
The picture shows a Takadai with Kumihimo in progress; from Sandy Jessett
The picture shows a Takadai with Kumihimo in progress; from Sandy Jessett
In the featured image: “Last April I purchased a used 32 shaft V Loom with an e-lift from a woman living in the USA. After a four day road trip with a friend, the loom was home in my Canadian Studio. The loom, barely used, required some work to get it up and running. The cat fabric was woven with a warp of 2/20 Tencel black (tie-down thread) and a 50% Silk 50% Wool grey (pattern thread) with a weft of 2/8 Tencel in black. The tie downs were on shafts 1 & 2, pattern threads were on 3-32. The sett was 28 epi in a 12 dent reed, dented, 2, 2, 3. It was woven with an alternating tabby. The cat motif was taken from a knitting pattern.” By Catharine Wilson.
The CWSG more/less was originally designed in the fall of 1997 by Terri Tinkham as a way to share 24 shaft designs. This was for all levels of weavers with 24 shafts: challenging new owners to use their looms. Someday a break off from CWSG 24 may occur requiring originality and virtual samples. Even then, this original CWSG 24+/- will be maintained. Dottie Smith became chairman in 2004. We do a woven sample exchange. Anyone interested in using drafts with a minimum of 17 shafts is welcome to join. Those with more than 24 shafts are also welcome. This group encourages all levels of weaving. There are no limitations as to structure, fiber or design. There is no particular study assignment to a given year, the sky is the limit. We do ask that you submit a record sheet including the complete draft, software, loom, warp and weft yarns, sett and picks per inch with the woven sample. We encourage you to design your own drafts. We ask that your drafts be designed so that your woven samples will have at least two repeats of the threading and treadling if possible. Stand-alone motifs may be woven as just a single repeat. If your threading and/or treadling draft is extremely large, we will allow this but will ask for a decent representation of the draft and a complete computer draw down of the entire draft. A discussion of problems encountered, design process and thoughts, and notes of interest should be included. New members should contact Dottie Smith for a membership form. Invitation to membership goes out June 1st, with active membership dues paid by September15th, when membership closes. October 1st a letter goes out to all active members with a count of samples to be mailed anytime after October 31st and no later than February 15th. Exchange CWSG24 Packets will be mailed March 1st.
Additional Information/Requirements
For weavers of Intermediate to Master skill levels to explore Tied-Weaves, Tied-Unit weave structures and weaves considered derivatives or variations of tied weaves, such as Taqueté, Samìtum, Lampas, etc. This does NOT include any weave that has ties, only those that are related in some significant way to the interlacement found in Tied Weaves. The broad study group goal is to better understand, create and define Tied-Weave structures, as well as create variants and methods to “break the rules”. Each member will explore any Tied-Weave structure or derivative of interest. If members choose a derivative their write up must include the reasons WHY the structure does not qualify as a Tied Weave and how it differs and resembles a Tied Weave.
Mandatory sample and information exchange due May 1 of each study group year.
On-line discussions and a private website for sharing photos, drafts and other visual information are in place. Members can share their questions, ideas, drafts and photos, enhancing our on-line study. All newsletters and correspondence, and the accompanying write-ups for the yearly sample exchange, will be done via email.
Write for a more detailed welcoming letter. Su Butler, cwtw@subudesigns.com
Shown: A fancy twill. See the February 2009 CWJ for details.
Begun in 2002 by Judy Eatough, the first group worked together week by week as Judy added content: information, assignments and drafts. Jayne became Leader in 2019 and will edit content minimally. The group files, but none of the messages/conversations, have been migrated from yahoo to Groups.io. The group is now open to membership at any time, and operates as a self-study group with members working independently.
Everyone should start with the Introduction and Lesson One, then each member is free to jump around the list and work at their own pace. Pace yourself, but try to work regularly so that your knowledge will build and not be lost during long breaks between sessions. In general the questions posed in the assignments are meant to be open-ended and have more than one correct answer. We do not mind answering the same questions as before. Sometimes with experience or technology changes, the answer has even changed.
