How to Design Rose Path Figures for Weaving

Wind a warp 6 yards long and 11 inches wide. This will make 16 napkins that have a finished size of 10 inches by 10 inches. Choose a warp yarn, such as cottolin or 10/2 cotton, or finer. Make a figure-eight cross at one end and tie off the warp at the cross, at the ends of the warp and at 1 yard intervals. Remove the warp from the warping board and bring it to the loom.

Pre-sley the warp in the reed by pulling four warp ends through every fourth dent in the reed. Put the reed in the beater and wind the warp onto the back beam. Now, you are ready to thread rose path. There are at least four basic ways to thread rose path: all are 8 thread drafts with 2 blocks. A simple threading to try would be 4, 3, 4 followed by 1, 2, 3, 2, 1. (For the first block, pull one warp end through a heddle on harness 4, then one through a heddle on harness 3, and then one through a heddle on four again.) Thread the entire width of the loom in this manner.

Sley the reed at your desired final sett (number of ends per inch). Tie the front end of the warp to the apron rod and tighten the warp. Tie up the loom so you have two tabby treadles (one tied to harnesses 1 and 3, and one tied to harnesses 2 and 4). These will be the treadles you use for the plain weave sections on the napkins; we'll call them treadles 1 and 2. Tie the other treadles as follows: one to depress harnesses 1 and 4; one to depress 1 and 2, one to depress 2 and 3, and one to depress 3 and 4. These will be treadles 3, 4, 5 and 6.

Wind a rag shuttle with strips of rags. Weave a few inches of rag weft to pull the warp together. Wind a bobbin with the same yarn you used for warp and another bobbin with the pattern weft of another color. Weave four picks of plain weave with the warp yarn color. Now, begin the first rose path pattern treadling: treadle "as drawn in," meaning the treadling is analogous to the threading. Treadle 6, 5, 6 (Block A) and then 3, 4, 5, 4, 3 (Block B). This is one repeat of the pattern.

Observe the pattern the treadling is creating: It looks like large diamonds alternating with smaller diamonds. The diamonds are the rose flower garden beds and the diagonal lines around them are the paths. Weave the first napkin for 11 inches. You can weave the pattern all over the napkin, or just weave it as borders with plain weave in between.

Experiment with different treadlings for the next napkins. For example, you can treadle 6, 5, 4, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 4, 5, 6 as one block and then 3, 4, 5, 6, 5, 4, 5, 6, 5, 4, 3, as another block. Refer to a handweaver's pattern book for more ideas. Weave 16 napkins this way and then cut the warp behind the heddles. Pull the cloth off the cloth beam and cut the napkins apart. Zigzag the edges of the napkins with a narrow zigzag stitch to stabilize the weft.