Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Eight Shafts: A Place to Begin

I discovered a book at the library that I just love!  It's called Eight Shafts: A Place to Begin.  It's almost likeMarguerite Davidson's book A Handweaver's Pattern Book, except that one is for 4-shafts and this one is for 8-shafts.  It is FILLED with lots of patterns to explore!  I like how the book is divided.  Here is the table of contents:

1 A common language
2 Twills on Eight shafts
3  Straight Twill
4 Point twill
5 Extended point twill
6 Twills with breaks
7 Color effect
8 Miscellaneous Weaves
9 Understanding Crackle
10 Crackle
11 Lace
12 Colonial Weaves
Bibliography
Index


Here is a sample page:


 I find the pictures and threadings very easy to follow.  I like how each section is broken up by threadings.  For example, in the twill section it will show "Threading 1" and then several different patterns you can make with that one threading.  I also like the explanations throughout.  I feel like it's a good reference book for information as well as patterns.  And it's spiral bound, so it will stay open easily while I'm weaving!

It's definitely worth at least checking out from your local library if you can find it!  And it's a great addition to any personal weaving library collection!