The Intriguing World of False Damask

In the weaving world, false damask is just a four thread broken twill.  At a recent Not 2 Square meeting, Jackie brought in two lap robes for Holiday Cheer gifts, both woven in false damask or more correctly labeled "turned broken twill blocks".  What our group found most amazing was the optical illusion created by placing darker lines at the block changes.  We started digging deeper into this illusion technique and found a couple of sources that take a slightly different approach to the structure.

Margie and Sue holding up the lap robes woven by Jackie

This is the draft that Jackie followed for her two lap robes with the exception that Jackie used large blocks and wider black outlining.

This is a draft found in a Weaver's Book of 8-Shaft Patterns draft #246 on pg. 60





You can see that they are very similar, but the second draft uses only six threads in the outline stripes (black) and the outline isn't threaded on  all four shafts of the block.

There are two other examples of the color and weave version of this block weave.  Check out Jackie's towel and Dee's towel from previous posts. 

There is a lot of variation that could be used with this block structure.  Think about changing the squares to rectangles; make the rectangles unequal in size and play with the color in the outline stripes.  

Lap Robes for Holiday Cheer

 

It's Holiday Cheer time again in Nevada County.  Each year the visiting nurses in this county collect Christmas gifts for their homebound patients.  For the past few years, the Not 2 Square weavers have been putting together lap robes to help warm the heart and the body!   This year there were a total of 10 lap robes, several knit hats and a knit scarf in our donation bag.  What follows are photos of some of the lap robes donated this year.

 

Dee Jones wove the striped material in both of these quilted covers.  She artfully combined a variety of commercial fabrics with her own hand woven to make generous sized lap robes.  There will be a couple of very happy folks when the nurses deliver these.

Diana Abrell wove the overshot top of this lovely blanket.  It is lined with a striped material and bound with satin binding.  Diana then secured the quilt with ties.

Igor Raven wove this lap robe double width on his Baby Wolf loom.  The binding was woven by Beryl Moody to match the throw.

Ingrid Knox donated three lap robes this year.  Pictured  are two of them.  Ingrid used a variety of yarns in beautifully designed stripe combinations.  All of her lap robes are easy care and will keep their recipients warm and cozy this holiday season.

Jackie Hervey wove this two block 3/1 twill throw from a variety of rayon yarns in her stash.  It is a nice weight and lays very comfortably over lap and knees.  Don't you love the color contrast between the two sides?

Members of the Not 2 Square group often donate items to older teenagers in foster care as well as this Holiday Cheer project.  We find it is a great way to work down the stash, try out new ideas and techniques and give back to the community.

Lap Robes for Holiday Cheer

This is the second year that the Not 2 Square weavers have woven lap robes for something called Holiday Cheer.  Holiday Cheer is spear headed by Judi Barbour who has been collecting holiday gifts for members of our community who are still in their homes, but have illnesses or conditions that make it hard for them to get out and about.  Visiting nurses may be the only people they see on a regular basis. 

In researching what makes a good lap robe, we searched the Internet and found that almost anything goes, but that long fringe is usually not a good idea because of the possibility of getting caught in wheel chair wheels.  Here are pictures, dimensions and details about the fruits of our labors this year.

Diana Abrell wove the strips of striped fabric in cotton and then collaborated with a quilter friend who added commercial fabric blocks and a flannel backing.  Dimensions are 41" x 41"

Ingrid Knox wove two lap robes using acrylic yarns from her stash.  These are plain weave with lots of color and weave interest.  The dimensions are 39" x 40" and 38" x 43.5"

Igor Raven woven this lap robe using a double weave technique to get a wide piece on his Baby Wolf loom.  The warp is rayon/cotton and the weft is cotton from Henry's Attic.  Since hem stitching a double width piece on the loom isn't possible, he wove an inkle band binding.  The dimensions are 34" x 41"

Jackie Hervey had lots of odds and ends of rayon and cotton yarns.  She plied them together into a new thicker yarn and woven two robes using a 2/2 twill.  The colors are very complex in these pieces.  The dimensions are 30.5" x 38" and 30.5" x 37".

Gus Young wove two robes from cotton and rayon yarns and even some ribbon from her stash.  These were woven in an 8 shaft diamond pattern on her Gilmore loom.  The dimensions are 30"x37" and 30" x 34".

Dee Jones wove the blue blocks in this quilt type lap robe and then placed them in a batik fabric background, using her skill as a quilter.  The backing is flannel for warmth.  The dimensions are 42" x 42"

I (Beryl Moody) wove this turned taquete double width on my Baby Wolf loom.  Again, since hem stitching on the loom isn't practical for double width weaving, I wove an inkle band binding.  The yarns are rayon and cotton and even a bit of linen from my stash.  The dimensions are 27" x 40"

I should have put the combined lap robes on a scale, but my estimate is that we used up about 10 pounds of stash this year.  There were 10 lap robes and we hope there will be 10 happy recipients.

Gifts for Holiday Cheer

The Not 2 Square Weavers like to do some sort of community spirited project each year.  This year some of us decided to weave lap robes for Holiday Cheer.  This is a local outreach for home bound seniors (and others recouperating from illnesses).  Visiting nurses supply Judi Barbour with the number of people under their care and she puts together gift stockings from donations for those with the most need. 

Since some of the recipients are confined to wheel chairs, several of us decided on rather narrow pieces that would cover the lap, but not be too wide and cumbersome.  It turns out that for wheel chair use, the pieces need to be without fringe so there will be nothing to get caught in wheels, etc.

Gus is pictured above with one of her lap robes woven in cotton and acrylic - the draft follows.

I wove my lap robes using a networked threading and treadling in turned taquete and a couple of weights of cotton.  See the related blog post here that gives more details on the process.  Working with the warp faced weave and divided threading allowed me to separate and weave the hem in two layers, which I turned to the inside to finish.

Marcy had woven a chenille lap robe before we decided to participate in this project, and she generously donated it.

Diana bought acrylic baby yarn to weave her pieces, but had a disaster when the yarn slipped and slid during the finishing process so she had a hand sewn robe in reserve which went along with our donations. 

Ingrid didn't weave her piece, but rather sewed it and finished it like a quilt.  See her blog for the colorful and warm covering she donated.

It was very gratifying to learn when we delivered our items to Judi, that there were so many donations this year that everyone on the nurse's list will be getting something warm and wonderful for Christmas.