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The profile challenge 2012

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rackel weave, or three-treadle weave
blanket brushing
winding a warp with a warping glove
In the bower (exhibition '05)
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Bags exhibition '10
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USE THIS PROFILE! - A CHALLENGE FOR 2012

This is a challenge for members of The National Association of Handweavers - but now we extend it to weavers all over the world. There will be no prizes, except that your contributions will be published here, on our website.

So - what is a profile pattern?
It could be called "shorthand", perhaps? It is a an overall plan of the pattern we wish to weave. It can, for example, look like this:

If you don't want to copy it on paper, you can download a .wif version by clicking here.

According to traditional Swedish notation it is immediatly clear that this is a profile pattern, as it is written in blue-and-white. (According to the same tradition, detail patterns should be in red-and-white. I will not adhere to that tradition in the following.) It is also written for sinking shed. This means, for you who use the rising-shed notation, that you will see the back of the profile. You can either stay with that (after all, you can always flip the fabric when it is woven) - or you can change the tie-up to it's opposite - like this: opposite tie-up

OK - so how can a profile pattern be used?
If we see each square as representing a structure, a certain number of ends, a "block", we can transform the profile into a number of different detail drafts. This way it is possible to weave several different fabrics with the same overall pattern, in completely different qualities.

Some examples:
Let each square represent a 4-end broken twill, and we end up with a 16-shaft dräll (or turned twill):

But the square can represent other structures, as well -

here a 3-end twill, 12 shafts:

or, for curtains, choose a lace weave:

But - some of us have only 4 shafts.
What can we do?

Well - we can use the "simplified drälls" - here the same profile as overshot:

(Only a small portion, the picture gets too big with all tabbies included...)

I am sure it can be made into warp rep, too - but I will let the readers do that, themselves...

But this pattern is not "complete" - here some inspirational pictures:

Made symmetrical "as is":

further developments

A different interpretation:

further developments

Another...:

further developments

There are many books "out there" dealing with designing with blocks. Older weaving books are often available from the library.
I'm sure thare are lots of Internet resources about block patterns and block substitution.
Here is one in Swedish:
Two pages from Martinsson & Eriksson (dealers for WeavePoint in Sweden): here and here
And one in English:
Bergdala spinnhus. Here you can find two articles about profile drafts, and one about jämtlandsdräll (which is not-quite-crackle).

To contribute to this challenge, write a story/description about why and how your interpretation came about, and e-mail that and the .wif file to kerstin@bergdalaspinnhus.com. It would also be nice with a photo of the work, in progress and/or in it's intended place. It will then be published here.
I have also created a group at Weavolution, called "The profile draft challenge 2012". Feel free to become a member, and publish your ideas there, too!