Rigid Heddle Weaving Patterns

Diamond Stripe Towel Weave Along

The Diamond Stripe Towel Weave Along is a very popular project that usually runs in January.

My Diamond Stripe Towel pattern has been such a popular seller that many buyers requested a video series as well. I love running weave alongs as they are so much fun and foster a huge amount of enthusiasm.

January is usually the perfect time, after the hustle and bustle of Christmas and New Year’s have died down and weaving folks are looking to settle in with a new project.

This year enrolments will open on January 15th (Australian calendar).

This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for further information.

Let’s go through some questions I know may be springing to mind for you.

So, how will the weave along work?

All participants will need to purchase the pattern to join in. The pattern is available here as a digital download and can be purchased anytime in the lead up to the weave along.

For those who are members of my Online Weaving School, participation in the weave along is free (but the pattern needs to be purchased separately.)

For non members, there will be a small purchase fee of $5USD to join in to the weave along, in addition to the purchase of the pattern.

Can you tell me about the pattern?

The pattern is for weaving two kitchen (tea) towels on one warp. We use two heddles to weave the pattern, and both towels are the same apart from the weft colour. The design is reversible and looks wonderful on both sides.

I find that using bright and strongly contrasting colours works really well and shows up the diamonds beautifully – but of course, as the weaver you can choose whatever colours you wish.

What level of weaver will this project be suitable for?

If you have never woven with two heddles before, I highly recommend that you first go through my Weaving with Two Heddles class. This will give you the knowledge, practice and confidence to leap right into the weave along.

Some weavers will be able to follow the weave along just fine with the videos and the pattern – others may find the introduction of two heddles in a project a bit overwhelming. In the Two Heddles class you weave a sampler and explore all the different things you can achieve with two heddles before you ever commit to a project.

What kind of loom will I need to participate?

You will need a rigid heddle loom with a 20″ weaving width. Yes, you can make skinnier towels on a smaller loom if that is what you’re working with, but obviously they will be a little different to mine.

What other tools will be needed?

As I mentioned, we will be weaving on two heddles. Yes, you can weave these towels on one heddle with heddle rods, but I will not be providing instructions on how to do that.

I have used 2 x 12.5 dent heddles. Yes, you can use 2 x 10 dent if that is what you have, your sett would just be a little looser than mine.

You will need a stick shuttle, threading and reed hook, scissors, etc.

I use a serger and a sewing machine to hem my towels and will be showing how to do this in the weave along. My preference for kitchen towels is to not have a fringe. I understand however, that not everyone has a sewing machine and knows how to use it, so hemstitch with a short fringe is perfectly acceptable.

I only have a 16″ rigid heddle loom. Can I still participate?

Yes! I have provided some helpful instructions to assist those with a smaller loom.

I already have 2 x 10 dent heddles. Do I need to purchase the 12.5 dents to participate?

No. I’m a big fan of using what you have on hand and not making unnecessary purchases. I will be providing some helpful details for adjusting the numbers to suit 10 dent heddles.

What yarns will I need?

The full yarn details and amounts are provided when you purchase the pattern, but you will want to use plant based fibre for kitchen towels. Here are a couple of my favourites for kitchen towels:

Maurice Brass ard 8/2 cotton

Maurice Brassard 8/2 cottolin

Can I weave these towels with 8/4 cotton?

Yes, you can! In fact, in last year’s weave along, I updated the content to include a supplementary section for those who wish to use 8/4 instead of 8/2 cotton.

I highly recommend that you use 12 or 12.5 or even 15 dent heddles, if you have them. I feel that 10 dent heddles would be a bit looser than I would like for this size of cotton.

You can also double 8/2 cotton in the weft if you like. More information on this is available in the class. Here are the yarns I used:

Maurice Brassard 8/4 cotton

Ada 8/2 cotton

Will there be a deadline for completing the weave along?

Enrolments will be open to non members for several days before closing and commencing the class. Members will be able to access the class permanently, as long as their membership is active.

Once you are enrolled, there is no time limit on completion of the class. It is always fun to weave along with all the other enrolees so you can share progress photos and troubleshoot, but the choice is yours.

So, what if I’m away when the weave along starts, can I still participate?

Yes, you can still participate, but if you are a non member you will need to enrol in the class within that opening window. Members can enrol anytime.

Where will the weave along take place?

