Taueret

Book report: Hands on Rigid Heddle Weaving and The Ashford Book of Rigid Heddle Weaving side by side.

The subject of first books for Rigid Heddle weaving seems to arise regularly.  I thought it would be a good idea to have a look at two of the most popular books side by side: Betty Linn Davenport's "Hands on Rigid Heddle Weaving", and Rowena Hart's "Ashford Book of Rigid Heddle Weaving".  I'm not going to talk again about "Creative Weaving", but I have written about it before in some detail.


Both "Hands On..." and "the Ashford Book..." seek to introduce the simplicity and portability of rigid heddle weaving to both new weavers, and to experienced weavers who may not be familiar with rigid heddle looms.   "Hands On" presents a table comparing 7 brands of rigid heddle loom and their attributes, side by side.  The Ashford book assumes you have an Ashford loom, but it really doesn't matter, especially if you are in Australia or NZ, where you probably do.  Each has an introduction to the loom and its parts, followed by step by step instructions for warping a rigid heddle loom.

I really wish everyone could have both books.  The Ashford book has lovely, modern projects.  The Davenport book's projects are, admittedly dated and fairly uninspiring.   However, "Hands On" uses these projects to introduce a series of important lessons.  The Ashford book gets you up and weaving too, but could leave you asking a lot of questions later that the Davenport book answers, or worse, not realising that there *are* other questions.  "Hands On" has an extensive bibliography- one glance at it lets the reader know that there *is* more to learn.

"Hands On" was my first Rigid heddle book, and to be completely honest, I never could get my head around the warping method.  In fact, without watching Betty Davenport's dvd (actually I have an ancient VHS version) I don't think I would have ever understood.  I did make a warping board, and stubbornly warped my loom this way a couple of times, but I fudged at points where I lost my way in the instructions.  As soon as I tried the peg method (shown step by step in the Ashford book), I've never looked back, especially since I like laying in different warp yarns spontaneously, as I warp.  That said, the peg method of warping can be seen online- you don't need to buy a book to learn it. 


"Hands On" suggests setting up your heddle with marking inches out from the centre (something I'm glad I did, its really handy), and discusses the qualities of special weaving yarns, as well as sett calculations.  This is a sign of things to come- in my opinion, Betty Davenport's book contains a lot more 'meat' than the Ashford book.  Concepts that apply to all weaving are introduced, as is some of the terminology of weaving.  Throughout, "Hands On" treats the subject seriously, assuming that the reader has a certain level of interest in the process of weaving as well as in "how to".



In  section called "Discovering plain weave"  Betty Davenport explains sett in depth, showing a series of samples ranging from weft faced to warp faced, and the use of spaced yarns to make open fabrics, with spaces between the threads.  She explains drafts- a schematic you can use to keep track of your weaving design, on paper.  There is a discussion of the use of different yarns together, and of blending textured yarns and plain yarns.    I hope that if "Hands On" is ever re-released, that the publisher commissions some more exciting examples of the fabrics discussed, because there is a lot of information here, but it's not all that appealingly packaged.

"The Ashford Book"  takes a different approach.  Starting with "experiments in colour", where we are encouraged to weave four scarves, each combining different  proportions of any two colours that you choose, to learn about what can be accomplished with a balanced weave and varying warp and weft colour combinations.  In "Hands On" there are several pages devoted to a serious discussion of  colour theory and a project to weave a colour sampler or gamp to see how different warp and weft colours interact in a balanced weave.  Way more information in "Hands On", nicer projects in "Ashford Book" (although I think the Davenport gamp is really beautiful):


 
Tapestry weaving is sampled  in "the Ashford Book" in a series of 'mug rugs' and a pillow.  The only weft changing method shown is the 'slit' method.  "Hands On" shows a much more comprehensive array of tapestry techniques, and a project to try- a purse to weave (on the left here).  Again, the Ashford projects are probably more eye catching to most people, but the technique taught is limited.


"Fleece rugs" are the project the Ashford Book uses to teach pile weaving.  They're cute and funky.  "Hands On" shows a sampler of a variety of soumak and pile weaves in the 'surface textures' section- a good project or example photo would do wonders for this chapter too- there is loads of information here in 'Hands On' but you have to be ready to look for it to want to use it, as presented. 

