Innholdsfortegnelse for Winter 2025 i Handwoven

We’re all here, reading this particular weaving magazine, because of something Linda Ligon did fifty years ago. What did she do? On what sounds almost like a whim, she started a publishing company. Here she is, describing what happened: “Talk about naive…. An ex-high school English teacher with a nine-month-old baby, a few hundred dollars of savings, and the idea that, what the heck, I would publish a weaving magazine in my spare time. It was for sure a dining table operation at first. I had this big drawing board that I pinned everything to, and moved it off the table at mealtimes. I had invested in a primitive typesetting machine (it didn’t have a screen, so I couldn’t see if I was making typos), an old camera, and a…

Many weavers turn to inkle weaving or kumihimo to make coordinating hanging tabs or straps for their projects. For those who want to finish their handwovens with something more extravagant, there’s passementerie—tassels, ribbons, and decorative cording. Two skilled passementerie artists, Jessica Light and Elizabeth Ashdown, have written books on the subject aimed at weavers. Both books cover similar topics: the history of passementerie, its use in the past and the modern day, different styles of trims and tassels, and ideas for creating original designs. While both provide clear guidance for the beginner, the two books seem intended for different types of readers. FOR THE TRADITIONALIST As one of the most renowned passementerie weavers in the United Kingdom, Jessica Light has made a career of creating embellishments for historic buildings and…

STRUCTURE Plain weave with Ghiordes knots. EQUIPMENT Rigid-heddle or 2-shaft loom, 8" weaving width; 10-dent rigid heddle or 10-dent reed; 3–4 stick shuttles. YARNS Warp: 12/6 cotton (1,430 yd/lb, Halcyon Yarn), natural, 160 yd. Weft: 12/6 cotton for hems, 8 yd. Shetland (100% wool; 1,800 yd/lb; Harrisville), Marigold, 384 yd; Azure, 28 yd; Blackberry, 20 yd. Bulky (50% alpaca/50% wool; 205 yd/lb; 45 yd/100 g; Blue Sky Fibers), Claret, 108 yd (three 45 yd balls for two bags). Yarn notes: 12/6 cotton is still available from Halcyon Yarn, listed as Seine Twine or Swedish Cotton Warp. The alpaca/wool blend is still available from Blue Sky Fibers, but colors are limited. Lion Brand’s LB Collection Fifty Fifty, available in a wide range of colors, is very similar. OTHER SUPPLIES ⅓ yd…

STRUCTURE Monk’s belt, plain weave, and honeycomb. EQUIPMENT 4-shaft loom, 21" weaving width; 9- or 12-dent reed; 2–3 shuttles; 3 bobbins. YARNS Warp: 8/2 cotton (3,360 yd/lb; Georgia Yarn Company), Natural, 2,024 yd. Weft: 8/2 cotton, Natural, 594 yd. 8/2 cotton (3,360 yd/lb; Valley Yarns), #6394 Royal Lilac, 625 yd; #2574 Heather, 510 yd. 8/2 cotton (3,360 yd/lb; Yarn Barn of Kansas), #04 Plum Green, 292 yd. 6/2 cotton (2,520 yd/lb; Yarn Barn of Kansas), Sage, 298 yd; Royal, 110 yd. 6/2 cotton (2,520 yd/lb; Georgia Yarn Company), Natural, 91 yd. 10/2 cotton (4,200 yd/lb; Georgia Yarn Company), Carolina Blue, 48 yd. WARP LENGTH 368 ends 5½ yd long (includes floating selvedges; allows 16" for take-up, 27" for loom waste). SETTS Warp: 18 epi (2/dent in a 9-dent reed or…

• Dana wanted her finished runner to be about 69" (including fringe), but you can easily adjust the project length (or width) for your table by adding or subtracting pattern repeats. Make sure you take into account how your desired dimensions will affect your warp and weft yardage requirements. • The pattern weft, Plump, comes in a wide range of colorways. Swap in the color that works with your personal style or home décor. • Dana opted for Naturel as her background yarn color, but swapping out the color of the warp and/or tabby weft is another way to highlight the pattern weft and make the mountains pop! • If you’d prefer to hem your runner rather than adding fringe, you can skip Step 3—you won’t need to leave 8"…

