Projects From Our Study Group Part Two

 The article that follows is from weaver, Anne Shyjean of Grass Valley, CA.  She doubled her efforts using both the RFG study group and Complex Weavers Study group for Early Weaving Drafts and Manuscripts.

 

Background and Processes in Weaving Shadow Weave from an Historical Document                                                                               by Anne Shyjan

 I am in the Early Weaving Drafts and Manuscripts study group of Complex Weavers. For my sample this year, I am interested in working up one or more samples from Franz Donat’s 1907 publication entitled “Die farbige Gewebemusterung“ which provides drafts for various color and weave patterning effects. The publication includes several patterns that Donat describes as “schattigen Bindungen” (which Google translates as “shady bindings”). Remarkably, some of these “shady bindings” appear to be the same as what we now call shadow weave. I would like to contribute what I learn from that work to this study group, to the extent relevant.

The Donat publication is in the German language, which adds an extra layer of complexity. Drawdowns, weave structure and the warp and weft color are shown in Donat, but not threading, tie up, or treadling. The drafts are also found on Handweaving.net, so it’s easy to just use that. But I also want to derive some of them myself so that I can see how it is done. Once I get a better understanding of shadow weave, I think deriving the missing information will be straightforward.

It is interesting to me that both Atwater and Donat seem to have independently derived this weave structure 35 years apart, and that Atwater’s name for it is very similar to Donat’s description.

I have some results to share also. I wove multiple pieces on one threading, and experimented with using thick and thin in the weft.

First I wove a few pieces with the same yarns used as warp. An example is shown in the first photo.  The pattern is as expected with typical shadow weave. I did notice that from some angles the horizontal stripes seem to pop to the foreground, but from other angles the vertical stripes appear to be in the foreground. This happens even when looking at just one side of the fabric. Maybe this visual shifting contributes to the “jitter” effect.

 

I saw some patterns in Handwoven which used either thicker or thinner yarns as weft. It occurred to me that if I use one thicker dark weft and one thinner light weft, the stripes might be more visible in either the horizontal or vertical direction. My second photo shows the result of using that combination. 

When I was weaving the thick dark/thin light weft piece, I noticed that the thin weft almost disappeared, and I wondered if I could get an even more dramatic result using thick dark and thin dark. This would not really be shadow weave, since all of the weft is dark. However, the sample made with this combination was very striking and the pattern very visible without being jittery. At least it is another option when you have a shadow weave threading, if you feel like trying something different. (Note that if you use all dark or all white yarn of the same size in the weft, the pattern is practically obliterated.)

I also liked the fabric from all of these. I expected the pieces with 3/2 cotton weft would feel stiff, but they are quite soft.

Details:
Draft = Handweaving.net #63892, which is a 12 shaft shadow weave from a 1907 Franz Donat manuscript.

Warp: Bockens 22/2 cottolin in dark blue and 8/2 Brassard cottolin in natural; 20 epi
Weft 1: Bockens 22/2 cottolin in dark blue and 8/2 Brassard cottolin in natural (same as warp)
Weft 2: dark blue 3/2 cotton and white 16/2 cotton (dark thick and light thin in the weft)
Weft 3: dark blue, teal and purple 3/2 cotton and a very thin dark blue merino blend 13200 ypp (dark thick and dark thin in the weft)

This is a portion of draft 63892.  See Handweaving.net for the full draft.