At my Online Weaving School. Weaving School members will undergo automatic enrolment and non members will be able to purchase the weave along as a separate class.

If you already have an account with my weaving school, it will be quick and easy for you to join in the weave along. If you don’t have an account, I recommend that you make one (this is free) so that you are ready and familiar with the site when the weave along begins. I also have a short, free class on using the site if you need that extra input.

There is also a weave along community group on Facebook, and the link to join that group is contained within the weave along course.

How will I know when the weave along is released?

You will need to be on my mailing list, where I’ll be giving updates and reminders in during the time leading up to the weave along. If you are already on my mailing list, all you have to do is open my emails when they arrive in your inbox.

If you need to purchase materials for this weave along, I recommend the following suppliers:

The Woolery (US)

Revolution Fibers (US)

Thread Collective (Australia)

I participated in the last weave along, can I join in this one as well?

Absolutely, I would love to have you back! If you have an active membership at the time the Weave Along is running, you can jump in and participate. If you purchased the class as a single purchase when the weave along was last open, you can also just jump back in.

I hope this post has you super excited about joining in to the weave along!

This year there will also be some fun giveaways in the Facebook group 😉

Please do leave any additional questions you may have in the comments sections so that I can address them for you.

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

How to weave Leno on a rigid heddle loom

by Kelly 14 Comments

Leno is a finger controlled weave that gives a lovely airy and lacey look to your weaving.

You can set up Leno on a plain weave threading, as all of the pick up is done at the front of the heddle with a pick up stick and your fingers.

I love that this is a fancy looking but easy to implement technique. Yes, it’s a little slow, but there ain’t nothin’ wrong with that! It can be worked either on an open or closed shed. Today’s tutorial shows you how to work Leno on an open shed.

*This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please read my disclosure policy.

Leno can be used for any project you want an open weave for, but some suggestions are:

Curtains

As a border on a table runner, coupled with plain weave

A bag (my Farmer’s Market Bag pattern is available in my Etsy shop).

For my Leno sample I’m using my Sampleit loom with a 7.5 dent heddle, a worsted weight wool, a stick shuttle and a pick up stick. I didn’t use the full width of my loom, I just wanted a smaller sample.

Leno and plain weave are great friends and I like to combine them for aesthetics. If you don’t plan on using plain weave bands within your Leno, at least start with a few picks of plain weave to begin with as a base.

*Handy Tips:

You will want to advance your warp forward a little more than usual. This is because we are going to be building up warp twist and then making a shed with the pick up stick to pass the shuttle through. If your last row of weaving is too close to the heddle/reed, it will be difficult to find the space to pass the shuttle through.

2. You will want your shuttle to enter from your dominant side. I’m right handed, so I have woven my last pick of plain weave so that the shuttle is on the right of the warp.

3. Your outer most warp thread on the side you’re starting from (in my case, the right) should be in an up position. That doesn’t necessarily mean that your heddle will be in your up position – you will need to try the up and down heddle positions to see which is suitable for that outside warp thread to be up. I placed my heddle in the down position to ensure my outside thread (a slot thread) was up.

Begin by holding the top warp threads aside so that you can see the down shed threads underneath. Take your pick up stick underneath the first thread in the down shed so that sits on top of the stick.

Now release the next warp thread along, which is a top or “up” thread. It will naturally go underneath the pick up stick, which is just what you want.

You now have 2 threads picked up and you may notice that they twist around each other. Dive the pick up stick back down into the warp, holding those top threads out of the way still. Take the point of the stick underneath the next down shed thread so that it sits on top of the stick.

Release the next top thread along, and as before, it naturally springs underneath the stick. At this point you have 2 warp threads on top of the stick and 2 underneath. Dive the stick back down into the warp and repeat the steps, right to the other side.

As you continue your pick up across the warp you should notice that the warp threads are twisted in pairs both below and above the stick. This is how you know that you’re picking up correctly.

When you’ve completed your row of pick up, slide your pick up stick back towards the heddle and leave in place.

Turn the pick up stick on edge and pass your stick shuttle through the shed.

Be sure to fix up and pay attention to your edges, just like you would for straight plain weave. If you need to know more about techniques for weaving neat edges, please watch this video:

Remove the pick up stick and beat. You will feel resistance as a result of the twists being in place, so be gentle and try to beat straight. Remember, this is an airy fabric, we’re not going for densely woven fabric here!

