Handwoven March/April 2020

FOR THE BACKDROP IN THE PHOTOS in this flora and fauna issue, we chose the Earth Chacra farm in the Fort Collins area, hoping to get shots of the models in the fields and interacting with the sheep, goats, and chickens. We were also taking pictures for Easy Weaving with Little Looms 2020, which also has nature as its theme, so an outdoor shoot seemed perfect. What we couldn’t control was the weather. Although we were shooting spring and summer issues, the photo shoot took place in November when the weather in northern Colorado is iffy. You may have a beautiful fall day, or you may have a snowstorm. We held our breath and checked our phones only to see that temperatures were dropping and rain was predicted. Sure enough, the night…

MAY/JUNE 2020 Draft Play Sometimes, it’s by chance that our weaving plans change, and other times, it’s by intent. Whatever the reason, in this issue you’ll find projects that “flip the script” and demonstrate how changing one or several elements of a plan or draft can completely or subtly change the look of a project. SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 Thoroughly Modern Weaving Many people, and not just us, think that weaving is growing in popularity. We’re not sure if it’s due to great new yarns, new equipment, technical weaving innovations, or the DIY community’s embrace of the craft—or a combination of all four. This issue will celebrate weaving in today’s modern world. NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 Dynamic Duos Remember the scarf you carefully wove, only to take it off the loom and find that the back was prettier than the front? Or…

FLORA TO KEEP OUT FAUNA When we announced our theme for the March/April issue, we received many wonderful submissions—far too many to print—but this one made us smile so much we had to share it, even if we couldn’t publish it as a project. —The Editors Honeysuckle deer protection—weaving inspired by flora and fauna! This is likely quite a variation from what you had in mind. Carolyn Ohle, via email QUERY FROM READER: I bought this years ago, thinking that it was a dhurrie or kilim. It isn’t—none of the motifs can be found in either of those traditional weavings. Upon close inspection, I have noticed that it seems to be two layers of plain weave or tabby weave woven together in a floral pattern. Both warp and weft are wool, and all the colors…

THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN COVERLETS and the state of Kentucky are forever intertwined. While coverlets were handwoven in many states, Kentucky gave birth to two of the most famous experts on handwoven American coverlets: Eliza Caroline Obenchain, perhaps better known to weavers as Eliza Calvert Hall who wrote the classic A Book of Hand-Woven Coverlets, and Lou Tate Bousman of Little Loomhouse fame, who dedicated her life to collecting, writing about, and preserving drafts for old coverlets. Berea, Kentucky, is home to Fire-side Industries and Berea College, both of which worked with local Appalachian handweavers to sell their goods for fair prices and to train students, also often from rural Appalachian communities, to weave and market their weaving. To this day, weavers make pilgrimages to Berea College to take classes…

Annie MacHale has produced a beautiful and useful book for inkle weavers who want to understand color and proportion in their woven bands. Right from the start—on page 1!—MacHale introduces a variety of yarns, and describes how their sizes and fiber contents will affect a woven band. An often-repeated question among new weavers is “How many ends will I need to weave a band 1 inch wide?” MacHale answers this in one clear photo, and then goes on to tell the new weaver what characteristics inkle band yarns should have and why. There is a section with a brief but comprehensive discussion of color: color terminology, value, and color relationships. This is not dry theory; instead, the section is amply illustrated with beautiful full-color photographs of examples of how colors change…

In the introduction article to his “Huck Lace Towels with Color-and-Weave Effects” project in Handwoven, May/June 2018, Tom Knisely described an “aha!” moment. It was the moment he realized that log cabin, a color-and-weave pattern based on an odd number of ends and picks, could be combined with the 5-end blocks of huck lace. That moment sent him down a path of discovery as he investigated further, which in turn lead him to writing his latest book, Huck Lace Weaving Patterns with Color and Weave Effects. This is not a book for beginners. It doesn’t teach you how to warp and weave as Tom’s other books do. It is a study and a systematic cataloging of the pattern possibilities that exist within a relatively small grouping of warp ends and weft…