Swedish or Huck Weaving Question
Dannielle Beitzell
embroidery? Can tell me more?
I think this is the best use of Monk's cloth and I am itching to buy some of
this fabulous looking cloth!
--
Dannielle
Tia Mary-remove nekoluvr to reply
>Ok, what's a good starter book on this? Does anyone here do this type of
>embroidery? Can tell me more?
OH OH OH -- ME ME ME :-)))) I haven't done much but what I did was really easy
and looks great! I made DD's MIL a 40" square table topper for Christmas last
year. I had gotten the fabric and chart whilst I was in Germany on holiday
visiting Brigitte 2 years ago. The fabric is bright Christmas red and I used
some white crochet yarn for the design. I got stuff that has a thin stri[ of
mylar twisted in as one of the plys and it looks really sparkly :-)).
It
s pretty much just weaving the fiber under the floating threads on the fabric.
Hardest part is keeping your design count straight. This isn't like counted
cross stitch where you can hide a mistake in leaves or flowers or some such.
Most of the designs I have and that I've seen are pretty regular and geometric.
You get off by one or two threads and you can screw up the whole design!
The design I used was like a starburst and had four concentric rings of <^>
looking, staggered pointy type designs. I was off by one thread on onne of the
points and I can really notice it. No one else sees it but I sure do -- LOL!
If you do stuff that is long and linear like towels or afghans, it would
probably be a bit easier but I don't know!
Anyway, it's a neat type of needleework and works up quite quickly. the
only *real* problem I had was figuring out how to anchor my starting and ending
threads! There's nothing on the backside of the finished piece to weave
threads under! I finally just tied tiny little knots and out a dot of Fray
Check on them. The booklet of designs I had probably told me what to do but,
since it was all in German, I was pretty much at a loss -- LOLOLOL! CiaoMeow
>^;;^<
.
PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^<
Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their
WHISKERS!!
Nothing is complete without a few cat hairs!
Dianne Lewandowski
with a cotton or linen huck fabric. There are floats on the fabric in a
brick fashion. This is where you slide the tapestry needle. Patterns
are geometric. Because of the arrangement of the thread, one color can
take on several different hues, which makes the finished work quite
beautiful.
The monk's cloth isn't "true" although it has become the rage. Monk's
cloth is similar to aida, quite soft. There are no "floats". I'm not
certain if they use the "holes" for the darning, or pick up the 2
threads out of 4 that are between the holes. I carried the Avery Hill
books for a period of time but forgot how it said it was done on this
particular cloth.
It is a *very* simple embroidery. Here's my ornament,finished on rayon
aida, for this year's exchange, done in huck weaving one side, cross
stitch the backside
http://www.heritageshoppe.com/2002ornamentb.jpg
Perfect embroidery for when you have dim light, want something fast,
non-fussy. The results can be quite gorgeous.
Dianne
Karen C - California
catwo...@aol.comnekoluvr (Tia Mary-remove nekoluvr to reply ) writes:
>The booklet of designs I had probably told me what to do but,
>since it was all in German, I was pretty much at a loss
Harrumph, and you didn't ask me to translate. Harrumph, indeed.
--
Finished 12/20/02 -- Glad Rags
WIP: Angel of Autumn, Calif Sampler, Holiday Snowglobe, Guide the Hands (2d
one)
Paralegal - Writer - Editor - Researcher
http://hometown.aol.com/kmc528/KMC.html
Tia Mary-remove nekoluvr to reply
>Harrumph, and you didn't ask me to translate {German instructions}. Harrumph,
indeed.
Weeeeel, I was on a cruise ship in the middle of the Caribbean while I was
working on the Swedish Weaving project. I didn't want to have to mess around
with all of that "ship-to-shore" stuff :-))). CiaoMeow >^;;^<
Dannielle Beitzell
to me since I learn so much from you) could you please tell me something
else? What are Floats?
I only have ten million projects going, but this might be one that I can
teach to the "older" ladies who don't see so well? Maybe get an old cross
stitcher back into doing something since she doesn't see so well any more.
And I love the feel of the fabric. What fiber do you think would be the
best? Normally the four ply worsted weight yarn? Or just six strand
embroidery floss?
Yep, gonna have to find a book aren't I?
--
Dannielle
"Dianne Lewandowski" <dia...@heritageshoppe.com> wrote in message
news:3E39BF67...@heritageshoppe.com...