Change to the next shed. I was in the down shed, so now I change to the up shed. Enter the shuttle from the left and pass through the shed, fixing up your edge to weave neatly as before. You will note that the second row of twists that was above your pick up stick when working your pick up has now transferred underneath your new pick.

Beat the new pick, remembering to be gentle and not too firm with your beat. You now have two rows of Leno.

Now you can choose whether you go back and repeat more rows of Leno, or you can do what I’ve done in this photo – alternated bands of plain weave with bands of Leno. Both are very effective, it just depends on the look you’re going for.

If you would like to see a video version of this tutorial, you will find that here:

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, and if so, please leave me comment to let me know. Also feel free to ask any questions you may have down below, I’m happy to help.

Until next time…

Happy Weaving

What is a heddle rod? Part 2- how to install the rod

by Kelly 4 Comments

Last week we talked about how invaluable a heddle rod is to the rigid heddle weaver.

I showed you how to make string heddles for the heddle rod. If you missed that post, please click here.

*This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my disclosure policy.

Now that we know how to make our own string heddles, we can learn how we use them on a heddle rod.

The actual rod needs to be wider than the width of the piece you’re weaving. It can be either flat or round. It should be fairly lightweight and not so large that it is difficult to pick up. It should be smooth but not slippery.

For this tutorial I’m using a smooth but not lacquered wooden dowel measuring 9mm (3/8 of an inch) around. The dowel was purchased at a local hardware store.

Begin by picking up the threads you want to place on the heddle rod according to the pattern or instructions you’re using. It is easiest to pick up the threads in front of the heddle first using a pick up stick. Make sure your heddle (or if you’re using more than one, heddles) are in the down position. This brings slot threads up, and it’s the slot threads we want to pick up.

Once your threads are picked up, slide the front stick towards the heddle and place it on it’s edge. This props up the heddle rod threads at the back of the heddle and differentiates them from all the other threads.

Now you can insert another pick up stick (or stick shuttle if you don’t have the extra pick up stick) into the shed that has been created by the propped up threads behind the heddle/s.

You will need your piece of dowel or whatever you’re using for the heddle rod plus your string heddles handy.

You may find it easier to sit or stand behind the loom for this next part. Working from either right to left (it makes no difference) pick up the threads in order from one side to the other. Keep your pick up stick in place as your visual guide – you can clearly see which threads need to be picked up. Have a string heddle ready at this point.

Bring a string heddle underneath the first thread so that it has a loop on either side of the thread. One loop will be smooth, the other will contain the knot. It is very much preferable not to have your knot near the thread. You want to arrange it so that it will sit on top of the heddle rod.

Bring the two loops of the string heddle together at the top. Note how my knot is sitting at the top rather than at the bottom or underneath the warp thread.

Bring in the heddle rod and slip the loops of the string heddle over it.

Now repeat this step with each warp thread that is sitting on your pick up stick, sliding them onto the heddle rod as you go.

Some of you may like to put the rod down on top of the warp as you organise each string heddle, I like to keep the rod in my left hand while managing the string heddles with my right. It’s a bit fiddly, but I do find it faster. You might need a bit of practice under your belt before you use my approach this though.

Once you have all your string heddles on the rod, you will want to secure them as it is all too common for that heddle rod to slip and then you lose all your hard work!

Some weavers like to use some masking or painter’s tape and place it across the top of the heddle rod.

I have a different and perhaps peculiar method, but it sure does work! I place a rubber band on each end of the rod, close to the string heddles.

Then I run a piece of waste yarn right through the middle of the string heddles, pulling each end of the waste yarn through a rubber band on each end. Then I pull the cut ends of the waste yarn up and tie a bow.

Using this method, my string heddles don’t move and are completely secure on the rod. And no annoying, sticky tape.

If you want to see a video tutorial of this process, you can watch here-

I have a number of classes that make use of heddle rods:

Converting Drafts to a rigid heddle loom

Overshot on a rigid heddle loom (coming soon)

Pinwheels on a rigid heddle loom

All of my free Krokbragd videos on Youtube are set up with a heddle rod too-

I hope you enjoyed this two part heddle rod series, don’t forget to catch the first post on making string heddles here if you haven’t already.

Be sure to leave any questions or comments below, I love to hear from you.

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

Wash Your Hands Towels Photo Gallery

by Kelly 3 Comments

The Wash Your Hands Towels have been such a successful project.

