Each weaving group member warped her loom with 8/2 black cotton, 18 inches wide and set at 20 epi, in the pattern of her choice, with a warp long enough to weave 12 dinner napkins. Every group member choose different weft and provided enough to everyone else to weave one napkin. At the end of the exchange, every group member received a set of napkins, all with the same warp and weft, but woven on a diffrent threading.

Sharon provided everyone with variegated, hand-dyed weft. The unique set of napkins she received at the end of the project is pictured below.

In 2009 Sandpoint Fiberarts Guild’s weavers undertook a year-long study based on The Complete Book of Drafting for Handweavers by Madelyn van der Hoogt. The study was based on a guide developed by a Compuserve Weave Study Group in 1995.

Study group members shared their warping tips and tricks at their February 2009 meeting. See photos below by Lorie Hartman.

Vicki Reich provided a lesson in card weaving at the December 2008 Weaving Study Group meeting.

Below left Vicki demonstrates the many pattern variations. Below right, Mary Catherine Role prepares a warp in preparation for weaving while Vicki, standing in rear, explains the weaving proces to other attendees.

The Weavers Design Game is card game designed by Ann Sutton to stimulate and challenge groups of weavers. The purpose of the game is to produce, by chance, unexpected combinations of technique, weave, color, finishing etc., and to create a problem-solving attitude to design challenges.

The game is played like an open game of Pontoon (Twenty-one, Vingt-et-Un, Blackjack). Each card in the pack of 50 contains an element of design found in woven cloth. The dealer shuffles the deck and deals the first player two cards. The player reads them aloud. If the two elements conflict irredeemably, the dealer moves on to the next player. However, if the two cards are amenable, and the player feels that a third element could be incorporated into the cloth (the vision of which builds up differently in the minds of all in the group), a third card is dealt. A fourth card could be accepted, and even a fifth, but each new card is read aloud and considered, with solutions suggested by the group for any “impossibilities.” If the player accepts a card that contradicts a previous one and makes the fabric truly impossible, the dealer declares that player “bust” and moves on to the next player.

Below are photos of items woven by members of the Weaving Study Group as result of cards dealt them.

Left: Bag made of fabric woven by Lorie Hartman

Cards dealt:

• Very pale colors
• Resist dye the warp (Lorie used onion skins!)
• Embellish the selvedges (um… kinda forgot this one – could add fringe!)
• Incorporate floats in the weft (there are some in the purple stripe)
• Incorporate some holes (did one as a button hole)
• Use a soft, fuzzy, natural yarn

Right: Scarf woven by Vicki Reich

Cards dealt:

• Incorporate Beads (they’re on the fringe)
• Base the design on a grid
• Cram and space the warp in the reed
• Incorporate leather or paper (the beads are made of paper!)
• Several different hues, all the same value
• Narrow warp stripes
• Use twill

Below: Two scarves woven by Kristie Sherrodd

Cards dealt:

• Use less than four shafts (used 3)- two for tabby; one for or the supplementary pattern warp)
• Incorporate floats in the warp
• Ply two yarns together (the supplementary pattern warp)
• Use two yarns of very different thickneses in the warp (plied yarns are much thicker than tabby ground)
• Use overspun yarn or elastic (elastic yarn stripes caused the puckering!)