By Jane Patrick
Barry and I attended the Vav conference in Vaxjo, Sweden at the end of September. We warped up a Flip loom with Danish Medallions (designed by Stephanie Flynn Sokolov) with sock yarn from our Swedish dealer Limmo-design. We were tickled that so many of the conference attendees were fascinated with Danish medallions: it was fun to share something new to people with such a strong weaving tradition.
While there I met Danish weaver and author Elsa Krogh who shared a 1916 Danish publication about Danish medallions. Perhaps this traveled to the US: thus the name, in case you're curious about its origins.
How to weave Danish medallions
1. Open the shed and weave in an outline weft selvedge to selvedge (usually heavier than the background weft). If you are right handed, begin left to right. I leave a tail at the left side and weave it into the same shed at this time, inserting it over only a few warp threads and letting the tail hang out the back. (I’ll cut this off flush with the fabric after I’ve washed and pressed the weaving.)
2. Weave as many weft picks with the background weft as desired, again selvedge to selvedge. In this example, I wove 8 picks.
3. Now it’s time to create the medallions. Change sheds, and with the shed open, take up the shuttle with the outline weft. (To carry the outline weft up the selvedge to complete the medallion, I make sure that this weft is over the background weft at the selvedge when I insert it into the shed.) Insert the shuttle into the shed as far as your medallion will be wide. In this example, I counted four raised warps and exited the shed with my shuttle between the fourth and fifth raised warp thread.
4. Poke a crochet hook through the web in front of the first row of outline weft.
5. Grab the second outline weft and pull it up through the hole, drawing out a loop.
6. Insert the shuttle into the loop and pull as taut as desired. Repeat for rest of the row.
7. To finish off the medallions, cut off the yarn from the shuttle, leaving a tail that is about three times as long as the height of the medallion. Now, insert your crochet hook into the front edge of your first outline weft and in one warp thread from the edge. Grab the tail with your hook and draw it all the way through this hole. Now bring the tail up the selvedge and into the open shed, leaving the tail hang out on the back side. Clip this after finishing the fabric.
Notes: Tightly cinching up the outline yarn will make a rounder shape and create more holes in the weaving. The thicker the outline yarn, the more pronounced the design. Using the same yarn to make the medallions will create a subtle texture. Work a single row for a border, or use for an allover pattern.
--from The Weaver’s Idea Book by Jane Patrick