Our goal is to better understand weave structure. This is an open group and everyone can see and discuss all of the drafts and all of the comments. Drafts do not need to be original; we are exploring techniques and drafting in this study group. As a bonus, we will also learn to use weaving software. This group is designed for the intermediate weaver as a mentored discussion of weave structure.
Email, internet access, and weaving software that can write wif files required. Drafts will be shared on the Goups.io web page. Send email to chairman above to join. Topics include:
This sample was woven by Claudia Spaulding in 2021. Claudia said she struggled to design a fabric using all sixteen shafts dedicated to waffle weave. Creating a 16 shaft huge waffle using fine threads didn’t appeal. After much exploring, she created this beautiful doubleweave fabric with waffle and twill blocks.
The Sixteens is a sample exchange group for weavers using 16 shafts. The weaving skills vary from some who are very knowledgeable to some new to 16 shafts. In 1978 Marian Hoskinson circulated a letter to her wide circle of friends and acquaintances in the weaving world announcing the starting of a sample exchange group for “16-harness weavers”. Marian established the rules that we still live by. Each year a topic is selected, usually a weave structure. The weaver is to do research and exert their personal creativity in the sample. The sample is to be large, at least six inches square and must be extensively documented. Each year during the exchange month the members mail the samples to each member on the list (with special arrangements for international mailings). Marian limited the membership to 30 and for about half of the years a waiting list existed. Membership is currently set at 25. A core group from The SIXTEENS was involved in the founding of Complex Weavers. The idea was first suggested at Convergence in Colorado and then organized at the Midwest Weavers Conference. A group of us gave $5.00 each to Eleanor Best and told her to start a newsletter and gather other members. We realized that others with common interests in technical weaving possess other types of equipment and membership was not limited to weavers with looms of 16 or more shafts. We wanted to build a network to share information, collectively investigate new topics, and help each other with individual problems. The objective would be beyond that of a sample exchange.
Past Projects |
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1979: Twill / 1980: Biederwand / 1981: Damask / 1982: Doubleweave / 1983: Clothing Fabric / 1984: Double Two-Tie / 1985: Doubleweave / 1986: Park Weaves / 1987: Lace Weaves / 1988: Combined Weaves / 1989: Pique / 1990: Lampas / 1991: Twill Variations / 1992: Damask / 1993: Star & Diamond / 1994: Network Drafting / 1995: Stitched Double Weave / | 1996: Taqueté / 1997: Brocade / 1998: 3 or 4 Tie Block Weaves Structures / 1999: O’Hara Technique / 2000: Bronson Lace / 2001: Integrated Cell Weaves / 2002: Blended Drafts / 2003: Network Drafting / 2004: Turned Overshot / 2005: Piqué / 2006: Turned Taqueté / 2007: Crackle / 2008: Shadow Weave / 2009: Echo Weave / 2010: Beiderwand / 2011: Corkscrew and Manifold Twills / 2012: Double Weave / 2013: Collapse / 2014: Four Color Double Weave / 2015: Deflected Double Weave / 2016: Lampas / 2017: Echo / 2018: Diversified Plain Weave /2019: Honeycomb / 2020: Satin/ 2021: Waffle / 2022: Double Weave / 2023: Variations on Tied Weaves |
The notebooks, which can be borrowed through the Complex Weavers Library, are a valuable source of research on each individual weave structure.
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This group does a swatch exchange once a year. Notification of the number of samples required is sent out sometime in March and the sample due date is determined yearly. The group is limited to 15 members which, with a sample for the archives, means a member never needs to make more than 16 samples. This upper limit allows members to work on samples before actually knowing how many will be needed.
The purpose of this group is to allow members to create samples which are focused on their own particular areas of interest or to explore a facet of weaving which they have not tried before and are uncertain if they would continue to be interested in pursuing. Samples can be woven on any number of shafts, of a size to clearly show the structure, usually about 6″ by 6″, and are to be accompanied by the usual information: materials used, drafts, setts, finishing, shrinkage, as well as comments as to purpose, problems encountered and possible solutions, or whatever information is felt to be of interest to other group members. The “Old-Fashioned” means that samples can be woven on a standard treadle loom without use of a computer interface; treadle, table and computerized looms have been used in the past exchanges. CAD is fine.
