Yule Log Cabin

A question recently came up on a weaving forum. How do you warp for log cabin patterns? I stared at the screen for a moment and then thought "Same as I always do."

But then I cast my mind back to my first attempt at a log cabin pattern. It seemed to be so complicated and needing way more effort than I thought it should. I could NOT get my head around how to warp it. I looked at books. I looked at videos. Many of the methods involved tying individual warps or creating a direct warp loop then cutting it and tying it to the back beam. Not a simple continuous warp. That was the goal.

In the end, by drawing pictures of the warp loops in the heddle and how they'd split into the pattern, a continuous warp was achieved.

My first attempt was not great. There was not enough contrast between the yarn colours, but it was clear from looking at more successful colour pairings the optical illusion of a log cabin pattern was a goal worth pursuing. But how to get over the tedium of warping it? There had to be a way to simplify the warping: one that avoided lots of cutting and tying, or having to colour in pictures on squared paper.

I applied the Feynman algorithm and thought hard about the problem. How to tie on a log cabin without too much effort? Aided by the magic of Photoshop layers, I mocked up the warp and here is the result. My (slightly) lazy version of a log cabin warp.

A basic log cabin contains two pattern blocks. Both blocks start on one colour and end on another. In each block there are equal numbers of warp threads for each colour.

As you change from one block to the next there are two warps of the same colour. So moving from block 1 to block 2, there are two yellow warps together. Moving from block 2 back to block 1, there are two blue warps together. So how can that pattern be created using a direct warp and without lots and lots of knot tying?

It helps to think of the two blocks as a block of six and a block of four, instead of two blocks of five. So for block one warp three loops of blue in the slots as normal, but skipping every other slot. Next warp three loops of yellow in the holes to the right of the "blue" slots. That's block one complete. Notice how there are an empty slot and hole between each pair of colours and that there are six loops warped up.

For block two, skip a slot and a hole as before. In the next slot, start with yellow, skip a slot and warp the next one. Then add the blue into the holes next to the yellow. This time you only need four warp loops. As before skip a slot and a hole and then repeat block one. Repeat the two blocks across the required width.

Once the warp is complete cut the loop at the warping peg and wind on to the back beam as normal. Then pull the warp threads into the correct holes as per the pattern.

Maybe I should try this out for blocks of different sizes and see if it works for those too. What do you think? Would that be useful? Leave a comment and let me know.

Inkle Sheep

After all that hard thinking about shaft mapping and the like for my Krokbragd posts, I was really feeling the need for something a bit easier on the grey matter. And here it is:- card woven sheep.

Idly searching for who knows what I came across this blog post at Hilltop Cloud.

I knew I just had to weave some of those cute little creatures. So I did.

They are so adorable with their little black hooves and chubby little bodies. Weaving them was a joy as it is a simple four forwards, four backwards repeating pattern. The only twisting to worry about was at the edges for the border.

Setting up the loom was less of a joy.

Much as I enjoy tablet weaving, setting up the warp is a real pain in the backside. I've not yet managed to find a warping technique that didn't result in a couple of big knots and a length of whatever was to hand tying them together. As you can see, not pretty and hard to tension. Arghhhhhh! Oh and that's the improved version, after I added the carabiners.

Then, I received a new book. "Tablets at Work" by Claudia Wollny. It is awesome! Seven hundred or so pages of detailed instructions. A proper text book for card weavers. Claudia describes in detail a warping technique that I'd seen before and dismissed as looking a bit complicated. She makes it sound much easier. So in the near future, I'm going to give it a go and hopefully it will be "Bye, bye, big ugly knots holding my band together."

If you're interested in weaving some sheep, here is the card set up. I don't think I'm infringing anyone's copyright as I've seen the pattern all over the place since I saw it on Hilltop Cloud. But if you copy it, why not give Katie and Hilltop Cloud the credit.

Happy weaving.

Krokbragd comparison (Krokbragd #3)

Latest update - check out Krokbragd #4 for images of the warping pattern with actual yarn.

It has been a head-scratching week here at KiniB. Trying to make sense of the various Krokbragd instructions across various books and websites. I think I've got my head around it but if anyone spots a mistake hopefully they'll let me know.

I have based my research on the warping pattern from Yarn in my Pocket. Back slot to front slot is shaft (weft thread colour) #1. Back slot to front hole is colour #2 and back hole to front slot is colour #3. There are twice as many #2 warp threads to create the repeat in pattern 1-2-3-2, 1-2-3-2...

Remember - in Krokbragd the warp is completely covered by the weft so it can be of any colour and would, I expect, normally be one colour. For clarity, so you can see which thread goes where, three colours are used in the diagram.

I chose the 2&3...1&3...1&2...1&3 (1... 2... 3... 2...) lift pattern as a baseline, because that seemed to produce the most consistent results when testing patterns. Putting that together with the warping shown gave me the lifting and shed sequence shown below. Note that while that looks like four separate movements there are only three movements involved. The 1&3 repeats are created in one pass of the weft.

