Osborn Fiber Studio

Log Cabin is a stunning example of how a bafflingly complex-looking pattern can be made in plain weaving, just by arranging colors.

Last year I figured out, just by messing around with my daughters’ loop loom, that you can make stripes by alternating colors in both warp and weft. In other words, if every other warp strand is white and every other is blue, and every other weft pick is white and every other is blue, you will get tiny stripes of blue and white.

What I didn’t notice on the loop loom (because it’s a square and who cares which direction is “warp” and which is “weft” is that it only takes a tiny change to make the stripes horizontal or vertical.

Because every other warp strand is the same color, that means that you see all one color on the down shed, and all of the other color on the up shed. If you weave with the color you see, you get horizontal stripes. If you weave with the color you don’t see, you get vertical stripes. Plain as mud? I didn’t actually make examples on the big loom, so I’ve probably just wrapped your brain in knots for no good reason.

Take this humble towel.

This look was achieved by alternating white and blue every warp strand for eight strands, then switching. Then while weaving, every other pick was white and blue. I didn’t take any pictures while weaving because I was too busy having my mind blown.

But what about when you take the same warp, and instead of just alternating between white and blue, you do the same as the warp? Alternate white and blue for eight picks, then alternate blue and white for eight picks!

Isn’t it amazing?

I apologize that I have a head cold today, so I can’t say much of anything more intelligent than “wow!” “Cool!” But I just love this pattern. As a beginning weaver, it feels like I can make magic.

I made two pairs of these. One is in my mother’s possession now, adorning her largely blue-grey living spaces, and the other is winging its way to my friend Rachel’s new home in West Virginia.

I hope you’re having a peaceful end to 2019. May your celebrations be joyful and safe. I’m so thankful for everything God has done this year. And I’m thankful for you for visiting and reading!