Jacquard Weaving and Designing

by T. F. Bell

Fig. 126

If a different gauze is required, say one with 2 shots into each shed, or between the crossings, then the solid texture might be a rib or mat; or if it suited the pattern, as in the case of dice work, two doups could be employed, so that one could rest when the other is working the gauze. [Fig. 126] is a plain gauze and plain texture, common dice pattern, which could be wrought with shafts, but shows the principle of working with the harness as well. This could be wrought with one doup in front of the harness. To work the dice A the mails carrying the threads not in the doups would be raised alternately with the doup standard, and thus form plain cloth; and at the same time, to make the dice B a gauze, the mails carrying the threads in the doups would be wrought alternately with the doup standard. For the dices C and D, this would be reversed. In case of the gauze having to be made with, say, 3 shots into each shed, and 2 threads twisting round 2 to give openness of texture, it will be seen that it could only be wrought with one doup, provided 3 shots went to each shed of the solid dice, as the doup would require to be up for 3 shots in succession, and down for the same. If plain cloth were required it would be necessary to have a doup and standard for each dice, so that one could remain down when the other is raised for gauzing; this would allow the harness to work any texture on the solid dice, the doup of which is not gauzing. If it were required to work a diagonal stripe of plain and gauze, as shown in [Fig. 127], with 2 weft shots coming in between each crossing of the gauze, 6 doups would be required in front of the harness, whereas if only one shot came between the crossings only one doup would be required. It will be seen that there are 6 splitfuls of warp to one repeat of the pattern, and that the change from the plain to the gauze is at a different time for each; therefore, on account of the doup standards having to be raised for 2 shots in succession when a portion of the cloth is plain texture, it is necessary for each splitful of warp to have its own doup so that it can be crossed without interfering with the plain texture in the other portion of the cloth.

Fig. 127

This pattern would be better suited for a shaft mounting than for a harness with doups in front, but could be wrought with a gauze harness more easily than with either. The advantage of using a harness with doups in front, in this case, over a shaft mounting, would be that the plain stripe could be figured if desired, and the gauze stripe might go in steps of two or three splitfuls alike, which would give much bolder stripes.

When more than one or two sets of doups would be required to be used in front of a harness, it is advisable to adopt a true gauze harness, as the doup shafts come in the way of the weaver. A gauze harness has the doups in the harness, so that they can be lifted independently, which admits of indiscriminate figuring on either the gauze or solid portion of the cloth.

When using doups in front of the harness it is not necessary that the plain or solid cloth should be all a plain or unfigured texture; any suitable warp figure may be formed on the plain by the harness, but weft figures cannot be made on the upper side of the cloth, because, though the harness can be raised for any number of shots in succession to form a figure by the warp, having it sunk would not in the same way form a weft figure, as in crossing the gauze a portion of the yarn would be raised by the doup standard, which cannot be prevented, unless by having more doups than one. A harness with doups in front is better suited for working stripes than any other class of work, and it is in this class of work that gauze can be made most effective.

When figuring with gauze, unless several shots are thrown into each shed, or between the crossings of the gauze threads, and 3 or more warp threads are twisted together, the openness of the texture is not sufficient to make a good contrast between the plain and gauze unless the fabric is very light; and even with 2 threads round 2, and throwing 4 to 6 shots into each twist, the contrast is not so great as might be desired when the cloth is heavy. A portion of the weft, say every second or third shot, might be made to pass either over or under the gauzed texture and interwoven only with the solid portion of the cloth, the flushed or loose weft to be cropped off afterwards. In stripes, not only can this be done, but the warp may be set much thinner or wider in the reed for the gauze: say every second or third split may be left empty; or it may be of a different description of yarn—a fancy twist if desired, or in threads of different colours. A fancy stripe with three threads to the split in a reed, set 30 splits per inch, and every second split of the gauze portion left empty, makes a very effective pattern for fine work, with say 80 picks per inch; or 120 picks might be used, and every third or fourth one not wrought into the gauze, but flushed over to be cut off afterwards. There might be 2 thick threads or 4 finer ones to each split of the gauze, and 4 to 6 shots into each crossing, this, of course, to be regulated to suit circumstances and taste; one thing must, however, be remembered—viz. that when made too bold or open the warp ribs are liable to slide on the weft, and this is the chief defect in gauze when made open, especially when a smooth, clean yarn, as linen, is used.