Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Warp and Weft book review

I was excited but hesitant to try a new weaving book offered on amazon.com back in the spring.  It came out this summer but I just got my copy last week.  It is smallish in size, but 187 pages full of information.  It's also very robust because it's hardback.  And the price is really good on amazon.com, especially with the free shipping deal when you order enough eligible stuff.  Anyway, after it came, I found out that this "new" book is really an older book translated from the Swedish version published in 1999.  How exciting to have something from a country rich in weaving!

The organization makes a lot of sense.  The table of contents is very detailed and helpful.  Here it is:


The pictures are also really big and beautiful.  They show a lot of detail and they are very clear and helpful.  The instructions are nicely written and also very clear and detailed.  At first I was afraid that this was going to be a book for new weavers and I would find it boring, but I love some of the in the introduction on how to analyze a draft when no tie-ups, threadings, or treadlings are given.  I am excited to give this a try with some wool we purchased from a thrift store a few years ago.  Furthermore, it is not just a beginner's book because there are a lot of weaving structures I have never heard of or that I don't know much about.  For example, I have never heard of the following: 5/1 twill, rickrack weave, Drouguet, Whip cord, reformed weave, satine, Halvdrall, Lisere, Brighton honeycomb, Pique, corkscrew weave, weft-backed weave.  I also am excited to find more information on lampas, double-weave, crepe weave, color effects, cords, and shadow weave.  And lately, my mom and I have been into working with scraps of fabric for rug making and on page 78 there is a neat rug done in crackle weave using scraps of fabric.


I'm so glad I got this book and I'm looking forward to really digging into the information and using it!!