Weavers from all over the world, most of them in some form of lockdown at the time, took up the challenge to weave some beautiful towels.

*This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for further information.

If this is the first time you have come across this project, you can read all about it in this post.

Basically, I wanted to share a free rigid heddle project to help weavers re-focus and occupy themselves in a positive way during the beginning of the pandemic, when none of us really knew what to expect or how it was going to pan out.

When brainstorming for a project, everywhere I turned I was hearing “wash your hands” and that became my inspiration for the towels.

It was also important that the project be easy enough for beginners but lovely enough to interest more seasoned weavers. It was thrilling to see that weavers of all different levels threw themselves so enthusiastically into this project – and that 3 months later towels are still being produced thick and fast!

Almost every day I’m seeing a new set of towels shared on social media. Many of them are so varied and in a myriad of colour ways.

Some weavers have chosen to follow my instructions exactly, others have changed the colours, and some have merely used my towels as inspiration and put their own spin on the design. I love them all!

One of the yarns I recommend for these towels is Sugar n Cream but I’ve also been hearing really good things about I love this Cotton! It’s not readily available here so I haven’t tried it, but from all reports it’s a really lovely yarn and suitable for this project.

I wanted to create another space to showcase at least some of the towels in a gallery:

I hope this gallery of gorgeousness inspires you to weave a set of Wash Your Hands Towels too!

Make sure you visit this post for the printable PDF, materials list and video class links.

This free class is also available at my Online Weaving School.

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

Free Style Tapestry Weaving on a Rigid Heddle Loom

by Kelly 8 Comments

You know sometimes you do something with absolutely no notion of the possible future repercussions?

That is what happened when I made this freestyle tapestry series. I was really doing it for me, but I decided to turn the camera on and bring my Youtube audience along for the ride.

Since then, the 4 video series has gone viral on Youtube, with one of the videos winging it’s way towards 1 million views! Crazy!

These videos were recorded pre professional lighting and sound equipment. I was using my son’s camera.

This video series on Youtube began after a busy morning, a tired me and a desire to weave something that would be rewarding and yet didn’t take too much brain power.

I was too tired to sit down and calculate a project or go through my stash to see whether I had enough yarn to complete a project.

So instead, I found some bits and pieces of yarns left over from other projects, put a short warp of a fingering weight cotton, hand dyed and left over from a previous project, on my rigid heddle loom (which only took around 20 minutes to do), sat down with my bag of left overs, and just started weaving.

How often do we gift ourselves with this kind of luxury? To weave with no set plan, to invest in the process more so than in the expected outcome? I know that I definitely don’t do this enough!

This kind of weaving is so relaxing and free-ing. It is not a fast way to weave, but when you get in the groove it doesn’t seem to matter how long it takes.

With this kind of weaving we use the basic rules but we bend and stretch them. We say, “I want to do this!”, and we do it. We push the weaving around, we beat it up and down, we put in colour as we go, we use all kinds of yarns. And we love the process.

So, what do you need to get started?

*A rigid heddle loom

Well, a rigid heddle loom is really perfect. It will take care of our 2 sheds and our tension beautifully, so that once warped all we have to think about is the weaving. The heddle goes up, the heddle goes down. Repeat. Simple.

You could do this on a Sampleit or Cricket loom with no problems as you don’t need a wide width – you can make the piece whatever size you wish.

I used a 10 dent heddle for my piece.

You can also weave a piece like this on a simple frame loom or tapestry loom, but using a loom that has the ability to change sheds is really helpful. My Mirrix Big Sister is an example of a tapestry loom with a shedding device.

*A stick shuttle or two.

Using a lot of colours in one project doesn’t lend itself well to stick shuttles, as you would need a lot of them. Therefore, I usually use a couple of stick shuttles and for the rest of the colours I just pass them through with my hands and keep the weft yarn in either butterflies or little balls. Butterflies are neater though. I have a video tutorial on how to make them!

*A threading and reed hook

The reed hook is for pulling threads through the slots of the heddle/reed when you’re warping. The threading hook is to pull the threads through the holes in the heddle/reed when threading the loom after warping. I love and use these Ashford Double Ended Hooks, I have a bunch of them in case I lose any and use them constantly.

*A Tapestry Needle

This is really handy for if you intend to hemstitch your piece and also for needle weaving extra yarn into gappy sections if you want to. A tapestry needle with a bent tip is even better!

