Project 4-SHAFT
A LIBRARY FULL OF HANDWOVEN ISSUES is an
amazing treasure trove of timeless ideas, and Handwoven
has a tradition of supporting the greater good. With that in
mind, our goal for this project was to design two 4-shaft
silk scarves that Treenway Silks could make into a kit to
help raise awareness of cystic fi brosis. Treenway Silks will
donate 10 percent of the kit sales to Andrea’s angels (Aa) to
help fi nd a cure for cystic fi brosis.
Past Handwoven issues inspired us to use a name draft as a
way to connect the scarves’ draft to the cause. What phrase?
Deciding that became easy when we recalled that “65 roses”
is a term oft en used by young children with cystic fi brosis to
pronounce the name of their disease. As we wanted a bit
longer phrase, we settled on “#65RosesAa.” Th ere were
several codes available, but for fun, we created one of our
own by assigning blocks a, b, c, or d to each of the letters of
the alphabet, the numbers 1 through 10, and some of the
symbols on a keyboard.
Name draft s are traditionally woven as overshot, but we
wanted a structure with more drape. Past Handwoven
articles on block draft s and profi le draft s showed how to
take a profi le draft and apply diff erent structures to it. Th is
was a great idea, but there was one more constraint—we
wanted the scarves to be woven on a 4-shaft loom. So
which structures could give four blocks on four shaft s?
Handwoven to the rescue again! We chose crackle because
it has four blocks on four shaft s and can be woven with
one shuttle.
Using our code, we developed a profi le draft with the
name “#65RosesAa” as the basis. Th en we expanded it
for symmetry, added reversals, and applied a bit
of creative license by adding or deleting
repeats. Once the profi le draft was estab-
lished, we used block substitution to
change it into a crackle threading draft
with a standard 2/2 twill tie-up and an
as-drawn-in treadling. Th e one-shuttle
weave gave the scarves great drape and
also made weaving them easier.
Choosing colors was both fun and
challenging. To celebrate both Handwo-
ven’s fortieth (ruby) anniversary and the
word “rose” in the name draft , Treenway
Silks created a warm rosy color based on the
rose variety Hermosa that we used for the weft. Th e
warp is a deep red-purple with stripes of similarly valued
brown (for the rose stems) that add a subtle richness.RESOURCES
wAndrea’s angels: http://www.facebook.com/Angels4Andrea
wChiu, Tien. “Block Weave Basics: Using a Profi le Draft .”
Handwoven, November/December 2011, 28–29.
STRUCTURE
Crackle.
EQUIPMENT
4-shaft loom, 9" weaving width; 15-dent reed; 1 shuttle.
YARNS
Warp: Kiku 20/2 silk (5,000 yd/lb; Treenway Silks), #23
Trufƃ e, 975 yd; #403 Mexican Chocolate, 330 yd; #420
Hermosa Rose, 20 yd.
Weft: Kiku 20/2 silk, #420 Hermosa Rose, 1,271 yd.
OTHER SUPPLIES
Mild detergent (Orvis Paste, Synthrapol, or shampoo for
normal hair).
WARP LENGTH
265 ends 5 yd long (includes ƃ oating selvedges; allows
13" for take-up and 34" for loom waste and fringe,
including fringe between scarves).
SETTS
Warp: 30 epi (2/dent in a 15-dent reed).
Weft: scarf 1, 38 ppi; scarf 2, 33 ppi.
DIMENSIONS
Width in the reed: 814 Š 15 ".
Woven length: (measured under tension on the loom)
133".
Finished size: (after wet-Ƃ nishing) 2 scarves, 7¾" x 60"
plus 4¾" twisted fringe.65 Roses Scarves
SUSAN DU BOIS & ROBIN WILTONwDe Atley, Suzanne. “Designing with Crackle.” Handwoven,
September/October 1994, 36–41.
wDu Bois, Susan. “Wearing and Caring for Silk.” Handwoven,
January/February 2014, 24–25.
wHammel, Christina. “How to Weave Name Draft s.” Handwo-
ven, November/December 1997, 35–36.Scarf 2 Scarf 148 | HANDWOVEN http://www.interweave.com