The May edition of Piglet’s Portfolio of Priceless Potholder Patterns was published last night. Now over 70 designs, many in multiple sizes, for a total of over 100 charts. Posted both as a downloadable PDF and as individual page images. Clear monochrome charts can be used on-screen or printed affordably. Available for free under an “open culture” license so you can use, print, share, copy, adapt, and change to create new designs.
Folks who are familiar with our efforts will know that we add new charts from time to time, and May has been especially productive. If you downloaded a PDF six weeks ago it would have had 53 pages — but the latest version is now 113 pages, and it will continue to grow in the future.
We recognize that this “moving target” creates a challenge for folks who want to be able to print the whole thing out one time and treat it as a completed paper book, but it seems like an inescapable part of releasing our work as we go.
Bed of roses! Yet another delight from the mad adaptation skills of Matthew, who converted a multi-shaft weaving design by Mary Bentley into a potholder chart. Isn’t it lovely!? And ripe for color play. There is so much fun to be had with this design.
The fabric is thick but not especially puffy, and hangs remarkably flat.
I was short 4 red loops, so I used carnation instead. I think they look like scattered petals. There is so much scope for color play here!On the other side, we see that the pattern is inverted, with 5 “roses” and 4 “thorns”.Stretched out on the loom, the design is very geometrical. We see no hint of the organic nature to come after binding off.Here’s how my chart looks, after weaving. Highlighting alternate rows helps me keep track, especially in this design, which does not alternate colors.Surprise! Remember that the loop colors do not strictly alternate!27-Peg Chart
Puffy, thick, stable, attractive, exceptionally easy to weave. One side infinity, the other side tiles?
Almost finished weaving, you can see the one-dot squares very clearly. The twill pattern causes them to close up when we take this off the loom, and those wee single brown squares disappear underneath a larger 2×2 white square. That’s what produces both the thickness and shrinkage of the fabric.For fun, I worked this out to 29 pegs, instead of 27. I added an extra burgundy loop on all 4 sides, to finish the pattern at a 2/2 twill row and column, all the way around. This is optional! You can just work the 27 pegs as charted. Here you see my extra edge loops, each hooked onto the pegs of its nearest neighbor. I’ve stacked them in the order I will want to bind them off, so each corner has one stacked with white on top, and the other burgundy on top.The finished twill fabric shrinks more than tabby coming off the loom. This is about 7.5″ square.The back is fantastic! Look at that tile pattern!
Enlarging the eights changes the twill pattern, as well, into something with many fewer 3-floats (where a loop passes over or under 3 loops, instead of the more usual one or two). The result is less puffy and marginally larger (8″ square), with a remarkably different rear view, like wrapped hard candies.
Oh gosh, this traveling twill is pretty. And very well behaved. The fabric does not bias or twist easily. It folds in all directions, lies flat, and has distinct ridges of texture. The 18-peg version is the first 18 rows and columns of this 27-peg chart. (Both are available on our website, and will be incorporated in our book in the next release.)
The 9-peg version should also work up well, and I’d love to see it if anyone tries it. (Use the first 9 rows and columns of the pattern for the mug rug, on alternating pegs of a traditional 18-peg loom.)
The pattern is surprisingly easy to weave. Because it is in groups of 3, the over/under pattern does not shift: under 2 / over 2 / under 2 / over 1 / under 1 / under 1. Repeat across the row, shift one column to the left on the next row. Once you work a few rows, you can continue without referring to the chart.
If you start from the middle, you will find that each row after the center row is a mirror image of its pair on the other side of the center. If you weave a loop, then rotate your loom, you will work the same pattern on that row.
Matthew found the design in “An Album of Textile Designs” (1885) archived on handweaving dot net, and adapted it for potholders.
We’re sometimes asked why our weaving charts are drawn in just black and white (or sometimes shades of gray) rather than including specific colors.
Part of the answer is that keeping the charts monochrome makes it easy and affordable for people to print them at home or local service bureaus — color printing at a neighborhood copy shop is often ten times as expensive as black-and-white, and a design that looks great in color may be an unreadable mess of indistinguishable grays if run off on a basic laser printer.
More importantly, we want our designs to inspire you. We encourage people to combine our weaving charts with color inspiration from other sources to create new, never-before-seen designs of their own.
One of the most enjoyable parts of this process has been releasing a new chart online and seeing a flood of people post photos of it woven using wildly different color schemes, including ones we would never have imagined.
So adorable. The 4 rows of 2/2 twill sections are very flexible, then anchored by the staggering of the next set of 2/2 twills, which lock this section in place. I worked this example in traditional sized white and green, using the first 18 rows and columns of the chart I had printed.
The fabric is puffy and thick without any shiftiness. You could do really fun things with color here, so many possibilities.
It’s an easy weave once you establish the pattern. I kept shifting my twills the other direction within sections by mistake; that would make an interesting design, as well.
Today’s fun! Another great texture, both stable and flexible. Easy to weave, it has 2 regular patterns: 2 / 2 / 1 / 1 and tabby (over/under across the row).
You know how tabby (plainweave, over/under across the row) can be a little stiff? This weave includes 3-floats in the center, and 2-floats that progress along the vertical, the horizontal, and both diagonals, so that the potholder flexes easily in all directions, and can be crumpled into your hand. The mostly tabby construction keeps it stable. It molds extremely well, and would be excellent for items like Dutch oven lids, whose knob can be hard to grasp and also wicked hot, fresh out of the oven.
The 3-floats cause the small boxes (4 white on the front, and one blue on the back) to close up on themselves, hiding the center opposing color.
Because of its moldability, this would be an excellent base for a potholder bowl or other flexible construction.
You’ll see in the captions that I have ideas for adjusting the weave. If you work this before I put out the finished pdf (and honesty even after, I’m always up for improvement), I’d love to hear your input on your twilling choices.
I decided to work my example in white and turquoise, one of my new Harrisville colors, because it really popped when I put them together. (And maybe also because I was wearing blue-and-white stripes!? Must’ve felt it that day…)
I begin with my center row. The pattern is symmetric in both directions, so I will be working the same half-row 4 times as I proceed (left & right of the rows above & below the work already in place).
Row 13 is in place. What the heck!? We start with a 3-float!!? Yup, the center of row 13 (and also the corresponding row 15)You’ll notice that it doesn’t fully lock our columns in place, and they do like to roll around on us. That’s okay, we can nudge them where they belong. Hey, do you see my mistake? Don’t worry if you don’t; I won’t catch it for another 2 rows.
Here’s how the loom looks after I’ve taken a moment to straighten my columns and line them up properly.
Here we are with the center 3 rows completed. Oh no, you say!! There’s a white column totally unsecured, floating in space! Yup, there sure is. You’re doing it right. That’s the center 3-float that will help tighten up the middle box into a tight square of apparently solid color. Let’s check out the other side….
Oh dang. Here’s the other side. I have 2 (blue) columns unsecured!! Whoops. Where did I go wrong??
My colors matched the pattern, but I got the over/under on a blue/blue square wrong. The 3rd column from each end of the row should be on top of the row loop, not underneath.
Time to start marking up the chart! Pink highlighter, to show myself where the 3-floats are; yellow highlighter on the 2-floats, to help me get them in the right place in the row.
Here the center white column is about to be locked down by rows 12 and 16.
Highlighting the 2-floats in the row makes them easier to see and also alerts me when the floats in one row line up with the floats in an adjacent row. It feels natural when weaving to run the row under the columns that are lower, and over the columns that are higher. When floats line up, you find yourself working against that tendency.
Comparing the work to the chart as you go can be tricky. Bordering the work with fresh contrasting loops can make it easier to compare to the picture.
Now that we’re past the center, the work proceeds more smoothly. Each row is a bit like the previous row, with the outer 2-floats moving one step away from each other, and inner 2-floats staying the same columns. (This might not make sense until you are weaving. It’s hard to explain in words.)
Here I’m using the white loops to double check the I am forming the correct picture.
As I continue highlighting the floats, you can see that we have a center capital I formation of 3-floats (one column, two rows), and 4 surrounding capital T sideways formations (one column, one row). The I formation causes the one-dot-center box on the back to draw up tightly into itself. The 4 front boxes, where we have a T formation, do not draw up as evenly on themselves, and so leave a bit of color poking out. I would like to try another weave, switching columns 12 and 16 in rows 10 and 18 from “-” to “|”, to see if that works as well, and update the pattern if it does.
Halfway through, the work is progressing rapidly.
Most of the way through, I have marked up much of the chart, and you can clearly see the diagonal, horizontal and vertical progression of the 2-floats, highlighted in yellow.
Looking at my finished weave on the loom, I ponder those 3-floats in the center area and wonder if I can switch up my twills somehow to eliminate them…
The highlighted spots are my first thought, which I reject after exploring how they would affect the neighboring columns. I wish I’d thought of the alternate arrangement that I figured out (above) looking at the completed work, lol.
Closeup of the finished work, still tensioned on the loom, in case anyone wants a visual reference for the stage.
Binding off, whee!
The “radiating boxes” side of the potholder, having rested after being taken off the loom, and having to close up on itself.
The ‘intersection” side of the finished potholder.
Does it crumple? YES!! It does.
You can see the 8-way creasing as i loosen my grip and let it unfold in my hand.
Here’s a fun variation based off of “Cobblestones” that is provisionally named “Tiny Boxes”. It’s another highly textural fabric, very ridged, almost like corduroy? Has insulating pockets spread out evenly, and should make an excellent trivet.
For the smaller version of this potholder, I folded the 27-peg pattern to show the first 19 rows and columns. I marked my new centers with pink highlighter. This pattern is easy to weave, once you notice its internal structure. Every even row is plainweave (tabby, over/under across the row). You begin with an over for the rows between the boxes, and with an under for the rows that form the middle of the boxes. The odd rows are a 2×2 twill (over 2 / under 2 across the row). On the rows that are box tops, you start with over 2; on the rows that are box bottoms, with under one.
I start weaving in the center, to distribute the tension more evenly. Because weaving pattern is so easy, I also opted for a simpler method of handling the extra column. I have put a 19th loop on this loom by simply stacking it on top of the 18th loop. As I begin weaving, I have to be careful to include the columns in their correct order. As I work, the fabric locks them in place so they are properly separated.
After just 3 rows, the 18th and 19th columns are clearly white and then brown.
With the middle line of boxes complete, you can really see the pattern coming together. This is not a tightly constrained weave; the loops like to roll around while you are doing this. Take the time to put them back where they belong as you work. Fidget with it as you go to keep squaring off your boxes, and it will draw up better when you take it off the loom and massage it into shape.
Front of finished potholder, dangling from its corner ring.
Closeup of potholder front, showing 5×5 brown boxes.
Angled view of front, highlighting the ridges.
Another view of the front, slanted to capture the texture, which is impossible. It’s so corrugated!
Back of finished potholder, showing…. 4×4 brown boxes!! The front and back are not identical, after all.
