September 9, 2001

Hi, fiber friends!

Can you believe that fall is just around the corner?  It's time to start thinking seriously about spinning, knitting and weaving treasures for family and friends for holiday giving.  We've had a busy summer including our most recent trip to our beloved Smokies and Topsail Island, NC for a visit with old friends. We had opportunity to do some recording while we were there.

Shopping is now easier if you wish to use your Visa or MasterCard.  Email me with your telephone number and I will call you for credit card information.  Or, if you prefer pay by PayPal, check or money order.

It's good to be back dyeing, weaving and knitting again.  Hope you have had a pleasant summer as well and are ready to get started on a new project.

Best regards,
Margaret Pittman

In This Issue:

• New - 10/2 tencel colors
• New - Tencel Facts page
• New - Apart "The Pet" colors
• New - Undyed skeins
• Going once, going twice, it's back! - silk tussah roving
• Bonnie Inouye's tips for weaving with hand painted skeins and warps
• Overshot treadling option - tromp as writ
• In the next Issue due out in a few weeks
• Shopping/Order Information

New - 10/2 tencel colors

In addition to the Persian Red, Morroccan Blue and Tussah Silk, 10/2 Tencel is now available in Herb Green and Purple Sage at the same price of $16/8 oz. skein and 2100 yards (4200 ypp).  See the new colors at What's New.

New - Tencel Facts page

Visit Tencel Facts to read all of the good qualities and nice-to-know information about tencel.

New - Apart "The Pet" colors

Apart is now available in 3 new colors including a beige/black for you animal-print enthusiasts, white/black and solid purple.  The Skinny Triangular Scarf pattern is free with a 50g ball for $12.  See the new colors at What's New. 

New - Undyed skeins

Some of you have requested undyed skeins for experimenting with your own colorways as well as for painting warps.  These are now available in the 8 oz./72" skeins for better experimentation.  See the hand dyeable yarns at The Hand Dyeable Yarns.  These, of course, are always available in all of the pictured colorways.  Try a hand painted warp for your next project.

Going once, going twice, it's back! - silk tussah roving

The "rumor" of the "demise" of hand dyed silk tussah roving was greatly exaggerated!  It's back as I have found a dependable source.  All of the colorways dye beautifully on this roving with the exception of those with black.  Fiber-reactive dyes do not yield a "true" black on silk, cold water/direct applications.  Price will remain the same for now at $8.50/oz. unless something drastic happens.  (Hand painted silk tussah roving is no longer available.)

Bonnie Inouye's tips for weaving with hand painted skeins and warps

(Bonnie gave this advice to someone who had hand painted yarn for a scarf and asked for advice about structures.)

It sounds like it (your yarn) was painted in a skein. If you can use the skein as a warp for one project, by cutting it and opening it out, then the colors will stay together. Normally, painted warps are prepared from cones, then spread out to paint the dyes onto the warp, so you can have several scarves on one warp. If you wind the yarn off the skein and then make a warp, the colors will be scattered in vertical dashes. If you use the skein as a weft, it will also scatter the colors, making horizontal lines across the scarf, probably wider bands of color and possibly making horizontal stripes.

I just finished teaching a workshop on combining structures with dyed and painted warps, so I've given this some thought. If you use plain weave, all the emphasis is on the colors, and the cloth is generally thin compared with other interlacements. Structure adds interest to the piece. If you want the hand and drape of a twill (nice for a scarf) then you need to sett more closely.  Twill is always sett closer than plain weave. If your warp is special, then sett closer than usual for the chosen structure, to emphasize the role of the warp yarn. In other words, don't aim for a balanced weave showing 50/50 warp/weft, but aim to show more of the warp. You might consider an unbalanced tie-up, lifting 1 out of 3 shafts if you like a 3-shaft twill, or lifting 1 out of 4 shafts for 4-shaft twills. This would give you a scarf with 2 distinct sides; one face of the cloth shows more weft and the other face is nearly all warp. But if there are any points in your threading, this makes longer weft floats. For a scarf, I suggest keeping the float size small, so it won't catch on buttons or anything.

Below are some ideas for 4-shaft twill threadings that I like with painted warps. I suggest using weaving software to compare them. Try several treadlings and tie-ups and see what you like. If you don't own software, download a demo version for free. It's fun! Any of the twill threadings can be used for treadlings, mix and match. I also like crackle with painted warps, and there are lots of other good choices.  The more structures you try, the more you learn about ways to use them. The HGA website at Other Inspiring Links has a nice list of software for weavers, with links to relevant pages. I use Fiberworks PCW.

