Handwoven

Each issue offers a stunning collection of enticing weaving projects. But the magazine is more than that: it's a pattern book, and weave structure textbook, it's a place to discover original designs, and find solutions to weaving challenges. For over 20 years Handwoven has been an indispensable resource for weavers.

FROM THE EDITOR

FUTURE THEMES

Handwoven

Letters • Stories, tips, tricks, and questions from Handwoven readers

Yan Zhang, Li Textile Warrior • Thank goodness for Yan Zhang, the world’s foremost Li textile warrior since Huang Daopo. You might be asking, Who’s Yan Zhang? What’s a Li textile? And who is Huang Daopo? We’ll take these questions out of order. Just off the south coast of China, bathed by the Tonkin Gulf on the west and the South China Sea to the east, Hainan Island is home to the Li people, one of 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the Chinese government. Since emigrating from the mainland three thousand years ago, most live by fishing or farming the fertile soils of the island’s mountainous interior.

A Handwoven Sunny Sensory Blanket • Having a medically fragile child is one of the toughest curveballs that life can throw at a family. My sister-in-law and her family have not only stepped up to the challenge of meeting their daughter’s needs, but they are also showing others how to cherish and love someone through a difficult medical situation.

The Art Is the Cloth: How to Look at and Understand Tapestries

Three-Color Pickup for Inkle Weavers: A Modern Look at an Ancient Baltic-Style Technique

Twist • Have you ever wondered why your plain-weave fabric sometimes takes on the illusion of a multishaft twill? It’s quite the phenomenon, isn’t it? I usually find this happens after it comes out of the washer and dryer. It goes into the wash as a typical piece of plain-weave fabric and comes out of the dryer as a plain-weave cloth with very noticeable diagonal lines resembling twill. These lines are called tracking.

Best Practices • In our last article in Handwoven November/December 2021, we focused on efficiently winding a warp, so now it’s time to talk about sleying and threading. At the Yarn Barn, we teach front-to-back threading, but most of the techniques we cover apply equally to back-to-front threading. Whichever way you choose, be tidy—care taken at this stage pays off with fewer errors, fewer tangles, fewer broken ends, and getting to the weaving faster.

Favorite Finds • An extra-large tapestry loom, wonderful new wool yarns, a subscription that delivers weaving projects and lessons to your home, and clever woven labels for your handwovens.

A Shawl to Dye For! • The ways in which weavers can show their personal styles are endless. Many weaving techniques allow the weaver to add personal touches and accents that make every piece a one-of-a-kind work of art. However, some techniques are more daunting than others, and it seems that for one reason or another, hand-dyeing warps falls into that category.

Weaving with Curling Ribbon • Chances are your yarn stash isn’t your only stash. Perhaps you also have an abundance of curling ribbon, the kind of ribbon most of us associate with wrapping presents. Maybe you see shiny ribbons on sale after the holidays that are too pretty to pass by. In trying to work through both my stashes, I’ve had some fun using up bits and pieces of yarn from my “traditional” stash and combining them with curling ribbon to create unique device pouches. By adjusting the width in the reed and/or the length of the weaving, you can weave and make pouches that fit devices of any size. Weaving with curling ribbon and a spaced warp creates a unique, textured fabric. It is worth noting that although these pouches protect from bangs and bumps, they are not waterproof and won’t be of much help if you drop them in...