Dianne Lewandowski
Floats: on *real* huck fabric, whether linen, cotton, or a blend of
these, the fabric is woven similar to aida, although there are no holes.
It's close woven. In these little "blocks" (think basketweave), there
are threads loose. If you have a piece of aida around, notice that in
every other block on a row there are two threads loose at the center of
the block. These are floats. On huck, there is just one floater. It
looks something like this:
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
You use a tapestry needle. There's no thread on the back of the work.
On the ornament, there is more than huck weaving. There were beads,
ribbon roses, half crosses and 4-sided stitch. It was aida and 4-sided
doesn't work well, but I wanted something different. Also is
herringbone. You'll probably not be able to find it in that pic :-)
If you email me with your home address, I'll send you a piece of linen
huck that is rather fine. I'll also run a thread through some aida so
you can see the floats.
I do not know how to do this on Monks cloth. I have a piece of this
cloth thanks to a gal on RCTN who sent it to me about a year ago because
I had no access to it and wondered what everyone was talking about. I
learned on real huck as a child. This cloth is now everywhere, even in
my little local craft/fabric/pharmacy. :-)
The Avery Hill books are written specifically for Monks cloth. I used
to have a link to them, tried a quick search at Google, couldn't find
them. But you can see some stuff here:
http://stitchers-paradise.com/Needlework_Techniques/Huck_Weaving.htm
Unfortunately, no diagrams of any sort. I have some how-to's:
http://www.heritageshoppe.com/heritage/woven/huck.html
Good pic that shows the floats and a snazzy way to dress up this "work".
I'd be happy to send you a sample. It truly is easy, easy to rip out if
you goof. The thickness of the thread depends upon the count of the
cloth. The patterns are easy to figure out. Perfect for older eyes and
very young fingers.
Dianne
VGates
threads hang and then trimmed and sewed them when I finished the pattern.
This worked well because I decided when almost through that I wanted to put
more stuff in some of the rows, so had plenty left to add more design with.
Just make sure before you sew the fringe you pull the cloth out again so
it's not gathered from the ends being pulled as you weave.
You take your yarn and weave it into the raised threads on top of your
material ( the direction depends on which direction you're weaving at the
time, see instructions in whichever book you choose). Monk's cloth is very
loose, so unlike huck towelling you can see the design underneath, but you
can still tell it was woven on the top.
The book I used was Swedish Weaving/Huck Embroidery, Book III By Jeanne Tams
and Nan Duffin. I hadn't done this since Campfire Girl Days (on huck
towelling, then) and picked it up again really easy. It is very easy with
the monks cloth to feed the yarn back through to correct mistakes because it
is so loose. I used a flat bodkin needle, which seemed to go very easily
throught the floats without pulling them out of sorts.
This is a very easy technique and goes pretty fast, although it can get
tedious on an afghan since you are basically repeating patterns all the
time. I like cross stitch better but enjoyed the break and like the pattern
I chose.
Have fun!
--
Vicki in WA State
"Dannielle Beitzell" <dbeitX...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:v3j78k5...@corp.supernews.com...
Dianne Lewandowski
I'll have to look at the stuff in the local store. Thanks for the heads up.
What size thread do you use?
Dianne
Lynn Hansen
Dianne Lewandowski <dia...@heritageshoppe.com> wrote:
> It is a *very* simple embroidery. Here's my ornament,finished on rayon
> aida, for this year's exchange, done in huck weaving one side, cross
> stitch the backside
> http://www.heritageshoppe.com/2002ornamentb.jpg
Dianne, that is gorgeous!
I enjoy doing huck weaving, but I really don't have any particular
affinity for the end result. Your combination of huck weaving with
other stitches renews my interest in the possibilities.
Lynn
Dianne Lewandowski
just cross stitch - including a wide variety of other stitches,
embellishments. Makes for more drama. :-)
Dianne
MaryR
> affinity for the end result. Your combination of huck weaving with
> other stitches renews my interest in the possibilities.
Huck/Swedish weaving are basically pattern darning. They can be done on any
appropriate fabric with a variety of threads. An issue or so ago Jill
Oxton's magazine had an exquisite project, done in two or three shades of a
DMC blue, using cotton floss and the heavier pearl cotton. It is a hand
towel with a showcase panel. The inside of the panel has a cross stitch
motif and the area surrounding it, a Swedish weave darning pattern. Really
beautiful. I have scanned it and can send it to you if you give me your
e-mail address.
