Weave Classic Crackle & More

I am so excited by the challenge that this book offers! I feel like this is a great book to grow into. I really want to sit down and use it like a personal tutor in a solo crackle weaving home-study course! It would definitely be wise to sit down in a cool dark place where there is no extra noise or distractions so you can read it chapter by chapter and ponder everything. I haven't quite been righteous enough to do that yet, but I feel like the challenge of this book is right up my alley! I have enjoyed reading the first 2 chapters and also thumbing through all the color photos throughout the book. I will have to post again when I finally finish it.EDITED 1/16/2013: I finally have really studied this book and here is my edit!Like all texts, there are pros and cons to the book "Weave Classic Crackle & More" by Susan Wilson. My overall impression is very high and I am very impressed with the knowledge gathering that Ms. Wilson has done. She is obviously very qualified to write the book because she has been weaving crackle since 1969 AND she has achieved quite the honor by receiving the Master level Certificate in Handweaving back in 1990. I mention this because Susan's book and the other crackle book I used in my personal crackle adventures[...] this last month (called "A Crackle Weave Companion" by Lucy M. Brusic)* have conflicting information in them for what certain crackle weaves are called. As a crackle-newbie, it was confusing until I threw the official names out the window and just concentrated on the weave structures. However, taking into consideration Susan's numerous publications along with what I feel is a respectable amount of professional weaving certification, I trust that her nomenclatures are the correct ones.Crackle weave is already a very complex structure and is not for the faint of heart! It has some characteristics that are like no other weave, yet you can weave it "in the manner of" other weaves! A weaver who is new to crackle would definitely benefit from a source such as this. However, the book "Weave Classic Crackle and More" is not for the weaver looking for patterns to weave. It does not tell you exactly how to set up your loom or how much material to use. The book does, however, cover from the very basics of crackle and builds to the very complex weaving structures, all the way from 4-shaft to 8-shafts.Chapter 1 starts with some history and chapter 2 covers the characteristics of crackle, for example it explains how crackle is made up of block weaves and describes each block, including the incidental thread for each one. The crackle pattern that was written out in a structural draft on page 19 was particularly useful since I was just beginning to learn about it. This draft gave me a chance to really study what the threads were doing. The crackle draft is very unique, and can be pretty confusing at times without the right references. Chapter 2 also has some profile draft explanations and design ideas. Page 25 was my inspiration for my latest colorful crackle project. I found her description intriguing enough to try it with six colors and loved it! [...]Chapter 3 covers many different treadling variations that you can use in crackle, like you can weave crackle as other weave structures: overshot, summer and winter, Bronson lace, honeycomb, and other structures that I've never even heard of before, but they are very pretty. (To be honest, I have personally made it to the summer and winter point so far, but I hope to continue with more studying soon!)Chapter 4 has some good descriptions on how to design crackle weave. But first it starts with polychrome, and also goes into weaving crackle in Italian manner, and oddly classic crackle actually fits into this chapter, although the other weave structures in chapter 3 were fun to do, as un-classic as they are! This chapter also includes information on boundweave and other weft-faced samples. Later there is a section to help you through designing traditional polychrome crackle, and the reason why it's more difficult to work with is because of all the independent color combinations going on here. Even though it is more difficult to work with than classic crackle, it offers more versatility and exquisite design options! Susan does a really good job explaining the difficulties of this weave. In this chapter, she also goes into a thorough explanation of hue and value of colors in crackle weave and the design process as a whole, which is extremely useful considering the non-independence of each block in crackle. Susan includes wonderful pictures to graphically explain this little quirk that makes crackle so much fun!The last few chapter in the book discuss crackle on 8-shafts, turning the crackle draft, and color-and-weave effects. It even has a section how to make 8 blocks on only 4-shafts! And I can't emphasize enough how wonderful the pictures throughout the book are. In fact, they are some of the best I have seen in a while, and they are so numerous! They didn't skimp in this department!There is definitely a lot of info in this book and it can keep a weaver busy for a good long time. One of my complaints though is coming from the point of view of a brand-new crackle weaver: I wanted more structure in my studies because I didn't have a clue what to do and having something so open was rather scary. I was afraid I was doing the weave wrong, and I had to study really hard to make sure I wasn't. I feel that this book would benefit from a section for the new crackle weaver that said something to the effect of thread your loom like this, now try this, this, and this crackle weave structure and walk the new weaver through step-by-step. I mean, I didn't even know what sett to use because it's a twill based structure but is it sett at twill? (The answer is no, it has a tabby sett!) It would have been nice to have that a little bit clearer description and starting point. However, once I decided to not be afraid and just throw an experimental warp onto my loom, it was so much fun! I just used the threading from page 19 and went through the weave structures like traditional crackle, crackle woven as overshot and woven as summer and winter. Like I said before, I have only made it to page 39 in my personal studies, but I have enjoyed the experience! I hope to be able to continue my studies using this text very shortly!*A side note: In comparing this book to the other one mentioned (called "A Crackle Weave Companion" by Lucy M. Brusic), I like it so much better because the other book seems like a collection of a lot of obscure references that are hard to get a hold of these days. Also, it is written like an essay and the pictures aren't quite as good. The way the examples are written out are hard to follow and understand. In my personal crackle experimentation, I didn't reference it nearly as much as Susan's book.

