouraged to keep accurate records.  I have noted that the warp took me three hours to make, the threading on the loom took 4 hours and one pattern repeat took 25 minutes to weave! The final length was 79 inches and the width 23 inches.

The shawl is very long, warm and rather stylish. The pattern has open work areas but with a plain weave trellis in between.

I remembered that many years ago I bought some 2/30 gold silk which I had never used. The silk was very shiny and smooth and I did not know how it would weave. I realised that I would have to sample before I could be sure of the sett.

But first of all, I needed to design a lace pattern.  I wanted something that would have a lacy pattern but also have some areas of plain weave to hold the structure of the fabric together. The Best of Weavers: Huck lace was a good place to start. On page 8 there is an 8 shaft draft for a scarf. It was woven in 2/30 silk with a sett of 24 epi.  The huck lace pattern is in blocks of 5 ends where the base threads are alternately threaded on shaft one and shaft two.  I liked this idea but not the pattern.
I looked back at the 8 shaft version by Sharon Alderman.  I did not want to repeat the pattern and I wanted something a little different. The Fibreworks PCW program is very useful for designing patterns. I tried a number of different variations and the one on 9 shafts seemed very attractive. I wanted a pattern that would emphasis the open work areas.

Publisher: Alexis Yiorgos Xenakis  2000

This is a wonderful book edited by Madelyn van der Hoogt.

I devised a 9 shaft pattern of open work triangles inside a lattice. Here is my own draft. The treadling repeat is 60 picks.

Two pattern repeats showing the plain weave on the left side

One pattern repeat to show the threading and loom set up.

I was not sure that the sett of 24 epi would be suitable for this very shiny, slippery silk.  I made a warp long enough to weave a sample. I decided to use of sett of 27 epi using three ends per dent in a 9 reed.

Width at reed:  18.4 inches  approx 46.6 cm
Sett: 27 epi
Treadling is approx 25 - 26 ppi.

I wove a sample and cut it off the loom.  I washed and ironed it.

The sample and weaving on the loom

I was pleased with the result.  Although the sett was slightly closely than I would  normally have used, the open pattern displays well.  The lattice in between keeps the lace areas stable.  On the loom, the open lace areas do not open up.

Here is a close up of the weave structure.

It wove like a dream.  The tension and even beat seemed easy to do. The colour in the picture is rather too yellow,.  The silk is pale old gold.

close up of weave structure

The lattice surrounding the open lace area sets off the pattern and I think makes it more dramatic.
I found it very difficult to get a good picture of the actual colour of the silk.  It changes according to the lighting conditions.  In sunlight it seems to sparkle gold. On a dull day, it appears somewhat washed out, as you can see on this photograph.

White silk stole and new old gold silk huck lace scarf. 

close up showing the pattern of the stole and scarf

Finishing the scarf 

To finish the scarf, I hemmed the ends and then made short plaits along the width.The scarf was then washed.  The fringes were trimmed after washing.

The length of the scarf is 209 cm  82.25 inches
The width of the scarf is 41.5 cm 16.25 inches
The twisted fringes are 5 cm  2 inches.

I was very pleased with the result. I shall enjoy wearing this scarf.  The challenge was 'A Lace for All Seasons.'  This scarf can be worn as a dressy evening accessory or wrapped around the neck to keep warm.  It looks very good with a dark coat.


Happy weaving for all seasons.

Don't forget that my online workshop for the Braid Society starts in two weeks.


I have just returned from the Weave Fair in Vaxjo, Sweden.  I was thrilled to meet Madelyn van der Hoogt. The book about Huck Lace is one of the many invaluable books that she has written.

As you can see, I am wearing my lovely new silk scarf, after all, it was a Weave Fair!


Susan J Foulkes October 2017