Click here for draft
In just about every introductory weaving couse, students learn the Summer and Winter
weave. Three common treadlings are usually taught, which enable the student to treadle
pattern blocks that are composed of little "donuts", little "x's", or little squares.
A four-harness example showing two blocks is shown below:
Click here for draft
With Summer and Winter, two shafts (usually harnesses 1 and 2) are used for the "tie-down" shafts, which tack down the weft so that its floats are no longer than 3 warps wide. The remaining shafts are available for pattern blocks, so a four-harness loom can have two pattern blocks, and an eight-harness loom can have six pattern blocks. Tabby is formed by alternating the treadling of both the tie-down shafts with all the pattern block shafts. Therefore, to treadle tabby on a four-harness loom that is threaded for two pattern blocks, you treadle shafts 1 and 2 together, then 3 and 4 together. On an eight-harness loom that is threaded for six pattern blocks, you get tabby by treadling shafts 1 and 2 together, then 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 together. One of these tabby sheds is called the "a" tabby and the other the "b" tabby, but depending on the author you will get different opinions as to which is which (for example, Mary Black calls the tie-down harness tabby "a" and the pattern harness tabby "b", while Harriet Tidball reverses the designation). Whichever one you choose is up to you, and during your sampling you can see what differences result from treadling different tabby variations, such as a-b-b-a vs. a-b-a-b, with your pattern sheds. Tabby wefts usually match the warp, with a somewhat heavier pattern weft to emphasize the blocks.
However, another treadling, using the same weft throughout, will produce a weave which has 3-pick
warp floats. When taken off the loom and finished, these floats become little "bumps" that produce
a lovely texture and a nice alternative to plain tabby. The treadling for this texture is
produced by treadling one tie-down plus all the pattern shafts, then 3 picks of tabby, then
the other tie-down plus all the pattern shafts, and 3 picks of tabby. Here is the draft:
Click here for draft
Combining the texture treadling with pattern treadling can produce a lovely look,
that can be used for many applications, such as banded placemats, decorated wool jackets,
and liturgical hangings. Even more variation can be introduced by adding the plain tabby
treadling, which can give three different textures to the piece. The draft below shows a four-shaft
combination of the threading we have been following:
Click here for draft
To the left is an eight-shaft pattern by Pamela Engberg
showing a combination of all three treadlings.
The pattern area is set off from the texture by narrow bands of plain weave. This pattern was used
as the orphrey (pattern band) for a liturgical stole and altar hangings. Both pattern and tabby in the banded areas
were woven in Jaggerspun Maine Line 2/8 to match the warp; the pattern orphrey weft was gold Lurex
(Astra Glow, from Silk City). This illustrates some of the many possibilities of Summer and Winter
as experiments with different wefts and treadlings can yield surprising results.
This winter, try Summer and Winter. It's not just for coverlets any more!!!
