Weaverly

Books

The Woven Pixel: Designing for Jacquard and Dobby Looms Using Photoshop®
Co-authored by Alice Schlein and Bhakti Ziek. 362 pages, many illustrations. Available for download on handweaving.net.
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

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. Available from LoftyFiber.
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. From LoftyFiber.
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. From LoftyFiber.
Amalgamation: Double Your Dobby
24-pages of text, diagrams, and color photographs, in pdf format for download. Create drafts for 8 or more shafts in half-drop or brick arrangements which would normally require twice the number of shafts. Related to network drafting, this is a technique for intermediate or advanced weavers with dobby looms or multi-shaft table looms. Includes guidelines for amalgamation with current weaving applications. View on a computer, or print out one copy for your own use. USD$21. Available from LoftyFiber.

July 08, 2025

Hi, y'all!

Just to clear the air, I recognize that the world is upside down right now. But Weaverly is my weaving blog, my refuge, so that's the main thing I choose to talk about here. Enough said.

So Hi, y'all! I am now the delighted and pain-free owner of a new hip! Miracle of miracles! I'm looking forward to putting on my next warp, but meanwhile I'd like to show you a picture of an old pillow floating around the house. It's well used and kind of flattened out, but I still love it. This was a weaving project from many years ago when I was still trying to find my path. You'll see a little bit of wonky tapestry, some embroidery, some Ghiordes knots, and who knows what else. It was woven on a 4-shaft Macomber. Click to enlarge.

Department of Books. I have just finished reading Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. Very highly recommended. It's not for everyone, but I loved it.

Posted at 11:18 AM in Books, Tapestry, Weaving | Permalink | Comments (2)

June 15, 2025

Higgledy-Piggledy

Higgledy-Piggledy. In a disorganized fashion. With no particular plan. Something that is messy or untidy.

That was me yesterday, desperate to weave but with no loom warped...

I did have a recent shipment of dyed roving from Hilltop Cloud, so I dove into a mixed bag of many colors of BFL. I divided the bag in half. In one half I tore the colors into short segments, and in the second bag I left the pieces long. I spun each bag on a separate bobbin, then plied the two for a very random effect.

Then without washing the yarn OR calculating the yardage, I warped directly onto a rigid heddle loom, assuming by guesswork and past experience that there would be enough. THERE WASN'T. So I filled in with some other handspun for this very strange looking warp. The other handspun was already washed and a slightly finer grist. Did that stop me for a minute? Nope.