12 Twills of Christmas: Twill 3

27 December

One of the first projects I wove as a beginning weaver was an undulating twill, and I loved the soft curves of the design. The flowing lines are well suited to projects inspired by water, but in this chillier season it makes me think of wind-blown snow or curving tracks made on ice.

You can weave an undulating twill on any number of shafts. The draft I am sharing today is a variation of the straight draw on 4 shafts. The threading cycles through the shafts in order 1, 2, 3, 4, but the number of ends on each shaft varies so that sometimes two or three ends are threaded on the same shaft before you move on to the next one. Note that each individual end is still threaded in its own heddle.

If you weave using the treadling for a straightforward balanced twill then the pattern appears as lines that curve but stay close to parallel.

Download the drafts

Printable drafts and project planning notes for the Twelve Twills collection: six 4-shaft and six 8-shaft twills, all accessed through our beautiful online resource hub.

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If you weave ‘as drawn in’ – that is, use the pattern of the threading to determine the treadling/liftplan – then the effect of the undulation is magnified.

You’ll see that there are some quite long floats in this design but that needn’t be a problem. If you use a fairly fine yarn with a suitable sett, say 24 epi, then a float of 6 ends is still only a quarter of an inch long. Alternatively, you could use a wool yarn which will felt slightly when it is finished in order to prevent the floats from slipping or catching. I also recommend using a floating selvedge with this draft.