"Textured cushions" (Ashford)  introduces the idea of adding unspun fibre as a weft accent in an otherwise plain weave- a very nice project.  "Hands On" has several variations of inlay and supplementary weft set out.  I wonder whether in the 1980s, when Betty Davenport was working on her CoE, she was still avoiding  anything that reminded her of '70s craft- and the unspun fibre thing kind of does remind me of some of the wacky craft project books I have from the '70s.  "Hands On" has inlay projects with silk thread- the project is not memorable, but the content of the chapter are solid and well explained.  Ashford: one technique, fun project.  Davenport: many techniques, naff project (that's not really fair- the transparency inlay that is given in "Hands On" as a project is something I really want to try, I just don't love the example in the book).

"Hands On" has several garments as projects.  Blouses and tabards, and vests  as well as scarfs and wraps.  The facts of loom-shaped garment design are given in detail.  Unfortunately the garments are all rather dated, and one would have to have more fashion-vision than I do to redesign them for 2008.  The Ashford Book has a drapey cloak as a large project- teaching the joining of widths of fabric, assembly of a garment and a bit of freeform weaving as an accent.  You'd learn more from making the Davenport garments, but you'd possibly wear the Ashford project (if you are in NZ.  And you are elvish).

A set of shibori placemats in The Ashford book have no comparable project in "Hands On", I think.  Thinking "what on earth has shibori to do with weaving" a moment ago- I'm now interested to see that the thread pulled to make the shibori 'puckers' is actually a weft float.  Cool- is all woven shibori done like that?  I always assumed that the pleats were stitched in later, after weaving. 

The Ashford Book has a short chapter on weaving with silk, and a chapter on weaving with materials other than yarn,such as fabric strips, sticks, hemp, paper yarn, etc.

A set of really lovely blue and white cotton and linen towels sample several different weave patterns in the Ashford Book.  In "Hands On" there are also several pages and samplers devoted to different colour and weave effects, more complex and thorough than those in the Ashford Book.  Once more, there is a more serious and in-depth study of colour-and-weave in "Hands On", but the project in the Ashford book makes you want to weave it.  My compromise would be to weave the "Hands On" samplers in crisp white and blue cotton and linen, to have the best of both worlds!

Davenport sampler and draft on the left, Ashford towels on the right:

 
Finally my favourite project in "The Ashford Book", and the one which makes it worth the price of admission, even if you use nothing else from it- leno lace.  "Hands On" sets out instructions for several varieties on hand-controlled weaves- not just leno.  Betty Davenport teaches here exclusively the method of using a pick-up stick to create these weaves. 

The Ashford Book only goes into leno, and teaches a method involving making a string heddle, and using it to create the two sheds needed.  Both methods work- I found the string heddle method faster, but now I am wondering if I created the pick-up stick shed in the wrong place when I tried it months ago!  If you like the look of lacy weaves, though, again, "Hands On" provides more than one you can try, even if the linen sampler shown doesn't inflame your imagination.











For the purposes of this comparison, I have gone through the Ashford book and looked for the equivalent chapter in "Hands On".  There are also sections in "Hands On" that, while mentioned briefly in "the Ashford Book", go into detail that the Ashford Book does not.  A full section in "Hands On" on ways to treat fringes, join pieces of handwoven fabric and fabric finishing are examples of this.

The books both are commonly mentioned in the same breath as "the" learn to weave (on a rigid heddle loom) options.  The major differences between the two books stem superficially from their relative years of publication, but more significantly from their different purposes. 

"Hands On" (and "Colors and Textures for the Rigid Heddle Loom", her next book) were published as a result of Betty Linn Davenport's research into the capabilities of the Rigid Heddle Loom for the Handweavers' Certificate of Excellence (CoE).  It is more than a fun introduction, but a serious work.  For those who complain that others think their rigid heddle loom is a toy, or for those who are serious about finding out "what can you do with this loom?", this is the book you need.  

The "Ashford Book of Rigid Heddle Weaving" is a book with the ultimate purpose of promoting the use of rigid heddle looms by new generations of fibre lovers- of converting knitters and spinners into weavers.  It is great for its purpose.  Once a new weaver is hooked, s/he will no doubt go on to explore other more in-depth publications. 

Finally, here is a summary of what I personally see as the pros and cons of each:

Ashford Book:
Pros- direct warping method; colourful, inspiring projects; string heddle leno project

Cons: narrower range of techniques offered; less general weaving theory, no bibliography.