Now lets add some weft colours. We'll use blue, red and green in that order.

Lifting both heddles (2 & 3) and passing the weft creates a pattern pixel of weft colour A (blue).

Lowering the front heddle (1 & 3) and passing the weft creates a pattern pixel of weft colour B (red).

Lowering the back heddle (1 & 2) and passing the weft creates a pattern pixel of weft colour C (green).

The next step was to map the instructions from other Krokbragd resources onto this pattern. The results are as shown below. The different order of lifts means that if we use the weft colours A (blue), B (red) and C (green) in the same order for each set of instructions, they will appear in different parts of the four pixel/warp wide pattern.

For example. Yarn in my Pocket starts the sequence with shafts 1 and 2 lifted, opening shed 3. So when we pass the blue weft it will appear in shaft position three of the pattern. Next in the sequence shed 1 is opened so the red weft will appear in the first position. Finally both heddles are raised to open shed 2 which gives two green threads. The resulting four column thread pattern is shown below each table.

If we apply this logic to a simple pattern it is easier to see the effect of these different mappings. In the top row we have, to the left, the original pattern using the sequence described by Ask the Bellwether. To the right is the same pattern using the shed sequence from Yarn in my Pocket.

In the second row are the patterns based on the sequences in "The Wheel" and in the booklet "Krokbragd and Boundweave: Three, Four and Five Shafts" (also known as "Blended Draft for Krokbragd" by David Xenakis).

It should be noted that in David's book he uses a different warping pattern, as shown below. Notice how the repeated thread corresponds to the Slot - Slot warps.

I don't know if anyone else will find this piece of research useful, but it has really helped me to think through how Krokbragd patterns are constructed and how one small change in lifting order can completely change the way the pattern appears when woven.

If you would like a copy of the spreadsheet, you can download it here

Do let me know if you've found it helpful.

Krokbragd confusion (Krokbragd #2)

Latest update - check out Krokbragd #4 for images of the warping pattern with actual yarn.

As the tag line says, the aim of the blog is to celebrate the intersection of art and science. In light of that I decided to apply my technical knowledge to Krokbragd weaving. OK, I'll admit, I got the nudge from a question on the Facebook "Weaving Krokbragd" group. The question was asked "How do you design a pattern?" That got me thinking. I've been able to follow instructions, such as those in Jane Patrick's "Weaver's Ideas" book, but I still didn't really understand what I was doing. So I did what any good scientist does and read the literature.

The group has a treasure trove of information. I scanned the files looking for more information and to my delight a new file seemed to hold the Rosetta Stone of Krokbragd on a rigid heddle. The description was clear and concise. I felt like I was beginning to understand how Krokbragd patterns could be created but there was a problem.

I had been using a 1&2..2&3..3&1.. lift pattern. My Krokbragd Rosetta Stone gave the lift pattern as 2&3..1&3..1&2. Oh! How can that be? My patterns looked like patterns I'd seen, so I'd assumed I was doing things right. I didn't really know how they worked but I could create arrow heads and flame points and was jolly pleased with myself. I rechecked my lift pattern and to steal from the legendary Eric Morecambe - It seemed I'd got all the right moves, but not necessarily in the right order.

I read on.

The file explained by lifting 2&3 (raising both heddles) the first pick (strand of weft thread) would cover warp thread #1 (shaft 1 warp in shaft loom terms). Lifting 1&2 (lowering the front heddle) would cover warp thread #2 and lifting 1&3 (lowering the back heddle) for the third pick would cover warp thread #3. I compared that to the warping guide from Yarn in my Pocket blog 93.

A penny started to drop. When the weft goes over the top of the warp it creates a "pixel" of weft coloured pattern. Each pattern group is made up of columns of yarn pixels. Each column is four pixels wide because the pattern repeat is 1-2-3-2---1-2-3-2---1-2-3-2... Hopefully you can see from the diagram that there are twice as many green threads because that part of the pattern appears twice.

Well duh! I hear you murmuring. I know, I embarrass myself, but I'd got so hung up on shafts and heddles and three wefts to one pattern row that I'd forgotten the basics of weaving. Let's have a picture to make things clearer. Hopefully you can see which part of which heddle is controlling the shed.

Note - in Krokbragd the warp is completely covered by the weft so it can be of any colour and would, I expect, normally be one colour. For clarity, so you can see which thread goes where, three colours are used in the diagram.

I opened a spreadsheet programme and began to transfer the pattern for a Krokbragd sheep. Then I automated it, so that as a colour code is entered, the pattern repeat appears.

I began adding more drafts to the spreadsheet and as I did so I noticed that some of the patterns didn't seem to work. Eh? Surely I was now the Krokbragd Queen. Did I not understand the principles of creating a Krokbragd pattern? I had a spreadsheet and everything. So what was going wrong? The guitar pattern seemed particularly loathe to bend to the will of my spreadsheet.

