blending drafts
Blending drafts do just that – blend warp and weft colors together, evenly, in approximately equal proportions. They’re the weaver’s equivalent of taking two tubes of yarn “paint” and smooshing them together on the palette until they’re mixed into a single color that’s about a 50-50 mix of the two colors. Maybe 60-40, but a pretty equal blend overall.
Blending drafts mix warp and weft colors by creating short floats of warp and weft in a ratio that is close to equal. This mixes the colors together fairly evenly – at a distance, blending drafts look like a solid color.
It’s important that the ratio between warp and weft be roughly equal. If either warp or weft dominate an area, creating a patch of color that is predominantly warp or predominantly weft, the dominant color stays “purer” and the colors don’t blend as much.
Here is an example of a blending draft, an advancing twill, and a swatch of cloth woven from it. Notice the short floats, the roughly equal mix between warp and weft, and how the colors blend together, producing a dull cloth overall.
Blending draft example – advancing twill
If using a blending draft, you need to consider the Two-Primary Rule when choosing your colors.