Informative and thorough

This book will show how to draft crackle. Plenty of examples, but without the draw downs to go with them.So imagine a cookbook with the pictures, how to make the recipe, and a list of ingredients. Yes, Martha you can make create crackle patterns from the info in this book, but be prepared to get out your pencil and eraser. Lots of white space, easy to ready, not too small print, nice paper, and it has an adequate index. There's some great information on treadling here to get different patterns, from the same tie up. So what's my beef? On page 18, she lists her own complicated chart to do treadling. Martha, you gotta keep turning back to page 18 to see what's going on. I'd rather Ms. Wilson used more pages and put the info on every page.I highly recommend adding an additional yard of warp when you thread up, to check your new recipe.

I took a workshop from the author and was intrigued by the crackle weave structure. I have been a weaver since the 70's, by the way. I was very glad to find a few years later that Susan had written a whole book on the topic. Her explanations are very clear and easy to follow. And the photos of her samples are wonderful. It is a great addition to my weaving reference library. It will certainly replace my notes from her class in a complete way. I have older books on the topic of crackle weave, but as other up-to-date books of weaving instructions, the graphic abilities of publishers currently and the clarity of the writing makes the new book on an old topic of use.

This is a wonderful book. I was on a quest to learn all about crackle weave, and although I haven't completely made my way through the book yet, what I have read has been most helpful.Described is the history, and detailed information about designing a crackle weave pattern. While there are drafts used as samples, I wouldn't say that it is a pattern book. I personally wasn't looking for a pattern book though, as I have other great books with crackle weave drafts in them. Instead I was looking to learn about and understand how crackle works, and this book does just that.I would highly recommend this book if you too are interested in learning about Crackle Weave.

Susan Wilson has written this book in the same way she organizes her workshops - very clearly! Her research into crackle weave is extensive, and her passion for the subject and sound understanding of the structure are very much in evidence.Because this book focuses on the theory and technique of the weave, it is much more useful and will better withstand the tests of time than a project-oriented weaving book. The author provides the building blocks, giving the reader the opportunity to use this information, as well as photographs of her outstanding pieces, as inspiration.

I liked the way this book explained the basic approaches to crackle weave. I was able to understand things that I had previously been confused about. As a newer weaver, I am fascinated with creating complex looking patterns with simple techniques and this was very helpful in helping explain how to achieve this effect.

This is an in depth book about how to draft and weave crackle. IT IS NOT A BOOK OF CRACKLE PATTERNS, PROJECTS, AND DRAWDOWNS. I am super disappointed because it is a book I will never use.

Crackle, or Jamtslandvaev, is a fun and interesting direction for the weaver. It can be geometric or flowing or even a conbination thereoff. To finally have a new, easy to follow, in modern English! reference is a joy. Here you will find enough of it's history to satisfy, thoughts on variations and a good foundation to understand its rules (definition) and where to break them. Adsolutely recommended to the scarf-shawl-clothing oriented weaver, who will find great inspiration for creating their own look.The only thing missing may be projects. Although I often find book projects right grotesque, in that they often reflect someones poor taste in colour, material and pattern, I think a couple of clear exercises may be welcomed by those just discovering weavings huge heritage. Like me!

This book is a very thorough study of crackle patterns in weaving. I think it is a valuable reference for weavers interested in knowing about the potential of this type of pattern.

Es ist ein Buch dass sehr gut ze lesen ist. Viele Vorbilder .Ich bin froh dass ich es gekauft hat.