012/2 Twill
Over two, under two, stepping one end sideways every pick — the diagonal that walks. Woven in indigo on the undyed warp, it is the cloth half of Shetland went fishing in.
THREADING 1·2·3·4 STRAIGHT — LIFTS 12·23·34·41
Hoswick · Shetland · Est. 1974
Handsel — a gift given at a beginning, for luck. A four-shaft weaving workshop in an old net store at the foot of the voe, teaching the drafts Shetland has always worn. The loom below is warped, so you may as well sit.
Sit at the loom ↓The teaching loom
Two-ply Shetland wool, sleyed straight from the mill at Sandness. Choose a draft from the wall, pick a weft, and drag the shuttle through the open shed — or press throw and let it fly. The beater does its own work. Every pick lands in the drawdown below, row by row: real cloth, recorded honestly, mistakes included.
Change draft or wool whenever you like — a liberty no floor loom allows, but this is a teaching loom. The liftplan on the right records every pick.
Structure
A draft is a recipe in grid form: the threading says which shaft carries each warp end, the liftplan says which shafts rise for each pick. Everything else — twill’s walk, houndstooth’s bark — falls out of those two decisions.
Over two, under two, stepping one end sideways every pick — the diagonal that walks. Woven in indigo on the undyed warp, it is the cloth half of Shetland went fishing in.
THREADING 1·2·3·4 STRAIGHT — LIFTS 12·23·34·41
A twill that turns on its heel every eight ends and breaks into chevrons. The turn hides a crooked selvedge, which is why beginners start here. Peat weft, always.
THREADING POINT-REVERSED ×16 — LIFTS AS TWILL
The same 2/2 twill — nothing changes at the shafts. Warp four peat, four undyed; weft the same; and the colour order does the barking. Proof that structure and colour are separate arguments.
COLOUR-AND-WEAVE 4 DARK · 4 LIGHT — LIFTS AS TWILL
An overshot: madder pattern picks float over a plain ground while a tabby binder ties them down. Two shuttles’ work — the draft will call for each in turn. Woven for aprons and christening cloths.
BLOCKS ON 1–2 & 3–4 — PATTERN + TABBY ALTERNATING
Terms & benches
Twill and its relatives. Six Tuesday evenings from the first of November; the stove is lit by six and the tea is strong. Warp included.
£140 · SIX EVENINGS
Colour-and-weave: houndstooth, log cabin, shadow weave — what colour order does to plain structure. Six Saturday mornings, light willing.
£165 · SIX MORNINGS
February, by arrangement. One long warp, thirty treadlings, endless tea. Bring patience and a notebook you don’t mind wearing out.
BY ARRANGEMENT
The workshop is the old net store below Stove Brae, ten minutes’ walk from the Sandwick bus stop — follow the smell of peat smoke down to the water. Wool comes from the mill at Sandness and from three crofts within sight of the door. Visitors are welcome to sit at the teaching loom; students leave with the first cloth they ever wove, which is where the name comes from.