Section 8: TWILL. Six-Holed Tablet Weaving, Section 8 Bonita Datta, January 2016

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1 Section 8: TWILL The last six-holed tablet weaving technique in this series of monographs is twill. By adding it to our repertoire we gain the ability to weave imagery that has prominent oblique lines, and do so in three colours rather than just two as in the four-holed version of this technique. Here are design parameters for the flat twill on 6-holed tablets, Plate 8-1 (a.). The colour chart is the same as was used for repp weave. Again, there are other options for colour arrangement, but the focus here is on this one. With this colour chart, we ll weave designs in pink and blue on a background of white. We again use Z threading as a default. The sequence of starting positions for the tablets is 3,2,1,0,1,2. This is the default for producing white (or whatever colour is threaded into holes A and B of the tablets). This structure is the flatter of the two twills that have been referred to in previous monographs, and will be examined first. The steeper twill will then be explored. In the design template the white cells represent backward turns and the gray cells represent forward turns. Weaving the pattern represented (a.) will produce the textile simulated (b.). The actual woven fabric will have the appearance of a more solid white. In Plate 8-2, (a.) and (b.) are the tiles that are used to make the design template. In addition to the Z-twill shown on the previous plate, we now see that S-twill structures can be incorporated into the design template (c.). The rule is that the 6-by-6 tiles must be inserted as a unit between red grid lines. Conveniently, the same starting position sequence works for both of these twills. The diamond structure simulated (d.) shows the resulting weave. In Plate 8-3 (a.), the design template has been overlaid with a design of nested diamonds using pink and blue over the background of white. Remember that the grid of white and gray squares on the template represents the basic turning sequence of three backward, three forward. The colour change lines must line up with the edges of these twill lines. The twill lines have been outlined in orange and green, because the staggering of the tablets required by this weave means that the colour change lines no longer align with the red and blue grid lines. These colour designations will be needed for the cell substitution that will control the colour changes. Notice that 1

2 orange is used when turn direction changes from forward (gray) to backward (white), and green is used when turn direction changes from backward (white) to forward (gray). Now the colour edges must be altered so that the correct colour weaves as in the design. Just as for the repp weave, this requires substitution of some turns in cells just above colour change lines. The substitutions required by this design have been made in (b.). The table for looking up the substitution required for each type of colour change is given in Plate 8-4. It is the same as the one used for repp, except that the boundary lines are now orange and green instead of red and blue. In Plate 8-5 the pattern with all substitutions made is shown (a.). The image has been erased so that the cells that indicate turning direction can be easily seen. The orange and green edges have been removed and the red and blue grid lines are back in place. The red and blue grid lines are used while weaving as a guide to following the pattern accurately. (b.) in this plate is the simulated weaving this pattern will produce. Weaving diamonds is pretty old hat in tablet weaving, so we ll now explore how a pattern would be made for a more free-form type of image. Here is a design of a cat, Plate 8-6 (a.) that we will use to develop a pattern. We ll ignore the little heart shape in the upper left corner and just consider the cat image. I start by drawing a red grid over the image, (b.). Each of the red squares in this large grid will house one of the twill tiles. The preparation of the design template and the drawing of the design overlay must be coordinated so that all colour change lines fall on Z or S twill lines. So we first analyse the image to identify which of the two tiles will be used in each of the square regions drawn in red. In Plate 8-7 (a.), the grid has been shaded red (Z-twill tile) and green (Stwill tile) to line up with the prominent lines that make up the cat image. In (b.) of the plate, the matching arrangement of tiles has been put onto the design template and the appropriate tiles put into position. The drawing of this image must stay on the oblique twill lines, so we need to disregard the horizontal bit over the back leg, and make the eyes slanted. To better demonstrate the use of three colours, I ve coloured the cat a little strangely, Plate 8-8 (a.). Design template (b.) has this version of the cat Six-Holed Tablet Weaving, Section 8 2

3 overlaid onto it. Design template (c.) has the cell substitutions made along all colour change lines, according to the chart in Plate 8-4. In Plate 8-9, the image overlay has been removed to reveal the pattern more clearly (a.); (b.) is a simulation of the weave that this pattern produces. Just to confirm that the coloured regions in the actual weaving are much more distinct than they appear in the simulations, I ve included this scan (Plate 8-10). The image (a.) is similar to the one we were just working with, but with many differences in the colouring of the image and the layout of the Z and S tiles; (b.) is a scan of the reverse side of the weaving. The method of designing a design overlay for a template with the steep twill is just the same as for the flat twill the design template is made up of the steep twill unit turning blocks and the image follows the steep twill lines. In Plate 8-11 are shown the design parameters for the steep twill on sixholed tablets; (a.) and (b.) are the two new turning blocks that we use to tile the design template. Note that the tiles are only 3 tablets wide and the twill lines are visibly steeper. In (c.), the colour chart and threading are the same. The starting position for this variation is 3,1,1, which weaves a textile that is all white on the front, simulated in (d.). To make a pattern proceed as for the flat twill by analyzing the image, tiling the template with the steep Z-twill tile or the steep S-twill tile, drawing the image along the twill lines and making the cell substitutions summarized in Plate 8-4. Six-Holed Tablet Weaving, Section 8 3

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