Aren’t you glad I didn’t say circle? I’m back to sharing vertical weaving (is that a thing?). I’ve been weaving with a lot of color lately, what else is new? And for today’s post I wanted to take a break from that and make a weave in black and white. A pattern with a simple color palette is a nice mental break.
I really love this cute little draft pattern, especially in a simple black and white. I’m not sure what to call it so I just refer to it as a repeating oval shape, although it’s not really oval. I really love the structure that draft patterns bring to weaves. If you missed it I shared some other draft patterns, which you can find in my Weaving Techniques list. Here are the steps to make this pattern:
step 1| weave a base of plain weave rows or whatever you want before starting your pattern
step 2| using the color you want your ‘ovals’ to be weave a row of plain weave, here I’m using black
step 3| using your color (black) again, weave a plain row on the opposite warp threads
step 4| take your other color (my white thread) and weave a plain row going the other way
step 5| go back to your first color (black) and weave a plain row on the opposite warp threads
step 6| weave a plain row of other (white) thread again
step 7| next weave back a plain row of first color (black)
step 8| weave in the opposite warp threads your first color (black), this closes off the ‘ovals’ and your pattern is done. That is a total of 7 rows to create the ‘ovals’
step 9| continue weaving as you wish, I added a few more rows of white and then wove my oval pattern again. You could even extend your ‘ovals’ even long if you want, just don’t weave your ‘closing’ row until you have made them as long as you want.
It’s pretty simple, but really gives your weaves a bold structure and visual impact and I added a second feature to this weave, that I’m excited to share with you next week! Which of the draft patterns I’ve shared have you woven with, if any? Do you like to weave in a pattern, or would you prefer to be more organic when weaving?
Happy Weaving!
Kate
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Kyla
February 25, 2016 at 2:31 pmOooo! I love this oval pattern! Very fun and I like how subtle it can be. For the oval pattern to really pop do you need to use a warp thread that matches the color you want your oval to be?
I’ve played with your double diamond and herringbone patterns! The double diamond is my favorite though 🙂
Recently I’ve been working more with organic weaving and focusing on textures versus patterns or shapes. I had found myself getting a little stressed with trying to pull off specific shapes in my weaves and seeing as how I like to weave to destress that seemed counter productive 🙂 So the organic route is where I’ve found myself for now.
Although I have an idea to make a weave with the double diamond where the warp is some hyper color that gets revealed through the pattern…
Kate
February 25, 2016 at 4:33 pmHi Kyla! I don’t think you need a warp thread that matches, as long as you really beat the wefts down 😉 I used black because it photographs the contrast better and makes it easier for me to share. I love that you tired the double diamond and herringbone, it would be so pretty if you made the double diamond with a hyper colored warp!!
I agree I lean towards the organic weaving too, it just works better for me. But every so often a pattern feels like less work then organic weaving, go figure. Have a great day!
Lauren
February 25, 2016 at 3:49 pmThat looks so good Kate! Will definitely try that in my current piece.
I’ve tried your double diamond, and failed! Lol. Need to try it out on a warp all to itself until I get the hang of it.
Will have to check out your other draft patterns!
Kate
February 25, 2016 at 4:36 pmHi Lauren! Fun! I would love to see what you end up making. The double diamond is a hard one, it took me a while to figure out what I was doing. I wove just the pattern and then added a design around it, haha. Don’t worry you’ll get it eventually. Have a great day!
Claudia
February 29, 2016 at 6:06 amHi Kate I did that oval pattern or at least i’ve tried ☺️ But I think it turned out just well
I tagged you on IG thank you for these lovely patterns!
Kate
February 29, 2016 at 11:34 amHi Claudia, thank you so much for tagging me, I loved seeing your weave and with the oval pattern too! 😀
Barbara
March 1, 2016 at 2:40 pmHi Kate,
As beginners, we are allowed so many silly questions, right? 🙂 Organic weaving? The organic route? “organic weaving and focusing on textures versus patterns or shapes,” as Kyla wrote above. I get using organic yarn, but does this mean weaving just using the original basic weave stitch and letting your yarn create the visual rather than using a pattern or shape? If so, that would be soooo relaxing!
Baby step-by-baby step, we learn 😉 Barbara
Kate
March 2, 2016 at 10:30 amHi Barbara, yes when I say organic weaving I mean just like abstract painting where you start with very little to no plan and let the weave make itself almost. You can certainly just weave the basic weave stitch and switch yarns around as you please, this usually ends up in creating shapes that aren’t so geometric. I really like weaving in this way 🙂
Augustine
June 6, 2016 at 9:19 amHi Kate,
I have a very basic question which applies here: when changing colors, do you cut the thread off every time? Or is there another way which helps to avoid all the weaving in a the end? Thank you!
Kate
June 6, 2016 at 2:14 pmHi, I actually did cut the threads for this weave, because I made a side fringe, which I shared in a different post. But if I weren’t making a side fringe, I would definitely not cut the threads for each row. I would instead “float” the colors in the back of the weave, I too like to avoid weaving in lots of ends 😉
A good example of what I’m talking about can be found in this post https://www.theweavingloom.com/485-2/