STRUCTURE Waffle weave. EQUIPMENT 7-shaft loom, 22" weaving width; 12-dent reed; 1 shuttle; 4 bobbins. YARNS Warp: Plaid towel: 8/2 cotton (3,360 yd/lb; Maurice Brassard; Yarn Barn of Kansas), #4271 Jeans, 336 yd; #112 Slate, 168 yd; #101 White, 382 yd. Striped/variegated towels: 8/2 cotton, #101 White, 1,392 yd. Weft: Plaid towel: 8/2 cotton, #4271 Jeans, 187 yd; #112 Slate, 94 yd; #101 White, 202 yd. Striped/variegated towels: 8/2 cotton, #4271 Jeans, #112 Slate, and #101 White, 118 yd each. 8/2 space-dyed cotton (3,360 yd/lb; Maurice Brassard; Lunatic Fringe Yarns), #9836 Blue Jay, 570 yd. All towels: Cotton sewing thread for hems, white, 100 yd. WARP LENGTH Plaid towel: 506 ends 1¾ yd long (includes floating selvedges; allows 4" for take-up, 25" for loom waste). Striped/variegated towels: 506 ends 2¾…

Warp and weft possibilities • Your warp color order should be specific to the fabric you are using. The color on shaft 4 will show on top of the strip, while the color on shaft 3 will blend with the weft yarn within cells. See photo below. • A color legend is often found along a commercial fabric’s selvedge. If one is available, it is an excellent resource for selecting warp colors. • For weft, 5/2 or 3/2 cotton will also work successfully—but the runner’s hand will be softer than when woven with 8/4 carpet warp. Choosing and using fabrics • Each fabric has its own personality and quirks—some delightful, some not so much. What looks and feels great flat may be ho-hum when scrunched, and vice versa. • If…

For her Dicey Dish Towels, Sheila O’Hara started with this 16-shaft historic draft by Gustaf Hermann Oelsner (#34281 at Handweaving.net). She changed it to use 14 shafts for patterning and 2 shafts for plain weave selvedges. This profile draft comes from an anonymous pattern book (dated 1771–1835) from Pennsylvania. You can find it as #80319. Learn how to apply different structures to the profile blocks using Handweaving.net’s tools at https://handweaving.net/videos. Here’s a four-shaft color-and-weave pattern from a 1907 German weaving book by Franz Donat. It’s #63524, and would be a good place to experiment with colors in warp or weft. Modern tools for curious weavers  HANDWEAVING.NET HAS OVER 76,000 DRAFTS JUST WAITING FOR YOU— plus online tools that work on any device and make it easy to customize drafts for…

Many weavers were deeply sorry to hear about the closing of Jaggerspun—the source of wonderful yarns including their Superfine Merino, Maine Line worsted wool, and, perhaps saddest of all, their Zephyr wool/silk blend. Well, I’m here to bring you good tidings! I believe that we now have a replacement for Zephyr: It’s a brand new yarn called Zephira, from Revolution Fibers. For this Yarn Lab, I put the two yarns to the test, weaving up nine samples in deflected doubleweave. One set of three uses Zephyr, and two additional sets of three use Zephira in the same patterns—but in different colors, to better show how it weaves up. I designed the samples using a name draft to honor my grandfather, George Relyea. (I outline how I did that on my…

Since 1876 Arizona FIBER CREEK Prescott AZ 86305 (928) 717-1774 www.fibercreekprescott.com info@fibercreekprescott.com California CUSTOM HANDWEAVERS Mountain View Tel: (650) 967-0831 Fax: (650) 967-1005 www.customhandweavers.com webemit@sbcglobal.net CUSTOM HANDWEAVING Redondo Beach Tel: (310) 316-0910 or: (866) 656-1060 www.nancyscustomhandweaving.com customhandweavin@aol.com JULIAN WEAVING WORKS Julian (760) 765-2432 info@weaverslink.com REVOLUTION FIBERS San Diego www.revolutionfibers.com sales@revolutionfibers.com SAN FRANCISCO FIBERS CO. Oakland (510) 893-2015 www.sanfranciscofiber.com lou@sffiber.com Colorado BOUNTIFUL Livermore (877) 586-9332 info@bountifulspinweave.com www.bountifulspinweave.com FIRESIDE COUNTRY STORE Grand Junction 970-858-9288 lynnjenks9@gmail.com Florida SERENDIPITY FARM & STUDIO Leesburg (757) 651-2632 serendipityfarmstudio@gmail.com Illinois FINE LINE CREATIVE ARTS CENTER St. Charles (630) 584-9443 www.fineline.org info@fineline.org Indiana THE WEAVERS LOFT Guilford (812) 576-3904 weaving@nalu.net www.weaversloft.com Kansas THE YARN BARN Lawrence (800)-468-0035 www.yarnbarn-KS.com info@yarnbarn-Ks.com Kentucky THE WOOLERY Frankfort tel: (502) 352-9800 fax (502) 352-9802 http://www.woolery.com info@woolery.com Louisiana WEAVIN' PLACE Folsom (985) 796-8048 www.weavinplace.com…

