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Let’s Talk: Choosing a Draft
When you start thinking about a design, are you comfortable choosing a draft? (from handweaving.net, or a book of drafts, like Strickler or Davison)
Are you confident that you can take a repeat of a draft, and make a project from it, choosing a draft that will give you the look that you want for the project, expanding it if needed, maybe adding borders, and pairing it with yarns successfully?
If not, what parts of the process do you struggle with?
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8 Replies
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Sure, I’m comfortable selecting a draft – but then I realize I need to figure out all the details – and sett and borders are outside of my comfort zone. Hoping this class helps!
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I would agree, Barb. it’s the details that can be overwhelming.
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I agree with both Barb and Charlene. It is the details that get overwhelming. I am learning hands-on right now with my Boundary Waters scarves that I am in the process of bringing to life. I had the warp yarn already at home… so that was the start of my idea, bought the weft yarn at a local weaving/yarn shop (Playing With Yarn) in Knife River, MN on the way home from the Boundary Waters trip with my Dad and sisters. Planning to make scarves that look like moving water. I found the draft after I had bought the weft yarn. Now working out all the details. I have the warp wound into cakes/balls. Now to measure my warp on the warping reel and keep going…. after I double check/confirm the # ends for 10″ in the reed. Planning to make 4 scarves so a 12 yard warp is my longest and quite intimidating to be honest. But is coming together. Oh and the highlight is I learned how to use Handweaving.net to create a new draft since I did not have a WIF of the draft. So I was pretty proud of that! Handweaving.net is quite the handy tool! The tonal navy yarn is my warp and the light blue tweed is my weft to look like the sun shining/sparkling on water! These will be gifts for my younger sister, twin and my mom. Mom was up at the cottage taking care of the dogs and cat and sending us weather reports on the Satellite phone! A true god send and blessing! In regards to the draft, I won’t know completely the success until I start sampling, but using Handweaving.net has definitely helped. In regards to selecting this draft I had an idea what I wanted and ended up finding it online and then created a WIF in Handweaving.net!
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Wow! I love the pattern. Your scarves are going to be lovely. Thanks for sharing how you went about figuring it all out.
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Agree! The details, it is the math specifically. Every calculator seems to give me a little different answer. Lately what I’ve don’t I’d go to each of the calculators I know about then just go with the average. I also find I struggle with some of the terms and questions in the calculators. It seems to work out in the end but it’s not fun getting there.
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It is good to remember that the calculators are a starting point, and made by people who all have different ideas of how things should go (take up, shrinkage and loom waste amounts, I am looking at you).
Go slowly through the math, and don’t be afraid of it. If you are unsure, post in the Weaving Help forum, and someone can double check your math if you like!
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This is a rigid heddle answer- and maybe a side thread for RH weavers:
I think I feel comfortable analyzing a draft and knowing how well it will function on my loom. However, I have not been able to expand that to finished pieces yet because that takes time to make samples and there’s not a ton of past work I can lean on for examples.
I have found knowing the weaving structure families has been incredibly helpful. There are things I look for in a draft: the complexity of the lift sequence and the times the threading returns to shaft 1 and how many ends are between each shaft 1 repeat. This is because heddle 1 is also my reed and each shaft one equivilant to a single end going into a reed slot, so if the pattern threading looks like this: 1-2-1-3-1-4-1 etc- I know I have to thread for 100% density (one end per reed dent) which means I am limited to materials that work with 8-10-12-15 epis. These include weaves like Overshot and the laces. So, when I am looking for inspiration I understand that I can use those weaves with larger threads to make wall hangings, blankets, and table runners but maybe not an ethereal shawl or scarf in 16/2 Tencel.
If the pattern always returns to 1- like a Bronson lace, then I can decide if it’s worth threading 3 heddles or just one and employing pick-up sticks, but that depends on the complexity of design blocks the draft uses and its lift sequence. I might decide instead to take the soul of the pattern (color, epi, and materials) and use it as an inspiration instead of making the same exact draft.
If the draft altenates 1-2 with another shaft between- 1-3-2-3-1-4-2-4- I know I have a tied weave on my hands and I have access to countless shafts.
If the lift sequence and tie ups have a lot of raising one shaft, then raising all shafts but that one- I probably have a double weave on my hands and those are really fun to play with because rigid heddles give you equal access to both sinking and rising sheds.
I feel comfortable knowing what I can do with Overshot, Monksbelt, and the laces. I am venturing into Crackle this week and finishing a study on corduroy. I have done some extensive studies on twill and plan to go back soon!
That is a really long windy answer. I personally find I am less concerned about the design of a draft as much as how the structure impacts the look and feel of the cloth. They have to work together and sometimes it’s hard to see that in a draft. But I think “making the draft pretty” is a challenge we all face on any kind of loom.
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Carly, I really appreciate your explanation of how you’ve explored different drafts for rigid heddle weaving. Thus far with the exception of the gradient class I took from Tien and Michelle, I’ve only used my rigid heddle loom for my hand spun textured art yarn as weft. I’ve been using my 4 shaft table loom for drafts (am very new here as well). But I am inspired now to venture into the possibilities you’ve opened up for the rigid heddle loom. Your closing sentence about how the structure relates to the look and feel of the cloth says it all. Thank You.
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