Much as I love dyeing and bead-Weave-it-ing, duty occasionally calls and I find myself back at the designing board. Tonight’s excursion was a variation on a theme, specifically the “Loomette Weave 14” theme.
The original pattern can be found here: http://www.eloomanation.com/ Click on the Projects link, go to Original Loomette Weaves (the green covered book about halfway down the page), open the PDF and go to page 9, pattern #14.
The first time I made this square I was a neophyte and I didn’t notice the aberrations in the pattern. But if you look carefully, you can see the peaks are skiwampus. A friend pointed it out to me because she was using this pattern in a project and she didn’t like the off-centeredness of the design.
Ignore the black thread on the square. There’s a tag on the back of the square identifying the column number in the afghan I’m re-creating (long story, told elsewhere, I think).
At the same time, my friend asked me to teach her how to tie on a second color. She wanted layers 1 and 3 the same color, and layers 2 and 4 the same as each other but different from the others. In other words, she wanted the verticals–or warp ends–one color, and the horizontals–or weft ends–another.
It seems no one can ask me a question without me ending up on a (self-inflicted) journey. What if . . . ? I asked myself. Here are the results.
Loomette Weaves 14, variations I and II, front view
Loomette Weaves 14, variations I and II, back view
I have to add another picture because this is possibly the most exciting part for me: I designed my first “picture” square (as opposed to an all over pattern) on a piece of graph paper with ease!
I tried a few different ideas out and left some to be explored later. The final pattern is the lower right graph. When I made the square, I followed the graph instead of written instructions! I think written instructions would have been handier, but they’re hard to read when written on top of the graph paper.
The all green square (Variation I) is warped layers 1-3 in Bernat Satin “Soft Fern;” layer 4 is Lion Heartland “Joshua Tree.” The red and green one (Variation II) is warped layers 1 and 3 in Caron Simply Soft (CSS) “Soft Green,” layers 2 and 4 in CSS “Harvest Red.” Here’s what I learned from making these two squares: in my opinion the first square is superior, so for this pattern I would recommend warping the loom with L 1-3 in the main color, L 4 in a contrast color of equal or less yarn weight (or bulk). I also recommend using colors that are more analogous, less high contrast. Hopefully you can see how the red overwhelms the soft green.
OK, maybe you want the pattern now.
Variation I
Rows 1, 6-11, and 16: Plain weave (P)
Rows 2 and 15: P2; U3, P9 (2x); U3, P2
Rows 3 and 14: P4, U3, P5; U3, O1, U3; P5, U3, P4
Rows 4 and 13: P6; U3, O1, U3; P5; U3, O1, U3; P6
Rows 5 and 12: P8, U3, P9, U3, P8
Variation II (This is the same as Variation I except for Rows 3 and 14)
Rows 1, 6-11, and 16: Plain weave (P)
Rows 2 and 15: P2; U3, P9 (2x); U3, P2
Rows 3 and 14: U3, O1, U3, P5 (2x); U3, O1, U3
Rows 4 and 13: P6; U3, O1, U3; P5; U3, O1, U3; P6
Rows 5 and 12: P8, U3, P9, U3, P8
The difference is that Rows 3 and 14 will make the zigzag appear to extend off the square.