Dornik twill:  1,2,3,4 (repeat as desired) , 2,1,4,3 (repeat for a while), 1,2,3,4...  Treadling:  1,2,3,4 repeat or tromp as writ.
Plaited twill: 1,2,3,1,  4,3,2,4,  repeat.  Treadling:  2,3,4,1,2,  5,4,3,2,1, 4,6, where 5, and 6 are tabbies.
Wall of Troy: 1,2,3,4,3,2,1,2,3,4, repeat. Weave as drawn in.

From Marguerite Davidson.
Advancing Point Twill:
1,2,3,4,1,4,3,   2,3,4,1,2,1,4,   3,4,1,2,3,2,1,   4,1,2,3,4,3,2, repeat.
Weave as drawn in, or play with it.

Thanks to Bonnie for her experience and willingness to share.  Look for her site on the Links page at Other Inspiring Links.

Overshot treadling option - tromp as writ

This is the first in a series of treadling options and tips to be published for 4-shaft overshot.  Many of you know the tromp as writ treadling but the first will cover the tromp as writ treadling and my method of treadling to insure that those just starting out will know the way I "think" overshot.

Four-shaft overshot consists of 4 blocks:  A = 1 & 2; B = 2 & 3; C = 3 & 4 and D = 4 & 1.  The blocks are threaded sequentially, i.e., A, B, C, B, C, D, and share a common thread between sequential blocks.  Since looms vary from jack-style, counterbalance or countermarche, it is easier for explanation purposes to work with a direct tie-up, i.e., 1 treadle to 1 shaft.  Think of covering the blocks or weaving the blocks when weaving the pattern rather than treadle numbers or  treadle orders which really don't mean anything if you don't know what they are tied to.  A tabby shot of 1 & 3 and 2 & 4 alternate with pattern shots.  And, yes, I weave tabby with 2 feet!  <g>

In order to write a tromp as writ treadling for a pattern, begin on the right of the threading and work toward the left.  If the A block (1 & 2) has 4 ends, treadle A (1 & 2) 3 times.  If the B block is next and contains 6 threads (Remember that they share a common thread/2.), treadle B 5 times. For an example, I will use a jack-style loom since many weave with jacks.  In order to weave or cover the A block (1 & 2), lift shafts 3 & 4 and cover or weave A (1 & 2).  In essence, you subtract one from the number of ends that are in the block to obtain the number of pattern picks for a particular block.  In fact, you can subtract or add picks to "square" the pattern remembering to keep the turning blocks an even number.  The reason for this is that overshot pattern picks group together in pairs.  When an uneven number of picks are woven in turning blocks, "ghost lines" will appear that look like errors.  This is why it is better to write your own tromp as writ treadlings as many books including the book and pattern listed below are written differently.

In this and future treadling options, I will give you the treadling I take to the loom with me for the Mary Ann Ostrander pattern from M. Davison's A Handweaver's Pattern Book, page 146.

A1, B1, (C2), B1, A1
D1, (C2), D1
A1, B1, (C2), B1, A1

D1, C1, B1, A3, D3, C5, (B4), (C2), (B4), (C2), (B4), C5, D3, A3, B1, C1, D1

Continue weaving using tabby (1 & 3/2 & 4) and balance with the first 3 lines or follow the draft below and balance with the first 16 pattern picks.  Remember to weave with tabby.

Click on picture to enlarge.

I've posted a few tromp as writ pictures at Overshot Examples and will add to them as we talk about treadling options.  Sorry the lighting is not all that great on these but hope that it might inspire you to give overshot a try.  Next issue, I will talk about my method of squaring a pattern.

In the next issue due out in a few weeks

• New colorway - Holly Jolly Christmas

• New tone-on-tones Just in time for the holidays, Forest Glen and Holly Berry

• Cotton/Metallic Boucle in 4 oz. skeins

• Rayon Boucle is back!

• Mill dyed, hand dyed and natural woven cotton chenille

• Mura's fringe - This is fun!

• Squaring an overshot pattern

• New knitting kits

Shopping/Contact Information

Yarn shipments are limited to the U.S. and Canada. If you live outside the U.S. or Canada and would like to place a pattern order, please inquire at Margaret@heritageyarns.com.

Visit Knitting Patterns and take a look around at the wide selection of downloadable patterns from HeartStrings.

Purchasing options:  by PayPal shopping cart, Visa, MasterCard, personal check or money order.

Margaret Pittman
Heritage Yarns
5875 Baxter Drive
Jackson, Mississippi  39211-3317 USA

Telephone - (601) 956-1478
Email - Margaret@heritageyarns.com
Fax - (601) 957-2963
Celebrating color in hand painted skeins and warps since 1994

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