Honeycomb Fabric on the Flip Loom

Designed by Stephanie Flynn Sokolov

This is the perfect project to practice your pick-up skills. While honeycomb is suited to many applications, this fabric is intended for a pillow. Toned down a bit by the weft, this design picks up just enough of the sparkle to show off the honeycomb weave structure.

Overview of Weave

This pillow is woven in honeycomb weave—a weave structure well-suited to the rigid heddle loom. The wavy lines, or deflected threads, result from alternating sections of plain weave and warp float sections. The heavy weft outlining the cells accentuates the bending of the weft and adds dimension to the weave.

To weave honeycomb on the rigid heddle loom, you will need 2 pick-up sticks, one for each block. Pick-up stick A will remain in place and will weave block A. Pick-up stick B is used to weave Block B and needs to be inserted and removed after each Block B sequence.

Project Specs

Weave structure: honeycomb

Finished size: 18ʺ (45.75 cm) wide and 37ʺ (94 cm) long.

Number of warp ends: 194

Warp length: 63” (160 cm), includes 25” (63.5 cm) waste

Width in reed: 19.5" (49.5 cm)

EPI: 10

PPI: variable

What You'll Need

Materials

Warp Yarn A: Schoppel Zauberball, 75% Virgin Wool/25% Nylon, 3.5 oz/459 yd (100 g/420 m) Fuschia, Black, Navy space-dyed yarn, #2082.
Warp Yarn B: We used Interlacements Gold Toasty Toes for this project (now discontinued). A good substitute: Blue Moon Fiber Arts, 92% superwash merino wool, 8% lurex 4 oz/400 yd (113 g/365 m), Super Sparkle in Pond Scum.
Weft Yarn C: We used Frog Tree Pediboo, 80% Merino Wool/ 20% Bamboo 3.5 oz/462 yd (100 g/422 m), 852 Antique Gold (now discontinued). A good substitute: Madelintosh Tosh Vintage, 100% superwash merino, 3.5 oz/200 yd (100 g/183 m), Liquid Gold.
Weft Yarn D: Brown Sheep Company Nature Spun Sport, 100% Wool, 1.75 oz/184 yd (50 g/168 m), Alpine Violet.
Weft Yarn E: Brown Sheep Company Burly Spun, 100 % wool 8 oz/132 yd (226 g/121m), Heathered Indigo
invisible zipper

Equipment

20” Flip loom
10 dent reed
two 20” stick shuttles
two 25” pick-up sticks
tapestry needle

Directions

Warping

Warp according to the table, using Yarn A and Yarn B. Hold Yarn A doubled (14 working ends is a total of 28 actual ends).
To pick up the warp threads, place the heddle in the down position and pick up the raised threads as instructed below.
Pattern A: 7 up, 6 down, 7 up, 6 down, 10 up, 6 down (repeat between * 4 times), 7 up.
Pattern B: 7 down, 6 up, 7 down, 6 up, 10 down, 6 up (repeat between * 4 times), 7 down.

Weaving

Weave 6 picks of Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport (Yarn D) then hemstitch 2 warps and 2 wefts.
Weave pick-up pattern for 19” (48.25 cm): Down, use Burly Spun (Yarn E) Place heddle in down position, weave across.
Up, use Burly Spun (Yarn E) Place heddle in up position, weave across.
Down, use Nature Spun Sport (Yarn D) Place heddle in down position, weave across.
Up and pick-up stick, use Nature Spun Sport (Yarn D) Place heddle in up position and slide pick-up stick up to behind the heddle. Leave the pick-up stick flat—don’t turn it on edge. Weave across.
Repeat steps 4 and 5 five more times for a total of 12 picks of Nature Spun (Yarn D).
Insert pick-up stick B. Down, use Burly Spun (Yarn E) Place heddle in down position, weave across.
Up, use Burly Spun (Yarn E) Place heddle in up position, weave across.
Down, use Frogtree Pediboo (Yarn C). Please heddle in down position, weave across.
Up, with pick up stick, use Frogtree pediboo (Yarn C) Place heddle in up position and slide pick-up stick up to behind the heddle. Leave the pick-up stick flat—don’t turn it on edge. Weave across.
Repeat steps 9 and 10 eleven more times for 12 picks of Pediboo (Yarn C).
You will be repeating this pattern until your weaving reaches 19-20” (48.25 – 51 cm). Now weave 20 ½” (52 cm) of plain weave using Nature Spun Sport (Yarn D). Finish by hemstitching 2 warps and 2 wefts.

Finishing for Pillow (not shown)

Wash in warm water in the sink with a splash of dish detergent, rinse with warm water, gently squeeze remaining water from fabric and hang to dry. Press, then using a matching thread stitch in an invisible zipper onto both ends, connecting them. Now turn inside out and use matching thread to stitch sides together. Turn right side out. Place an 18” (45.75 cm) pillow form inside, zip, then snuggle up.

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