*Additional beater

You will need this because we are creating a weft faced weave here, meaning that we want the weft to totally cover the warp. The heddle/reed that we normally use for beating does not push the weft down enough as it is designed more for a balanced weave.

There are a number of options for an additional beater. A large fork works really well. I also have a little tapestry beater that I use. There are “proper” tapestry beaters available as well, but I would only purchase one if I was going to be doing this type of weaving a lot.

What about the warp calculations?

Well, as I pointed out, I didn’t calculate at all, but my warp was around 8 inches wide and 40 inches long.

And the yarns?

A variety of yarns were used, but I did use quite a lot of wool in light worsted/dk weight and also in an aran weight. Some were fingering weight. Some were hand dyed, some were commercial.

I also used some cottons in various weights.

Techniques used:

Mostly this type of weaving is just plain weave (1 pick in the up shed, 1 pick in the down shed, and so on) that is packed down tight.

In some areas I would build up mounds or shapes by taking the weft part of the way through in one shed, change the shed and then take the yarn back the same way I just came in.

For example, I brought the green in from my right in the down shed. Roughly half way across I stopped and took the yarn down through the warp at the back rather than continuing it to the left hand side for a full pick.

I changed into the up shed and took the green back to the left.

This is a classic tapestry technique that allows the weaver to begin building up areas of colour, usually to make shapes.

If you keep ceasing the weft yarn and turning back in the same place each time, you will build a block or straight edged shape. Or, by varying the place in the warp where you turn back the weft, you can taper the shape to make it rounded.

The first and second videos of the series show in detail how this technique is used.

In a number of areas I have used outlining. This is basically putting in a darker weft that either outlines a shape you’ve made or just provides a good contrast between one colour and the outline colour. You can see here that I’ve used some black to outline a green section, and the contrast is very effective:

In some places I combined outlining with needle weaving. Needle weaving allows you get weft yarn into tricky spots. I had created a valley in the middle of my piece, but then I wanted to fill it with a small, highlighted section. I started by outlining a “jewel” shape with my black yarn and a tapestry needle:

Next, I brought in a brightly coloured and highly contrasting hand dyed wool with the needle, and wove that into the space that I had outlined with the black wool:

Needle weaving isn’t the only way to do this, but it’s easy to get exact smaller shapes and sizes within the piece.

If you’re interested to know how the piece actually starts out and how you achieve all those cool curves, the 3rd video restarts another piece in order to show just how it’s done.

And then finally the 4th video has an added bonus of demonstrating how to weave a circle within your piece using a simple template. You can also embellish with embroidery, which I did in some sections of my finished piece. This is easier to do while your weaving is still on the loom.

Due to the huge response from this video series, I decided to make a second freestyle tapestry series for Youtube. This one was inspired by the Van Gogh painting, Starry Night. The video series is filmed mostly in real time and is at a very relaxed, step by step pace.

And, of course you will want to check out the original 4 part video series beginning with part 1:

If you want to get a little more serious or delve into some more traditional techniques for weaving tapestry on your rigid heddle loom, I have an online course that will be just the thing for you.

Some of the topics covered in Tapestry on a rigid heddle Loom include soumak, interlocking, straight lines and how to use a tapestry cartoon. I’m sure you will love it!

Do you have any questions? Have you tried this type of freestyle tapestry weaving? Or do you intend to?

Let me know in the comments below, I love to hear from you!

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

How to weave more stunning patterns on a rigid heddle loom!

by Kelly 9 Comments

Making patterns on your rigid heddle loom is a very popular topic, particularly among newer weavers who are experimenting to see just what they can achieve on a rigid heddle loom.

*This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure for further information.

Last week I made a tutorial that demonstrated 3 ways to jazz up your plain weave.

This is part two of a tutorial on how to jazz up your plain weave. Part one showed you how to use stripes, dots and dashes, loop pile and butterflies to add some extra pizazz. If you missed part one, please start here and progress on to tutorial two afterwards.

You will need a rigid heddle loom to weave this sampler. In the video, you can see that I’ve used my Sampleit loom.

This downloadable PDF has all the information you need to follow this tutorial in conjunction with the video:

More-Ways-to-jazz-up-plain-weave-part-2-copy Download

For instructions to part one of the tutorial, don’t forget to check out the first article here.

