When I first discovered this technique, I thought that everyone would want to give it a try. To my knowledge no one (outside of Lithuania) has written about it. And it deserved to be written about!
It comes from an older style of pattern woven in the small province of Zanavykija, Lithuania. It is said that only 3% of the sashes were done using this technique as “only the rare weaver had the skill to weave them”. I discovered it after studying many photos in the book Lithuanian Sashes by Anastazija Tamosaitiene & Antanas Tamosaitis.
The authors examined several thousand examples of ancient sashes from Lithuania.
Approximately one thousand of them were reproduced in the book.
In looking at the dazzling array of patterns illustrated there,
several sashes stood out to me as being more exquisite and more complex in
regards to color placement in the pickup designs.
The book is awesome, however, now out of print. If you can find a copy of it for $75 or less, buy it! It's a bargain! I've seen copies listed for up to $300.
By studying photos in the book, I was able to “read” the textiles in the photos, decipher the threading and learn the technique for myself. I was very excited when I discovered it, as it
opened up a whole new world of possibilities for weaving more interesting and colorful patterns.
It is my belief that if you can weave the "speckled" pickup, then you can weave this one.
All of your favorite pattern drafts from that technique can be used in this one, only with more color variety.
Below is an experiment that I did from a few years back, trying different color placement and line spacing. It's a doodle of sorts.
Approximately one thousand of them were reproduced in the book.
In looking at the dazzling array of patterns illustrated there,
several sashes stood out to me as being more exquisite and more complex in
regards to color placement in the pickup designs.
The book is awesome, however, now out of print. If you can find a copy of it for $75 or less, buy it! It's a bargain! I've seen copies listed for up to $300.
By studying photos in the book, I was able to “read” the textiles in the photos, decipher the threading and learn the technique for myself. I was very excited when I discovered it, as it
opened up a whole new world of possibilities for weaving more interesting and colorful patterns.
It is my belief that if you can weave the "speckled" pickup, then you can weave this one.
All of your favorite pattern drafts from that technique can be used in this one, only with more color variety.
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| Scene from the video part of the tutorial. |
Below is an experiment that I did from a few years back, trying different color placement and line spacing. It's a doodle of sorts.
In this one, I also experimented with color placement. See the one diamond of a different color?
The fantastic thing about doing this 3-color thing, is that you can totally move the colors around in a design! My head is just bursting with ideas!
My friend Kim, a talented weaver herself, spent some time exploring this technique with me.
See her beautiful examples on her blog here; www.RabbitbrushStudio.Blogspot.com
Wow! Taking such a simple thing as weaving a band on a simple loom to such an art! And then to teach others - awesome! Thank you.
ReplyDeleteWonderful!
ReplyDeleteAmazing technique! It reminds me of my grandmother's stuff, which is really trendy now. The best thing about this technique is that it is so simple!
ReplyDelete