Paul R. O’Connor
St. Paul, Minnesota

Paul, a retired chemistry professor, has been weaving for almost 30 years, most of that time exploring various aspects of loom controlled double weave. His background in science and mathematics governs the designs in his weaving and his many years of teaching show in the methods he has developed to make the mysteries of double weave seem “simple.” His first two books on double weave are called Loom Controlled Double Weave and More Loom Controlled Double Weave, and recently he created his own Web page (www.paul.oconnor.net), where his next two books are available to anyone who wants to read and download them. Paul has presented a number of workshops on double weave throughout the U.S. as well as seminars at conferences such as Convergence, Midwest Weavers, Mid-Atlantic Weavers, Complex Weavers and Fiber Forum on Whidby Island.

Network drafting has become an important new design tool for weavers. After a brief discussion of the methods that different weavers have used for network drafting in their single layer weaving, the seminar will focus on how the method can be applied to double weave through the concept of transitions in the threading, in the tieup or peg plan, or in both of these. Examples of the double weave designs known as "windows" and "checkerboards"that can be woven on an 8- shaft loom form the basis for most of the discussion. There will also be an outline of how block profile designs can be expanded using the principles of network drafting.

Supplies: Graph paper (different sizes); several colored felt pens.
Fee: None.
Level: Beginning-Intermediate weavers.

Learn how double weave allows you to weave two or more cloth layers at the same time or increase the effective size of your loom by weaving double or quadruple width cloth or permits you to weave one cloth layer while not weaving the other layer. A presentation of a foolproof method for determining the tieups for these and other double weave techniques begins the seminar. Ways to make warp or weft threads move mysteriously from the top to the bottom cloth layers and back again is the second topic. The third section illustrates the wide range of color possibilities for the warp pairs in each layer of double weave emphasizing the unique possibilities in double weave.

Supplies: Note taking materials; graph paper.
Fee: None.
Level: Beginning-Intermediate weavers.

S411 MULTILAYERS IN DOUBLE WEAVE
Sunday Afternoon Mini-Session, 2:00 – 4:30

One of the unusual aspects of the technique called double weave is that two cloth layers can be woven with a 4-shaft loom, four cloth layers can be woven with an 8-shaft loom, and so on, with the number of cloth layers equal to half the number of shafts on the loom. This seminar will present methods to determine the tieups for weaving multilayers of fabric, to hide one layer of fabric between two other layers until you want to “bring” it out as a separate layer, and to cross layers in order to create 3-dimensional weavings. As always in double weave there are numerous warp color pairs that can be developed and rotated from one layer to the next.

Supplies: Note-taking materials.
Fee: None.
Level: Intermediate weavers.

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