Continuing with my best of weaving techniques, I wanted to add another one of my favorite patterns, the Herringbone. This looks similar to a twill weave, but the difference is the pattern is the diagonal is reversed and the ends do not touch, but are instead off-set. It’s a really beautiful pattern that dates all the way back to ancient Egypt.
This pattern seems tricky, but can be woven fairly easily by counting your warp threads and knowing when to change the pattern. And like most things, the more you do it the easier it becomes as you pick up the rhythm of the pattern. I’ve seen a lot of people use this pattern in beautiful ways in their wall hangings. Here is the post & video I created for this technique…
I’ve been really loving how draft patterns are looking in my weaves. They are really easy to weave too once you get the pattern down. Today I am sharing the classic Herringbone weave. You’ve seen this pattern many times before. It makes the shape of diagonals, similar to a twill weave. However, where the twill continues in diagonals going the same direction, the Herringbone will stop and then have an offset of diagonals going in the opposite direction. It’s a really nice interlocking pattern.
For my example I’m weaving across 16 warp threads, but this will work over more or less warps. Here is my grid that I followed to weave. The white squares represent the warp threads, which means I will pass my weft threads under the warp. The black squares represent my weft thread, which means I will pass my weft over the warp. I’m also weaving in my usual upside down approach, which just means I face what will be the top of my weave towards me when weaving. So how you’re looking at the grid now, I’m starting in the top left corner.
step 1| pass the weft under 2 warp threads, then over 2, under 1, over 1. Now I repeat the pattern until I hit my 16th warp thread (ending on over 2 warp threads).
step 2| weaving in the opposite direction, I start with 1 under, 2 over, 2 under, repeating 2 over/2 under until I hit my 16th warp thread (ending on 1 under).
step 3| pass the weft 2 over, 2 under, over 1, under 1, repeating until I hit my 16th warp thread (ending 2 warp threads under).
step 4| 1 over, 2 under, 2 over, repeating 2 under/2 over until I hit my 16th warp thread (ending 1 over).
step 5| here the pattern is a repeat of step 1; under 2 warp threads, then over 2, under 1, over 1. Now I repeat the pattern until I hit my 16th warp thread (ending on over 2 warp threads).
step 6| repeating step 2; 1 under, 2 over, 2 under, repeating 2 over/2 under until I hit my 16th warp thread (ending on 1 under).
step 7| repeating step 3; 2 over, 2 under, over 1, under 1, repeating until I hit my 16th warp thread (ending 2 warp threads under).
step 8| repeating step 4; 1 over, 2 under, 2 over, repeating 2 under/2 over until I hit my 16th warp thread (ending 1 over).
It’s a fairly simple pattern, but the offset is where you have to pay attention. Here is a stop motion video I put together to help show the weave process (without my hands blocking what’s happening with the threads).
What do you think of the Herringbone pattern? I really like how the diagonals interlock, it adds a bit more interest.
Happy Weaving!
Kate
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