Weaverly: Thank You, Julia Loso

Books

The Woven Pixel: Designing for Jacquard and Dobby Looms Using Photoshop®
Co-authored by Alice Schlein and Bhakti Ziek. 362 pages, many illustrations. Now available for free download on handweaving.net. The accompanying CD with 1400 pattern presets is not included with the free download, but may be purchased separately. Email me at aschlein[at]att[dot]net for more information.
The Liftplan Connection: Designing for Dobby Looms With Photoshop® and Photoshop Elements®
By Alice Schlein. Build your own weave library. Design liftplans for your dobby loom. 157 pages, spiral bound, many illustrations. Now available as print-on-demand from www.lulu.com.
Network Drafting: An Introduction
By Alice Schlein. Break away from the block. Curves for your dobby loom. Originally published in 1994, now available as print-on-demand from www.lulu.com.

Monographs

Lampas for Shaft Looms
Class notes from Complex Weavers Seminars 2016, newly revised and formatted, in pdf form for download. A review of methods for designing your own lampas fabrics for treadle looms, table looms, and dobbies, eight shafts and above. Over 90 color photos of actual fabrics with drafts. Includes info on pickup lampas and a lampas bibliography. View on a computer, or print out one copy for your own use. USD$21. via PayPal. Email aschlein[at]att[dot]net for ordering info.
A Crepe Is Not Just a Pancake
52 pages of text, b&w and color diagrams, and drafts for multishaft tradle & dobby looms. Many color photos of actual cloth. Methods for drafting your own crepe weaves. Annotated bibliography. Pdf available for immediate download. $21. USD. Payment by PayPal. Email me at aschlein[at]att[dot]net for payment instructions.
Echo Weave
Based on the 1996 article in Weaver's, Issue 32. With brand new diagrams and high resolution scans of original fabrics. Pdf available for immediate download. $7. USD. Payment by PayPal. Email me at aschlein[at]att[dot]net for payment instructions.

Thank You, Julia Loso

Every once in a while this placemat turns up in the laundry, and I stop and smile and remember. My weaving beginnings date back to my sixth grade classroom in Elizabeth, New Jersey; 1950 that would be. The teacher was Julia Loso. She had a 4-shaft Structo loom warped up in the corner of the classroom with the Honeysuckle overshot draft, and every sixth grader that year had the opportunity of weaving a placemat, carefully following the draft. This is my placemat. Weaving it was such a thrilling experience that I knew that some day I had to have a loom of my own and be a weaver. Thank you, Julia Loso (And yes, I did go back to Elizabeth and found Mrs. Loso and thanked her personally, when she was long retired and in her eighties. She actually remembered me).

The fringes on this mat are nearly all worn away from repeated launderings. Weavers, take note. Hems are better than fringes on items that will be washed frequently. And then…and then there is the signature a little unsupervised two-year-old inscribed with indelible marker pen. Also a bit of history.