Building Foundations

 

I got back to the desktop yesterday and started working on the text and diagrams for the next article.

I don't expect them to use the diagram above - they have 'nicer' graphics software - but I wanted to provide the draft information to explain the 3 options for threading this particular weave structure.  So many new weavers don't understand how to 'read' this information and get all confused.  But this weave structure is an example of how things are not as they might seem to be.

A new weaver may assume that plain weave is always treadle a being tied to shaft 1+3 and treadle b is always tied to 2+4.  

(By 'a' and 'b' I am using the 'usual' notation that was common pre-computer days, where a small a and small b referred to the two plain weave treadles.)

In this case, Bronson Lace does not have those two treadles, but the two treadles on the left are the plain weave options.

I've had new weavers tell me that's incorrect, they want the plain weave treadles.  But here's the thing, you treadle the shafts that will result in plain weave.  And if you look at what those far left treadles are doing, they *are* weaving plain weave.

Then some new weavers get confused by the blue parts of the draft.  At this point, the weaver should be just isolating the actual threads.  In that part of the draft, there are no actual threads in the draft - I am simply trying to isolate the units that comprise Bronson Lace.  

Generally with a 2 block/unit Bronson Lace you can 'program' (thread) areas that are dedicated to plain weave, unit A or unit B.

So in the above diagram, I have given those 3 options in the threading area of the draft, shown the tie up to create 'lace' by making the weft be the threads that float over the rest, and then the treadling which gives four options - plain weave, unit A lace with unit B weaving plain weave, unit A weaving plain weave with unit B weaving lace, and lace in every unit threaded to the Bronson Lace weave structure.

To 'read' the threading draft I refer to the threads on shaft 1 as the 'foundation' threads, threads on shaft 2 as the tie downs, and the threads on the rest of the shafts (in this case four shafts) as the pattern ends.  

And that, in a nutshell, is how to read that diagram.

I suspect that the text of the article will be more extensive, but this is the Coles Notes version.  Also, I am just at the point in the article where I need to explain this, so this Coles Notes version was partly an exercise in refreshing my memory.

I'm still dealing with the effects of the brain bleed in Aug. 2024.  My brain doesn't always 'brain' well, especially if I've had a 'bad' night due to pain.

So I'm having my 2nd cup of coffee, and preparing myself to take a run at writing this part of the article.  And partly because I saw (again!) a new weaver asking for help to read a weaving draft.  So it was made clear to me that I can't just start this article assuming that everyone who reads the article will already know how to read it?  Or maybe I can.  But if so, the editors can cut that part.  It's going to be diagram dense and they may need more room for the diagrams/drafts/photos, which is the heart of the article.  Anyway, don't hold your breath.  I'm working on an article for an issue in 2027.