The pattern draft indicated wefts of White Red and Green should create a red guitar neck with green tuning pegs. Instead of two sets of pegs, the pattern was generating two red necks. The design is in "Weaver's Ideas" so I took a look at that.

The weaving draft seemed to start on #2 rather than #1. So I moved the colours across one shaft. That was a bit better: one guitar neck, but with floating tuning pegs. Still not right. So I did what any good engineer does - I bodged it. I rearranged the colours until I got the image I was looking for. Then I tried weaving it. That was interesting.

I discovered that using my 1&2..2&3..3&1.. lift pattern created the floating tuning pegs pattern to the above right. I swapped to 2&3..1&3..1&2.. and Eureka! Guitars.

I was of course thrilled to be able to try out designs as digital pixels before turning them into cloth pixels, but I was puzzled by the variations I'd seen. I looked at my Krokbragd resources and noticed there were three different variations of the lifting order. There were also two different ways to warp two heddles to create the three shaft pattern.

Crikey!

I needed a way to try and compare each method, without having to rewarp my loom. So it was back to the spreadsheets. Next time I'll share my findings.

Introducing Krokbragd (Krokbragd #1)

Weaving appeals to me on many levels. Firstly, it's a relaxing thing to do when it's going well. Unweaving when I've made a mistake - not so much fun. Secondly it appeals to me on an engineering level - taking yarn and locking it together into fabric. How cool is that? Then there are all the wonderful patterns and the interplay of colour and texture which combine in countless variations. There is much to keep the mind occupied when planning a new weave.

When weaving there are threads that run top to bottom (the warp) and threads that run from side to side (the weft - like "left" in left to right). Often the weave is designed so that the warp and weft share equal billing (take up the same amount of space). That type of structure is called a "balanced weave." Krokbragd, on the other hand, is a "three shaft twill, weft faced" structure. The "weft faced" part of that means the left to right threads completely cover the vertical threads. The three shaft bit means that normally you'd weave this on a shafted loom, not a rigid heddle loom. The twill bit, I'm not too sure what that really means, but it's got something to do with getting those diagonal lines you see in posh coat fabric. Put that lot together and you create a fabric that is thick and luscious to the touch and it is my new weaving passion.

The name is Norwegian and apparently means "crooked path." I don't speak Norwegian, so I'm going to have to trust that's true. Not knowing anything much about weaving on a shaft loom, I also had to trust the scant resources I found when trying to translate Krokbragd patterns for rigid heddle use.

My first port of call was Jane Patrick's book "The Weaver's Idea Book." It is an excellent general resource and there are several patterns in there for the aspiring Krokbragd weaver to attempt. Unfortunately, Jane's approach is to use pick up sticks and/or string heddles. That sounded like way too much faffing around, but without setting up the sticks the diagrams made little sense, so I hit up the internet in search of an alternative.

Fortified by a cuppa and a digestive biscuit, I discovered that Krokbragd is threaded on a four-thread repeat, over three shafts. The pattern repeats 1-2-3-2-1-2-3-2-1...

Bibble!

Thankfully a little more searching led me to a blog which began to clear up some of my confusion. Yarn in my Pocket blogs 93 and 100.

Alison provided a really neat explanation of how Krokbragd works. Even better, she provided a threading diagram to warp a rigid heddle for Krokbragd. Result! Here is my version showing how to thread the warp through the front and back heddles. In the diagram, the back heddle is the one at the top.

Note - in Krokbragd the warp is completely covered by the weft so it can be of any colour and would, I expect, normally be one colour. For clarity, so you can see which thread goes where, three colours are used.

Alison gives the "treadling" pattern as 1&2..2&3..3&1.. Without shafts, I was still unsure what that meant. Then I found Amelia at Ask the Bellwether. Amelia provides an excellent mapping of heddle position to shaft tie up. The table shows the relevant section.

At last I could start to weave. Following Alison's threading and treadling or lifting patterns and with Amelia's translation of shaft to heddle I had enough information to begin weaving. First I had to set up the warp. Oh man! It felt like I was warping for a week. Of course being something new, it did take a while to get everything in the right place and I'm now getting faster, but that first time was a three cup of tea warp.

At first I had no real idea of what I was doing, just randomly adding colours, because I still didn't understand enough about the process to translate the pick up stick patterns to what I'd warped up, but I managed a bit of "flame point" some zig zags and what I think could be described as "interpretative" versions of arrows, rockets and beach huts.

It was slow going. Each "row" of weaving requires three passes of the shuttle and heavy beating to squash the fibres down into a single line, but eventually I had fabric. Thick luscious fabric. I didn't really understand how the patterns worked and my pull in at the sides would have made a Victorian corset maker proud, but I was thrilled.

I hope you've found the links useful. If you know of any other good resources, why not share your discovery in a comment.

Hello there and welcome.

Welcome to KiniBcrafts. I am a weaver and this blog is a place to store my exploration of krokbragd so won't be updated very often.