Huck Lace Towels – A Virtual Workshop in Color and Design

Taught by Rosalie Neilson

Course Overview

The structure of Huck Lace provides a treasure trove of pattern for weavers. It is a shaft-efficient weave structure where an 8-shaft loom produces 6-block patterns; and a 4-shaft loom produces sixteen different ways to combine textures of warp & weft floats with plain weave.

Weavers will learn how “blocks” or units of huck lace are threaded on four and eight shafts, and how they can be combined to expand design possibilities. Discussions will focus on converting a profile draft into a threading and treadling, and how literally thousands of designs are created with a single threading draft by changing the tie-up.

Participants will use printed Design Pages and Transparent Overlays from Neilson’s book An Exaltation of Blocks to explore thousands of design possibilities for 6-block Huck Lace. A Transparent Overlay Template is used to determine the tie-up.

Patterns will be translated into woven towels. The Towel Project will consist of three 4 ½” sections of Huck Lace, each a different color, separated by a one inch stripe of plain weave. The overall width of the project is 16 ¼” suitable for looms 18” wide or larger. For looms less than 18” wide, the stripes of plain weave are narrower, yielding an overall width of 15 1/3”, suitable for looms 16” wide. For looms wider than 18″, a fourth Huck Lace section with another 1″ border can be added for a total width of 22″. A six-yard warp yields five towels.

Details:

Saturday, February 11, 2023 – Day 1
12-2pm ET (9am-11am PST)
PowerPoint Presentation – Introduction to Huck Lace on 4-shafts
Introducing the sixteen 2-Block motifs … the “building blocks” of 6-block patterns
Design Session: Developing 6-block symmetric patterns using 2-block motifs
4-5pm or so ET (1pm-2pm PST)
Review Designs
Introduce participants to the Handout (sent via USPS mail in advance)
How to use the Design Pages and Transparent Overlays for more 6-block designs

GOALS for Day 1:
PowerPoint Presentation: Understand structure of Huck Lace
Background is the default setting of Huck Lace created by Plain Weave or Tabby
Pattern is formed in two ways:
Adding a shaft to a tabby sequence creates a warp float
Subtracting a shaft from a tabby sequence creates a weft float
Design Session: Understand the difference between 2-part and 4-part symmetric motifs
Develop five to ten 6-block designs before next meeting

Sunday, February 12, 2023 – Day 2
12-2pm ET (9am-11am PST)
Review the wide variety of 6-block patterns created on graph paper
PowerPoint Presentation: Introduction to Huck Lace on 8-shafts and how to use the Huck Lace Template to develop a treadling plan
Design Session: Turning 6-block graph paper patterns into treadling plans for Huck Lace
How to use Huck Lace Template (a transparent overlay)
Learn when to add a shaft for a warp float and when to subtract a shaft for a weft float
4-5pm or so ET (1pm-2pm PST)
Design Session: How to convert 3-block motifs into 6 blocks of “pure” Huck Lace
Continue translating Patterns into treadling plans
Discussion and tips on weaving Huck Lace Towels

GOALS for Day 2:
Firm understanding how to draft 75-pick sequence which makes each 6-block pattern
Start weaving towel patterns (with confidence) after session is over

Saturday, February 18, 2023 – Day 3 (one week later)
12-2pm ET (9am-11am PST)
Review weaving questions
Show and Tell of woven towel
Tips and questions from individual weaversl

A Forum will be established on Google for weavers to share their warp set-ups, weaving progress, and completed towels.
Below are sites showing what weavers have done at past workshops.
www.rosalieneilson.com/workshop-galleries/2020/huck-lace-spokane
www.rosalieneilson.com/workshop-galleries/2019/cnch
www.rosalieneilson.com/workshop-galleries/2018/huck-lace-workshop-hartford-ct
www.rosalieneilson.com/workshop-galleries/2018/huck-lace-mid-atlantic-fiber-association

Maximum number of participants: 20

Student Requirements

• Commercially-printed graph paper that is 4 squares to the inch (not 5 or 8).  Note: Some of the graph paper apps are not exactly 4 squares to the inch
• Pencils & eraser
• Ruler or straight edge
• 4- or 8-shaft loom
• Must be able to dress the loom independently

After registration, weavers will receive email instructions for designing and making warp

Weavers will receive a coil-bound handout with drafts and exercises; also envelopes containing Design Pages, Transparent Overlays, and Huck Lace Template. Cost of Handout: $25 plus first class shipping, mailed to one address for pick-up. Make arrangements with course organizer to pickup the template or receive it by mail (postage required).

About the Artist

Rosalie Neilson loves using color and geometric design in her weavings and kumihimo braiding. As both designer and teacher, she was featured in a 2-hour DVD by Interweave Press called Rep Weave. She publishes regularly in weaving and braiding journals and maintains an active teaching schedule throughout the United States, Canada, and England. Her curiosity about unique patterns led her to develop the 1,024 4-block symmetric motifs, in addition to the 1,157 unique 2-color patterns for the kumihimo braid structure Kongō Gumi. She recently published her kumihimo designs in the book Kongō Gumi: A Cacophony of Spots – Coils – Zags – Lines. And her most recent book, An Exaltation of Blocks, with a toolkit of design pages and transparent overlays for exploring symmetric block design, has just been released and is now available.

Artist’s website: www.rosalieneilson.com/

$150.00

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