Have you ever had a mentor who was able to show you an opportunity you might have otherwise missed? Offering in a single moment such a profound statement that your life path became clear? After I’d woven many of the drafts from Marian Powell’s book about shadow weave, my mentor asked me, “When are you going to start making your own drafts?” That statement changed my life. I often wish I’d written down the date because I view that moment as a turning point for my work with shadow weave. Let me back up for a moment. Powell used profile drafts to create more than a thousand shadowweave drafts for four, six, and eight shafts, which she gathered into a book and published in 1976 (see Resources). These days, that…

Weave blankets or bath towels Use more 24-end repeats in the warp to increase the width for lovely baby blankets or bath towels. Fewer repeats will make narrower cloth for washcloths. Remember to adjust the woven length and yarn amounts required accordingly. Honeycomb variations Make your warp a little longer than you need so that you can try out some of these ideas. • Use colored yarn to outline the honeycomb cells or try a contrasting variegated yarn within the cells. • Use three or four rotating weft colors for the cells and one color for all the outlines. For example: Use color A for cell 1, color B for cell 2, color C for cell 3, color D for cell 4, and color E for all the outlines. Repeat.…

STRUCTURE Doubleweave with pebble weave or plain weave. EQUIPMENT 8-shaft or 4-shaft loom, 7" weaving width; 10-dent reed; 2 shuttles; 2 bobbins. YARNS Warp: 8/2 Tencel (100% lyocell; 3,360 yd/lb; Maurice Brassard), #T5070 Royal, 330 yd; #T5977 Bleu moyen and #T5214 Magenta, 198 yd each; #T5182 Marigold, 44 yd. Weft: 8/2 Tencel, #T8019 Navy, 475 yd. WARP LENGTH 280 ends 2¾ yd long (allows 6" for take-up, 33" for loom waste). SETTS Warp: 40 epi; 20 epi per layer (4/dent in a 10-dent reed). Weft: 37 ppi. DIMENSIONS Width in the reed: 7". Woven length: (measured under tension on the loom) 60". Finished size: (after wetfinishing and hemming) 6" × 55". Over a decade ago—before I was a weaver—I picked up a cute, inexpensive scarf at a local shop. The…

To weave additional towels: For each additional towel, add 1 yard in total length to the warps listed here and adjust amounts of each warp color needed if you’re weaving the plaid towels. Be sure to recalculate weft yarn amounts as well, or be prepared to improvise with weft yarns. To change the finished width: After wet-finishing, each 12-end warp repeat in this design will be about 1/3" wide. To weave narrower (for washcloths) or wider (for larger towels), decide on your preferred finished width in inches. Multiply that number by 3 to get the number of 12-end warp repeats for your new version. Remember to recalculate warp and weft yarn amounts needed for your new width. To change the finished length: After wet-finishing and hemming, your finished pieces in…

STRUCTURE Point twill. EQUIPMENT 16-shaft dobby or table loom (24 dobby bars for manual dobby loom), 21" weaving width; 10-dent reed; 1 shuttle; 11 bobbins. YARNS Warp: 10/2 pearl cotton (4,200 yd/lb; UKI/Supreme), #125 Pacific Blue, 216 yd; #116 Black, 504 yd; #01 White, 288 yd. 10/2 mercerized cotton (4,200 yd/lb; Lunatic Fringe Yarns), Very Dark Gray and Middle Gray, 576 yd each; Very Light Gray, 288 yd. Weft: Blue towel: 10/2 pearl cotton (UKI/Supreme), #48 Dark Turquoise, #109 Bermuda Blue, #18 Copen, #101 Baby Blue, and #1 Light Blue, 120 yd each; #117 Stone, 121 yd. Note: Copen and Baby Blue have been discontinued. #105 Paradise in the same yarn line is a close substitute for Copen. Valley Yarns 10/2 pearl cotton in #2576 Celestial Blue can substitute for…

STRUCTURE Twill and plain weave. EQUIPMENT 6- or 4-shaft loom, 12" weaving width; 12-dent reed; 2 shuttles. YARNS Warp: Bambu 7 (100% bamboo; 2,100 yd/lb; Silk City Fibers). 6-shaft version: #360 Onyx, 96 yd; #333 Cloud, 576 yd; #028 Persimmon, 120 yd. 4-shaft version: #360 Onyx, 102 yd; #333 Cloud, 564 yd; #028 Persimmon, 135 yd. Weft: Bambu 7, #360 Onyx, 305 yd. 2/18 Superfine Merino (100% merino wool; 5,040 yd/lb; Jaggerspun), Black, 60 yd. Note: Jaggerspun is no longer in business. Any laceweight 100% nonsuperwash wool can be substituted. (Superwash wools are not suitable as they resist fulling and shrinking during wet-finishing and will not create the desired texture in this scarf.) Hinchliffe Merino Lambswool is a similar 100% merino yarn. At 4,540 yd/lb, it’s also a bit heavier,…

