TW EXPERIMENTS

Laurelhurst Fiber Art Studio & Urban Farm
Tablet Weaving * Ply-Splitting * Mindfulness * Permaculture

Tablet Weaving Experiments

This page is for sharing new ideas about tablet weaving

I've created this page to show work that is in the experimental stage, and would enjoy discussing these ideas with anyone who is interested. Please feel free to e-mail me or share your thoughts on the Tablet Weaving list. You can subscribe to the Tablet Weaving list by going to the sign-up page on Janis Saunder's web site, www.weavershand.com.

Experiments are shown in reverse date order, so the newest thing posted is always at the top of the page.

Loom-woven potholder based on a warp-twined tablet-woven design

This loom-woven potholder, woven by Gretchen Muller, has a tag that reads "Patterns from Egyptian Cardweaving". I bought it at a craft fair many years ago. It hangs on my kitchen wall next to the stove, and has only once touched a pot, when a guest helping with the cooking thought it was hanging up there to be used!

Gretchen's potholder measures 7" x 6-1/4". The center design is a twill, and the borders are plain weave. The yarns are cotton rug warp and a thick cotton weft.

"Card-weaving patterns for placemats" explains how to convert warp-twined tablet-woven designs into warp-faced twills for a loom. This article, by Triinu Kartus, is in the November/December 1999 Handwoven, p. 22-24.

Or... if you don't have a loom, you could weave warp-twined potholders with tablets, turning them in groups. Has anyone tried this? It would be interesting to compare this loom-woven potholder to a warp-twined potholder of the same design.

[Spaced-Out TW sample in fine in worsted wool]

Sample from Liz Williamson's Scarf Workshop

My sample from the July 1999 workshop with Australian weaver Liz Williamson at the Midwest Conference in Bloomington, Indiana. Liz is a very talented artist and a wonderful teacher -- I highly recommend her workshops. While everyone else was warping up floor and table looms, I was trying to figure out what I wanted to explore with my tablets. Liz presented so many possibilities, which included many different ways to achieve textures using various combinations of fibers, structures, and finishing techniques. Her samples are exquisite.

I finally decided to keep it fairly simple and try her very fine 2/36 worsted wool for both warp and weft, with warp twining, gauze weave (leno), and basket weave variations. I used tensioning blocks on a table and a 5-dent reed scrap, and spaced the center threads one tablet per dent (20 epi) and the sides 2 tablets per dent (40 epi). This sample was simply washed by hand and dried flat. I like the result. Of course, you can't tell what it's like from a photo -- you have to feel it! It is incredibly light and airy, yet very stable. I like the combination of the two setts and the differences in surface texture created by using different structures.

The sample is approximately 6" x 10". Click on the photo for a full-size view and additional comments.

Gauze weave scarf sample using commercial space-dyed warps -- no loom, no dyeing!

An idea I've wanted to try for some time and finally got around to in June 1999. I used 32 tablets, 1 tablet per dent in a 6-dent reed. Perle cotton, ribbon yarn, and Waikiki (a commercial space-dyed nubby cotton/rayon). 4" wide after washing.

I measured and cut the Waikiki one warp at a time to line up the colors to create the ikat effect. This stripe is the same on the front and back. The gauze weave structure is not apparent here, as the texture and color are the dominant features. Click on the photo for a close-up.

Tablet weaving with copper wire

This is a sample I wove in February 1999 at the Cleveland Art Institute when several people got together to experiment with wire. Click on the photo for a close-up and more details. Click here to see another experiment from the same day -- Debbie Silver's ply-split braid with wire.

[Spaced-out tablet weaving sample with warp twining and gauze weave]

Tablet weaving sample with spaced-out warps

This is a sample I wove in September 1998 in a "Spaced - Out Tablet Weaving" workshop in Wokingham, England. The warp is in the horizontal direction. Tablets alternately threaded (right, left, repeat), and spaced out in a reed to 4 tablets per inch. Structures used were warp twining and gauze weave (leno). Actual length of the sample 9"; width varies from 3-1/2" to 5-1/4". This variation in width only showed up after washing, and seems due to differences in fiber and ply of the weft yarns, which sometimes collapse into the open space. Lots of possibilities for more experimenting! Click on the photo for a close-up and additional details about this sample.

Warp-twined double cloth sample -- two views of the same band

[Warp-twined double cloth using the pasaka principle; two 4-color warps interdigitated]

An experiment that I wove at Harrisville Designs in July 1998. The narrow areas are warp-twined double cloth, while the wider sections are single-layer warp twining. The double-cloth has different colors and patterns on each side. I wove the band using the Pasaka principle, which Peter Collingwood developed based on an Indonesian tool to create a double shed. In Peter's method, a rod is placed over and under cords behind the tablets, and can be moved to create a single or double shed at will. When the rod is near the tablets, there is a double shed, and when it is pushed away from the tablets, there is a single shed. Click on either photo for close-ups and additional comments.

The puzzle of the 8-color band

A closer look at the single-layer section of the 8-color band (left photo) Why do the diagonal lines in the two halves look different? Some experiments on a sample (right photo) help provide answers to this puzzle.

Both of these bands are made up of two 4-color continuous warps (A and B) with the tablets interdigitated.

Experimenting with the sample showed that the tablet arrangement in the two halves must be a mirror image -- the tablets at the center of the band must be either A A or B B. The color/value arrangement also makes a difference in the appearance of the diagonals.

Click on either photo for close-ups and more details.