There are so many simple ways to push past plain weave. As I was weaving the sampler I found it hard to limit the number of techniques so that I didn’t end up making this series a year long!

Part two of the tutorial covers and additional 3 techniques that you can use to make your plain weave more exciting or just for fun to explore.

All of these pattern techniques can be worked on a rigid heddle loom that is already set up for plain weave – that is, every hole and slot is threaded.

Doubled Weft (pictured above).

The first technique is straightforward and simple but gives a very cool effect that really pops against the background, contrast colour.

2. Pick Up Rows (the blue blocks below)

This is such a simple concept. I made a pick up pattern and repeated it over and over (with the blue yarn) and only one pick of plain weave (maroon) in between). What you end up with is towers and dots. I had a very small amount of hand dyed rainbow yarn left, so I threw in just one pick in the middle of all the blue, to break it up and create more interest.

3. Staggered Pick Up (the bright green that actually looks like yellow, pictured above).

This is a 2 pick up stick pattern. In the video, I used just one stick and took it out each time I wanted to pick up the other pattern. But, I wouldn’t recommend that unless you’re only weaving a couple of rows, it’s way too tedious. If you want to weave a larger amount of the staggered pickup, a heddle rod is definitely the way to go! Check out this video for how to do that:

And of course, don’t forget to watch video two so that you can see exactly how I worked these techniques:

If you enjoyed this two part series, you will love my Online Weaving School! With over 60 classes currently available, there really is something for everyone. I would love to see you there!

Until next time…

Happy weaving!

3 Ways to Jazz up Plain Weave

by Kelly 8 Comments

I love plain weave, I really do. But sometimes I just think that it is so fun to jazz it up with something special!

Today I’m going to show you three ways that you can jazz up your plain weave, and have some fun with it.

I’ve written several other articles on simple things you can do on the loom for major impact. Things like Colour and Weave , Rigid Heddle Patterns for Beginners and techniques for Making Pictures with your Loom.

*This post contains affiliate links.

I’ve structured this lesson as a sampler for those of you who want to follow along with me and weave a sampler of your own. I used my 10″ Sampleit loom, but any rigid heddle loom will do as we’re only weaving an 8″ width.

All of the yarns, calculations and warp details are contained within this printable PDF, so please download that to access all of that information:

3-Ways-to-jazz-up-plain-weave-part-1 Download

STRIPES

The first example for the sampler is a pretty easy one, but has many variations that really pack a punch visually – stripes!

My example doesn’t look much like stripes because I was using one weft colour in blue and the other matched the maroon warp – so rather than traditional stripes you can end up with dots, dashes and squiggly lines. Pretty cool!

2. LOOPS

This is a super fun technique that requires a bit of patience but is not hard to do. You use a knitting needle to pull up loops of weft between warp threads. This gives a really interesting and textured look, but also has practical applications, like for wash cloths. I employed this technique as a feature in my Lux Hand Towels pattern.

3. BUTTERFLIES

Admittedly, my first attempt at butterflies looked rather spider like, but the second lot were much better. Whatever the case, this is a fun and unique technique where you use a pick up stick to make extra long floats and then CUT them while on the loom! Pretty wild, huh?

In conjunction with the PDF I have for you here, you will definitely want to check out the corresponding video for a full demonstration of all the techniques. You can view that here:

In the video, quite a few links were mentioned. I’m putting them here so that they are easy for you to find-

Online Weaving School

Sampleit loom

Woe to Go! Beginner Rigid Heddle Weaving class

Neat edges for colour changes video

I hope you really enjoy this little sampler project and that it gets your creative weaving juices flowing over! Which of the three techniques is your favourite? Will you weave a sampler of your own?

Stay tuned, as next week I will have part two of this series ready with even more techniques for jazzing up your plain weave!

Until then…

Happy Weaving!

Colour and Weave

by Kelly 12 Comments

Recently I was talking about patterns for the rigid heddle beginner (you can read that post here if you missed it). I briefly mentioned Colour and Weave as an additional technique to jazz up your weaving, but decided that it would need to have it’s own discussion, as it is so versatile and varied.

Firstly, what is colour and weave?

Well, it’s very simple. It’s the introduction of colour, usually in a set sequence, first in the warp and then also in the weft. When you begin weaving, that is when the magic happens!

