Have to say, this one didn’t turn out as I’d hoped. (It’s been redesigned and needs to be rewoven.) In its defense, I designed it on graph paper–long before I began designing with charts on the computer–using the palest pencil imaginable. It was hard to see the diagram to transfer it to digital media, so I can only imagine (because I can’t remember) how difficult it must have been to design. Apparently I had no trouble following my nearly imperceptible graphite marks because I wove what I wrote. Nevertheless, while transcribing the pattern I decided to make some improvements (untested at this point, but I’m certain they’re improvements).

Before I could transfer the semi-visible drawing to the computer, I thought I’d better get a look at the original so I could know what I was trying to copy. Here’s a rough sketch of what Road to Tennessee looked like in my quilt block book.

Road to Tennessee sketch

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You know the saying, “When the teacher is ready the students appear”? (Or is it the other way around? I think it is. As a freelance teacher I always tend to wonder if students will show up…) I’ve been having a recurring idea and I guess I’ve been in need of a nudge.

So, students, show up, please.

I mean, there’s just SO MUCH to work on all the time. Do y’all really want me to stop working and start organizing?

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By no means do I consider myself an expert adviser on the subject of making patterns pop. I’ve made a lot of squares—enough to know that there are no rules, or if there are, they elude me. If I say, “Use high contrast,” along comes a pattern to defy that rule—it’ll show up better in two subtle tints of the same color. (I have such a square in my collection, but can’t readily lay hands on it.) And don’t get me started on “Use complementary colors”—that rarely works.

Because I have too many squares and it’s been waaaay too long since I looked at most of them, I’ve decided to limit my subject today to the topic of using variegated yarn in pattern weaves.

First, let me say I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE variegated yarn, but I think it looks best in plain weave squares. Read More →

MEASURING WEFT (L4)

First, check the PIN WRAPS AND YARDAGE page (see tab at the top of this blog) to see if I’ve already figured it out for you.

If your loom size isn’t covered there, or if you’re on a desert island (you brought your pin loom weaving supplies of course) and don’t have access to the Internet, I’ve discovered a Helpful Hack for measuring weft.

Here is a sample loom with the first three layers in place. (By the way, I DO NOT recommend warping your loom tightly as shown–I warped it tight for the sake of the photos.)

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Someone on the Facebook Pin Loom Weaving Support Group asked me the difference between single-layer warping (1LW) and two-layer warping (2LW): Why couldn’t you lay all the warps side by side instead of going through the two-layer process?

Reasonable question. After all, wouldn’t you prefer to have the top and bottom edges match the side edges? (With 2LW you get the characteristic Weave-It scallop along the top and bottom edges of your square while the sides look more like wire wrapping a post.)

I laid out a square with all the warps side by side and counted to make sure I had 31. In hindsight, I could have moved the warp at Cr3 over to the second pin. I also could have tried warping beginning at Cr4 or Cr3 or Cr2 … or even one of the sides (it’s like anarchy, isn’t it, when you abolish the rules?) I didn’t like the unvertical way it looked, but it’s interesting that weaving begins at Cr4—if you don’t tie on a second color. If you do tie on a second color, you could add it at any corner (more anarchy!).

Single-layer warping

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