In The Intentional Weaver course with Laura Fry, we learned how to beam a warp using a trapeze and this is the project we put on the loom. It’s a 5-yard / 4.6 m long 3/2 cotton warp that we threaded on 8 shafts in a “wall of troy” threading pattern. This pattern can also be threaded on 4 shafts, so both drafts are included here. Changing the treadling will produce new patterns.
7.5″ / 19 cm wide x 75″ / 190.5 cm long after wet finishing
Yarn
Warp & Weft: 2 cones of Gist Yarn Beam 3 /2 organic cotton, 1 each in Natural (Colour A, 600 yd/ 549 m warp colour) and Aqua or Dandelion (Colour B, 288 yd/ 263 m weft colour) (630 yd / 576 m per 8 oz / 227 g cone; 100% organic cotton).
Equipment & Tools
4- or 8-shaft loom with a minimum 10 ” / 25 cm weaving width
12-dent reed (sleyed one per dent)
1 shuttle and at least one bobbin, warping board, reed hook, heddle hook, tapestry needle, measuring tape
Structure
Weave Structure: twill
Warp Length: 5 yd / 4.6 m long (includes 8.5 ” / 21.6 cm take-up, 87 ” / 221 cm loom waste, and for further projects or sampling)
The first warp uses an easy all over houndstooth colour sequence leaving areas of solid yellow and white just like you would have in a fried egg and the second shows you how to use just a bit of striping to create a colour and weave highlight in the corner of your towels with a more muted scrambled egg palette where buttery and deep yellow combine. Mix and match and make them your own.
New weavers sometimes have a bit of a challenge coming to grips with the numbering systems used to identify their yarns, and Laura explains all the info needed to break down those pesky number counts.