The prearranged colours cross paths and have a party on your loom 🥳

Plaid, which I discussed recently is a type of colour and weave, as you have set colours in set amounts in the warp and then cross with the same colours and amounts in the weft. Take a look at this post if you want to see some examples of plaids I made on my weaving software.

*This post contains some affiliate links. For further information please see my disclosure policy.

When the warp and weft colours cross over each other, they can produce some very interesting effects. You can use colour and weave in all kinds of weave structures, but it works great for plain weave and is perfect for the newer weaver. You are still weaving your familiar plain weave, but it can look very different! My Candy Store Scarf is the perfect example of this.

Colour and weave is wonderful for the rigid heddle weaver as it is such a simple “next step” once you have practiced plain weave and are looking for a new and interesting challenge.

Some of the most famous and popular examples of colour and weave are Log Cabin and Houndstooth. These are often considered a “next step” for weavers venturing out from limited colour plain weave.

Although you can use multiple colours for both of these weaves, it can be a good idea to limit the colours to two that contrast well, otherwise the beauty of the crossing colours can become a bit lost.

Houndstooth colour arrangement is very simple, whereas log cabin is a little more complicated and warping can take quite some time. So, if you are a newer weaver, definitely have a go at houndstooth before attempting log cabin.

Jane Patrick’s “The Weaver’s Idea Book” is a great resource for getting started with this technique. She has a section on weaving a colour and weave sampler and it includes many examples or suggestions for colour arrangements.

If you’re interested in exploring colour and weave, you have come to the right place! Here is a list of resources I have that can help.

Log Cabin Table Runner Class

Log Cabin Rable Runner PDF

Houndstooth Placemats Class

Candy Store Scarf PDF

The Town Bag PDF

The Weekend Scarf PDF

Finally, I want to mention the applications of colour and weave beyond 2 shafts. Pinwheels are an easily recognisable example of this and can be woven on 4 or 8 shafts. Even though there are more shafts, the initial warp colour setup, then weaving colour sequence is still an essential aspect. My Pinwheels Table Topper class shows you how to set up your rigid heddle loom to weave this beautiful 4 shaft pattern.

When you get into 4 shafts and beyond, you can play around with your colour placement in the warp and weft in order to highlight certain areas of pattern. When I wove some bread towels for myself, I included a contrasting strip of red in the warp.

This is really not a colour and weave because I had already threaded the loom with the intended pattern – the pattern didn’t appear strictly because of my colour placement.

But I still think it’s worth mentioning to highlight how patterns can appear or at least become more prominent when selective colour arrangement is used. If I had planned this piece better, I would have ensured in the design process that the strip of red was going to be wide enough for one full repeat of the pattern – you can see part of the pattern has been cut off.

Another example from a 4 shaft project for the floor loom or table loom weavers is the Bright and Beautiful Towels.

This project uses a twill weave structure but strategically uses colour in the warp and weft so that they meed at specific points of the pattern AND so that they weave squares. This twill pattern is beautiful to begin with, but playing with the colour arrangement makes it truly unique and eye catching.

I think it’s a wonder that so many fascinating patterns can appear just by the meeting of colour!

I hope you enjoyed this post, and please leave any thoughts of questions you may have in the comments below – I would love to hear from you!

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

What is Clasped Weft? A step by step tutorial.

by Kelly 23 Comments

Just when you think you’ve tried everything in weaving, you come across something different, like Clasped Weft.

Clasped weft can be a great “next step” for newer weavers with a few plain weave projects completed and who are ready for something a bit more adventurous.

The cool thing about weaving clasped weft is that, similar to Colour and Weave, most of the work is in using colours to make your weaving look fancy, when in actual fact it is quite simple.

The clasped weft technique uses 2, 3 or 4 interlocking weft colours. Using 2 colours to begin with is the easiest and least complicated approach. If you have done any tapestry, you may already be familiar with the interlocking technique.

*This post contains affiliate links. for more information, see my disclosure policy.

We mainly use a plain weave structure (though clasped weft can actually be used in other structures, such as twill). It is a perfect technique for a rigid heddle loom, because, although it’s simple, it looks special and has big impact.

Before we go through the tutorial steps, let’s look at some (rather poorly drawn, sorry about that!) diagrams to get a clearer idea of how this works. The drawings are over simplified, as I haven’t drawn in the warp and weft interlacement, but I have drawn in the edge warp threads:

Clasped weft with 2 weft colours.