MaryR
Karlinne Wulf
When using Monk's cloth you run the yarn/thread under the vert.
threads of the fabric (much like darning stitch I suspect). If the
yarn you are using shows on the back, you have "gone to deep" and need
to pull it out. I just taught a simple class on it for my EGA
chapter. I think there is a booklet called "Teach Yourself Huck
Embroidery/Weaving". You might also want to do a Google search using
'Swedish Weaving', another term for this type of stitching. I have
also heard it called huckery.
Dianne Lewandowski
It is a 4-thread basket weave. There's no way not to have thread show
on the back.
Aida has floats. They are the 2 center threads. Huck cloth has floats.
So my question remains, how do you darn with no threads on the back with
a cloth that has no floats? Are there different types of monk's cloth?
And: does anybody know if you capitalize it? I keep seeing it that
way and wondering why.
I know all about huck weaving. :-) It's doing it with monk's cloth
that has me stumped. I know that lots of people are picking up the
habit. The stores have bolt after bolt of it. :-)
Dianne
Estelle-
Take a look at : < http://www.averyhill.com >
They seem to deal exclusively with Swedish Weaving ( SW ) on Monk's
cloth. If I remember correctly, they have good explanations and a free
pattern for a trial project.
There is also a Yahoo Group for Swedish Weaving at :
< http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SwedishWeave/ >
You must join to look at the files and photos etc... but it is free. I
checked them out myself, and found them to be most helpful and
knowledgeable. The group co-ordinator Sandra is especially knowledgeable
as she has classes in SW. There are loads of info. on SW , links,
database, and of course messages.
I have not done any SW on Monk's cloth yet, but I intend to. I have done
some huck towels, including the Showcase huck towel pattern in the Jill
Oxton's Cross Stitch & Beading magazine, Issue No. 51, from Australia
which was mentioned here before. It is a nice relaxing easy sort of
stitching, a change from all the other types of stitching/needle works I
have tried to date. I love to try new styles of embroidery, it's great
fun to try and master each stitch to perfection no matter how easy it
may be. Sometimes the easy ones are deceptively, devilishly difficult to
master, as I am quite sure you have noticed yourself.
Have fun exploring SW ! You should get much more accurate info. this way
rather than me trying to describe it.
Best,
Estelle.
P.S. Have you or anyone seen the new issue ( no. 52 ) of the Jill
Oxton's magazine yet ? I picked my copy up at my local bookseller a
couple of days ago. It is simply superb. She has outdone herself once
again. She has the most beautiful designs on The Orient in this issue.
Lovely geisha's in CS and beading, japanese koys in blackwork, the
cutest little China Doll in blackwork also, an intriguing piece worked
in Cs and Hardanger with a display shelf of Chinese porcelain in blue
and white, and more... ( No affiliation etc...) Can you tell I was
impressed ? LOL. TTFN !
Dianne Lewandowski wrote:
>
> Well, I have monks cloth in my stash and there are no "floats" on it.
> It is a 4-thread basket weave. There's no way not to have thread show
> on the back.
>
( snip )
Dannielle Beitzell
and still need to see this one to get it!
--
Dannielle
"Estelle-" <etoiles...@paschaw.ca> wrote in message
news:3E3DCCD0...@paschaw.ca...
Estelle-
As far as I understand SW, The stitches are made by catching the four
vertical stands of the "floats" on the Monk's cloth. One simply slips
the needle under all four threads, carefully avoiding catching the four
horizontal threads behind the vertical ones on the back of the fabric,
and pull. Voila ! Clear as mud I know !
One will not see the yarn on the reverse side, since the yarn lays on
the top of the horizontal threads below.
Technically I suppose one could say that there are no floats on Monk's
cloth, as Dianne correctly pointed out earlier, but the fabric once
washed and pre-shrunk, is tick enough so that the yarn will not show on
the reverse side of the fabric. As I said before however, I have not
done any SW on Monk's cloth yet. I do have an Avery Hill beginner's book
in front of me as I write this though and that is the method given in
there. From my contacts in the Yahoo SW group, that is also what was
explained to me. I can't wait to give it a try !