Hands on Rigid Heddle Weaving:
Pros: comprehensive section on plain weave; several hand manipulated weaves; colour and pattern drafts explained; sett explained and its application; several tapestry techniques; colour theory discussed; excellent bibliography.

Cons: direct warping not covered; projects and styling dated and uninspiring.

Myself, I think we all need both books! 

Also please note that the Ashford site  says that "the Ashford Book of Rigid heddle Weaving" is about to be re-released in a new revision, July 2008.  So it might be worth waiting til then to get it.

there is no woodcutter in my version of the story.

subtitle: a wolf ate my small scarf.

The story of Red Riding Hood has always disturbed me.  Sometimes I almost forget about it, but then like a pebble in my shoe, in time it works its way round to a tender part where it rubs and hurts and irritates me.  Lately, it's been back, burning a hole in my brain.  That sweet little girl, betrayed by not one but *two* female family members.  Maybe it's because I have a 5 year old now, but the very idea of sending her into the *woods*... ugh.  And why is that sick  old lady living alone in the forest?  Why isn't her daughter looking after her?  Did filial responsibility skip a generation in this family?

Until I retell this story, it only exists for me out there in the familiar form, to make me sad every time I think about it.  Whenever it gets back under my skin, I lay awake at night thinking about her.  Don't send her.  Don't go.

 

Wolves, to me, always stand for the bone-warping forces of physical transformation to which we are all prey.  Part of the life cycle, part of us, feared but essential.  Puberty, to me, is the werewolf, transforming cuddly human puppies into bony, bleeding, snarling monsters- suddenly subject to the irresistable commands of the moon,  the inner tides.  Menarche, pregnancy, birth.  Have you ever felt your bones move out of the way as a new baby enters the outside world?  These are powerful forces.  Ever felt someone was threatening your baby?  Motherhood is a wild and scary place.  Menopause, croning.  The thinning, the bending the drying, the greying.  Once the wolf drops us from her jaws, we are nothing like the creature who entered the dark wood  with her basket of goodies as a little girl.  Not physically, not in any other way.

In my story, Red Riding Hood and the wolf stalk one another through the dark forest.  The wolf consumes grandma, and when Red Riding Hood is herself willingly consumed, the wolf becomes her chrysalys.  There is no woodcutter in my story.

When she is ripe, Red Riding Hood bursts from her wolfish cocoon.  She is powerful,  magical, terrifying, a being at the height of her powers, an adult woman.

 

Does she ever go back to her mother's house?  Does she send her daughter into the wood alone, when her time comes?  Do any of us get any choice in that?

Happy belated Mothers Day, women.

I can has Etsy.

I did it- I set up an Etsy shop.  If you read my blog regularly, you have already seen my wares, but if you would like to have a look, please do.  The address is taueret.etsy.com.  I realise that photography is not my strong point- but really I'd rather be weaving :-).

The move to Etsy was my opportunity to shed the "Taueret" thing- who chooses a name that she can't even pronounce?  I do, apparently.  Why Taueret?  Well, when I started my blog a couple of years ago, I was hugely pregnant.  I also never expected anyone would really read it- but  *was* keen to make it more or less anonymous, for reasons that seem kind of naive now.  So, searching for a not-my-own-name name that reflected my mood, I hit on Taueret- apparently an Egyptian goddess of motherhood and fertility.  Hey, I was 7 months pregnant- right now I'd probably choose something utterly different- like Tourette ;-)! 

Never expecting to have to *say* Taueret- I didn't consider the difficulty in spelling and pronouncing it.  As far as I can see it's "Taw-ret", but my friend says "Taurette" which sounds so cute, and my husband says "Tauray" which makes me wonder how many other ways you could say it.  When I met strangers at the Stitches n Craft show, and told them about Ravelry, I grabbed their notebooks an scrawled "Taueret@ravelry" on them, so they could say hi when they got there.  Strangely, no one has!  heh heh.

Anyway, the biggest dilemma of doing the etsy thing was- what to call the shop.  Well, after a couple of days of trying to come up with the cleverest name evar- I gave up.  There are a few people who already know my blog and therefore my weaving.  It seems crazy to make them learn some new identity, because I am fickle.  So... Tauret is the name of my Etsy shop too.  Did you like that story?  Where are you going?  I have many other fascinating anecdotes!

etsy bound

I'm finally forced to face that fact that if I want (an excuse) to keep weaving, I should find a place to put my finished objects.  I've been looking at local retail, and there are factors that just make me really uncomfortable with it- even though in my heart it was my preferred route up 'til a few days ago.  I am a non-business person in ways I can't even reveal without making myself look so dim-witted that you would run, run away and never read my blog again.  Suffice it to say that one friend regularly refers to me as an idiot-savant (!) and another says things like "so is this like when you say something cost you about $5.00 and you meant to say $50?".  If you could be, I would be, I am, allergic to all financial transactions.  Well I'm ok at spending, not so keen on selling.

