Shadow Weave

Marcy Petrini

4/18/2016

Is Shadow Weave Color and Weave? It is generally considered so, but in my mind there are two types of shadow weave. How we obtain them is so closely related that we generally don’t make the distinction. 

In the first type, shadow weave does what its name implies: a shadow follows the main structure. Look at the drawdown below: the weave is rosepath and you can see the diamond outline and its shadow.  (Right click and open in a new tab to see a larger view.)

Some shadow weaves show even more pronounced shadows, but I have a reason for choosing this particular draft, which is the other type of shadow weave: the one that I consider a true color and weave. Look at the drawdown below:  

The threading and the treadling are identical to the previous draft; the only thing that has changed is the color order! But gone are the rosepath and its shadow! The resulting motifs are unique, although in some parts the dark shadows the light, or a better way of saying is that the dark outlines the light, which in turn outlines the dark…. 

This draft comes from Marian Powell’s book 1000 (+) Patterns in 4, 6, and 8 Shadow Weaves which was published in 1976. She developed a method to look at shadow weave that is different than the previous way described by Mary Meigs Atwater. However, the two methods produce the same results. Powell follows the threading of the structure so it’s easier to thread, I believe. 

This warp is going on the loom next, so soon I will have these two samples for show and tell. Stay tuned…. 

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