It seems there are some important keys to success : Pre-shrinking the
Monk's cloth is mandatory, after first zig-zag'ing the edges to prevent
unraveling ( It may shrink by as much as 15% - 30% depending on the
quality of the fabric & method used , ie. warm water wash with detergent
followed by drying in the clothes dryer )
They recommend using a high quality four-ply yarn which will not pill or
bleed; and to stay away from yarns which may require special handling or
washing, or dry cleaning. You want the easiest care afghan possible. Use
yarn rather than thread on Monk's cloth, threads are used to SW on huck
toweling fabric, ie. Perle cottons #5 & #8 as well as Stranded cottons.
The needle suggested is a #13 yarn needle with a dull tip, or the bodkin
needle used for SW and darning.
The SW patterns and combinations of colours and textures are many, and
the mostly geometric designs obtained can be very attractive. Doesn't it
sound like fun ? I will let you know how I make out if you like. I will
practice on a bit of Monk's cloth first to get the feel of it, why not
do the same. It could be fun.
Best,
Estelle.
Dianne Lewandowski
good directions . . .
"4 floats". Well, those aren't really "floats", they're part of the
basket weave patterning of the woven cloth.
Also, from what I could gather, you pick up all 4. It's not really
clear. The pictures all show picking up the single or double floats on
normal fabrics.
So, if I'm getting this correctly, you would have to pick up either all
four or the center two. Either way, you're going to have fiber on the
back side.
The suggestion was made to pre-wash the cloth. I may do that to see
what happens to it. :-)
I'm not desirous of the trouble of getting to the yahoo group, but if
there's anyone there that you know, I'd appreciate if you could find out.
Thanks for your interest.
Dianne
Dianne Lewandowski
Danielle. I'll play around.
Lynn Hansen
Dianne Lewandowski <dia...@heritageshoppe.com> wrote:
> Are there different types of monk's cloth?
I dug some out of my stash last evening. As you said, no floats - more
of a basket weave.
Lynn
Dianne Lewandowski
Danielle, and as I was "playing" I now understand the directions. I'll
be weaving a bit later today and will then tell everybody how it goes.
I know exactly what to do, now, and why. But it is a misnomer to call
it "floats".
Dianne
Kay Hahn
just enough to snug in the embroidery tightly so it doesn't shift,
but enough to make it difficult to add more embroidery. BTW, you
end each line of stitching by taking the needle back through the
last 4-5 stitches, and the washing makes that hard to remove.
OTOH, experimentation is the ultimate learning experience - not
to mention the heart of science.
Kay at kh...@cas.org
Dianne Lewandowski
Dannielle and pre-washed the monks cloth as the directions indicated.
Boy, I didn't like the results of the stitching using Appletons tapestry
weight. I'll do the reverse this afternoon. Thanks loads for the hints.
Dianne
Dannielle Beitzell
about "floats" and how the whole thing works. It's simple once you see the
actual stuff. And the Huck Linen is extremely fine - I can't wait to see
how badly I mess that one up! And the Aida looks fairly simple to do as
well, even if it is a bit stiff. I was mostly interested in the Monk's
cloth because it is so soft, I am thinking an afghan would work well with
this material.
Now, Dianne didn't like how the Monk's cloth turned out very well, and I can
see why. I think that a finer yarn would be much more suitable, and I love
the idea of washing it up after it is all done to close up the holes. But
that is yet another experiment to be done!
I do want to thank Dianne for not only sending me examples of how this
works, but leaving long lengths of fibers for me to play with - and the
needles still attached (thus showing me the types of needles to use as
well!)!
And for this Dianne receives a standing ovation *applause* for being such a
wonderful help! I cannot wait to show an ex-cross stitcher this method of
embroidery in hopes that she will be able to pick up something new! She
just doesn't feel she can do the cross stitching any more due to her eyes
(ooohh, I haven't asked her about lights and magnifiers yet) and I really
feel for her! She's been quite depressed for almost a year now, and I want
her to get involved again!
THANK YOU DIANNE!
--
Dannielle
"Dianne Lewandowski" <dia...@heritageshoppe.com> wrote in message
news:3E3ED182...@heritageshoppe.com...
Dianne Lewandowski
saying "thanks". But a whole bunch of paragraphs on an open forum? If
you knew how I spent my morning, only to find this post this afternoon:
ya saved my day. :-) Thank you so much. But honest, it's what I
live for. I'm glad to help. Even if I only get an email saying: "I
got it!" :-)
I did the experiment with the monks cloth; vis. stitching, then washing.