Clasped weft with 3 colours.

Clasped weft with 4 colours.

Now let’s go through the tutorial steps so that you can get clear on how clasped weft is actually woven. Today, we are just focusing on working the two weft colour technique, as I believe this is the best place to begin if you’re not familiar with clasped weft or haven’t attempted it before.

Begin with two contrasting weft yarns of the same weight. I have used one with a dark navy colour and another that is variegated with bright colours.

See the tips section below for more on why variegated works perfectly.

My warp and weft yarns were all light worsted/dk/ Australian 8 ply weight. Wool, acrylic or cotton are all fine.

One weft yarn is loaded onto a stick shuttle, in my case this was the dark navy. The other colour is left in a ball or on the cone. My variegated colour was in a skein and so I wound it into a yarn cake with my ball winder.

A yarn cake (also known as a centre pull ball) is particularly good to work with for clasped weft, because it sits nice and flat on the floor and won’t roll away. The yarn also feeds off the yarn cake seamlessly, which makes the whole process that little bit easier. If you have a ball, you may want to sit it in a box or basket on the floor to contain it.

Place the ball of yarn on the floor at your left. It doesn’t matter if you place it on the right or left, but for the purpose of this tutorial it’s on the left.

Because the ball (let’s call it the contrast yarn) is on the left, we enter the shed with the stick shuttle on the right. Again, it doesn’t matter whether you are in the up or down shed, but I am beginning in the down shed.

Take your stick shuttle across from the right hand side to the left as though you’re going to weave a regular plain weave pick.

When your shuttle reaches the left hand side, pick up the contrast yarn and place it over the top of the stick shuttle.

Take the shuttle the rest of the way through the shed at the left – as you would for your normal plain weave pick.

On the right hand side (where your shuttle entered), tidy up and prepare your weft yarn as though you’re going to beat the pick in. If you’re not familiar with how to do this, watch my free video on How to Weave Neat Edges. DON’T BEAT.

Take the shuttle straight back into the same shed. Don’t change sheds, and don’t beat! Take the shuttle through, back to the right where you first entered the shed.

As you return the shuttle to the right, you will find that the navy yarn is linked or clasped with the contrast yarn. This means that the contrast yarn is pulled into the shed. Now you get to decide how far you will pull the contrast yarn into the shed. A little? A lot? Your choice, depending on the effect you want to achieve.

Hold both yarns under tension on either side to manipulate where you want the two yarns to go.

When you’re happy with the yarn positioning, beat the picks into place. You will notice that both yarns are now doubled in the shed.

Change to the next shed (in my case I had been working in the down shed, so I go on to change to the up shed).

Continue weaving in the exact same manner in the new shed and repeat until you’ve finished weaving.

Isn’t your head just swimming with all the possibilities of this wonderful technique?

Clasped weft can be extremely planned or extremely random. It looks wonderful both ways and is just so much fun to weave.

Here are a few recommendations for best results:

1. Use contrasting weft colours.

Light and dark will make the weaving pop.

2. Use the same weight yarn for both warp and weft.

You will get better results and avoid the not so pretty lumps and bumps that can occur at interlocking points.

3. Variegated yarn is perfect for this.

For the 2 colour clasped weft technique, a variegated yarn with a contrasting yarn looks really cool! (See photos below and above).

4. Using the same colour as the warp for one of your weft colours works great.

Too much colour can confuse the contrast of the clasped weft lines. In the tutorial, I used the same navy yarn for warp and weft no.1. I then used a contrast yarn for weft no.2.

If you like the look of clasped weft as much as I do, I have some great news for you! I have 3 free Youtube video tutorials that will teach you each of these techniques. Start with video 1 so that you can practice the technique, before moving on to the others.

Clasped Weft with 2 colours

Clasped Weft with 3 colours

Clasped Weft with 4 colours

I mentioned that the clasped weft technique can also be used for other weave structures. This can create really interesting and impressive special effects. One of my Etsy patterns, The Cityscape Scarf is a perfect example of a clasped weft combined with a twill.

Try it out and let me know what you think. Leave me a comment here or under any of the Youtube videos, I love to hear from you!

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

Weaving for Christmas

by Kelly 3 Comments

My favourite time of the year is coming and what better way to celebrate the festivities than by weaving for family, friends and your home!

I have quite a few free video tutorials to get those creative juices flowing: