PROJECT
Square Dance Mat

If you already have warp on your loom from the Autumn Windows Runner, you’re ready to rethread for the Square Dance Mat. If not, follow the warping instructions for the Autumn Windows Runner, which starts on page 144, up to the point of threading the heddles. A 2-yard (183 cm) warp will give you plenty of length to weave the Square Dance Mat and to experiment with a second piece.

Thread your warp following the block plan from the Autumn Windows Runner (page 147), but using the two threading blocks in Figure 74 on page 167. The A blocks are threaded just as they were in the Autumn Windows Runner, but the B blocks now have a new threading sequence.

Sley 4 threads per dent in an 8-dent reed and tie on. Tie up your treadles according to the tie-up plan in Figure 76 on page 167. Have two shuttles —either boat or stick shuttles—ready with your background color. For your pattern colors, you’ll be weaving a small amount at a time with each color; wind one color at a time onto a stick shuttle.

When weaving areas of background only, weave with the two background color shuttles, alternating with one for the top layer and one for the bottom layer, following the treadling sequence in Figure 75 on page 167. Start both shuttles from the left and interlock wefts.

When weaving areas of pick-up, weave with one of the background color shuttles and one of the pattern colors, following the treadling sequence in Figure 76 (page 167). Begin by weaving 1 inch (2.5 cm) of solid background on top for a turned-in hem. Then continue weaving following the graphed design (Figure 77 on page 170). After finishing the graphed design, weave an extra 1 inch (2.5 cm) of solid background on top for a turned-in hem.

Figure 77: Graphed design for Square Dance Mat. Every square of the graph represents two dents in the reed, or four threads in each layer.

In this graphed design, each square on the graph represents two dents in the reed, or four threads from each layer. This means that the treadling sequence is repeated once for each row of the graph. The entire treadling sequence of four weft picks in each layer is woven for each row of the graphed design. Change to a new pattern weft color each time you come to a new area of pick-up design.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The primary focus of this book has been learning about and understanding the various doubleweave techniques on four and eight shafts. Without an understanding of the structures and how to work with the drafts, the best you can do is to follow recipes. But with a solid foundation in designing and drafting doubleweave, the doubleweave world becomes your universe, and your creativity can take wing.

A secondary focus throughout this book is color; color usage is fundamental to many of the effects that are possible in doubleweave. Having two layers in different sets of colors that can interact with each other in a variety of ways enables you to create effects that can’t be achieved in any other way.

Virtually every element in your weaving is a potential variable that you can explore in doubleweave. Weaving is fertile ground for asking “what if” questions, and doubleweave is doubly so.

• What if the two warps were in different fibers? You might have to wind the two warps on separate beams or tension them separately.
• What if the two warps were the same color, but with different textures? Again, they might need to be tensioned separately.
• What if the weft yarns were different fibers than the warp yarns?
• What if one of the layers was a thick yarn and the other one was a thinner yarn? You might need to thread and sett the two warps in a ratio other than 1:1. See Doubleweave on Four to Eight Shafts by Ursina Arn-Grischott for discussion and diagrams on how to work with different yarn ratios.
• What if one of the layers was in a denser sett and the other one was in a more open sett?
• What if one layer shrinks more than the other?
• What if, instead of a balanced sett, the weaving was more warp-faced? What if it was more weft-faced? What if you combined single-layered areas with double-layered areas?
• What if you wanted to be able to see through the top layer to view the layer underneath?
• What if you inserted objects between the layers?
• What if the two layers weren’t the same width?
• What if the two layers weren’t directly one above the other?

On and on it goes. Everything that I’ve learned about doubleweave came from wondering about what would happen if I did something a certain way, and then sitting down to figure out how to make that happen. Doubleweave can be a bit like solving a jigsaw puzzle in three dimensions: At first it can be hard to wrap your mind around, but if you keep looking at it from different directions, eventually a solution begins to appear.

Keep imagining and keep exploring!