Anyway, as someone kindly pointed out on the big weaving list @yahoogroups, I have done the "heavy lifting" by getting ready for shop placement.  I can now apply that to getting an Etsy shop up.  Huh.  I am trying to get over myself and get it together.  I will keep you posted.

done with scarves for a while

here are quick snaps of the last two scarves I intend to weave for a while:
ugh, the colours are all wrong.  The loopy selvedges and smooshy handspun make this one like a big fat boa- it's gorgeous and I kind of wish I could keep it.

And this one:

grey longwool carded with cotton, spun with gold iris glitz and plied with a pearly sparkling thread.  Interwoven with ice blue lace weight commercial yarn, unspun silk noil, silver thread, and satin ribbon. 

FO! EZ jumper and Betty Davenport's new book is ready!

First, the important news:  Betty Linn Davenport's new edition of "Textures and Patterns for the Rigid Heddle Loom" is almost ready and orders are being taken.

"Soon to be released and taking orders now -                                        

Textures and Patterns for the Rigid Heddle Loom by Betty Linn Davenport
74 pages, 6 color pages, beautiful color cover - $29 plus $3.67 shipping                                      

Originally published in 1980, this book has been out of print for 20 years. Now revised the version has all new photos and new material including Double Weave with 2 rigid heddles. Copies of the original book are still available for $15.                                     

To order individual autographed copies paid by check, contact textures@owt.com
To order by credit card and for wholesale, contact Fine Fiber Press www.finefiberpress.com or 1-541-917-3251"

Obviously an essential item!

Now on to *my* less exciting FO.  I finished the EZ pullover tonight.  Just as I was leaving for work, my boss called to say that there was no electricity so everyone was going home and I had the night off!  Woot.  Luckily this was one of my contract positions, not casual so I get paid anyway.  hoo ha.  So, I knitted and knitted and lo, it is finished.  It fits fine (I am not modelling it- but trust me, as much as any thick knit could look ok on me, it does) and it is as warm. as. toast.  I actually quite like it- I know my friend
E. would say it looks "handcrafted" in that snarky way of hers ;-) but whateverrrr- it is my first adult sized jumper completely from handspun.  Oh, and my own batts too.  I still seem to have about half the brown fleece left too... very odd!

I have done a little spinning since we last spoke (including about another 100g to finish the above project!)- I blended up these batts from an assortment of pale pastelly fibre that doesn't really float my boat:

Why would I do that?  Well... I'm trying to screw up the nerve to use some of the fabulous handdyed fibre I have bought in batts, andI wanted to start with one that I didn't LOVE in case I ruined it :-).  Anyway, the resulting yarn is not my utter fave of all time but it's pretty and I will use it!  This is a 2 ply,

I have been spinning a lot of singles lately and felt like a change.  I just would it into a centre pull ball and plied one end against the other.

Finally- I got around to adding the second heddle to my rigid heddle loom.  Following the clear instruction sheet (I have David Xenakis' book and so on but thought I'd be best off to start simple) that Ashford supplies with the kit- I managed to totally balls it up!  Ha!  Remember the World's Greatest Knitter?  Well apparently she has a weaving counterpart.  Sleying the rear heddle was ok, I could follow that.  But the front one?  hahahah.  Reading the "draft" if you can call it that- for a simple PLAIN weave?  Beyond me.  I ended up re-doing it THREE times.  FINALLY the penny dropped- you have three ends in one of the front slots.  If the threads aren't staying pependicular to BOTH reeds, you've cocked up.  CAN SOMEONE PLEASE REMEMBER THAT FOR ME?  anyway.  3 tries later, each taking forever- I managed to weave this:
Pretty polly wolly crappy eh?  Still not right-  I must have doubled up  somewhere.  Not to worry.  Live and learn!  Tomorrow is my kid-free Friday and I have to plan how I am going to use it, so I don't waste a second.

touching base

Public service announcement:  there's a new Weavecast up.  I haven't listened yet but I will take it to work tonight.  Apparently it's all about sewing with your handwoven fabrics.