Didn't like the results any better. But this is really a personal
"thing". I have an actual weaving pattern and will use some different
fiber and then see how it goes. The site I read said to use tapestry
weight, so I did. :-) I didn't like going under those 4 threads of the
ground - big pain. HOWEVER: I have very good fine motor skills and am
drawn to very fine work. The pictures I've seen of the monks cloth
afghans (lap rugs) are very pretty and I wouldn't mind owning one,
especially for a summer snooze in an air-conditioned house. For winter,
I prefer heavier weight. In below zero weather, Australian blanketing
comes to mind. :-)
Actually, I'm not sure I sent you tapestry needles, but worked up the
samples with chenille needles and used the eye end to weave. Call it
"habit" and what was "on hand".
The aida is good to use for ornaments, or an aida band on a towel. Next
time you are in a restroom that has those cloth towel roller gizmos,
take a look at the cloth. I've seen huck cloth in some of these. :-)
I'll bet people with vision problems would find huck weaving a joy to
do. There is lower count fabric. And they'll find the "monks" weaving
fun as well.
Happy stitching!
Dianne
Dannielle Beitzell wrote:
> So I am looking at this Swedish weaving stuff, and now I understand more
> about "floats" and how the whole thing works. It's simple once you see the
> actual stuff. And the Huck Linen is extremely fine - I can't wait to see
> how badly I mess that one up! And the Aida looks fairly simple to do as
> well, even if it is a bit stiff. I was mostly interested in the Monk's
> cloth because it is so soft, I am thinking an afghan would work well with
> this material.
Joyce from RSA
what you all keep discussing is what I knew long ago as "huckaback
towelling". It was quite a common alternative to terry towelling, and was
also sometimes used for nappies (diapers), instead of terry towelling.
Joyce in RSA.
"Dianne Lewandowski" <dia...@heritageshoppe.com> wrote in message > >
> The aida is good to use for ornaments, or an aida band on a towel. Next
> time you are in a restroom that has those cloth towel roller gizmos,
> take a look at the cloth. I've seen huck cloth in some of these. :-)
>
> Happy stitching!
> Dianne
>
Dianne Lewandowski
Huckaback and huck are one and the same. Thanks for reminding me of the
term! :-)
Dianne
Dannielle Beitzell
here that spins their own yarns!) and I have looked at pictures to compare
the wool. It looks really close to a fingering weight yarn, maybe a tad
thinner. I used it on the pre-washed Monk's cloth that Dianne so graciously
sent me, and it looks fabulous! I haven't spoken to the spinner yet (I was
gifted the snippet from a dear friend) so I don't know what the washing
instructions are to figure out whether I want to wash the Monk's cloth
before or after it is woven!
Next stop....the wool farm!
--
Dannielle
"Dianne Lewandowski" <dia...@heritageshoppe.com> wrote in message
news:3E47B49...@heritageshoppe.com...
MaryR
softener) before doing the darning pattern. Dry on a lighter heat so it
doesn't get wrinkled. Also, before washing it overlock the raw edges.
MaryR
Dannielle Beitzell
after completing the weaving will close the holes nicely around the fiber
used. That's why we have experiments to do! I didn't even think about
drying on a lighter heat to help keep it from wrinkling! Thanks for that
great tip!
--
Dannielle
"MaryR" <morsots at hotmail dot com> wrote in message
news:b2hmeu$dld$1...@slb6.atl.mindspring.net...
Dianne Lewandowski
This sounds like so much fun. Wish I was your neighbor. That's ok.
I'll live it vicariously through RCTN. :-)
Dianne
MaryR
little 'holes' assuming there are any will close up themselves after a bit.
You could give it a lite spray all around with water then fluff dry. That
would do it nicely.
I got all my info & patterns here at Nettie's Needleworks
http://www.nettiesneedleworks.com/overview.htm
and will be meeting her in June in Montrose, CA where she's going to be
involved in a local craft fair event. She has a great pattern for doing
Italian hemstitching on monk's cloth instead of the "same 'ole, same 'ole."
http://www.nettiesneedleworks.com/nn202.htm
MaryR
HeyPaula21
Can you bring this the next time we get together with Linda to stitch? I've
never quite been able to "get it" from the pictures I've seen, and I didn't
want to jump into a large project right off the bat!
Paula