The fee is US $7.50. We communicate mostly by e-mail, occasionally by phone or surface mail. Any level of weaving skill is acceptable. The idea is for each member to set their own learning goals and to share them with the other members. Over time quite a good, varied collection of samples will be accumulated.
Sample distribution will also be accompanied by a CD of drafts and pertinent information from those members who so consent.
The object of the Fine Threads Study Group is to encourage weaving with finer threads. Members set their own definition of ‘fine’.
Membership in the Fine Threads Study Group has a 12 month cycle. In the fall of each year an invitation is extended to those who have expressed an interest in joining, and to those who participated the previous year. Requirements are paying annual $15 fee and submitting a set of samples in May. Some members who do not live in the United States have joined for two years to save on currency conversion fees. In January each member receives a roster.
In March, members are reminded that samples are due in May. After the samples have been collected, they are compiled and a complete set is mailed to each member in June or July. Mailings include tips and questions from members, citations of articles published by study group members, and anything else for the common good.
The number of members determines how many samples must be submitted. Each member must submit enough samples for the entire roster, plus one extra for the Complex Weavers Library. Each sample is to be mounted with a draft and pertinent information, along with any problems and their possible solutions.
Beginning with the 2002-2003 Fine Threads Study Group, members give implicit permission for their sample submissions to be put on a”backup” CD to be kept in the CW archive. And, of course, each member receives a complete set.
Each sample should be an entire pattern, or at least a quarter of one. Some samples have been as small as 1″ square. Most of them are larger, but all of them are beautiful! There are no restrictions regarding weaving skills. All you need is an interest and desire to weave with fine threads on more than four shafts.
The Fine Threads Study Group has met only by mail. Most of us have e-mail and it is a convenient medium to exchange questions and answers. If the leader doesn’t have the answer, often another member will. Except for sample exchanges, the study group mailings are via e-mail with attachments. Hard copies will be sent when attachments can’t be opened and read or e-mails are not acknowledged.
In 1990 at Complex Weavers Seminars, someone suggested a study group on fine threads. In 1991 CW Study Group Coordinator, Peggy Hoyt, asked Lillian to take it on and the group began in the fall of 1992. Lillian has tried to keep the organization as simple as possible. The problems and solutions shared are very informative and encourage each of us to continue pursuing beautiful fabric.
The sample above was woven by Claire Ehernberger for the 2002 Fine Threads sample exchange. The pattern is called Jet Stream and is an adaptation from a workshop by Emily Dubois. The warp and weft are 60/2 silk sett at 60 epi.
The Early Weaving Books and Manuscripts study group is for anyone, weaver or non-weaver, interested in 16th to early 20th century manuscripts, published books, and handwoven textiles from Europe and North America. Interest in the above is the only requirement for membership other than the payment of yearly dues.
Since the group began in late 1992 members have located dozens of pre-1910 weaving books and manuscripts in museum and private collections. Many of these are available in photocopy form for study either by purchase or from the Complex Weavers library. At the request of members of the study group, one draft book, that of Cyrus Uhler, written in 1836, was scanned and had been placed on the Internet by Lebanon Valley College which owns it.
The study group newsletter is published six times a year and is mailed to over 80 members worldwide. Topic of discussion include: newly found manuscripts, textile analysis of coverlets and linens, listings of museums with extensive textile or manuscript collections, museum exhibits of interest, books of interest, the ever-present problems of reading and interpreting someone’s working notes, and just what name to give a weave. Most newsletters contain woven samples reproduced from drafts in manuscripts or actual textiles.
Once a year there is a swatch exchange for those who choose to participate. Extra postage ($6.00) is required, as are samples and draft sheets for all participants in the exchange. In past years, as many as 48 have participated and some members weave samples for all 90+ study group members. Samples are due in April for inclusion in the May newsletter.