Haven't much else to say, I have written but not uploaded several posts because after writing them I couldn't imagine anyone wanting to read them!  Had the kind of week that is just humbling.  Striding through life, somewhat confidently?  feeling like a competent adult?  whoops!  bad idea.  Summarised by a tale of two shopping trolleys- went on a road trip with the three kids to visit my dad who is having a rough time ecovering from double knee replacement in a country hopsital. 

Took the littlest kid (20 months) to the supermarket at one point, just to get out of the hote room/hospital.  Trolley contents: 2 barbies, 4 litres of diet coke, some markers, a colouring book, some Cheezels, 3 Lindt chocolate bunnies, a bar of chocolate (15 year old was looking at the mini-bar wistfully when I left- it was way cheaper to do it this way).  Toddler was behaving worse than I think she *ever* has- biting the ears off the bunnies, standing on the milk (I did buy milk!  surely I get some points for that), throwing things out of the trolley (naturally I managed to choose one with no seatbelt so she was standing in the main trolley part).  It was a nightmare, and I know how we looked, the assumptions people would make about a tired, overweight mother of a toddler with nothing but crap in her trolley. 

Couple days later, we're home again.  Toddler and I go shopping.  Trolley has organic meat, organic pasta, blah blah, lots of veggies and fruit etc.  A much more respectable trolley.  I'm thinking that I wish the people in the small town could see me now.  Could I pay for it?  NO.  My *&^*&^* credit card wasn't in my wallet.  I got to hand things back to the checker til it was down to the amount of cash I had in my wallet.

this is the kind of week I have had.

Last week, I put my "nightie" (a disreputable, paint-smeared, stained horrible probably smelly t-shirt that I sleep in) in THE WRONG KID's school bag (the baby likes to take it to preschool and snuggle with it at nap time.  she only goes one day a week and it makes her day nicer.) .  I sent it to school with my 5 year old.  "Mummy, you're so funny, you put your nightie in my bag!".

So last week was kind of humiliating too.   These are just examples- it seems like recently I am having more bad days than good- bad in the sense that I often feel I should be wearing big shoes and a red nose.  Not bad in a serious way.  I do realise that.

I really can laugh at myself.  I do laugh at myself.  I just haven't felt much like blogging is all :-).  But you may as well laugh too.  honk honk.

I lied.

I'm so sorry, I lied.  I promised knitting next time- spinning, anything but weaving.  And yet once again, except for banging away at Roam, I have done nothing but weave.  I am working on a book report on a knitting book- please don't give up on me, if you are a knitter.  Here is a peace offering- something that we can all appreciate:
oooh, beautiful silk.  And a ball of hemp. lovely, eh?  I got the silk and hemp  from Prudence Mapstone at the travelling craft show (in Newcastle, but I think she will be at others too, certainly in Qld very soon).  Ok, if you came for the knitting, you can go now.  Otherwise, on we go.

A bit more weaving:  this scarf is 100% wool and silk, no bling.  6" wide by about 5.5'.  More pics at flickr.

This one is wool, silk and a bit of bling.  24" wide by about 7'.  I think this is yardage for my Saori style coat.  It is called "we are not amused".  Which amuses me. More pics at flickr.

resources for weaving on rigid heddle/ 2 shaft looms

Just a quick end of the week update.
I thought I'd like to start collecting sites or pages that I find out there with info specific to rigid heddle weaving on them.  I'll list them here, in a post, which I will keep adding to (and hopefully annotate to make it a bit more meaningful than a plain old bookmark).  When I update it with a new link, it should burp back to the top if you are subscribed to the blog, ok?  I realise that there are already sites out there with oceans of documentation for weavers, and I am not trying to replicate that.  Just that finding something useful to a 2 shaft loom is relatively unusual, so I like to grab it out of the haystack when I see it.  Any suggestions?  Please let me know.  I promise for a post with non-weaving content next time.  Absolutely promise.

