Name Draft

I gifted the table runner tonight so now I can tell you what it said. You may remember that this was my first attempt at a name draft. I got the idea here. Although it's called a 'name' draft, you can weave a phrase, name or even a number sequence. In this case, it's a name - Wenona Utter - and this was her birthday present. A short explanation (a more complete explanation is here) of how this works - my loom has four harnesses that I can raise individually or in concert with each other. I assigned each letter of the alphabet, plus the "space", to one of the harnesses. For example, the letters "A E I M Q U Y" were assigned to harness 1.

Using Excel, I wrote Wenona's name, then 'mirrored' it for symmetry, and wrote the assigned harness's number underneath to form the loom's threading - how the warp threads (the green ones) were threaded onto the loom. I did the same for the treadling - which determined how the weft threads (the white ones) were placed. Raising the 'named' harnesses in order resulted in this totally unique design. Clear as mud? Sorry - it's easier to show than to explain.

The finished runner measured 13" x 30" before washing; it's now 11.5 x 25.75". The warp is 8/2 cotton and the weft is organic softball cotton. I really like the concept of 'name' drafts - I'm planning more already.