With Lojan’s Flex table-loom system and its modular hardware, you don’t need to choose between rigid-heddle and four- or eight-shaft weaving when you buy a loom. With the Flex, you can begin with one setup and add modules for the other options—immediately or down the road. The rigid-heddle and multi-shaft elements are easy to swap in and out based on what you want to weave next. The Flex’s rigid-heddle module comes with a 30/10 (7.5 dents per inch) heddle and a warping peg. The four- and eight-shaft modules come with a stainless 40/10 (10 dents per inch) reed and Texsolv heddles. No matter which form you prefer, the loom folds down flat even when fully threaded, making it a great fit for those with limited space. This versatility also makes…

In the mid-1970s, the back-to-the-land movement was in full swing, and many of those interested in self-sufficiency and lives of personal meaning took up fiber crafts. Linda Ligon found weaving an “absorbing sideline” to her full-time job as a high school teacher and her commitments as a wife and mother. When a third baby joined the family, she quit her teaching job and began thinking about a new venture. Looking back at that moment, Linda said, “A publication about my favorite subject seemed a good way to combine all the things that I liked to do when I found myself at home full-time.” At her dining room table in Loveland, Colorado, she turned this idea into a magazine about fiber arts in the mountain/plains region, titling it interweave. The first issue…

STRUCTURE Twill and basketweave. EQUIPMENT 8-shaft loom, 9" weaving width; 12-dent reed; 3 shuttles. YARNS Warp: 8/2 Tencel (100% lyocell; 3,360 yd/lb; Valley Yarns; WEBS), Blue Purple, 137 yd; Red Clay, 154 yd; Salmon, 165 yd; Navy, 126 yd; Mineral Green, 42 yd. Nature’s Way 2/30 merino wool (7,500 yd/lb; Silk City Fibers), #797 Lime, 56 yd. Weft: 8/2 Tencel, Salmon and Navy, 220 yd each; Mineral Green, 11 yd. WARP LENGTH 194 ends, 3½ yd long (includes floating selvedges; allows 9" for take-up, 27" for loom waste; loom waste includes fringe). SETTS Warp: Tencel, 24 epi (2/dent in a 12-dent reed); merino, 12 epi (1/dent in a 12-dent reed). Weft: 18–19 ppi. DIMENSIONS Width in the reed: 810/12". Woven length: (measured under tension on the loom) 90". Finished size:…

STRUCTURE Overshot. EQUIPMENT 8-shaft loom, 16" weaving width; 12-dent reed; 2 shuttles; 7 bobbins. YARNS Warp: 8/4 cotton (1,680 yd/lb; Maurice Brassard), Naturel, 590 yd. Weft: 8/4 cotton, Naturel, 360 yd. Plump (100% American superwash wool; 100 yd/100 g; Spincycle Yarns), Under the Wave, 295 yd. Note: Dana used exactly 3 skeins of Plump for her runner but recommends that weavers have 4 skeins on hand to ensure they do not run out and to provide flexibility in color usage. OTHER SUPPLIES No-rinse wool wash; laundry color-catcher sheet. WARP LENGTH 181 ends, 3¼ yd long (includes floating selvedges; allows 8" for take-up, 34" for loom waste; loom waste includes fringe). SETTS Warp: 12 epi (1/dent in a 12-dent reed). Weft: 19 ppi in pattern (tabby and pattern weft). DIMENSIONS Width…

Original colorway: Royal T5070, Bleu moyen T5977, Magenta T5214, and Marigold T5182 (all Maurice Brassard). Pastels: Coquille T8027, Cactus T8021, Periwinkle T5067, and Marigold T5182 (all Maurice Brassard). Warm shades: Straw and Taupe (Valley Yarns). Orange brulé T8020 and Cayenne T5213 (Maurice Brassard). Cool shades: Cactus T8021, Vieux bleu T94, Vert foncé T8022, and Navy T8019 (all Maurice Brassard). Neutrals: Taupe (Valley Yarns). Stone T8115, Noir T8999, and Coquille T8027 (Maurice Brassard).…

