Goose eye - A different style of weave

[figheadair]

Too many years ago to recall I came across a couple of early C19th tartan blankets, not plaids, that were woven in what is known as bird's eye or goose-eye weave. Inspired I had a crack and still have one piece - below.



This technique is normally found on plain cloth i.e single colour or with differing warp and weft colours so that the weave makes the actual design. It is/was used in the Strathconon tweed but is not traditionally found in tartan partly because it is technically difficult and partly because the colour changes in tartan make the pattern and so a decorative structure is sort of superfluous.

The other important factor about this technique is that it is structurally not so dense and a traditional 2/2 twill is best for tartan and indeed any hardwearing cloth - check out your jeans. That said, it makes an interesting talking point and works well for blankets, shawls, shoulder plaids and the like. It's very unlikely that you will find anything tartan woven like this as there are 72 peddle changes (including reversing sections), as opposed to 4 for a 2/2 twill, before the weaver is back at the start of the pattern sequence. Imagine counting that and trying to keep the tartan threadcount going too.

[artificer]

That is beautiful! It's VERY striking where the dark blue stripe crosses the green.

I actually have a formal shirt (white, obviously) done in a weave very similar to this... It actually may be the same, I'll have to go check.

[MacBean]

I would favor a weave like this for table runners and other decorative items. It's really very nice.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Thanks for the image, Peter. I notice that one of Ardalanish's tweeds is woven in this pattern, which they call a "diamond twill."


At least I assume their diamond twill is the same technique as what you describe as goose-eye. If it's different, please correct me!

[figheadair]

Yes Matt, it's the same thing.

[piperdbh]

Now THAT would make a fine jacket!

[sydnie7]

Those are both seriously beautiful fabrics.

[Morris at Heathfield]

That's a beaut, if a bit busy. I think I'd like to see a diamond twill tartan with only two colors. Diamond twill has a bit of history (well, archaeology), as can be seen in this paper by Grace M. Crowfoot, and these reproduction images from the Medieval Textiles website (see gallery pages 2-5). Most of them, however, are examples of broken twill, which I take it is a diamond twill where the lines of color don't join at the vertices of the diamond, but rather are offset.

[figheadair]

That's a beaut, if a bit busy. I think I'd like to see a diamond twill tartan with only two colors.

As I mentioned in the OP this is technically extremely difficult to weave especially with a pattern and I've only ever done two pieces. The other would have met your criterion as it was in Rob Rob with a large setting in which each square was 72 ends which was the same as the number of peddle movements requires in the sequence. As a result the diamonds fitted clean to the edge of each square with no overlapping into the next colour.

I woven, and unfortunately sold, that piece over 20 years ago and regretfully don't even have a picture, let alone know where it is.

[rtc872]

Am I wrong in thinking that birds-eye is a smaller pattern?

That does look amazing! Thanks for showing us.