Warping and using pick up sticks

Schacht newsletter has a weaving project each issue for a simple loom

The Curious Weaver's articles and tutorials

Allfiberarts weaving section

Handwoven mag articles

Handweaving.net

Weaving utilities at Joowl.com (reed substitution table, yarn amount calculations, etc)

Periodicals About Weaving, Textiles, and Related Topics

Wet finishing

Book review: Creative Weaving: beautiful fabrics with a simple loom

Book review: Creative Weaving- beautiful fabrics on a simple loom
Sarah Howard and Elizabeth Kendrick
Lark Books 112 pp


Aspiring weavers on the rigid heddle loom have a depressingly limited choice of resources.  There are Betty Linn Davenport’s books and DVD, there’s ‘The Ashford book of Rigid Heddle Weaving’, and I have an out of print book from the early ’80s by Karen Swanson that I like very much.  All of these are full of information about how to use a rigid heddle loom to produce fabrics of varying degrees of complexity.  They include detailed instruction and sampler-style projects to practice on.  What they are light on is eye candy and inspiration!  ‘Creative Weaving’ is, essentially an inspiring eye candy book for the rigid heddle weaver.

To be fair, there is  more here- in fact this book could almost serve as a beginner’s manual.  In fact,  if you can think of any reason at all for a new rigid heddle weaver to struggle with a traditionally wound warp- then it would make a fine ‘first book’ for a new weaver.  However- to present only one way of winding a warp, and to not even mention that the much more simple warping peg method exists seems almost cruel to me (plain English: if you are new to weaving, please know that there is a simpler way to warp a rigid heddle loom than the method with a warping board that is shown in Creative Weaving (and in other books too).  If you buy an Ashford loom, there should be a leaflet explaining this method included with your loom.  Maybe other manufacturers do this too?).  The warping instructions do have the first explanation of sett calculation that I have ever really understood.

Assuming you make it past the unnecessarily arcane warping instructions, this book is an adequate primer.  ‘Creative Weaving’ covers, briefly: using a stick shuttle, how to start a piece of weaving (the method the book gives is to weave a few dummy rows- I usually put a folded piece of paper in and start weaving above that- I think, again, an Ashford method?), how to do plain weave, to change colours,  mending broken warp threads, how to finish a fringe, and wet finishing your fabric.  A few variations are offered- weaving with unspun fibre (I love to do this), ghiordes or Turkish knots (my other books call these Rya), and a mention of creating weft floats by using pickups.  Enough to be going on with, I reckon.  Finally card loom weaving and peg loom weaving are mentioned, as alternatives to buying a commercial loom.

Then, the fun part of the book starts.  Arranged by colour, each chapter suggests three projects (just fabric swatches, really).  Each project explores the colour, as well as a special feature of the weaving.  For example the first project uses a mixture of different yarns, with different fibre compositions and thicknesses.  The next has a similar eclectic mix of yarns, and introduces use of multiple shuttles for a randomly striped effect.  Use of a variegated yarn in warp and weft to achieve what the book calls a ‘cheat check’ comes next.  Next we learn how to weave a simple border around a piece of fabric, and to do a twisted fringe.  Other projects experiment with different setts for fabrics with different finished drapes, grouped weft,  weft floats,  warp-faced floats, toning shades by using different threads in the weft.

There are several projects that encourage the use of recycled or found objects,and everything from synthetic feathery novelty yarn to perfectly austere, beautiful linens and silks in natural colours.  The yarns are described by wpi (wraps per inch)  and fibre content- not brand name- a feature which I LOVE as the yarns used in most books are unavailable to me- and this method is much more empowering in terms of learning to choose yarns for projects, especially if you are a handspinner.

When learning a craft, I often find it takes time to break away from the style of example on which I learned, and start daring to try new things.  It took me probably a year of weaving plain wrap after plain wrap before I felt like I could start trying “unauthorised” things.  Learning to weave with a book like ‘Creative Weaving’ would probably have shortened that cycle for me- but the warping method would have done me in on the first project- so I don’t know if I would have ever gotten past that hurdle, with my loom thrown off the balcony and all. 

The absence of a ‘further reading’ list is frustrating- in a vacuum, a new weaver could get the idea that the entire potential of rigid heddle weaving is encapsulated in this book- which it is not.  However ‘Creative Weaving’ provides a fun, colourful, accessible source of  simple techniques, ideas and inspiration to the rigid heddle weaver. 

  For many handspinners these days, especially those who are creating unusual novelty or ‘art’ yarns, tabby weave can be the ideal showcase for their yarn.  Likewise, handpainted yarn looks especially beautiful in a woven fabric.  Other instructional books move from plain weave directly  to much more complex methods such as finger manipulated lace  without encouraging much exploration of the noble plain tabby weave.  This book fills that niche.