STRUCTURE Honeycomb. EQUIPMENT 4-shaft loom, 14" weaving width; 10-dent reed; 1 shuttle. YARNS Warp: 5/2 pearl cotton (2,100 yd/lb; UKI Supreme; Yarn Barn of Kansas), #79 Natural, 162 yd; #17 Wine, 90 yd; #105 Paradise and #115 Peach, 23 yd each. Weft: 8/4 carpet warp (100% cotton; 1,600 yd/lb; Maysville; Yarn Barn of Kansas), #14 White, 250 yd. OTHER SUPPLIES 44" wide 100% cotton fabric, medium-weight, about 1 yd (Andrea used Free Spirit Fabrics Mon Jardin by Nathalie Lete for Conservatory Craft, PWNL 032 Beautiful Bunch); rotary cutter, straight edge, and selfhealing mat. WARP LENGTH 132 ends, 2¼ yd long (includes floating selvedges; allows 6" for take-up, 28" for loom waste). SETTS Warp: 10 epi (1/dent in a 10-dent reed). Weft: 18 ppi for carpet warp; 4 ppi for fabric…

Starting in 1976, I designed big woven wool artworks to create a sense of three-dimensional space. To accomplish that, I had floating objects, buildings, and landscapes against a backdrop of sky. Remembering all the wonderfully shaded skies in the Hiroshi Yoshida Japanese woodblock prints in my childhood home, I shaded my own woven skies (using odd-lot wool mill ends at first, and eventually moving on to Paternayan wool yarns). When I started making small woven cotton artworks on hand Jacquard looms, I continued weaving shaded skies in them. Because I was working on a smaller scale, I started using mostly 10/2 pearl cotton yarns, making gradations by using two yarns at once and changing one yarn at a time. When I stopped using hand Jacquard looms in 2017, I was…

EQUIPMENT For dyeing: • Apron. • Dye bath—a deep stainless-steel pot is ideal. • Dyeing utensils—teaspoon, plastic or metal serving spoon. • Old bath towel. • Rubber/synthetic gloves to protect your hands from the dye. • Sink. • Small jug or mug. • Stove top/hob. Weaving equipment: • Rigid heddle loom. • Scissors. • Yarn shuttle or bobbin. • 15 epi reed. MATERIALS AND MEASUREMENTS These make a 2 in. (5 cm) wide, 28 in. (71 cm) long wool fringe. When deciding on the length of your final trim, take into account shrinkage of the length caused by the dyeing process. Add an extra 3 in. (7.5 cm) to the final length to be on the safe side. • 50 g of 2/6 nm (equivalent to a four-ply-weight yarn) Shetland…

1. Misty Mountains Wall Hanging DANA LUTZ A bulky yarn with an irresistibly squishy texture and vibrant, often unpredictable, colorways inspired Dana Lutz’s fresh look at overshot. The result is a modern, textured wall hanging full of movement and color—it’s so tactile, you’ll want to reach out and pinch one of the little yarn “mountains!” Chunky tassels add a playful and eye-catching finish. 2. Shooting Stars Scarf REBECCA FOX After wet-finishing, charcoal gray wool and cotton woven in a houndstooth-style huck reveal an undulating all-over texture in Rebecca Fox’s design. Occasional stripes of natural create stars radiating beams of light across the piece. Feel free to place your stars wherever you want—or even add more in both warp and weft to create a grand meteor shower! 3. Stretchy Stripes Bag…

YARN SUPPLIERS Blue Sky Fibers, blueskyfibers.com (Ligon 22). Georgia Yarn Company, gayarn.com (Allen 36). Gist Yarn, gistyarn.com (Fox 77). Halcyon Yarn, halcyonyarn.com (Ligon 22, O’Hara 58). Knit Picks, knitpicks.com (Fox 77). Lunatic Fringe Yarns, lunaticfringeyarns.com (Tokola 50, O’Hara 58, Essen 77). Maurice Brassard et Fils, mbrassard.com (Lutz 42, Lutz 77). Silk City Fibers, silkcityfibers.com (Sargent 32, Stewart-Guinee 64). Spincycle Yarns, spincycleyarns.com (Lutz 42, Lutz 77). Tutto Fine Yarns, tuttosantafe.com (Stewart-Guinee 64). WEBS, yarn.com (Sargent 32, Allen 36). The Woolery, woolery.com (Toms 46). Yarn Barn of Kansas, yarnbarn-ks.com (Allen 36, Tokola 50, Williams 54, O’Hara 58). READING DRAFTS Some drafts for weaving are extremely long if they are written out thread by thread. To save space, wherever a section of the threading or treadling is repeated, a bracket is placed above it…